Ryan Gregory
From a young age I had a deep interest and connection with Martial arts. Like most young kids inspired by movies such as Karate kid, The 3 ninja kids, The Matrix, and action heroes like Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, Jackie Chan but mostly Bruce Lee.
From age 6 I started my Martial arts journey in various forms of karate (Kyokushin and Shotokan). With age I became more fascinated with the different styles. Desperate to do martial arts, the only styles offered at school was Judo and wrestling, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
At the age of 14, after being inspired by the movies, I started Ninjitsu, to find the answers I’d been seeking so long. With this I did my own research only to find that there was more to it than I was aware of. This led me on the path where I would read every book I could find. At 17, inspired by a movie the “Kick boxer”, I instantly fell in love and excitedly sought out the closest kickboxing school in my area. Only to find a close friend was a black belt instructor under sensei Eddie Cave. I immediately took to the art, and he led me to become the SA kickboxing champion medalist in my weight division in just over a year.
Then, as life would have it and I finished school, things got busier, thus leading me to put kick boxing aside but noticing there was something missing and cravingfor more.
After my studies, I joined a local gym to find that they offered a martial art known as capoeira, led by Nigel February. Unbeknownst at the time of what impact he would have on my martial arts journey, as he is the founder of Piper system. After about a year, I had relocated and had to stop training Capoeira. This put me back on the path of searching again.
I remembered finding a book of a very rare art called ‘Wing Chun’, and with my fascination I found out that my greatest hero, Bruce Lee, was a master of this style. A family member brought this style to my attention after my discovery of this book, that he had taken some classes and as fate would have it, at a social gathering I met my first Wing Chun Sifu. I attended the first available class and I remembered thinking that I’d finally found what I’d been looking for all along. I instantly fell in love and joined the IWKA family.
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Unfortunately, after 2 years the school closed and again, I had to continue my own research and self-study, until I could find a new Wing Chun school to join. For the next few years my senior brothers and I started training privately. This led me to take matters into my own hands and contact various international instructors and mentors. Learning from them all and training diligently.
After some time, I decided to go back to my roots and started to teach and train with Sensei Dewald at his kickboxing gym. Training alongside other martial styles like Muay tai and Jujitsu to hone my wing chun skills and teaching abilities. At this point Sensei Dewald and I decided to start professionally training in firearms and became certified firearm instructors and led training and seminars under “Blackwolf academy” and have done multiple security events and private security work for various companies.
At this point I got intrigued by the art of Kyusho Jitsu (pressure point training) and traditional Chinese medicine, and started diligently studying this art, whilst still cross training different styles to become a well-rounded martial artist.
This is where I finally met my sifu, Sifu Emin Botzepe from the EBMAS system.
With his teaching style connecting with me on a deeper level, I was fortunate enough to bring him to the first EBMAS seminar in Cape Town. He is one of the most inspiring and skilled instructors in the Wing Chun world. We have been conducting seminars and training for the past 10 years.
Furthermore, I have received training in:
- Latosa Escrima (weapons-based system)
- Amok (knife-based system) and
- Piper (an official South African knife fighting system, done alongside Nigel February).
- firearms training
More than this I have also completed my masters in Life Coaching, NLP and personal training. I am dedicated to deepening my skills and understanding on how to lead, inspire and transfer my skills and knowledge effectively to become the best teacher I can be.
Learning more and more about how martial arts connects to spirit, mind, and body,I am always humbled by how it
- calmed the spirit
- enriched the mind and
- transforms the body for longevity.
Within the body aspect my understanding of health, good nutrition and PT has come to great use to keep the body in optimal condition and to be able keep doing this passion for a lifelong journey for both my students and I.
As the meaning of being a true martial artist is to be a holistic example in life and in the way of a warrior, this should transcend to my students.
The motto I live by – “if an artist has his paintings, a martial artist has his students as his artwork”. I am dedicated to providing the best quality, effective and up to date education in order for them to become confident, disciplined and upstanding people whilst learning an effective life skill.
Thank you for taking the time to read what has been my journey
Looking forward to training with you!
Ryan Gregory