Biographies

Grandmaster Wan Kam Leung Bio

Grandmaster WAN Kam Leung was born in 1945 in Po On village in the Guangdong Province of Southern China. His interest in Martial Arts began at an early age and by his teens he experienced various traditional styles of Kung Fu in China. In 1959, Grandmaster Wan emigrated from China to Hong Kong. His older brother introduced him to a Kung Fu style called Wing Chun. Grandmaster Wan’s first teacher was YIP Man’s first disciple, LEUNG Sheung. In 1962, when the Wing Chun legend, late Grandmaster WONG Shun Leung, opened his own school, the young Grandmaster Wan signed up on the first day and quickly become a close friend of Wong Shun Leung. In 1969, Grandmaster Wan became an official Wing Chun instructor in his own right and began active teaching.

Since late Grandmaster Wong was a close friend and Wing Chun tutor of the great Bruce Lee, young Grandmaster Wan trained and exchanged martial arts knowledge with Bruce Lee when the actor returned to Hong Kong from America. The martial art talents became friends. At Bruce Lee’s request, Grandmaster Wan was invited to perform in a screen test with him, a few months before he passed away in 1973. Since then, Grandmaster Wan has been interviewed for several documentaries on Bruce Lee’s life.

In 1979, in order to increase the practicality of his Wing Chun Kung Fu skills, Grandmaster Wan went to Beijing, China's capital where he learned different styles of Qi Gong (Hei Kung) from various masters. Since the Wing Chun forms were developed hundreds of years ago, many techniques have been misinterpreted and become obsolete. Under his teacher’s guidance and support, Grandmaster Wan continued to test, compare, and improved the techniques he learned. In 1988, Grandmaster Wan was awarded the “Senior Instructor Certificate” by Grandmaster Wong Shun Leung, he was the only Wong Shun Leung student achieved such rank. With his outstanding Wing Chun Kung Fu skills, Grandmaster Wan was invited by the Hong Kong Police Force as the Chief Wing Chun Instructor for the G4 (VIP Protection Unit) in 1993. He was the only Kung Fu master ever employed by the former British Hong Kong government.

Since Grandmaster has modified the Wing Chun techniques he previously learned, it was necessary to give this modified Wing Chun system a name in order to separate his style from others. With Grandmaster Wong Shun Leung’s consent, Grandmaster Wan chose “Practical Wing Chun” in 1994 as the nameplate of the Wing Chun Kung Fu system he developed. After his teacher passed away in 1997, Grandmaster Wan established his own school and began teaching full time. His objective is to propagate Practical Wing Chun Kung Fu and emphasize that it is has been modified into a modern day practical combating art and the effective way to increase strength, self-confidence and all round positive health development.

To continue the legacy of the late Grandmaster Wong, Grandmaster Wan encourages Practical Wing Chun practitioners to approach their training in the most positive and realistic way. We should always practice the techniques he developed, test and compare them, prove or disprove them. We may discard the obsolete techniques when necessary, refine or improve upon them. Therefore, Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun Kung Fu is not only an art of self-defense, but also a product of continuous scientific analysis and development.

Master William Kwok Bio

Master William Kwok has been studying martial arts since 1979. He is Practical Wing Chun Kung Fu founder Grandmaster WAN Kam Leung's first Closed Door Disciple that has both completed the martial art system and taught professionally outside of Hong Kong.

Master Kwok established his martial arts school, Gotham Martial Arts, in 2007. He is the first Regional Director of Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun Kung Fu and the first official instructor in America. Master Kwok's contributions to Wing Chun Kung Fu and martial arts culture have been well recognized and respected. He has been profiled in numerous newspapers, periodicals and television networks such as New York Daily News, Sing Tao Daily, Wing Chun Illustrated, Next Magazine, Sinovision, China Central Television, and etc. In September 2014, he was honored by the Martial Arts History Museum in Los Angeles as a recipient of the Museum Honor Award for his excellence in the martial arts and his contributions to the local community. In December 2014, he was honored martial arts title/ rank "Grand Master in Wing Chun" and "7. Dan Menkyo/ Grand Master in Martial Arts" by World Personal Martial Arts Federation, a non-profit and voluntary organization.

Outside of the Wing Chun Kung Fu world, Master Kwok's experience was quite varied. He is a Master Instructor in traditional Taekwon-Do. He has also earned Post Graduate Degrees from Harvard University and St. John’s University. Prior to teaching martial arts professionally, he was an adjunct professor at The City University of New York and was a member of The Asian American/Research Institute. He also served as Market Manager for a major telecom provider."

Sifu Agostino DeSanti Bio

Sifu Agostino DeSanti was born and raised in Connecticut. Growing up, he studied Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Later on, after dedicating many years to playing football, he began to focus more on martial arts.

He began studying Jeet Kune Do in 1998, which is a martial art that Bruce Lee developed. Bruce Lee based Jeet Kune Do on Wing Chun and added aspects of other fighting styles like Boxing, Fencing and Grappling and Filipino Kali. Sifu DeSanti really enjoyed the Wing Chun concepts behind Jeet Kune Do and decided to continue his martial arts training, focusing solely on Wing Chun.

Sifu DeSanti began his Wing Chun training under Sifu Andrew DiGuiseppi in the beginning of 2012. Sifu DiGuiseppi was instrumental in developing Sifu DeSanti’s view on the concepts, theories and application of Wing Chun. This drove Sifu DeSanti’s passion further, to learn more and improve. However, due to changes in Sifu DeSanti’s work schedule and distance from his Wing Chun school, it became more difficult to find time to train with Sifu DiGuiseppi. With his Sifu’s permission, Sifu DeSanti began looking for places to train near his place of work. Sifu DiGuiseppi and Sifu DeSanti still stay in touch to this day and maintain a friendly relationship.

In the middle of 2013, Sifu DeSanti visited a few schools in the New York area, but one school kept coming to mind. He had attended a Practical Wing Chun Seminar earlier in New York and was intrigued with Grandmaster Wan Kam Leung, Master Kwok and the organization as a whole. However, being that PWC was so different from his previous Wing Chun training, he knew that if he began to practice PWC, he would have to start from the beginning and unlearn various things from his previous training. As Master Kwok said, “choosing a martial art is a very personal decision to make.” After serious thought, Sifu DeSanti decided that regardless of the challenges that PWC may present, Practical Wing Chun New York was the school best fit for him.

Early in Sifu DeSanti’s PWC training, Master Kwok noticed his determination, passion and work ethic. So, Master Kwok decided to train him as his private student, while giving him the mandate to start the first Branch of PWC under Master Kwok’s lineage- "Practical Wing Chun Connecticut Club." The club's purpose is to promote Practical Wing Chun and offer lessons in Connecticut to those interested in learning the system.

In January 2015, Sifu DeSanti began to openly promote Practical Wing Chun in Connecticut and the club continues to develop with success.

Outside of Wing Chun, Sifu DeSanti works in global markets. He has an MBA from St. John’s University in Rome, Italy. He also has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Italian and a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing, both from St. John’s University in New York. Sifu DeSanti is fluent in Italian and is currently studying Cantonese.