Vintage Michigan Wing Chun Do

From the Michigan Wing Chun Do Archives - The iconic yellow and red business card for the Fort Street Wing Chun Do school in Monroe, Michigan. Sifu Jim Clark was an unpredicable and memorable character, managing to make his students wonder, sometimes nervously, what adventure would be waiting for them physically and mentally, every time we entered his school.

Congratulations to Sigung Rocco Ambrose - Wing Chun Do Master

A great milestone has been reached in the history of Wing Chun Do in Michigan.  Rocco Ambrose was bestowed a great honor by his friend, mentor and instructor, Sijo James DeMile.  While friends, family, and students gathered at Ambrose Academy to celebrate Sibok’s 25^th Anniversary as a Wing Chun Do instructor and business owner, Sijo DeMile surprised his loyal and long time student with the new rank of Master (Si-gung) of Wing Chun Do.   

Sijo wanted to make sure that Rocco Ambrose, already named inheritor of the Wing Chun Do Gung Fu system, receive the highly deserved title that reflected his status as the leader of Wing Chun Do.  At first, Sijo was going to send a video congratulation to be played at the celebration.  But he soon realized that he needed to be here in Michigan and celebrate this milestone with his student. He unexpectedly made the arduous trip to Michigan which was a gift in itself to Si-gung. 

To the delight of everyone there, after bestowing the new rank of Master (Si-gung) to Ambrose, Sijo also promised to grant Sigung Rocco the highest title that can be given - that of Grandmaster.  “There can only be one Grandmaster of a system,” said Sijo DeMile.  “And right now, I am it.  But the title will belong to Si-gung Rocco once I retire or pass on. I will have a certificate already made and the date just needs to be filled in when the time comes, making Si-gung Rocco Grandmaster of the system.”  This acknowledgement and affirmation of Sigung Rocco’s abilities to lead Wing Chun Do into the future drew delighted and surprised gasps and thunderous applause from everyone there.

This was a day to remember.  A milestone had been set in the history of Wing Chun Do.  Everyone realized that they were witness to a very special event. It was an Olympic moment and Si-gung received the gold.  Congratulations Si-gung Ambrose!

Celebrating 25 Years of Wing Chun Do at Ambrose Academy

Congratulations to Sibok Rocco Ambrose who in November is celebrating his 25th Year Anniversary as an instructor and business owner of Ambrose Academy of Wing Chun Do. Ambrose Academy represents a milestone in the Wing Chun Do history.  It may not be known that Ambrose Academy is the longest continuous running Wing Chun Do school in the world. This distinction makes Sibok Ambrose one of the most experienced WCD instructor in the system. His dedication to teaching, innovating, and passing on this great art to whomever wants to learn is why Sijo James DeMile, the founder of Wing Chun Do named Sibok Rocco Ambrose as his Inheritor to Wing Chun Do Gung Fu.

Walking into many martial art studios might be an intimating proposition for many new students or anyone interested in seeking more information. But when you walk into Ambrose Academy you find something quite unique and unexpected.  After 25
years teaching Wing Chun Do, Sibok Rocco Ambrose the instructor has been learning too, on what it takes to create a great program and a welcoming "teaching" school.  As a business owner, he has learned what it takes to keep his business and school a success.

What you will find is a school and instructors that are as dedicated to the student as they are to the art.  You find an ally. You find support, encouragement, and unwavering dedicated to each student's personal growth.  You find an exciting and fun atmosphere where you can immerse yourself in the joy of "playing" and learning. And at the same time, learn an extraordinary reality based self defense art in Wing Chun Do. This winning combination is what has kept Ambrose Academy open for over two decades.

Congratulations to Sibok Rocco Ambrose.

Michigan Wing Chun Do - Searching for Self-Defense

More and more people are discovering Wing Chun Do here in Michigan.  Many have previous martial arts experience and may have trained in their younger days or stopped because of work, family, economics or a lack of time.  But when they are ready to come back to train again in the martial arts, they want more than what they had before.  They are looking for an art that will give them real self defense.

Many have already learned and garnered the benefits of martial arts training such as discipline, self-confidence, physical fitness, focus, and a sense of the body and mind connection. But now they are looking for more.  And although each art has a semblance of self-defense, there seems to be something missing, the confidence in that self-defense.

