Sifu Paul Wang

Thanks for your interest. As Chief Instructor, I lead the United States branch of the International Academy of WingChun (IAW) from our Headquarters in Berkeley, California. Since 1997, I’ve been honored to train as a continuous Private Student of Sifu Klaus Brand, IAW Founder and WingChun Grandmaster.

I’ll admit I was fairly sure but not fully convinced by WingChun up to my first decade of practice. My nature is skeptical, or perhaps slow and stubborn. So my eyes and ears, body and mind drifted to research other styles — from Wing Tsun to Ving Tsun, from Taijiquan to Baguazhang, from East to West.

However, these comparative studies eventually reinforced my belief in the logical basis and technical soundness of WingChun as Self-Defense. Resonating with the IAW community culture, I dedicated to specialize in, and someday master, the path of my Sifu.

My current certification in the IAW is:

• WingChun
• Escrima

• • Combat Instructor (2010)
  • WingChun Diploma (2011)
  • Sifu of WingChun (2013)
  • Fifth Technician Grade (2014)

• • Espada y Daga Level (2010)
  • Combat Level (2017)

That makes me the most highly qualified IAW representative in North America, but I’m still very much learning. For the last 18 years, my passionate purpose has been professional teaching and personal practice of WingChun and Escrima. Thus, I’m always reinvesting my time, energy and resources to:

• • Optimize my embodiment and expression as a practitioner
  • Maximize my empathy and effectiveness as a teacher

To do so, I draw upon my undergraduate work in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley including research experience in Bipedal Locomotion and Human Biodynamics (2000) as well as higher education in Chinese Medicine at FBU with a clinical emphasis on Channel Diagnosis and Meridian Theory (2004) and my Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM) from ACTCM.

I shape this diverse martial and medical knowledge into an accessible presentation of WingChun as a practical art and physical science of Self-Defense. It is an evolving process which I hope to transmit to you via my articles, classes and events.

Over the years, it’s been a privilege to teach WingChun in the United States as well as England, France, Germany, the Philippines and Taiwan. If you want to ask a specific question, request a Private Lesson or host a WingChun Seminar, feel free to contact me.