Victor Kan's approach is favorable for beginners. I am very glad to have done classic Wing Chun before I enetered Wang Kiu's school. The reason why I left, was because of my studies as a translator, which drove me to Portugal. When I came back to Belgium, I decided to follow Victor Kan's advice of trying out other schools if possible to compare with his and see that his way of teaching is the best. Well, those who know Grand Master Kan, also know he is very severe in his teaching as well as not too modest in being good. I must admit, he is right when it comes to beginning Wing Chun.

I had Sifu Bruggeman as my regular trainer, but every two months GM Kan came to train us for half a day and take examinations. For me GM Kan is like a father figure. Severe, but with the right intensions. And severe he was; most of us were nervous and scared at some point (and I am talking about the adults in particular). But thanks to him I know the very important conditions and principles of traditional Wing Chun:

- Qigong is not something to toy with; this advice made me combine Yin Taichi with Wing Chun as counterpart. And after nine years you feel the difference! If you don't pay attention to your qigong cultivation, it drives you mad and makes you aggressive. Qigong must be mastered to control your qi. If you compare qi to something, anger is the best example. With anger you can do more damage, but this energy has been cultivated automatically through emotions. Qigong gives you the power to control it, thus boiling it up (Wing Chun qigong) or getting rid of it (Yin Taichi qigong).

- He is the reason why I have a firm Wing Chun stance/steps and why my kicks are strong while I remain immovable.

- He taught us to pay respect to Yip Man every training, since it was his sifu. By doing so, we respect the ancestors of the Fist of the Elders.

In the beginning I didn't see the use of getting pictures with my Grand Masters and Sifu, but now I guess I became sentimental to the fact that I never did. Especially Victor Kan. He shaped Wing Chun in my way of life. But nine years ago, I was still too young to know what impact it was going to have on my life.

I have my own training room now in China, where I pay my respects to Guan Yu, because he stands for the virtue of respect towards his superior. In the kungfu world it stands for the same respect between student and sifu.

Since 2004 I began the Foshan forms by GM Peng Nan (彭南大师) in China of Biu Jee (Biao Zhi), Wooden Dummy, Dragon Pole and the "Butterfly" Swords. The techniques and conditioning of the form reminded me of classic and severe training of GM Kan.
The Wooden Dummy form enhanced not only my striking precision, but also my qigong. The Dragon Pole rooted me stronger in the ground and the Swords refined especially my Kwan Sao (Geng Shou) and Biu Jee (Biao Zhi) form.

(V.Verhoeven)

His school guided me from Siu Nim Tau to Chum Kiu. I had regular training of sifu Wouter De Meier (with the supervision of Angelique Schellekens), but I only met GM Wang Kiu once, during his retirement in Rotterdam in 2003.

it especially improved
- my chain punch endurance
- my Chi Sao, and Siu Nim Tau drills

But I must admit that at some point I personally disagree with the Dutch school's approach of the art by forcing the art into wrong promotion.

The school in Belgium had a very good enclosed family atmosphere and attitude, and so do the schools in the Netherlands, but transforming and deteriorating the art into a cheap, easy to chew hamburger entertainment is so wrong. These words might sound disrespectful, but that's not my intention. I don't disagree with their teachings, but with what they let happen to the art. Two major reasons:

- Associating the art with sport federations and allowing ring tournaments to deteriorate the Wing Chun's art and principles. Tournaments have rules, Wing Chun not! Nothing of real Wing Chun is left in these tournaments: no thrusting to the neck, eyes, no bare knuckles for the one-inch-punch, no Ching Na nor Phoenix Eye, no elbow thrusts, no sweeps, no open hand techniques, no techniques aimed at the joints, no useful kicks at all? (to ankles, knees and under the belly), no real qi punches are possible because of the points system of hitting the most? It becomes kickboxing WITHOUT kickboxing roots or training! There is already a huge difference between e.g. MMA fights and streetfighting (cfr. Wing Chun Magazine issue 4), and if you are going to give gloves to the practitioner, what use was Chi Sao, Qigong or even Siu Nim Tao at all?
I do like this sparring technique approach in training sometimes, but tournament is a step to far. The idea might be nice, but fighting in the ring limits your Wing Chun, because you make it a habit to hold back, so when you need it the most, your "deadly" motor skills are not fully conditioned.

- Teaching the police in the art is a mistake for both parties.
If it would be secret service, or some branches of the army (like e.g. Navy SEALs get Wing Chun training), that would be understandable, but the police, NO! Teach them jiu-jitsu or kickboxing, and if really needed: don't CALL it Wing Chun.
Wing Chun is like a sleeping dragon. If you don't have to use it, don't. Ideal for self-defence, especially if you have a dangerous job where life and death is your ally or train it as a way of life. Practice it to be fully effective, as a sixed sense it should be able to kill in extreme danger.
The police have to handcuff and bring in culprits, not kill them. They have fire arms if needed, but if policemen are in short range Wing Chun distance, they usually have neutralized the situation already. Policemen don't defend in most cases, but hunt down. They don't kill, but bring in. Real Wing Chun can have a secondary place in a policeman's life, but it should not be his drill for the field in my personal opinion, even not a Wing Chun look-a-like.

Unless you could make a mixture with another martial art. But then again, don't call it Wing Chun. At least Bruce Lee understood transforming it, makes it something else! Wing Chun is a "pure" form and should be taught purely. What you do with it afterwards is up to you, but don't change what it stands for!

(V.Verhoeven)