Wing Chun Do is the next step in a student's evolution.  It will help to explain, clarify, and apply self defense is the most scientific terms. Instructor - Sibok Rocco Ambrose, is a great teacher.  He is highly analytical, giving logical and detailed explanations, removing any doubt that Wing Chun Do works. He can explain all the "what ifs" away.

For so many that discover Wing Chun Do, the confidence in the self-defense, the thing they have been searching for, has finally been found.

Sijo James DeMile Arrives in Michigan

The Michigan Wing Chun Do Club at Ambrose Academy experienced some of the best seminars given by its founder, Sijo James W. DeMile.  Sijo DeMile's inheritor, Rocco Ambrose, in the hopes that Sijo's injuries would eventually heal enough to allow him to travel comfortably, gave Sijo an open invitation to visit Ambrose Academy school anytime he could make it.  This year was the year.

The Michigan school is the biggest Wing Chun Do clubs in the country in terms of membership and as a training center. Sijo DeMile saw a large turnout for all three of his seminars.  Participants came in from  London, England and Alberta, Canada, and around the Midwest.  Sijo enjoyed the interaction and camaraderie he felt with students and mentioned how impressed he was with their openness, their eagerness to learn, and the family atmosphere.

The first seminar offered insights on Developmental Meditation and was such a big hit with students that they didn't want the session to end, asking lots of questions on developing these valuable techniques.

The second seminar was on Wing Chun Do, the martial art DeMile founded. Again, another great turn-out which always offers great energy and good feedback.  The more questions that come up, the more everyone learns. Sijo made contact with every student there, discussing techniques and making corrections.

Sibok Rocco, a great host, arranged a party in honor of Sijo on Saturday evening.  Good food and great company. Participants were rewarded with many stories regarding Sijo's early years with Bruce Lee and the Seattle group. One of the party participants, unaware of Sijo's  background and the art's beginnings and seeing the crowd around him, turned to the person next to her and asked, "Is he a rock star, or something?"  The answer came, "Yes. Yes he is."   It was a good night.

The third seminar was Sijo's seminar on Bruce Lee's One and Three Inch Power Punch.  This seminar has only been given a few times with this much detail and in a seminar setting, and all of them have been here at Ambrose Academy in Michigan, definitely a great privilege.  After a few hours of hitting the "books" everyone had a good understanding of the punches and had the combat wounds to prove it.  Although the seminar was to be only two hours long, no one wanted to leave, so Sijo gave them over an hour more.  Students understood that they were learning from a master and wanted as much time as they could get with him. This was an awesome afternoon with a great teacher.

The Michigan Wing Chun Do club at Ambrose Academy knew they would experience a once in a lifetime experience. And they were not disappointed.

Sibok Rocco Ambrose and his wife Elizabeth know how to put on a great event, where everyone walks away smiling big, super satisfied and filled to the brim with new knowledge, new insights, and an experience that they will remember forever.

Innovator Bruce Lee - The Beginning of an American Martial Art

James DeMile, on the left front row

Sijo James DeMile, a martial arts icon with a devoted following, and has come to Michigan since 1984 and has conducted over two dozen seminars and camps, eighteen of those, right here at Ambrose Academy.   He continues to demonstrate why he is one of the most intelligent minds in self-defense. Students pull out their notebooks or turn on tape recorders to capture the immense information he shares at these seminars.

DeMile was a fighter, always in survival mode in his youth.  So he knows about self-defense.  In Seattle, Washington, he met someone that changed his life and gave him a whole new perspective on what self-defense was.  DeMile at the beginning of most of his seminars sets out to define what is a martial art and what is self-defense.

DeMile can speak with authority because he was present at the birth of a new type of martial art training in America. DeMile is among the original group of students of the legendary Bruce Lee, the martial arts icon who through his many movies, transformed how the world looks at martial arts today. Bruce Lee exploded onto the screen and the martial arts industry spread throughout the United States with the same velocity and ferocity that Bruce Lee exhibited in his movies.  He brought martial arts into the 20^th century and into the American pop culture.

