I have just finished this interview by Sifu Robert Chu, It was enjoyable to write and Sifu Chu asked some good questions, I hope you enjoy the read.

Can you give us a little background on your Chinese Martial arts training and experience? How long have you practiced? What have you studied?

At the age of five, I started doing Judo. I enjoyed Judo and went on to represent the Kent county Judo team. Around this time my father started showing me some Kung Fu. So it was my Father that first got me interested in Kung Fu.

I am now in my thirty’s so I have been involved within the Martial arts for a while and hopefully for a while longer as well.

Within this time I have studied a number of different Chinese Martial Arts. But the main influences in my Kung Fu are from Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Hsing-Yi and some Southern Shaolin.

I don’t claim to be a Master of all these arts as that wouldn’t be possible in the while I have studied, Therefore these arts are the main source of my learning experience that has created my understanding of the martial art as a whole.

What is your academic and professional background?

A lot of people in Martial arts come from different careers and professions. I however have only ever been into Martial arts. I always aspired to be a martial artist and so I only ever did part time work until I started teaching Martial Arts when I was eighteen so my professional status has to be a Martial artist. I teach at my school the “Kung Fu Academy” both traditional Kung Fu and MMA. However I also co-own two other companies’ one is “Pagoda Imports” which is the original Wing Chun equipment company in the U.K and the other is “Primal Fight Gear” which is a street inspired MMA Fight Gear brand.

I understand you traveled throughout Asia, would you tell us about what you learned and your experiences?

I have traveled all around the world to learn Kung Fu, not just Asia. I have studied with different teachers in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, America, Australia and the U.K. The reason I travel is to study with certain teachers that I feel can add to my Kung Fu experience.

However out of all the countries I’ve visited, I enjoy China and Hong Kong most as there is more Kung Fu than I have time, I may be there to visit someone in particular, however I try to make the most out of my spare time and visit other schools and teachers, most teachers in China are very nice natured and are always open for a discussion on the subject of Kung Fu, which is something you don’t normally find so much in the West as normally ego gets in the way, as every one has something to prove.

How did you get into Wing Chun Kuen?

I had heard a lot about Wing Chun and I liked Wing Chun’s main objective “efficiency” the least amount of effort to achieve the maximum result. What a great idea, then I asked myself how I could achieve it.

I was talking with my friend and he invited me to meet his Wing Chun teacher and then my interest grew from there and has expanded into my 18 year Wing Chun journey.

Regarding Wing Chun, I know that you have studied different lineages of the art. What did you get out of the study of multiple lineages, rather than sticking to one?

One thing I have discovered over the years, researching and learning Chinese Martial Arts, is that no single Wing Chun system is better than another, as it’s all Wing Chun and so should all be based around the same core ideas’, if that’s the case different lineages are just different expressions of the same ideas, so how can one be better than another?

Therefore if you work the core ideas of Wing Chun correctly then the out come just comes down to the individual’s ability to express Wing Chun method correctly, Wing Chun simply put is the most economical way to control the centre.

What is unique about the training that you received under your sifu Lun Gai?

Sifu Lun Gai taught following strict rules which created the "Faat" a precise method of approach; Sifu said that Grandmaster Yip Man was very insistent about this methodology and so everything I learnt from Sifu Lun Gai had to follow this method.

The essentials of Yip Man "Foshan" Wing Chun are broken down into a layered learning method. This is a massive area to cover.

First you have to understand about why we need structure. Structure helps to achieve "displacement". There is a famous Kung Fu saying "A few ounces can move a thousand Kilo’s” To understand the relevance of this saying, first you need to understand how to create structure, once you understand this, then you can begin to learn how to influence someone else's structure, using a few ounces to move a thousand Kilo’s to do this you have to understand about rooting.

To create structure you have to align the skeletal system to be able to structurally maintain posture when a force is being exerted against you. This allows you to absorb the pressure by transferring the energy against you into the ground.

Using an aligned skeletal frame allows us the ability to utilize a minimum amount of strength or muscle creating Minimum effort; maximum results bringing together the Wing Chun frame.

