With over 25 years of training, teaching, and developing curriculums, Dr Bentley and the coaches are excited to share this knowledge with you from their Women’s Self Defense Courses, Mommy & Me/ Dads & Pads Belt Ranking Program, Advanced Close Quarter Combat (Wing Chun) Belt Ranking System, Qigong/ Meditation/ Balance, and Advanced Healing curriculums. Whether you are looking for self-defence, belt ranking, ring fighting, advanced street fighting, balancing, peace, grounding, enhanced brain balancing, mental focus, deeper thought processes, or even how moves work for choreography, there is something special for everyone in our systems presented in this body of work. Mr Pete Hardy with STW Krav Maga in San Antonio pointed out that some may not be interested in a belt ranking system. Still, everyone should be interested in self-preservation and protecting their loved ones through learning advanced self-defence.
There are three main reasons for the development of this compilation. One is to document and preserve this knowledge gifted to Dr Bentley that it may not be lost but rather be remembered, trained, and honoured for the life-transforming brilliance that it truly is and can be for you. It is easy to forget what is not written down. Two is to share this knowledge to preserve our Wing Chun system or its way of life and advance all martial arts systems through the advanced understanding of the human condition and kinesiology being shared here with you now. Third, this compilation is a supplemental guide for each of the students from online programs worldwide.
This information can be used by itself, with other martial arts families, and of course, in combination with Dr Bentley’s online courses. To better understand this art and advancing systems, please join the online community at BeachTownAthleticClub.com. Members have access to the private group pages for questions and answers. In addition, you can search for a local instructor certified in our family near you at FrancisFongAcademy.com.
The information in this book is presented in five different ways; visual, audio, kinesthetic, in a cyclic format, and an expansive nature to share it in its totality. Visual, audio, and kinesthetic are the three main ways we each learn. Each person has a primary method of absorbing information. The fourth way is cyclic. As we constantly tie back into lessons and concepts, so by the end, it’s not about learning to regurgitate information and then forget it, but rather it is about using this information to build upon itself continually. So by the end, you will have full working knowledge with references to go back to and review at your leisure. The fifth part of this educational development is to teach this information in its totality, so it is expansive and not limited by the author’s own filter. For example, in the Wing Chun system, there are 33 weapons. Based on age, agility, and athleticism, one may have my favourite 5-8 weapons. If Dr Bentley only taught or emphasized 5-8 weapons and their techniques, then the system becomes limited by my own filter or worldview. Yet, with the changes in age, agility, and athleticism, the 5-8 will change. Therefore, Dr Bentley teaches all 33 weapons and techniques diligently to their fullest potential so one can choose your 5-8 according to your age, agility, and athleticism. In this way, this system will remain forever expansive and not limited by ones’ ego or self-limiting view. All plans and bodies of knowledge are like this by nature.
The strength of the Wing Chun System is adaptability. Like Grand Master Yip (Ip), Man changed, updated, and refined Wing Chun in his time, so has SiGung Francis Fong and every master before them. Not only is Sifu Fong an expert in Wing Chun, but he is also the SE representative in the US for GM Chai in Muay Thai, a senior Guro under Guro Danny Inosanto in Kali, Silat, Jun Fan Gung Fu, and JKD, as it’s shared in his bio. With the combination of this level of mastery and knowing these systems so intimately, it is easy to see why the method of Wing Chun has adapted to deal with these other advanced systems.
Dr Bentley hopes to bring to light a more complete and expansive explanation of Wing Chun’s vast intricacies. Though many of these great masters have passed on, their teaching and wisdom are just as alive and powerful today as it ever was. Being so involved with these living legends and looking deeply into their nuances, it is clear to him that their mastery is in the minutia of the movements and the intention they hold in at that moment. They can make the unreal real and the seemingly impossible possible. Being in their presence is a gift and a glimpse of what we might become if we remain a perpetual students and drink from its depths. This is a beautiful compendium of work handed down for generations and enhanced by each generation. It is meant for intimate class settings and decades of a master pouring its beauty into the Sifu’s willing and eager pupil. It is the cumulative collection of great masters’ entire life’s work. Dr Bentley encourages you to seek out these great masters such as Sifu Al Zepeda, SiGung Francis Fong, Guro Danny Inosanto, Grand Master Ajarn Chai Sirisute, SenseiSensei Erik Paulson, Grand Master Nene Gabz, Professor Leonard Trigg, and Datu Kelly Worden. You will find two things they each have in common. One is, if you ask if they are a master of their art, they will say no, they are a student of their system, and they learn something new every day, and the second, each time you learn from them, your life is transformed, and your skills are catapulted to a new level.
Martial art’s true purpose is to develop this connection to this innate and universal natural order—the recognition of a universal flow. And it is being an active participant utilizing its beauty rather than fighting against it, allowing it to flow through you, as you are part of it. Perhaps. This is a perception and a witnessing.
It’s interesting if you read such timeless classics such as Sun Tzu’s Art of War or Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings, either they learned from the science, art, and philosophy of Wing Chun, or Wing Chun learned from them, or they were pulling from a similar source. Some scholars believe these works, like The Art of War, could not have come from one person but perhaps a panel of geniuses. Whatever the case may be, it is intriguing to see their similarities and the proficiency of their outcomes when appropriately applied. Wing Chun is an art of strategy. Wing Chun is not just motions – it’s a lifestyle. Wing Chun is about efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability, and results. We may both learn from the same source, but my Wing Chun becomes My Wing Chun. Yours will become Your Wing Chun. I may apply it differently, but we both get the same successful outcomes. Yet we must teach it in its totality so others can see its full beauty and take of it what they need now but have access to the mastery of its counterparts in the future. If you are reading this book, the chances are that you didn’t choose it. It chose you. Dr Bentley’s job is to share and train. It’s like drinking from a fire hose or learning how to swim in the centre of an ocean. Take what serves you now, knowing that you have a reference guide always to come back to and resources to get your questions answered.
In this book, you will find many deep and possibly new concepts. Some people may not agree with some of these bold, unknown concepts. For that, Dr Bentley has a contingency plan – try it. Put it into action, apply it, analyses it, even scrutinize it but try it. The truth is like a lion. It doesn’t need protection; it just needs to be set free. Dr Bentley has found many of these concepts, strategies, and techniques he had to grow into or develop into. Dr Bentley tries to take what is now helpful to understand their depth fully but always keep the rest. Acknowledging that he may not appreciate its wisdom now, but someday he may, and what a shame it would be that he would have discarded a priceless gem in my martial arts youth. Life is like this. We are each on a journey. Dr Bentley hopes this book serves you well. To help ensure that, in addition, Dr Bentley has made this book interactive with QR codes linked to videos to assist in learning and explaining complex thoughts, concepts, and application of techniques
