All are welcome
makes up Malaysian society, so the sessions are conducted primarily in English.
The students range from primary school children to senior citizens looking to add a spring to their step – Peterson adheres to the principle that nobody should be turned away provided they are willing to learn and demonstrate dedication.
The classes are run in a unique fashion according to Peterson, who says, “In Australia, my classes were always around 50-50 with regard to Asians and Westerners, so the balance is only slightly different overall.
“My method of teaching here in Malaysia has also remained the same: a mixture of formal, structured training sessions, and informal ‘Hong Kong-style’ training sessions.
“I believe that this blend of instruction brings out the very best from the students and with over 40 years in the martial arts, some 36 years of that as an instructor, this blend has proven to deliver the best results.”
According to Peterson, Wing Chun is easy to pick up, but takes a lifetime to master, and with even over three decades in the art, Peterson is constantly sharing knowledge with colleagues the world over.
Within weeks of beginning, one can expect to utilise certain key skills in real life situations, but to progress beyond that requires a sensitivity to one’s body and one’s mind that is not prevalent in other styles of martial arts.
At its essence, this is due to Wing Chun’s uniqueness as a conceptbased art as opposed to one where systems of execution are predefined according to scenarios.
“In a real fight, you don’t know what your opponent is going to do,” says Peterson, “and in Wing Chun, we let the opponent show us how to hit him.”
The best analogy would be that Wing Chun provides the practitioner with a set of tools, and it is then up to him or her to put those tools into practice given the situation at hand. For this to be successful, physical and intellectual competencies have to be developed.
This results in an art that is constantly evolving according to each person’s body and mind, which in some way explains the multitude of lineages of Wing Chun that exists today.
The future of Wing Chun is bright in Malaysia at this moment. Peterson speaks fondly about his students and the school, stating: “We even proudly represented Malaysia on the international scene by entering a small squad in the 2012 Ip Man Cup Invitational Tournament held in Foshan, China, in February of that year, returning with a bronze medal for our efforts.
“Most recently, we appeared in the documentary Wing Chun: The Art That Introduced Kung Fu To Bruce Lee, again proudly representing Malaysia and Malaysian Martial Arts to the world.”
In addition, Peterson says, “We’re even doing our bit for the Malaysian economy, with a steady stream of international visitors from all over the globe who are now regularly coming to Malaysia for intensive training in WSLVT for periods up to two to three months at a time. Malaysia is quickly becoming a key destination for Wing Chun instruction and that is something that I am very proud to be a part of and to promote.”
With his intensive schedule of overseas seminars, there have been students from all over including Pakistan, Britain, the United States, France, Qatar, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Croatia, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Holland and even Hong Kong coming to Seremban to train at Peterson’s school.
Local students have benefited from this international exposure, and with the training and instruction of such calibre and renown available, the art of Wing Chun can only grow and flourish in Malaysia.
For more information, visit wslwingchun.my.