Instructor Paul Hammond.
It was a Tuesday night, 8th June 1999 this was my first taste of Wing Chun. I entered the dojo not knowing what I was letting myself in for, there were a few guys lined up taking instructions, I was invited in and asked if I had any injuries as we were about to do a small workout just to get the blood pumping,
We were all then told to stand in the on-guard position, this was my first lesson, I was shown how I was meant to stand, I was told to stand in the on-guard position whilst the other guys went through some basic drills, in the past I'd always believed that no matter what martial art you may do it only takes one punch to take you out, this was soon to be proven very wrong, I was right no system make you indestructible but firstly you have to get near or even get a chance to get close enough to land a punch in the first place!
Punch left, punch right, side palm left, side palm right, then it happened Bil Sao left, Bil Sao right, left, right entry left, entry right, block left, block right these instruction were rattled out in quick succession, they were followed by the other students just as quickly as they were called out, I couldn't believe my eyes how could anyone move as quickly and effortlessly as I was witnessing. From that moment on I was hooked I had to learn this system, something inside me just clicked, this was the beginning of my journey into understanding the art of Wing Chun and the simplicity of the moves that have such a devastating effect when performed correctly.
