EXPERIENCE

Born in Clarendon Jamaica in 1965 Sifu Hugh Wilson first made Canada his home in July of 1979. His outstanding career in Martial Arts began at the age of 7 with a few inspiring books on the different disciplines of Martial Arts. By the age of 12 Sifu Wilson had begun what would turn into a life long dedication to the study of effective combative systems.

By age 14 Sifu Wilson had entered his first competition and began studying various systems of self-defence such as Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Hapkido, Jujitsu and Boxing. In early 1980s Sifu Wilson began studying Wing Chun Kung Fu under the guidance of Master Sunny Tang. Within a few days of training, he was convinced that he not only found his Sifu but Wing Chun would be his Kung Fu family for the rest of his life.

When asked why he chose Wing Chun as his Kung Fu family, he will often answer with the old adage “give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish you feed him for life”. By adopting the principles of Wing Chun Kung Fu, one can gain an underlying understanding of the necessary skills and reactions to protect oneself in any situation regardless of your age or body type.

In 1993 Master Sunny Tang introduced Sifu Wilson to the sport of Sanshou. Within a few months, Sifu Wilson entered his first National Sanshou Competition and later competed for Canada in his first World Championship in 1995. After practicing the sport of Sanshou for several years (to learn more about Sanshou please visit the Fighting Systems page) Sifu Wilson quickly gained an appreciation for Sanshou as the perfect venue to put into practice the principles of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Sanshou has also become Sifu Wilson's chosen practice ground to test his personal skills in the many disciplines that he has learned throughout his career. It is one of the only sports versatile enough to incorporate skills such as boxing, throwing, sweeping and grappling found in existing martial arts systems today. For this reason Sanshou became a natural choice as part of Sifu Wilson’s development.

"After learning the different mind sets required for training and competing, coupled with the various methods of training I've learned through travelling different parts of the world, it became clear to me what was necessary to be a confident student of martial arts". It was at this point that Sifu Hugh Wilson began incorporating additional training methods for Wing Chun Kung Fu and Sanshou that he teaches today.