But few could ever imagine that he was already transforming the martial arts years before he became a martial arts movie icon.  Even Bruce could not have been aware of the changes he set in motion when he first came to America and started teaching martial arts and training his way.  By revolutionizing the way martial arts was taught and how it was learned, he transformed martial arts from the traditional mindset to an every evolving and modern approach to self-defense.

How did Bruce start the revolution? 

It may have already started when Bruce Lee was a student of Yip Man, the man solely responsible for keeping Wing Chun, the very efficient and practical martial art alive. Yip Man bucked tradition when he began teaching Wing Chun to the masses. Before, tradition dictated that a martial art be passed on from family member to clan member or to only a few carefully selected disciples.

Bruce himself was not traditional by any means.  He refused to adhere to tradition of respect of elders when it came to the senior students at Yip Man’s school. When Bruce determined or felt he was already better than his senior upper classmen, he no longer minded them and wanted only to train with Yip Man.

When Bruce came to the United States, he did something that really went against tradition. He was one of the first to teach non-Chinese students. He gathered around him a group of men that came from all backgrounds and ethnicities.  He broke not only the norms of traditional Chinese social acceptance, but also American social norms of segregation. In 1959, at the age of 18 years old, he was a pioneer.

Bruce Lee began modifying martial art techniques; determine what were really useful, following three precepts taken from traditional Wing Chun: Simplicity, Efficiency, and Practicality. 

What was truly efficient, effective technique? How practical was the technique? What is the simplest way to achieve efficiency and practical technique? What made the technique highly effective? 

He had to modify the way he thought about martial arts and its effectiveness because of the men he chose to train with in Seattle  between 1959-1964. These American friends were much larger in height and weight. They were seasoned fighters from all types of backgrounds and possessed the aggressiveness and tenacity that he needed to help formulate his way of fighting. The Seattle group included black belts in Judo, boxing champions, highly aggressive street fighters, seasoned bar brawlers and other martial artists all very enthusiastic for the chance to learn kung fu from Bruce Lee, and eventually trying with all their might to hit Lee, but to no avail.

Bruce Lee discarded techniques that did not work. He decided that forms were too constricting to the mind. He believed in a more free form expression of technique.  He became the “John Coltrane of martial arts.”  Even today, many “traditional” martial arts retain certain techniques that admittedly do not work or are not very practical, but those techniques must still be practiced and retained because tradition must be preserved at all costs and the art never diluted.

Lee modified and experimented until he came up with a self-defense system that made him the best. He wanted to be unbeatable. The next step in his training was to make him stronger, faster, and more explosive. Bruce Lee was one of the first to cross train. He worked with isometrics, weights, and reflex timers. He was an innovator in the use of training equipment - using pads, focus mitts and heavy bags.  He transformed his body into a masterpiece of proportion, balance, tensile strength and athleticism.

Bruce Lee had an uncanny ability and understanding of biomechanics. He studied the human body and discovered how to generate power explosively and from a relatively short distance. The recent insights today regarding core strength and fast twitch muscle fiber, Lee understood and developed decades earlier.

He investigated other styles, always looking for insight about technique.  He was checking his premises and ideas to reaffirm his dominance and ability to defeat any foe. He had to understand what other people were doing, checking out the weaknesses and strengths in their technique and using it to his advantage. He had the ability to watch any fighter or martial artist and immediately show them how to make their technique work better.

By redefining martial arts under the concepts of practicality, simplicity and efficiency, Bruce Lee moved martial arts into the realm of real self-defense. He was always searching for the truth in techniques, their ability to get him to point A to point B and their capacity to disrupt the opponent’s energy. The truth in biomechanics to generate maximum power with the most efficient use of muscles and energy output and explode it into a target, to read the minute telegraphic signals of an opponent’s energy, to know when the opponent was going to move, their intent to move, thereby beating the opponent before he twitched the next muscle.

Many of these innovations are used in modern martial arts today.  Bruce moved martial arts to a whole new level.  Much like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, in their respective fields, Bruce Lee redefined what martial arts is today. He moved it from a traditional dogmatic state to scientific explorations of effective principles and concepts.

He wanted a career in the film industry and was laying the foundation. He learned what looked good on film and the limitations of film when recording his technique, his speed and power. He had to telegraph his technique so that it could be seen. He became a consummate fight coordinator. But what you see on film is only a small portion of Bruce Lee’s knowledge and abilities.

