I was wondering if anyone here can elaborate on whether or not there are differences between the Leung Ting Wing Tsun taught in China vs the US?
Yak Sau and Bino have pretty much covered the topic. But here's
my fuzzy recollection, to be taken with a grain of salt:
When I was with LT starting back in 1980 here in the US, there were 12 student grades and
potentially 12 instructor grades, although at that time Leung Ting only held the title of
Grandmaster and the highest organizational rank of
10th Level Master of Comprehension .
Since then, having sold, ...er
promoted Keith Kernspecht the rank of
10th Level and title of
Grandmaster, Leung Ting assumed the higher rank of
11th Level Master of Almightyness. That was quite a few years ago. I do not believe LT has moved up again however, since the 12th Level was originally supposed to be a
posthumous honor!
I guess he'll have to be content with being
almighty for a while.
Now both these guys are
really accomplished WC guys, miles out of my league, as are their senior students. I totally respect their skill, just can't help myself poking fun at those over-the-top-titles. I'm the type of guy that even has trouble with the term
sifu, and feels more comfortable just being called "coach".
As far as the curriculum goes, LT had a simpler curriculum with form, drills, and chi-sau work for each level, moving into a number of choreographed chi-sau "sections" starting at the advanced intermediate level and continuing through the instructor levels. The first four instructor ranks (similar to Japanese "dan" ranks) were termed
Technician ranks, while level five and above were called the
Practician (master-level) ranks. To reach a level 5 rank would typically take at least 12-15 years of training, a lot of money for private lessons, and honestly, a very high level of skill. But even so, it did not mean you knew the entire system. I've talked with fifth-level "masters" who still had not learned the entire Bart Cham Dao form and applications (and neither have I).
As others have stated, Keith Kernspecht expanded the curriculum and developed the Lat Sau material. The Germans brought this material to the States in the late 80's. I was first exposed to this material by Thomas Dolniski and then by Emin Boztepe. In the early 90's Emin moved to the US and, for a while, ran LT's US organization, during which time the US branches began incorporating this curriculum. Around that time I stopped training WC for personal reasons, and consequently did not learn much of that program until decades later.
Anyway, after a few years Emin broke away to start his own EBMAS organization, and Jeff Webb of Austin took over the helm of LT's group. Jeff was originally my Si-Dai or "younger kung-fu brother" but had the unique opportunity to study with several high level German instructors, including Master Kernspecht himself, while stationed in Germany in the USAF. He developed remarkable technical skill, and when he ran LT's US organization he continued developing the Lat Sau curriculum in spite of LT's expressed dislike of these "funny movements".
Later, around fall of 2007, he also split from LT and now runs his own organization, the NVTO. I resumed my study of the martial art the same year, and because of my friendship and respect for Master Webb, began training with him at that time. And, yes, now I
do teach a slightly modified version of the Lat Sau program and really enjoy it. And a note to KPM. I can't speak for others, but my passion for Escrima has absolutely influenced some of my Lat Sau, so yes, you will find some hubud-like sections in there!