Next we need a Wing Chun bridge referencing method, for three dimensional placement of our fighting tools, for correct understanding of height and width, to do this we use six gate theory, and Long-short bridge hands to understand structured depth. This creates an understanding of how to zone our body using an imaginary grid or matrix, so we know instinctively where the points of structure are for our tools, which in turn give us our understanding of shapes.

Shapes are expressions of structure so this is about how to understand our structure before trying to influence our opponent's structure.

This structure method is about occupying or maintaining space by taking your opponents energy through your aligned bridge into your body and down your legs into the ground, avoiding the collapsing or folding of your bridges. This is considered as solid energy, your body is now unified. Now you can take the pressure, you can force your way into an opponent’s center, a unified body attack or if you can’t handle the power of an opponent you could recover while maintaining your same space a unified body recovery.

The other way is to dissipate the energy. This method requires what is known as listening or sensitivity. This is considered soft energy, and ties in with the moment when an opponent tries to move a shape off centre. To hold the shape now requires the use of excessive muscle, and so to try to hold this bridge requires effort which means it is no longer structure, it is strength as there’s no spine or centre alignment for pressure. So if your Structure is broken you need to Dissipate, fold, Separate, Circle, Elbow pull, Snake plus lots of other energies.

Dissipation is not considered a structure but transitional, therefore it is energetic based. You can still attack as well as defend of this phase.

Often it’s thought that if you use structure then you can’t be mobile. This is incorrect; you first learn structure without footwork, then you progress your use of movement to the three body facings which are front body, angled body left, or angled right side body. This brings about awareness of waist.
To make sure that when utilizing the angled body tactic we stay within the realms of Wing Chun concept of simultaneous attack and defense we have to align certain parts of our body to that of our opponent's. This information is not exclusive to Wing Chun. All methods of Kung Fu should utilize this understanding as it is a common tactic. What makes Wing Chun different is that it can only use tools that reflect the concept of efficiency within this space. As Wing Chun employs fewer tools it needs to employ concepts, strategy and tactics to fill up this area instead.

Now you can add footwork to the knowledge you have attained so far. Foshan Wing Chun has a generic term for all the footwork - eight directional stepping, as you can imagine from the descriptive name there is a huge possibility of creating different body angles and lines through slight foot and body movement.

From each foot position we can still use front or side body angle positions; this is achieved by understanding waist and opposite core energy separation from the lower and middle body centers. In any stance and in any of the three possible body angles we still need to be able to maintain our position by taking the power from contact point through the body and down to the feet. The amount of pressure against us when we do this will be decided by range of contact, an example of range contact could be the difference between long bridge and short bridge and what part of the arm or even body is in contact - is it forearm, wrist or even elbow, shoulder, etc.?

All in all once you understand stance then the posture has to become alive and mobile this brings in to play the footwork. This gives rise to many possible ranges, angles and lines for defense and attack.

Wing Chun uses lots of different strategies and tactics, half are about understanding and the other half are flow related as the only constant you can rely upon in combat is change. So we need the ability to change and influence through being alive. This again shows the middle path.

Master Lun Gai told me that Wing Chun is the middle path and using the above information the middle path is what we are expressing.

Tell us a little about the concepts/principles/training of your Wing Chun system.

A concept is an idea or a theory, this is a developmental base we can use for our minds to direct our Intention. A principle is a fact it is nature made it can’t be argued this then is what we have to use to drive our concept a principle will be expressed by the body so we have to understand the concept “mind” to be able to express the principle “body” correctly.

Wing Chun being a conceptual art means that we train our base methodology around understanding concepts as concepts can expand, change and flow into each other where as techniques can’t expand as they are what they are singular expressions which make for a static action which has no life. The thing you have to remember is that change is the only constant that you can rely upon, so having tools that are able to expand and change means your tools are alive and adaptable which is why Concept and principle are so important.

What do you think martial artists can gain through the study of Wing Chun?

The question every Martial artist should ask is how do I understand how to achieve minimum effort to achieve my maximum results? This is the pinnacle of Martial arts, its called efficiency.

Wing Chun is the idea of efficiency, which is removing what isn’t needed; people from other styles could use Wing Chun to develop an understanding of waste.