All these innovations were taking place years before he became a movie star. In his quest to be the best, he redefined what martial arts meant to him and to the world. From the age of 18-24 was the time when his philosophy, ability and innovations came together to point the way and propel him to success. His years with the Seattle group allowed him to test and retest his premises. He wasn’t teaching ignorant white belts. He was training and fighting with knowledgeable, seasoned fighters. And they above all people knew superiority and innovation when they saw it.  They felt it.  This is the ultimate compliment to Bruce Lee’s ability, when the bad asses of the world can’t get enough of what you have to show.  They were at the right place, at the right time.  The group of friends and students during this period of his life help lay the foundation work and were probably closer to the core of Bruce Lee’s discoveries than anyone really knows or wants to admit.

James DeMile developed Wing Chun Do, DeMile’s definitions and interpretations of what he learned from Bruce Lee.  The "Do" at the end of Wing Chun, reflects DeMile's honoring the modifications Bruce Lee made to his art of Wing Chun, thus "the way of Wing Chun." 

Wing Chun Do - It's In The Details

Loving the nitpicking details. Can't help ourselves, we're Michigan Mechanics, engineers,  technicians, and Midwestern.

Between Jun Fan and Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun Do is more than a just a link in someone else’s evolution.  It’s the missing link between Jun Fan and Jeet Kune Do. Wing Chun Do offers the details. While others schools encourage students to follow their own paths, to find their own way, to discover their own truth, this may offer a less than satisfying learning experience for certain individuals.  The “don’t worry, you’ll eventually get it” scenario with an unstructured curriculum, where a technique is shown once or twice and never seen again, is a real turn off for many people.

With a strong foundation in body mechanics, Wing Chun Do teaches those mechanics and the fine detail work that accelerates your learning.  You have a detailed curriculum, meaning classes will be productive and meaningful. There are no short cuts to learning an art, but techniques and drills are developed to get you on your way faster.  

I can give you a car and say go find your own way or path. You might eventually get there, maybe get lost a couple of times. The car may breakdown and since you know nothing about the car, you get stuck or have to rely on others. You might drive in the wrong direction for many miles and have to backtrack trying to make up for lost time. Eventually you arrive at your destination. It just took you a lot longer than you expected.

But what if I teach you how to drive first.  And then I teach you how to drive accurately and with precision at high speeds.  I give you a road map to help you get to your destination. What if I teach you how to achieve more power under the hood, how to accelerate off the line and go from 0 to 90 in just three seconds handling velocity and power with ease. You now thoroughly understand your machine. Then I teach you how to out maneuver and out perform the competition. By giving you the details, the fine conceptual details that other arts don’t offer, you get a thorough understanding of the art and how it works for you. 

And then I give you a compass.

Some think less is more, that you can achieve the end result without the details. That simplicity means fewer techniques. An accurate statement in terms of technique, but not in the conceptual learning of those techniques.  It's in the details, the conceptual details.  Detail work brings clarity, elevates quality, and offers complete understanding. You'll learn to fit the fewest techniques to the widest variety of situations, to fit the minimal amount of techniques to the optimum number of circumstances. 

Wing Chun Do has the details.  A punch can hit harder.  A strike or block will be more accurate and devastating. Your feet will carry the body efficiently, with balance, stability, and explosive power, and with the essential footwork that supports core strength and technique.  Hand speed is greatly increased, response times and decision-making shortened, biomechanics that are tried and true that work for everyone, even you. You readily recognize energy flow and how to utilize it to your advantage and against your opponent, and finally, how to generate explosive power whenever it is needed.


The finest artwork, textiles and sculptures are sought after as the most valuable precisely because of the detail work and technique involved in executing them.  The detail work brings out the quality, vitality, beauty, and science of any art.

So if the scientist in you, the artist in you, the engineer - mechanic in you, or the detail oriented person in you, needs or loves this type of learning, when you like to know the why and how of what you are learning, and you love a teacher like sibok Rocco Ambrose, that gives it all to you, then Wing Chun Do is definitely for you.

Come surprise yourself. It might just change your life.