WTW:

Sifu Giuseppe, how many of GGM Leung Ting's tutorials have you attended so far?

G. Schembri:

The first tutorials took place in September 2001. I will never forget the precise date, as it was during the class that we first heard the news about the attack on the World Trade Center. That was a completely surreal situation.

Since then I have certainly attended all the tutorials offered by GGM Leung Ting, with the exception of two events in Kiel which I was unfortunately unable to make because the long journey there and back would have disrupted my timetable.

WTW:

As a rough calculation that means at least 15 tutorials!

G. Schembri:

Yes, there have certainly been that many, as some of them have already been repeated.
GGM Leung Ting has structured his private tutorials in the same way as the teaching system he developed. From the Siu-Nim-Tau, Chum-Kiu and Biu-Tze to the Wooden Dummy, long pole and double knives. Each form also has its Chi-Sao sections and/or applications.

During the last two years GGM Leung Ting has worked through all the programmes up to the Wooden Dummy, and has therefore just about completed the weaponless WingTsun system.

Next year he expects to start the first weapons tutorials.

WTW:

You have even attended some tutorials twice. Doesn't this get slightly boring?

G. Schembri:

Not at all! On the contrary, it gets more and more interesting each time. Not because GGM Leung Ting might show something quite different in each tutorial, but because he has the opportunity to correct students on a much more individual basis. As a result you gain a much greater understanding of numerous details. Especially if you are a master and have a good general appreciation of the system, you then see things from a quite different perspective.

During his tutorials GGM Leung Ting provides an enormous amount of information, which naturally gives rise to many questions. His answers then reveal further details, background information and pieces of the puzzle. As a result the ingenious overall concept of WingTsun becomes increasingly clear.

Quite apart from the theoretical explanations I simply love to see how he moves. Watching him repeatedly also allows me to learn a great deal. GGM Leung Ting has no equal in the way he translates the principles of WingTsun into movement. Always free from rigid movement patterns, and always suited to the relevant situation.

And last not least I consider it important for myself as a teacher to keep up my own development and set a good example to my students.

WTW:

These are very laudable views, but surely there comes a time when you have learned the system?

G. Schembri:

Certainly, but you can always learn something more. I see it as a great benefit to be able to learn something new all the time, and always to be a student as well.

I want to make use of opportunities for personal correction by the Great Grandmaster as often and as long as I can.

WTW:

Can WingTsun also be learned without tutorials?

G. Schembri:

Of course! If you have a good instructor. You can also take part in numerous seminars held by the grandmasters or masters. Not everybody can take part in the tutorials, but it is an unbelievable benefit to be able to learn so intensively at the source.

For my students and myself it is important to be up-to-date at all times. After all, WingTsun is constantly being developed further.

WTW:

Does this also mean that new principles can be added?

G. Schembri:

No, the principles do not change, only one's experience. WingTsun increasingly comes alive because you understand more and more. But less is still more. There are only very few principles, as WT is as simple as it can be. You only understand this after a certain time, though. This is another thing that GGM Leung Ting constantly emphasises during his tutorials.

WTW:

These are considerable additional costs if you attend tutorials as well normal WT classes.

G. Schembri:

I have never considered the costs in all the time I have been learning WingTsun. I am doing it voluntarily, after all! Nobody is forcing me to learn WingTsun.

I am benefiting from the lifelong experience of GGM Leung Ting, and particularly intensively during the tutorials. This is the main consideration for me, not the money.

WTW:

Do you think there is a way to learn WingTsun more quickly?

G. Schembri:

It is not particularly difficult or time-consuming to pass on all the techniques or programmes. The teaching programme is only intended to help the student get from here to there. But being able to implement the principles and concept of WingTsun, that takes time. You cannot shorten this process.

I mainly practice WingTsun because I enjoy learning for myself and passing my knowledge on. I have never found it boring in all the 25 years I have followed WT. It is not important to me to be better than others, but rather to develop further myself.

My road is WingTsun. I could have taken some other road, but WT is the road I have chosen because it gives me such intensive contact with so many different people.
But that is merely my personal attitude.

WTW:

Sifu Giuseppe, thank-you for your time.