Sifu Steve Woodward

  In his youth Sifu Steve Woodward was an ardent bodybuilding fan. His initial interest was born out of a need to heal psychological scars that had been sustained from years of bullying at school. He found that improvement to his physique led to an increase in confidence which allowed him to come out of his shell. However this was not without it's pitfalls as it was not until he had trained in Kung Fu for some years that his close friends revealed that the bodybuilding had made him over aggressive and less approachable.

While on a holiday one year a violent incident occurred that prompted him to pursue some form of self defence training. As he had no previous experience of self defence training he did not much care which type of training that was and approached the local sports centre. As luck would have it a new Kung Fu class had recently started there and he decided to attend to see whether they would take him on as a student. After a demonstration and trial session Sifu Steve Woodward decided to begin this relatively new style of Kung Fu called Wing Chun

When he first started in 1983 it was the efficiency and simplicity of the style that initially impressed him allowing him to quickly learn how to defend himself if the need arose. Sifu Woodward showed great aptitude for the Wing Chun style and after several years of normal instruction was invited to train privately in order to attain instructor status. A couple of years later Sifu Woodward started teaching his own class.

After years of study and training, both in the classroom and private environment, Sifu Woodward realised that he had gone as far as he could with his then current instructor. He started questioning his ability and found he was reaching limitations with the information that he was being provided with. It became apparent to him, through reading and common sense, that there was a lot more to Wing Chun than he was being taught. Over time this resulted in becoming disillusioned with his teacher and he felt that the time was right to strike out and explore for himself.

His quest for quality instruction took him around the country and he tried several lineages of Wing Chun, as well as other styles e.g. Escrima.

It was a chance meeting at an Escrima seminar in Birmingham (with one of Sifu Shaun Rawcliffes' students) at the beginning of 1993 that led to Sifu Steve Woodward to the Midlands (Birmingham) Wing Chun Kuen. At this particular seminar Sifu Steve Woodward learnt that Grandmaster Ip Chun (eldest son of the late Grandmaster Yip Man) was visiting Birmingham to hold a seminar for his most senior western student and representative, Sifu Shaun Rawcliffe.
His encounter impressed him greatly and confirmed that all previous instruction, although technically correct, had lacked depth and understanding. This prompted him, along with his kung fu brother Sifu Akroyd-Jones, to approach Sifu Rawcliffe and ask to be accepted into the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen as students.

After 18 months of intensive private and class training, Sifu's Steve Woodward and David Akroyd-Jones were invited to teach for the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen. This brought the Cheltenham classes and students under the watchful eye of Sifu Shaun Rawcliffes large family-like association.

"Learning Wing Chun with the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen, and Sifu Shaun Rawcliffe, was the next logical path for me in a life changing journey. Ultimately that journey will end when I depart from this earth, but along the way my aim is to pass on the benefits that I have gained to my students. I hope that my journey is far from over, but one thing is for certain and that is that Wing Chun will ensure my journey is longer and much more fulfilling."   -   Sifu Steve Woodward