An Encounter with Sifu Kwong Wing Lam
Dr. Rolf Brunckhorst - Wing Lam Kung Fu Affiliate

I am a forty-one years old physician living in a small Midwestern town. I started studying martial arts at age of 15 and became a senior instructor in Kenpo Karate during my last two years of high school. I continued to train on my own during college.

Medical school demanded considerably more time. By the junior year all martial arts ceased. Internship and the ensuing five years of surgical residency made it nearly impossible to pursue any sort of physical culture. Afterwards, I had the challenge of setting up a solo private medical practice.

Mean While, I had married and had been graced with three healthy sons. My oldest son developed an interest in Tae Kwon Do. There seems to be a Tae Kwon Do school in almost every Midwestern town! My wife soon became tired of ferrying to the thrice-weekly classes so the burden was shifted to me. After watching my son practice his twenty-two basic motions, old memories were stirred. Certainly it would be easier to join the activities rather than sit and watch, so I took up the practice of a martial art after almost sixteen years of inactivity!

The kicking drills were extensive. However, there was almost no mention of internal power. Most of the students were significantly younger than myself. Forms were very brief and rudimentary. The whole system seemed geared to sparring, and to style of sparring that was quite different than what I had grown up with. I was having fun and was in much better physical condition, but overall was dissatisfied with Tae Kwon Do. I decided to look around for another school.

First I had to decide what type of martial art I wanted to study. I remembered the beautiful and involved forms that I had seen at various competitions, particularly the weapons forms. These were almost always some type of kung fu. I have always been competitive but had shied away from tournament because of the threat of injury, particularly to my hands. Forms competitions was a distinct possibility and what better forms than those from an authentic Kung Fu style!

I reached for the telephone book, scanned the yellow pages, found a large Kung Fu school in a nearby city and called them up. To my great dismay, the head instructor told me I was much too old to study any sort of Kung Fu, but he would consider starting me in a Tai Chi class. Tai Chi sounded like one of those things I should learn, right after I had mastered a Kung Fu style. What to do? I was in a quandary. The next nearest school was over two hours drive.

I was leafing through one of the marital arts magazines when I saw the ad for the Wing Lam video correspondence course. At first I disregarded it as a non-option. After all, how could one learn something as intricate and complex as a Kung Fu system through videotapes? Then again, had I not been a senior instructor at one time? I called them up and was promptly asked "which style do you want to study, Hung Gar or Northern Shaolin?" I didn't have a clue.

The person I spoke with was very kind and suggested that I buy an introductory tape to each system, watch each tape and get back to them once I had made my mind up. After further investigation, plus watching the two tapes, I elected to study the Hung Gar system.

Seven month later I had memorized 4 sets and started working on the fifth(Tiger and Crane). I had received three videotapes back critiquing my sets. So far so good. At this rate I would be a master in no time. Unfortunately, I had a nagging feeling that I was missing something. I decided I should take a week off work and visit Sifu Wing Lam.

Arrangement were made, reservation booked, and in no time I was standing in front of the school. At first glance, Sifu Lam appears as a small unassuming man. He walks with a balanced poise. He seems to have a sense of serenity and calmness about him. I was given a tour of the school. It is quite large, with a traditional altar and wall mirrors. Upstairs there are hanging punching bags of varying sizes and heights. The traditional animals with their Chinese characters are painted on the walls. The place has the true ambiance of a traditional Kung Fu school.

After changing into a uniform, warming up and stretching out, I started my first lesson. Sifu suggested we start with basic as this could be applied to all of the sets. This sounded reasonable to me. So we worked on my standing stance. Sifu gently pushed one of my shoulders and I was forced to step back to recover my balance. After a few corrections, Sifu again pushed my shoulder. This time I was able to hold my position and felt much more firmly balanced. Next we worked on the horse stance. Sifu went on to discuss several aspects of chi flow all while I was holding a horse stance. My legs began to burn. After what seemed to be a very long period of time we started to work on other stances. Next we worked on Arrow hand.

The time passed very quickly. By the end of two hours I was drenched in sweat. It seemed every muscle in my body hurt. There was so much information exchanged during the lesson I felt somewhat bewildered. The first lesson was over. I was told that Kwoon was open and I was free to practice as long as I wanted to. I decided to get some lunch. On the way I spoke some with Mr. Gene Ching. As I was leaving he mentioned something about my having signed up for a week of pain, but I would be a better man for it in the next life!

I went to my brother's home, where I was staying, and decided that I would lie down and take a fifteen minute nap. Two hours later I awoke. So much for working out in the afternoon!

The next day I decided to participate in a group class in the morning and then take a lesson with Sifu in the afternoon. Mr. Ching led us in the group warm up. While we were working on our horse stances I had very little discomfort in my legs. This was because we had down twenty tiger pushups prior to assuming the stance and my mind was completely focused on the burning pain in my shoulders! Twenty minutes later Mr. Ching had finished warming us up. We were ready to start working on our sets. Myself and most of the other group participants were standing in our personal pools of sweat. Mr. Ching, who had lead us through each series of movements, hadn't even started to perspire.

Sifu would work intermittently with each one of us individually making small corrections in the set we were working on. One recurring comment that I heard was "I thought I knew this set!" The ensuing days went on more or less the same. As a new level of proficiency was reached another level would be revealed.

This was the best martial arts experience I had. The "basics" could be applied to my previous Kenpo training as well as to the Tae Kwon Do my son and I were studying at home. After each day of training I would try to write down Sifu's corrections. Usually this took several hours. Next time I vowed to take a video camera as I was sure I was missing some of the nuances due to the inaccuracies of human memory.

In all too short a time my week was up and it was time to return home and go back to work. Once I had returned home I tried to go through all the sets we had covered incorporating the corrections Sifu had shown me. Four hours later I was still trying. It would take month to integrate all the information I had assimilated. Well, it is back to the humdrum rhythm of ordinary existence. I hope I will be able to return for another week with Sifu before the year is out.