Traditional Wing Chun, William Cheung’s system, has always contained ground fighting techniques and concepts. I had my first ground fighting lesson in 1977, from David Crook, who studied with William Cheung in the late 1960s. Edit: I got a message from David after I first published this saying that back in the day William Cheung…
John Will Seminar 3 March 2019 – Escapes from Mount and Side Control
The seminar was held at Rick Spain’s gym, in Redfern. I was unable to attend as I was refereeing at a Machado kid’s Jiu Jitsu competition at the Northern Beaches PCYC at Dee Why. These notes were compiled by Matt Klein, with assistance from Pete McKay, and March d’Atalia. Excellent job. I can tell you…
Felipe Grez Seminar 21 Feb 2019
Felipe Grez is a first degree black belt. He is the owner and head instructor at Jiu Jitsu Kingdom. He has been training, competing and coaching for over two decades, here and overseas, including living and training in Brazil. He has an interesting Youtube channel, and is also on Facebook. (And maybe elsewhere on social…
Machado NSW Brown and Black Belt Day 3 Feb 2019
The day was hosted by Machado Jiu Jitsu NSW State Head, Anthony Lange and his wife Nikki, at Lange’s MMA, North Manly. Anthony unveiled his plans for a new competition format which should not require the same cost overheads and logistical activities that IBJJF format competitions with six simultaneous mats running do. Anthony’s format should…
MMA and BJJ and … “Streetfights”
I spend too much time on social media. One of my most onerous wastes of time is arguing on Wing Chun Kung Fu forums. Wing Chun is a style of Kung Fu, which I have practised pretty diligently since 1988. Following my Wing Chun instructor, Rick Spain’s, example, I also started practising Brazilian Jiu Jitsu…
Into an Alternate Universe with Rex King^
I first met the man I will call Rex King^ in, probably, 1979. He had a high profile in Kung Fu circles in Sydney back then. He had definite skills – plus a stocky, muscular physique with very powerful kicks. Great hair. I saw him break untreated weathered house bricks, taken from a nearby building…
True Story #15 – the Dragon Pole
I practice Wing Chun Kung Fu under the tutelage of Sifu Rick Spain. Wing Chun is a pretty minimalist Kung Fu system. Its standard curriculum consists of three empty hand forms, then a set of techniques to be practised on a specialised wooden dummy, though they can also be done without it – “Air Dummy”,…
Pedro Sauer Seminar 27 Oct 2018
The seminar was held at Higher Jiu Jitsu, in the City of Sydney PCYC, hosted as usual by Mestre Pedro’s Sydney representative, John Smallios. The seminar was pretty much all Pedro answering questions from seminar participants. While this blog describes “techniques”, he would want them to be seen as particular manifestations of more fundamental and…
John Will Seminar 7 Oct 2018 – Advanced Crucifix
The seminar was held at Rick Spain’s Red Boat Wing Chun Academy in Redfern. The crucifix is a variant of back control, with one arm trapped by your legs. The essence of back control is to keep your chest glued to your training partner’s back, and it applies equally here. This seminar assumed a basic…
Dave Camarillo 21 Sep 2018
The seminar was held at Higher Jiu Jitsu, in the City of Sydney PCYC, hosted by head instructor John Smallios. The seminar was no gi. The techniques are equally applicable to gi, MMA, and possibly self defense or law enforcement arrest techniques. Warm up Games and Drills Start from a wrestling crouch. Attempt to touch…