How would you compare the effectiveness of your Wing Chun and what is commonly practiced as Wing Chun?

I wouldn’t want to compare differences or compare the effectiveness of the Wing Chun I teach to the Wing Chun others teach. I will just explain what I do and leave it to the readers to compare the differences for themselves, hopefully while keeping an open mind.

Do you think different styles of Wing Chun are important?

Yes, a style is an individual’s expression, As long as the understanding or system of Wing Chun is behind the style, then different people expressing Wing Chun can only be a good thing.

However if there is no understanding of the core ideas being expressed then this is not correct, this then couldn’t actually accurately be referred to as Wing Chun, this is quite common to see, which is a real shame.

What do you think is the goal of Wing Chun training?

Control of the centre with Efficiency “The Middle path”

Do you feel that you still have further to go in your studies?

Yes, of course. The day I say no to a question like this would be a sad day for me, I know the question and answer about what we are trying to achieve with Wing Chun but I couldn’t ever pin point the end of learning or trying to achieve it, as every day adds new experiences which just builds more to the whole, which in turn allows us to take a little more away.

Has your personal martial art changed/developed over the years?

Yes, of course, my Martial Art has changed.

I always say that “If you don’t know, it doesn’t exist”.

If you are lucky enough to have someone open your eyes and show you what does exist, then you are no longer in the ranks of not knowing.

Now you are no longer blind to the knowledge a whole world opens which you can explore, as you explore you gain new experience with new experience comes learning which in turn generates growth, growth creates change or a better word may be development, so yes if I hadn’t grown over the years then something would be very wrong with my understanding.

Martial arts nowadays are often referred to as a sport… would you agree with this definition?

A Martial art that has no competing therefore has no rules of engagement can’t be considered a sport; this would be because the art would be considered to have too many dangerous applications to be considered safe for competing athletes. This would be categorized more as self-defense.

A sport would have certain rules in place to try to maintain a certain signature look depending on the form of Martial Art competing this is evident if you look at different types of competition being Judo, Taekwondo, Boxing, Muay Thai or Cage fighting. The other reason for rules is to create a safe environment for participating athletes.

A lot of Martial Arts mix these two schools of thought and so are a blending self-defense and Sport, which as a learning method can compliment each other and work really well.

What is your opinion of MMA?

Great, I really enjoy MMA, It a great testing ground for the core skills found in Martial arts, in a reasonably safe environment. All Martial arts being Traditional or Modem are built on principle therefore if you understand your Martial Art you should be able to change the concept to adapt to the new environment in this case the MMA arena.

I have recently been coaching some MMA guys in Kung Fu skills to help improve their MMA, one of the guy’s who came to me, fights in Cage Rage this is held at the prestigious Wembley arena, London and is the biggest MMA event in the U.K and Europe, he just won his last fight against a top Russian Sambo Fighter.

I also sponsor some of the U.K’s main Pro MMA fighters so I know the MMA scene in the UK quite well, and so like I said I like MMA, it is a great sport and testing ground for core Kung Fu skills.

Pagoda Imports co-sponsored an event at Seni this year, what is your opinion about the International Chi Sau Open?

That’s right; Pagoda Imports Sponsored the International Chi Sau Open and Alan Orr was the promoter of the event,

Personally I like the idea of a Chi Sau competition; however this doesn’t seem to be the view of everyone within Wing Chun.

What I say to them is ask yourself this question: can Wing Chun and competition mix? The answer from a traditional perspective is NO! And this is quite true as we talked about sport versus self-defense earlier, so the people that oppose the Competition are in fact correct to do so, as it would be too dangerous to use Wing Chun as it should be used in a real fight with no rules.

But let’s step away from Wing Chun and look at MMA, Judo, Ju-Jitsu, Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Tai ect. These are also too dangerous to use in competition, so what is it they all do? How do these arts develop a competition?

They take the main core skills of their art and make this the main focus of their competition, then certain rules are brought in to make participating in such an event safe, This is why this part of their arts are referred to as the sporting sides.

