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I would like to introduce myself, I am Alex Vince and I joined Schools of Kung Fu in 2012.
I first gained an interest in martial arts at the age of 4-5 and around the age of 7 I was given my first Jackie Chan film and from then on I was hooked on kung fu. I was fascinated with his movements, skills the way he used humour in his films and the whole martial arts philosophy. Later I heard about Bruce Lee for the first time and watched Enter the Dragon, after that I wanted to find out as much as I could about Bruce Lee watching any documentary I could on him and while watching them I learned about his instructor Grand Master Yip Man and Wing Chun. I always liked the systems principals of not wasting movement, sticking to your opponent and wielding to a greater force.
My First introduction into a martial arts class was watching a friend of mine at his karate class in a local hall. I was fascinated with the whole class, from the kids and there skills to the instructors. I left that class and while walking home with my dad I told him that I want to teach martial arts when I was older. After that day my sister and I had a some lessons from my dad, as he had studied karate for 5 years but work and school made it hard to carry on.
I first started training wing chun at the Schools of Kung Fu back in 2012 when I was 26. From my very first class I knew this was the right school and style for me. I liked the atmosphere from the very knowledgeable instructors and the students as I was made to feel welcome from when I walked in the door and they were happy to help with any questions, I had tried other martial arts clubs before but never settled into them.
When I first started at School of kung fu (my Wing Tjun journey) I was training as much as I could, up to 3 days a week most weeks and training as much as I could at home. After about 2 years I started the instructors training course under the guidance of Sifu Alan Paterson. I started being an assistant instructor in the kids classes and found this to be very rewarding, helping to build children’s confidence, fitness and kung fu ability. I also found it very helpful in my own learning and understanding of the system. It’s incredible to see people of all ages working hard towards there black belts and really enjoying what they are doing. I progressed through the instructor training courses from Trainee, assistant to lead instructor for children and then set my next goal to being a lead instructor in the adult classes. I am now qualified to teach adult beginners, intermediate and advanced classes.
After 4 years of teaching and training as much as possible at Schools of Kung Fu, in 2016 I achieved my first technical grade (black belt) graded by my Sifu, Master Alan Paterson. Around this time I also became a full time instructor, leading my own kids classes and teaching adult classes as well as helping to grade students. I continued training and working hard towards my second technical grade (black belt) finally receiving it in 2019 after 5 weeks of testing by my Master Alan Paterson.
Throughout my time at Schools of Kung Fu I have been very lucky to have been able to attended some fascinating seminars with some very knowledgeable Masters, that I would never been able to see without the Schools of Kung Fu. It has really helped expand my own knowledge in wing chun kung fu and martial arts, from doing week long intensive seminars with Master Alan Paterson where you really get a chance to break down the forms and work on the finer details. I have also been very lucky to have attended many special seminars held at Schools of Kung Fu HQ in Croydon by the executive chief instructor, Grand Master Sergio Iadarola who is also the chief instructor of IWKA (International Wisdom and Knowledge Association) on the internals of wing chun as well has Sifu Mauro Gibin Head of IWKA Italy. The IWKA is the big brother to Schools of Kung Fu.
My next goal that I have set, with the backing and guidance of the Chief Instructor Master Alan Paterson, is to open my own school which I am proud to announce is Schools of Kung Fu Kingston!
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