ABOUT SIFU KUL RAI
Following in the Footsteps of Bruce Lee
Master Kul Rai (5th Technician) has a long-running interest in martial arts. From a very young age, he studied many disciplines. Like millions of people, the one and only Legendary Bruce Lee sparked his love for Martial Arts.
Sifu Kul Rai’s Beginning Years
SiFu Kul’s Father was a Karate practitioner for many years. This was his first taster of martial arts. This was a very good introduction to the martial arts world, like many others. Then as time went on, he explored other disciplines such as kickboxing, Budo and Kung Fu styles.
The Passion of Wing Chun
It wasn’t until he was at university that he had a chance encounter with a fellow Bruce Lee fan, and his passion for martial arts reignited. With an introductory Wing Chun session at the student union, it seemed destiny would lend a hand in helping SiFu Kul find his pathway back into martial arts training.
Practising Martial Arts
Fortunately, he found a club not so far from home that ran classes on a Friday night. But this was to conflict with the usual student life, but SiFu Kul’s focus was to learn Martial Arts, so he happily sacrificed his social life to study. With the classes being on a Friday night, they were quite sessions, so it would turn out that most weeks, SiFu Kul would end up having a private lesson. This proved to be a great steppingstone for SiFu Kul into the world of Wing Chun. Still, inevitably after just under a year, the classes stopped as it was financially not possible for the instructor to continue with the classes.
A Long-term Commitment with EWTO
After a brief break, SiFu Kul came across an advertisement in the local paper for another school. So, he decided to pursue this and attended. This was the organisation under which he would spend the next 15 years. SiFu Kul remained part of the EWTO organization led by Keith Kernspecht under Leung Ting WingTsun banner, gaining the title of the regional instructor of Essex, and assisting in running national seminars for the UK members. This also allowed SiFu Kul to travel throughout Europe to train with top masters and grandmaster, sometimes in the same day returning to England to teach the next day in class.
The Journey to Becoming a SiFu
He also achieved the rank of SiFu (meaning teacher in Cantonese) by producing more than 15 students to the level of Technician grade (2nd Dan Black Belt equivalent). In 2016, SiFu Kul realised that his time under the banner of EWTO had ended as he was no longer progressing and felt his growth had halted.
SiFu Kul Rai’s Meeting with SiFu Alan Paterson
This allowed SiFu Kul to look elsewhere for his training, and a chance meeting with SiFu Sergio would change his course. After the first meeting, SiFu Kul decided that IWKA would be the new home for himself and his schools. After visiting SiFu Sergio’s Master Student in Italy in October 2016, IWKA-UK was officially formed. SiFu Kul has worked tirelessly to help grow the IWKA in the UK to over 11 locations. In 2018, he ran into an old training partner with the EWTO, SiFu Alan Paterson. SiFu Alan had known SiFu Sergio since 2006, when he left the EWTO and worked with SiFu Sergio under the banner of School of Kung Fu, following the same curriculum as the IWKA. Sifu Kul and Sifu Alan built a great partnership in spreading Sifu Sergio’s teachings throughout the UK.
From IWKA to the Schools of Kung Fu
Then in mid-2021, after Sifu Sergio planned to move back from Hong Kong to Europe and establish an Institute for Chinese Martial Arts; in Madeira known as the Eternal Spring Institute, and among other disciplines such as Chinese medicine & Chinese Calligraphy this led him to rethink the structure of the IWKA, as it was more than Wing Chun Kung Fu the organisation was offering. And it was at this time that Sifu Sergio decided to change the IWKA to Schools of Kung Fu by IWKA. Making the first change in the UK by appointing Sifu Alan Paterson as National Chief Instructor for UK and Sifu Kul Rai as the National Chief Instructor for England. And in March 2023 both Sifu Alan and Sifu Kul were invited to spend a week training with Sifu Sergio at the Eternal Spring Institute in Madeira, where both achieved their next grades; 6th Technician for Sifu Alan and 5th Technician for Sifu Kul. They’re now continuing working to spread the teachings of Sifu Sergio under the Schools of Kung Fu banner and are set to become one of the largest Kung Fu organisations in the UK.
