As is our tradition, I spent the Christmas period with Simo, Natalie and my friend and companion GM Bill Newman and his wife Helen. As always, Bill and I sat down together at some point and recalled the events of the year. This time there were plenty of memories to savour:
What a grandiose anniversary seminar we were able to enjoy together with so many of our friends, colleagues and students! We would never have dreamt that the one-off 25th anniversary celebrations, which were truly superlative, could ever be bettered.
We were also particularly pleased about our anniversary book projects. I was able to publish two volumes of my book series "Evolution of iWT" , and work on the new edition of Bill's reference book "Newman Escrima" is proceeding at a great pace.
It was with great pride that we leafed through the anniversary edition of WT World, and we were amazed at the number of our students who have shared our enduring passion for our martial arts for such a long time, and have devoted much hard work, persistence and discipline to achieving the title of Master and even Grandmaster.
So as we sat there and recounted innumerable stories and incidents from the past 40 years, and could not help being amazed at what has been created over that time, we naturally turned our thoughts to the future as well. This always brings up questions such as: "What will it hold for us?", "Where do we want to go?" or "What do we want to do?".
Here too, we were in complete agreement: we will simply carry on just as before! We will unreservedly share our passion for our martial arts with all those who wish to join us. We will continue our research into the unending art of human combat and constantly examine which findings are particularly valuable and how we can impart them to our students. We will travel around and teach as much as possible, and also work on putting the essence of our experience into written words, making it available to an even wider public in the form of books and new media. I am working on the 3rd volume of "Evolution of iWT" at top speed, and also on a new book about Inner WingTsun which I want to publish together with my adoptive daughter Natalie in the second half of the year. GM Bill Newman is also confident that the new "Newman Escrima" will appear in 2017.
We are particularly pleased that we can call on the advice and assistance, unbelievable experience, enormous know-how and unbridled enthusiasm of so many companions at all times. I personally rely heavily on my (grand)master students Giuseppe Schembri, Oliver König, Andreas Groß – who manage the EWTO with me as partners – and Thomas Schrön as the Chief Instructor at the EWTO Trainer Academy in Heidelberg. Each of them heads up a different department, and is in turn able to rely on a dependable and highly motivated team. For many years and decades, GM Bill Newman has placed his trust in his master students Thomas Dietrich, Bernd Hoyer and Sascha Böhringer, who likewise have the backing of an enthusiastic team.
One thing has long been very clear: a success story built over several decades is not the work of any individual, it is the work of many.

It is in that spirit that we look forward to enjoying another exciting and successful year together with you all!

Best wishes
Your SiFu/SiGung
Keith R. Kernspecht
 

Photos: #126145191 | © Rozol - Fotolia.com; EWTO