Dedicated to Sifu Bernd Wagner
It's seems to have been a tough year for me losing people who have influenced me greatly and mean a lot to me. It is with great sadness that I announce that my si-hing (elder kung fu brother) and former trainer, Sifu Bernd Wagner has passed away. There are no details available to me as of now, but this is a great tragedy as he was still a man in his prime.
Sifu Bernd will always have a special place in my heart. For three years I visited his classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at Langenzell Castle in Germany. Each class was six hours, meaning I spent on the average 12 hours a week with Sifu Bernd. Despite the fact that I have changed many things about how I approach WingTsun since those days, Sifu Bernd's influence is without a doubt still in my WingTsun to this day. I will never forget my very first day training at the Castle as a 2nd student grade. Sifu Bernd was the teaching that day, a Monday I'm sure. I had already read up on all my trainers and heard many stories about their skills. A friend of mine from Hamburg named Nico told me how incredible Sifu Bernd was so I was actually quite nervous my first day. Nico told me some pretty amazing stories of things that Sifu Bernd was able to do.
When I walked into the training room, Sifu Bernd popped his head in and said in English "Where is the American?". I raised my hand and he introduced himself. He was wearing a WT cap and had a very friendly smile. When he demonstrated his techniques I remember having a huge grin on my face. I was so in awe of his speed and his very dynamic use of WingTsun techniques. I also distinctly remember him seeing my big grin and I felt like he was very motivate to show me what he could do. Not in a showing off kind of way, but in a way he knew I appreciated the amazing stuff he was showing. Perhaps the other Germans just don't show a lot of expression and I was the one with the giddy look everytime he did something. In any case it seemed to motivate him to always show really amazing WingTsun. It was a feeling that never left for the whole three years I was there. And while this might just be my emotional recollection now, I remember that everytime he showed something in a dynamic way, he would always look to me first to see my grin of awe.
It was also from Sifu Bernd that I learned a lot about how to be a good trainer and teacher. He would often take this as his theoretical topic. I still have pages of notes and handouts from my many theoretical lessons with him. I still refer to them to this day and have done my best to ingrain this in the instructors that I am teaching. Sifu Bernd's legacy lives on even in my own students who never met him or heard of him.
I am saddened by the fact that, despite being with him so much I do not have any photos with him. Before I came back to the USA to start my WingTsun teaching career, I will never forget what he told me. The words of advice he gave me were absolutely true and I think about it very often. I choose to keep those words he gave me private. I never did have the chance to say thank you to him for everything he taught me. I'm sure he would just consider it "doing his job".
This was on his website: „Viele Menschen kommen in unser Leben und verlassen es wieder spurlos, andere bleiben für eine Weile und hinterlassen Abdrücke auf unseren Herzen und wir sind nie wieder wie zuvor.“ Translation: Many people come and go in our lives without leaving a mark or trace, but others stay a while and leave a mark on our hearts and we are not the same as before.
Thank you Sifu Bernd. You were certainly one of those who left their mark on my heart.
Sifu Alex Richter
Sifu Alex