The International Chi Sau Open is a sporting side of Wing Chun, if you see it like this, then how can you not like the event.

Traditional arts will need a modern take to commercially survive in a new world where combat sports are becoming more and more popular. So Some form of competition to give Wing Chun a modern take is a good idea, however this competition has only happened once so far so we, as with all things we have to sit back observe and learn so next time we can try to improve on the first event, as with all things it takes time to get it right, so it will take a few more attempts yet to develop the competition to something everyone is happy with, so the best thing every one can do is to try to support the comp in a positive manor so we as a Wing Chun community should try to make such a event grow in the right direction so we can all benefit form it in the future.

What general advice would you have for martial artists?

Ask the questions and then question the answers.

What would you say to someone who is interested in starting to learn martial arts?

Ask yourself what you want from a Martial Art, then do some research to find a place where you feel you can achieve your goals, follow up with some research about the club before joining, as there are a lot of charlatans in Martial Arts. Finally make sure you enjoy yourself.

What is it that keeps you motivated after all these years?

I just enjoy myself; I have fun and keep healthy, this makes me feel good, which means I’m happy, I’m quite easy to please.

What is-was your philosophical basis for your martial arts training?

Yin Yang

What do you consider to be the most important qualities of a successful martial artist?

Success is relevant to the individual, so my opinion has no meaning to this question. What one persons deem successful could be completely different to someone else’s. So therefore success is in the eye of the beholder, so who am I to judge.

Is there a book in the works?

Maybe one day, you can never say never as who knows what can happen in the future. But at the moment I am to busy with other commitments.

How do you tie in your work in Wing Chun and your professional life?

They are the same, so they are already tied together.

Tell us about Pagoda Imports

Pagoda Imports has earned its reputation for supplying the highest quality Wing Chun equipment available. We get all our products made to our specs, these are not off the shelf items, we pride ourselves on everything we do, this is why we continue to innovate, pioneer and improve every single thing we do,

Wing Chun is my passion so I want everything to be the best it can be, this is why Pagoda is seen as the standard bearer for martial artists seeking quality training products, and our designs find their way to nearly every continent of the world.

The craftsmanship of our products is second to none this is why we are described as the “original Wing Chun Company” by our customers.

To visit go to www.pagoda-imports.com

And about Primal Fight Gear…

Primal Fight Gear was born out of our desire to create a completely fresh approach to fight wear that wasn’t just skulls, skulls and more skulls; we wanted to produce designs that reflected our own style and influences that were inspired by the modern hip hop and graffiti movements. Our designs are raw, edgy and original, and capture the true essence of what Primal is all about. Sure we could have played it safe and produced the same old, same old everyone else was happy to keep churning out, but we’ve always been leaders not followers, and not afraid to stand where others fear to tread.

Primal continues to collaborate with some of the most talented artists and illustrators in the UK, to come up with our own flavor of designs that look equally at home on the street as they do in the gym. We continue to innovate, progress and impress with our own unique brand of MMA apparel and equipment that truly is Engineered To Fight……..

To find out more visit www.primalfightgear.com

Thank you, Hobbs Sifu for interviewing with us. You've certainly given us some great insights!

Thank you, Chu Sifu for interviewing me. It is always a pleasure to share information with like minded people who understand what Wing Chun is about.

Hopefully in the future more and more people will come to also release the benefits they can get from the study of Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Arts.

How may we reach you?

Sifu Mark Hobbs is Chief Instructor at the “Kung Fu Academy”, a certified representative for Grandmaster Lun Gai in the U.K and Australia and only certified representative for Vu Ba qui Vietnamese Wing Chun & TaiJi outside of Vietnam. He is a member of the Foshan Chin Woo Association and a former Close Quarter Fighting “CQF” adviser to the Australian S.A.S Regiment. And also a partner in Pagoda Imports the U.K’s largest Wing Chun supply company and Primal Fight Gear Street inspired MMA gear.

Tel: +44 (0)1342 315565   Mob; +44 (0)7793 134 223   Email: Mark@kungfu-academy.com

Web: www.kungfu-academy.com    www.pagoda-imports.com    www.primalfightgear.com