Main Teacher Master

Founder of the IWKA

Sifu Sergio

Sifu Sergio started Wing Chun in 1987, studying under many Sifu in the Wang Kiu and Leung Ting System. He began the first of his yearly research trip to Hong Kong and Mainland China in 1997. Soon realising that a few annual trips to Hong Kong and Mainland China were not enough; he moved permanently to Hong Kong in 2007 to study the arts more in-depth. 

Today, he is the founder of the IWKA (Internal Wisdom and Knowledge Association), co-founder of the IWCWCA (International Weng Chun and White Crane association) based in Hong Kong and founder of the “Six Core Elements program” and the unique “3 Pillars Yang Taijiquan” curriculum. As a permanent resident of the former British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, he enjoys regular contact with “the last generation of real lineage holders of authentic Chinese Kung Fu”. 

From 2022 onwards, Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola, in collaboration with his master students Sifu Michael Rainer, Sifu Peter Caro and colleagues who run their own Wing Chun and Internal Arts associations like Sifu Sunny So (So Chi Kong), Sifu Kleber Battaglia, Sifu Yuri Morelli, will lend their expertise to all Wing Chun associations or individual schools that want to take a serious approach to upgrade their knowledge and skillset.

Founder of TWA

Sifu Yuri Murelli

Sifu Yuri Morelli, the founder of TWA (Traditional Wing Chun Association), an Association that embeds different traditional lineages of Wing Chun within it. During the last years Sifu Yuri is spreading his system throughout various parts in Italy, Europe, and South America.

Sifu Yuri Morelli’s first contact with Wing Chun dates back to the late 90s where he studied the Leung Ting lineage within the EWTO. To further and deepen his studies in the Leung Ting system he decided to learn and specialise the Hong Kong version of Wing Tsun, through Sifu Antonio Luciani, a private student of Sifu Norbert Maday.

Over the years Sifu Yuri did lots of research and visited many Seminars of renowned Sifus. He also participated in several seminars of his now good friend Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola. In 2014, he became a private student of Sifu Michael Tang and started the study of Tang Yik Weng Chun as handed down by GGM Tang Yik, the „King of the Long Pole“. At the same time inspired and driven by the amazing results obtained by his friend Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola, he decided to engage in the research of the so-called „Internal styles”. practicing Taiji, mainly the Chen and Huang lineages, finally deciding to focus on an in-depth study of the Wu style Taiji, under the guidance of Sifu Michael Tang, who studied with Wu Taiji GM Woo Shing. In 2019, through his friend Sifu Jesper Lundqvist, he has had the opportunity to train with Sifu Ku Choi Wah and, thus, to know and practice his version of the ancient Siu Lin Tau of the Cho family. Sifu Yuri is a great supporter of „Internal Wing Chun“. He strongly believes that completeness comes only through a continuous research in the various Wing Chun families: like pieces of a puzzle that were left to us by our ancestors and that we have the honor and the duty to try to put back together. Therefore, in 2022, Sifu Yuri Morelli joined the ambitious project of Sifu Sergio Iadarola “The Eternal Spring Institute”, a unique project offering a wide variety of programs with the aim of raising the quality level of Wing Chun Kung Fu and some other Chinese internal systems through a unique concept free of the chains usually put forth by associations. Aiming to bring back quality as close to the original ideas of the founders through the fusion of the exact and precise traditional transmission and state of the art teaching systems.

teacher

Sifu Kleber E. Battaglia

Half Italian, half French, Sifu Kleber started practicing martial arts when he was 9 years old with the Japanese art of Jiu Jitsu. From there moving on training Escrima, some Western Boxing, Indonesian Pencak Silat and ground fighting (Brasilian Jiu Jitsu), until he fell in love with Wing Chun Kung Fu.

