Bachelor in Martial Arts (Uni Derby GB)

School(s) in: Linz, Traun, Wels (A)

School Owner since: 2000

Motto:

WingTsun became a philosophy of life for me.

Why did you start with WingTsun?

I have been doing martial arts all my life. I learned about WingTsun as a teenager after seeing the first Bruce Lee movie, which inspired me in a way I had not imagined at the time. At the end of my career as a professional boxer and kickboxer, I learned that WingTsun also existed in Austria. I started at that time in a small school in the Mühlviertel with my Sihing at that time.

Why are you still doing WingTsun?

Since my childhood, I was always looking for a sport with which I could learn to control my body. This I could only find in the field of martial arts. So I trained for many years in various martial arts and learned to defend myself on the street, to hold my own in competition and to control my body. However, I also had to realize that competitive sports damage the body.
With the martial art WingTsun I found what I had always been looking for. It amazed me that through this training my health was improved again and it can be maintained further. In addition, I learn more and more abilities of my body and can defend myself even easier.

What was your standout WT experience?

In my job as a police officer I experience from time to time small miracles, how quickly and easily delicate situations in everyday work can be mastered with my learned WingTsun skills. But I was most amazed at an event that the EWTO organized with the police union in Wiesbaden. I was there together with Sifu Stefan Crnko as an instructor. With a group of SEK colleagues I, as the smaller of us both, should demonstrate an access technique to the group. For this I chose the tallest – about a head taller than me – and apparently strongest colleague. At first I thought that I was a bit over my head. But I was proven wrong. The access technique was so powerful without much effort that the colleague almost fainted. So I then also had the attention of the entire group at the same time.

What changed for you when you received the 1st HG or 5th MG?

To reach the 1st HG was for me “only” the first stage of this path. I knew, with this graduation it was not yet possible to learn everything. Since WT became more and more interesting for me from student grade to student grade, I did not notice how the time flew by until I reached the 1st HG. Of course I was happy and proud when this certificate was handed over to me.
 In the time that followed, I realized that I was only at the beginning of what I actually wanted to be able to do and pass on to the students as a WT teacher. The 1st HG became for me, so to speak, the level of elementary school and only now I could and was allowed to learn really “cool” techniques, movements and skills. From year to year I approached my actual goal. Unfortunately, there were now and then also setbacks in my life and these made my way in WingTsun immensely difficult. After about 18 years, I was then presented with the master certificate by my SiFu, GM Oliver König, at a summer course in Velden/Austria, in front of all the participants. I was overwhelmed by the applause and congratulations of the students and WingTsun friends. Only days later I could grasp what I had actually achieved, namely my childhood dream. It was an indescribable feeling.