Since when have you been learning WT/Escrima?

I first came into contact with my Si-Fu, GM Keith R. Kernspecht (via my mentor ’Uncle Fritz’), in 1980, at the age of 13
In 1981 I got to know Escrima at seminars.
I have been actively involved since that time, though I was only active in Escrima up to the 12th student grade for time and cost reasons; at the time (1987) it was necessary to travel to the USA to learn the Escrima TG programmes.
In 1982 I opened my first WT/Escrima school in Kassel.
In 1986 I took the opportunity to become the national instructor for the Netherlands.
In 1988 I was awarded the title of Sifu and married Petra Pönack that same year.
In 1997 I achieved my 5th PG in WT.
In 2000 I founded two limited companies in the communications sector in Holland, followed by my book CoreMunication one year later.
In 2002 I was awarded the 6th PG, while Lady-Sifu Petra was the first woman to achieve the 5th PG in 2004.

What is so fascinating about WT?

As GGM Leung Ting always explains, WT is not a style but a concept.
WT is extremely adaptable, and can harmonise with and enrich one’s life in so many areas that it is difficult to be specific.
WT is holistic, and can even adapt to one’s own lifestyle and circumstances.
’Physics and logic is all you have to believe in to learn WT’ is also a core statement applicable to the Leung Ting system.
And yet it is especially in the higher TG regions that one really discovers the wealth that WingTsun has to offer. There are no external solutions top be found, however – and the internal ones are only revealed to those who are prepared to work hard on themselves, i.e. to be not only inter-active, but also intra-active.
It is a little like playing the piano: knowing which keys produce which notes by no means make you a virtuoso on the piano. For me WT is a lifestyle; it is open to any sensual (and also nonsensical) interpretation.

Since when have you been the national instructor?

In 1986 I moved to Amsterdam to devote my full time and attention to this task. Fortunately I was supported by my wife Petra Schäfer, with whom I have shared the function of national instructor since 1994.

How did you come to be a national instructor?

By chance really. As I was already spending time in Amsterdam at my aunt’s, I was familiar with the martial arts scene in the Netherlands quite early on. Less out of personal interest, but to provide Si-Fu with information. During a private lesson with him, we started talking about Holland. As I was only able to teach in Kassel to a limited extent (I shared the city with others, so there were constraints), I needed to strike out elsewhere in WT terms. There were three conceivable options for me: Munich, Spain or Holland. I could have headed a school at most in Munich, and in terms of distance it was even further from Kassel than Amsterdam. Spain appeared too far away for me, also in an inter-personal sense. So I finally decided in favour of Holland, and where else but Amsterdam? As Petra fully supported me in this, the decision to leave my familiar territory was not as difficult as it might have been.

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What personal lessons have you learned from the martial art of WT?

How much time do I have to answer that one?
It’s very hard to say, as I am still learning personal lessons from it almost every day.
But let me try to concentrate on three of the most important points. As a student grade I learned to adopt a more martial pose and behave accordingly. (At times this also gave me certain problems with my surroundings, as I have to admit. But that was the price of ’independence’.)
As a TG I learned to present myself and behave more professionally. (Here too I was automatically subject to certain obligations which seemed unavoidable in my position as the NWTO chief instructor and EWTO national instructor.)
As a PG I learned to present myself and behave more as a human being.
(In this respect I was also heavily inspired by the humanist teachings of Carl Rogers, which led to my book CoreMunication and finally my official studies (ISO 9001-certified) as a counsellor.)

How many students train in your country?

More than there need be but fewer than there should.

How do you keep your advertising up-to-date? (e.g. Internet...)

During the first 15 years I spent around 15 000.- Euro on advertising per year. On the one hand this meant that I was fairly well-known, but on the other a large proportion of my income merely went on budget expenses and rent. If I was to finance my own further training, things like holidays, stylish clothes and nice cars were simply not possible. It was never easy, but neither was it ever boring.
I have meanwhile concentrated on smaller-goal-oriented advertising projects, and also use the many possibilities provided by the Internet.

How do you find the response to your own forms of advertising?

Generally speaking the importance of print advertising in the media has greatly declined. At one time most prospective students still made contact as a result of the Yellow Pages or a martial arts magazine (in addition to word of mouth).
Now most of them come via the Internet (and still from word of mouth advertising. Unfortunately I have also found to my financial cost that one can seldom apply e.g. advertising concepts that work in Germany in other countries on a 1:1 basis.

What about your training and your personal training?

As I have now been teaching for 23 years now, I could write another book about this. Since I have always enjoyed a good relationship with my Si-Fu, I was usually involved in new aspects from the start. My classes are always oriented towards the current guidelines. I won’t deny that on occasion I also jumped the gun a little or started off badly.
As an SG I taught according to the relevant SG standard.
As a TG I taught according to the relevant TG standard.
As a PG I teach according to the personal standard of an individual.
Since I am in the fortunate position of always having a PG training partner in the form of Lady-Sifu Petra, further development has never been a more pleasant experience for me.
Naturally I also try to develop further during the private and master tutorials given by my Si-Gung, and I take every available opportunity to take private lessons from my Si-Fu.

What are your future WT goals?

Well, I am very happy with the synthesis I have achieved between WT and CM within the SCD. I have been able to gather experience in many areas and incorporate this. In 2000 I went through something of a crisis where my purposes were concerned. I suddenly found that my efforts were rather one-sided – and also in a field which was certainly questionable in an ethical sense.
’So what, you asked about countervailing violence’ is how I justified myself to myself. ’But did you pull out all the stops before it came about?’ my conscience persisted. 'Yes, within the means available to me’ said my truculent ego’. ’And can you spread this more widely?’ the ’mediator’ intervened. ’Perhaps, but probably not with WT – or can I?’ I replied doubtfully. And so it continued until I finally found a suitable way. The result was in some way (involuntary) destruction in harmony and cooperation with (voluntary) construction, something like two sides of the same coin.
It is possible to interpret WT slightly differently (in a more western ways).
In my first book I tried to show how something like this might look. Moreover, I try to be present for my students and clients, and my next personal WT goal is certainly the 7th PG.
Naturally I would also be very pleased if CM attracted interest outside Holland (or particularly) within the WT family. I would be pleased to discuss any such cooperation projects.