Page 33 - Martial Science Magazine Feb/2016 #13

openings come from the clever use of angles.
Both arts have very crafty methods of going
from a longer range to a closer distance from
which the elbow or knees can be used. Wing
Chun is known for being at it’s most effecti-
ve when the practitioner is close enough to
make contact with the opponent, “stick” to
their techniques and make counterattacking
or escaping very difficult. Simultaneous attack
and defense is a core principle of Wing Chun.
At close quarters, Muay Thai has its famous
clinch in which the elbows and knees come
into play. Muay Thai is also superb in changing
the distance to its advantage, from long range
to short and then exiting to a longer range to
suit the fighter’s intention.

Have a look at the following fight sequences
demonstrated by Master Kwok and Master
Airr and enjoy the techniques that Wing Chun
and Muay Thai have in common and the diffe-
rent and unique ways both arts employ them. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Both masters talk regularly exchanging ideas
so there will be more to come. Master Philip Nearing brings over 30 years of teaching
and training Ip Man’s Wing Chun to your daily classes
at the Philip Nearing School of Wing Chun. He began
his study of this art in 1983 at Chicago’s first Wing Chun
School with Steve Lee Swift and has trained on a daily
basis ever since. He opened his own school in 1989 and
has established a reputation for quality and professiona-
lism that marks it as one of the premier academies in the
country in which to learn Ip Man’s Wing Chun.

Master Nearing has been a student of Grandmaster
Samuel Kwok since 1994 and is his senior student in
the United States. Grandmaster Kwok is a direct student
of both Ip Chun and Ip Ching, the two sons of Ip Man
and is perhaps the World’s leading authority on Ip Man
Wing Chun.

As a senior student of Grandmaster Kwok, Master
Nearing has accompanied his teacher in his travels to
Hong Kong and China and had the opportunity to train
with his teacher’s teachers, Ip Chun and Ip Ching. He
has also traveled far and wide to train and teach Wing
Chun, from England to South Africa and throughout
the United States. Master Nearing has also been the
recipient of many honours, among them demonstrat-
ing Chi Sao with Grandmaster Kwok at the First World
Ving Tsun Conference in 1999 and performing the Six
and a Half Point Pole Form at the opening of The Ip
Man Tong in Ip Man’s hometown of Fatsan.

FEBRUARY/2016 33