29-06-2005:
Called by many one of the greatest events in the history of martial arts the first IWKA summer camp lies in the past and is ready to be repeated next year due to its overwhelming success. About 200 students and teachers got together the 24th, 25th and 26th of June in one of the most beautiful cities in the world: Rome. Where better to hold the summer camp than the city where the gladiators once fought.
GM Sergio Iadarola, GM Flavio Behring, GM Andreas Hoffmann added another piece of history to the eternal city as for the first time ever the three arts of wingtjun, wengchun and brazilian jiujitsu where taught together at one place and what an experience it was! Dai-sifu taught the bart cham dao footwork, unarmed fighting applications based on the highest wingtjun program and amazed the attendees with his new wingtjun influenced by wengchun system. The improved siu nim tau and chi sao programs were met with great applause.
GM Andreas Hoffmann awed the people with his deep knowledge of wengchun as he explained in detail the once secret footwork of the plum blossom and showed how it should be used in conjunction with several throwing techniques and as a special treat he demonstrated on the last day for everybody the favorite form of GM Wai Yan the Sam Bai Fat, the applause didn’t seem to stop as it went on for several minutes!
GM Behring showed why after more than 50 years of teaching Jiu Jitsu he is considered by many the encyclopedia of the art; armlocks, leglocks and special open guard body mechanics thrilled the attendees to the point where many expressed their wish to start with this amazing art which unknown to many also has its roots in the southern shaolin temple.
Other notable attendees included master Cesario di Domenico who assisted Dai sifu plus the two Grandmasters. Master Gianluca Romano who helped organise this amazing event, master Massimo Fiorentini, sifu Salvatore Constantini, sifu Franco Giannone, sifu Pietro d’ Alesio, sifu Lucio Riccio, sifu Emanuele Fracella, sifu Franco Mavillio. And of course not to forget the chief instructors from several countries who attended with their to-dais. sifu Alfredo from spain, sifus Henrik and Thomas from Denmark, sihings Taner and Graziano from Germany.
In fact we have to thank all the attendees for their contribution to this milestone in martial arts history. One thing was very clear: everybody who experienced the summer camp understood instantly why GM Sergio Iadarola changed the name of his association to IWKA-INTERNATIONAL WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE ASSOCIATION.
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- Rome 2005
