Ladislav Jankulár
To become a good Ving Tsun guy, first I had to find a good teacher".
Written by Jankular Ladislav
Born: 1976, Komarno, Slovakia
The beginning: I was introduced to martial arts very young, at the age of 10 started practicing Goju Ryu Karate. At that time in Slovakia this was almost the only style to learn. After some years of training I got into a conflict on the street. It was the turning point when I had to realize that Karate was not really the best way for me to learn how to defend myself. It was only a sport nothing more or less, having too many rules for real self-defense.
One day I bought a Martial Art magazine, and in there was a short story about Ving Tsun Kung Fu. It was very fascinating for me and I decided to find a school where I can learn it. It seemed that it is the best way to fight: no rules, different movements, no competitions and no grades. After a few weeks I found a Ving Tsun school close to my home and I started to train there twice a week. It appeared to be what I had been looking for so long time.
Every training was fascinating and it made me believe that this is the school for me to learn fighting. The dark side of the story is that I had to pay too much money for every training. After few months I had to take private trainings because there were such ''secret techniques” which cannot be thought in public. . .
Later I felt confident enough to try out what I had learned with my friends from other martial arts styles. It was a very disappointing experience for me finding out that these techniques did not work how we learned. Having no balance or distance feeling, no power in my punch, it was impossible to imply the exercises into a fighting situation. After few years I lost confidence in this school and decided to quit. Being still sure that Ving Tsun is a very good method but without a good teacher or a good school it isn’t working.
With my best friend, Szayka Robert we started to look for other styles. We thought that Ving Tsun is only one way to fight, but there are probably lots of other styles which can be effective on the street as well. We found a Kempo teacher in Hungary, and he started to teach us. We travelled a few times a week to Hungary just to train. It was very different from Ving Tsun, not just the style, but the whole atmosphere. Nobody was called Sifu or master, we trained together just simply as friends. I respected my teacher, he was one of the best fighters I have ever seen.
We were not just taught how to fight but we also learned to be always skeptical, to try out things and not to believe everything. There are for instance a lot of teachers claiming to have the power of secret techniques, but most of them had never fought. Kempo was one of the best stiles I have ever seen. Robert established the Slovak Kempo Organization, but I was convinced that for me Ving Tsun is the best.
Moving to Hungary, in Budapest I had found a small Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun club, which I never heard about before. First I went there just to watch a training, but that was not allowed, I had to try it out. The teacher could hit me many times, and I could not do anything. I was sure having found the Ving Tsun which works. Movements seemed to be similar to what I learned a few years earlier in the previous Ving Tsun club, but the whole system looked very different. It had logic, strategy, idea and every movement had a reason. They taught as to be as economical as we can. After the first training I was sure to be at the best school for me. I trained there for about two years, but needed something more. Then I started to read a lot about Wong Shun Leung and he mentioned many times that if we would like to be good Ving Tsun fighters, first we have to find the best teacher for ourselves and then we have to train a lot. I felt that I have found the style but I have not found the best teacher for me yet.
I really liked this club, I liked my teacher, but I needed more, better. And if someone is a good fighter it does not necessary mean that he is a good teacher too.
After that I started looking for Ving Tsun clubs around Europe and this is how I found the school of Gert-Jan Ketelaar. I wrote an email to him and he invited me to his school to meet and to get to know each other. It was the first time I saw how Ving Tsun can be used and practiced in a professional way. After the first training with his students I realized what it means to practice something in a correct way. There are many Ving Tsun teachers around the world, but actually I wanted to find the best teacher for me. When I saw Gert-Jan's students I immediately knew that I found my teacher. Most of his students are very good, of course it always depends on their ability, but everybody who learns from him many years have high-quality skills. Because Ving Tsun is not an easy system to learn, students need a really good teacher. For me Gert-Jan is the best teacher I have ever seen, and to prove that to me I just had to train a few hours with his students.
The other side of the story is that for me it seemed to be very difficult to travel to Hilversum and train in his school because I lived very far, in Hungary, Budapest. I decided to move to Holland for a while because it is impossible (according my viewpoint) to learn Ving Tsun if I train with my teacher for only 3-4 times a year. At least I have to built up a strong basics first, than hopefully it is enough to meet a few times a year. Actually it is still not the best way of learning, but we all do the best we can. My teacher and his students help me to come here and to learn in his school. I train six times a week in Gert-Jan’s school and what is more he gives me private lessons many times. 
He teaches in a different way from what I had seen before in other schools. Every student is different, so they shouldn’t be treated in the same way. He explains everything in many ways to the students, showing their week points and helps us to reach the next level of our development. His lessons are built up in a logical way, it help us to improve faster. Without Gert-Jan and the help of his students, I would not be here in Hilversum and learn Ving Tsun. I had met lot of Ving Tsun teachers before, but non of them helped me to learn if I was not able to pay enough. Gert-Jan was the first teacher who helped me and understood my situation. He gave me a chance to learn, I hope once I can be a good teacher and I can teach in the same way like he does.
August 2008
Jankular Ladislav