COURTSEY OF KUNG FU CLUBWhile the recently formed Kung Fu Club does not maintain the stringent secrecy of Fight Club, it would not be surprising if it did since so few students know about the club. Junior Dave Weingeist, the club’s founder, is hoping to change that.
Weingeist created the Kung Fu Club last fall. After training hard all summer at home in Iowa in Ving Tsun Kung Fu, the particular brand of Kung Fu practiced by the club (it’s pronounced wing chun), Weingeist was encouraged by his Sifu (teacher) to start his own club here.
The club, which has about 10 members, is currently comprised solely of students but is open to all at Washington University, including faculty and staff. Most members of the club have little or no previous Kung Fu experience. Weingeist himself only began practicing Kung Fu last year.
The club’s development is aided by Sifu Robert Burns, the teacher who prompted Weingeist to start the club. Burns, a teacher at the Iowa City Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu School, travels to St. Louis with some of his students once every other month to spend time with the club here. On those months that Burns does not travel to St. Louis the club plans to travel to Iowa City to continue their training with Burns.
Burns is the great grand student of the founder of the system, Moy Yat. In between Burns and Moy Yat in the teaching lineage are Moy Tung and Moy Yat Tung. Moy Yat was trained by Yip Man, who also trained Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee.
According to the website kungfuomaha.com, the Ving Tsun Kung Fu system the club practices was developed over 400 years ago by a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui. Mui, “combined the best techniques available and refined them into an efficient and new Kung Fu system,” Ving Tsun. Thanks to Mui, Ving Tsun is known for its “efficiency and economy of motion.” It is also known as “the thinking person’s Kung Fu,” because it can be used effectively regardless of the practitioner’s build since the system is not predicated on physical strength.
While Ving Tsun Kung Fu was originally developed by Mui for self-defense, there are a variety of reasons people choose to practice it today.
“Most people initially train for self defense or exercise. Others are just looking for a way to meet people. I just love training and want to see where it’ll take me,” said Weingeist. “Plus it’d be pretty cool to kick some ass- it would be in self-defense of course.”
Fellow club member Ryan DePuit offered up a different take on why he began practicing Kung Fu.
“I never had any experience in Kung Fu or martial arts. Dave was always talking about it so I had to see what he was talking about,” said DePuit. “It’s just something different. It’s a break from school. You can just relax for a few hours.”
Presently, the club meets twice a week-once on either Tuesday or Thursday in Racquetball Court 10 of the Athletic Complex from 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. and once on Sunday from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Each session begins with the members practicing the different forms to warm up. After forms, they engage in two-man drills, practicing a particular skill or technique such as punching and blocking with a partner. The session ends with conditioning work. Normally, this consists of 1000 punches and 200 kicks followed by a repetition of several forms.
The club will travel this weekend to Iowa City to take part in two days of workouts. Schools from Omaha, Nebraska and Milwaukee, Wisconsin will also take part in the workouts.
Those interested in joining or learning more about the Kung Fu Club can do so by e-mailing [email protected].