Thailand Martial Arts Upgraded Lifestyle: Wing Chun in Bangkok

Ip Man’s Wing Chun in the spotlight

In the past few years there have been quite a few successful movies about Ip Man, a Chinese martial artists famous for his mastery of Wing Chun, a martial art that specializes in close-range combat. While the fictional Ip Man in the latest Hong Kong biographical film (2015) meets Mike Tyson in a fight, the historical Ip Man was actually Bruce Lee’s teacher.




Since the release of the first Ip Man movie in 2010, the desire to learn Wing Chun has spread throughout the world, and many schools have reported a surge in new students wanting to learn this infamous fighting style.

Bruce Lee practicing the sticky hands technique with Ip Man

Introduction to Wing Chun

The same holds true for Bangkok, where Kieren Krygier, a black belt Wing Chun instructor from Nottinghamshire, England, has been teaching this martial art for the last two years.

The 33-year-old sifu – the Chinese title Kieren’s students address him with – was introduced to Wing Chun at the age of 20, when he noticed a small poster advertising Wing Chun lessons at the local library in his town.

“When I walked into the class, I instantly noticed that all of the students were smaller than me in regards to muscle size, most appeared to be skinny and weak, including the instructor, who appeared out of shape and not able to protect himself if a fight was to occur. The instructor used me to be his demonstration partner and asked me to attack him anyway I felt comfortable. Being young and wanting to feed my own ego, I threw a fast hard punch to his head. The teacher simply controlled and redirected my attack while taking my balance and throwing me onto the floor,” recalled Kieren Krygier. “I will never forget that introduction to Winch Chun! 13 years later, I’m still studying and practicing every day.”

Sifu Kieren has studied many different systems of Wing Chun, including a direct lineage to Grandmaster Ip Man, studying privately with both Ip Chun and Ip Ching (Grandmaster Ip Man’s sons) in Hong Kong. The system he now practices is an internal system of Wing Chun, which is what separates itself from most other Wing Chun lineages.

Bangkok-based English sifu Kieren Krygier

Wing Chung from England to Thailand

Kieren chose to stop teaching Wing Chun in England and rather move to Thailand where apparently there is quite a big interest in Wing Chun. “People are interested in learning something new and how to defend themselves and Wing Chun gives them just that. The biggest obstacle for people here is time. They struggle to find the time to train and the Bangkok traffic can make this even more difficult making it to class,” explained Kieren.

Although sifu has practiced other fighting and self-defense methods too, such as boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he favours Wing Chung for it’s down-to-earth approach. He even competed at a professional level in Muay Thai here in Thailand! “In my Wing Chun classes, you will learn how to use techniques so you can apply them not only in combat but also in everyday life. It’s a very effective form of self-defense which can be used by both males or females of any size or strength,” said Kieren.

Outdoor practice in Bangkok

Benefits of Wing Chun

Apart from all this, Wing Chun is also a great form of meditation, balancing both your mind and body. Sifu Kieren promises to teach his students how to correctly meditate and heal their bodies using Qi Gong, the correct way to breathe, and how to calm their minds.

“Wing Chun is for everyone, it doesn’t matter if you are a complete novice in martial arts and have never taken a class before, or you studied other arts and have previous experience in combat,” reassured Kieren. “You will be surprised how much you can learn and improve your self-defense skills and most importantly improve your health and day to day life.”

Close-range combat

Misconceptions about Wing Chun

The biggest misconception about Wing Chun is that it’s just a form of fighting, and its main weapon is the infamous straight line center punch as seen in the Ip Man movies. Unfortunately, this is a picture painted by mainly Wing Chun schools and instructors who have not studied the full system of Wing Chun.

“When a student studies Wing Chun with me,” explained Kieren, “they will learn meditation, Qi Gong, internal body power, life skills, how to correctly punch, kick, throw and lock their opponent, Chin na, ground fighting, weapon disarms, combat awareness, Chi Sau, and much more. My system of Wing Chun teaches a lot more than just stepping and center line punches.”

Wing Chun vs other martial arts

What separates Wing Chun from other hard styles of martial arts is the fact that it allows you to become more powerful and efficient even into a very old age. “When I was training with Ip man’s sons they were both over the age of 70 and easily out skilled and over powered me,” admitted Kieren. “True internal power that is developed in Wing Chun does not diminish with age, the more you train the stronger it grows. This is the opposite of an external martial art; for example, if you lift weights to increase your punching power, then you stop and don’t lift weights again for another five years, do you think your punching power would still be the same?”

Practice Wing Chun in Bangkok

Wing Chun classes in Bangkok take place at Sukhumvit 77 on Onnut Road, very close to Onnut BTS station. To discuss your desired training schedule, contact Sifu Kieren at eliteselfprotection[at]gmail[dot]com. You can also visit his website or check out his Facebook Page.