In Italy, he had the honor to train the military police before moving and teaching Wing Chun in London where he met and trained with several of the more knowledgeable Wing Chun masters still alive in the UK. Finally moving to Hong Kong for almost 4 years to follow full-time Sifu Wan Kam Leung to focus on improving his Wing Chun by learning Sifu Wan Kam Leung´s practical Wing Chun system while also starting training the internal aspects of Chinese martial arts. In 2013 he decided to move to Shanghai to teach full time there and facilitate his research into the Chinese internal martial arts styles. Exploring and meeting with many of the most renown and knowledgeable internal masters still alive in China and around the world, most notoriously he studied:

  • Yi Quan with Sifu Yao Cheng Rong in Beijing (son of the official inheritor of the Yi Quan system as handed down from the founder, Wang Xian Zhai) and Sifu Xi Mei Wei in Shanghai (main student of You PengXi, first student of Wang Xian Zhai in Shanghai)
  • with Sifu De Wen he studied the ancient art of Emei 12 Zhuang and up to today, he is the only foreigner student to have studied the complete system
  • with Sifu Wang An Lin, he studied Wen Sheng Quan, an advanced Taoist Nei Gong and Qi Gong style
  • with Sifu Yun Yin Sen of Liu He Ba Fa (the style of Six Harmonies and 8 Methods, in Europe also known as the Taiji of Water)
  • through his friend Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola he also managed to study with Sifu Sam Tam, a very high skilled master of Yang Style Taiji and Yi Quan
  •  He also depended his studies in southern arts by training and gaining knowledge from styles like Fujian White Crane of Sifu Lee Kong and Chow Gar Southern Mantis from Sifu Ng Si Kai

In recent years he dived into some other lineages of Wing Chun when discovering the art as taught by Sifu Gwok Wai Jaam the Wing Chun that late grandmaster Yip Man was originally teaching in Foshan and he met also many other incredible masters of diverse Wing Chun lineages that helped him understand the art even deeper. Since 2013 he is also one of the main regular writer for the international martial arts magazine „Wing Chun Illustrated“. Since he moved to Hong Kong and China, he is one of the main historical researchers of the art of kung fu, having recorded short video documentaries and interviewing many of the different masters who represent the various lineages of kung fu around the world. Sifu Kleber is a doctor in Psychology specialised in „Learning skills“, a trainer in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and a certified AIS stretch coach. He also is the co-founder of his life-coaching company “Trinity” for helping people with their life problems, offering a new approach based on the mixture of Eastern and Western approaches.

He decided to join the “Eternal Spring Institute” of his good friend Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola as he believes with all his heart for what it stands for and for the potential it has for raising the quality of Wing Chun, Internal Wing Chun and several other Chinese internal martial arts.

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Sifu Sunny So

Born in Macau and moving to Hong Kong at the age of 9, So Chi Kong (Sifu Sunny So) began his martial arts training at 13 and has never stopped. He has been teaching Martial Arts in Hong Kong and around the world since 1976. He began training and studying the Weng Chun System under the late Grand Master Tang Yik at the age of 24 and became one of the last closed-door students of the late GM Tang Yik.

Sifu Sunny So is a rare Martial Artist in this age. Not only mastering the Tang Yik Weng Chun system but many other systems and styles of Martial Arts as well: Go Dan (5th degree black belt) in Goju Style Karate; 7th Dan in Shitoryu of Sensei Kenei Mabuni (son of the founder of Shitoryu-Kenwa Mabuni); 7th åDan of Inoue Ha Shitoryu Keishinkai. He is also the founder and board member of several international associations such as: Founder – International Weng Chun White Crane Association; Founder – International South Shaolin Weng Chun Kuen Association; Founder – Hong Kong South Shaolin Tang Yik Weng Chun Kuen Association; Vice Chairman of Jing Wu Athlete Association of Hong Kong; Honourable President of Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon & Lion Dance Association Ltd; Former Honourable President of Lung Moon Tai Chi Association and Founder & Chief instructor of the Karate Club in Hong Kong Polytechnic University.