Chief Instructor Andrew Withford

Andrew first met Sifu Jim in 1998 and was so impressed that he knew without a doubt he was in the presence of a genuine master. He then began training full time under Sifu Jim doing the Certificate IV in Wing Chun Instruction. Having completed formal training as one of his instructors, he was sent to the Gold Coast as one of two instructors to open Sifu Jim’s Queensland full time centre of the International Wing Chun Academy.

He continued his training and tutelage under Sifu Jim and was promoted to State Manager of NSW and continued his studies, attaining a Diploma in Sports Coaching (Martial Arts). He has extensive experience in teaching, training and running a successful Academy.

After the sad passing of Sifu Jim and on the insistence of his current students he decided to co-found the Sunshine Coast Wing Chun Academy. His aim is to keep Sifu Jim’s dream alive of sharing and promoting genuine Wing Chun skills and knowledge.

Andrew established the Wing Chun Academy in Mooloolaba together with Maya Brown and it is principally due to his hard work and persistence that we have such a strong prescence on the Sunshine Coast.

Andrew is currently living in Darwin and instructing part-time at the Wing Chun Gung Fu School at Coconut Grove.

Instructor Maya Brown

In 1997 I walked into the International Wing Chun Academy in Sydney. With a karate background and a brief introduction to Wing Chun in Queensland, I was very attracted to the defensive capabilities of Wing Chun but was under the assumption that all kung fu’s were fast but not very powerful. At 87kg I held the pad for one of the senior instructors who was about 65kg as he demonstrated a one inch punch on me which resulted in me being knocked back a couple of feet and a sore chest even though I was holding a large kick pad.I signed up the next day and pretty much trained 4-5 days a week doing 2-4 classes a day. I was informed about there full time instructors course and since I was already training fulltime decided that being paid Austudy by the government to learn Wing Chun Kung Fu was an extremely cool thing to do.

It was during this time that I was offered work by Grandmaster Jim Fung and for the next 10 years worked, trained and taught Wing Chun for the Academy in all the major full-time centers of Sydney, Adelaide and the Gold Coast.At the invitation of Andrew and the desire for the relaxed lifestyle of the Sunshine Coast I decided to co-found the Sunshine Coast Wing Chun Academy. I will continue to train with the chief instructors of the International Wing Chun Academy and will pass my knowledge on to the best of my abilities, as I continue to develop mine. I know that this is what my Sifu would want me.

Maya is currently living in Darwin and instructing part-time at the Wing Chun Gung Fu School at Coconut Grove.

Instructor Kam Low

Kam Low has been training in Wing Chun for over ten years.Teaching and training full-time over a three year period under Grandmaster Jim Fung at the Gold Coast branch, Kam became thoroughly fascinated with Kung Fu and decided to travel to China to continue his training.He recently returned from a three year pilgrimage around mainland China and Hong Kong broadening his knowledge of the Martial Arts and Wing Chun Kung Fu.