The father of WingTsun in Europe and head and founder of the EWTO, Grandmaster Keith R. Kernspecht discovered his fascination for the martial arts and physical development early in life. Even during his school years, reading literature about the Asian arts of self-defense - which were scarcely known in Germany at the time - was one of his favorite activities. This absorbing interest, at times supported by private lessons from Asian instructors, was so intense that for a while the young Kernspecht even neglected his studies for the final high school examination. (Continued at bottom.)
Lineage:Yip Man -> (Leung Sheung) -> Leung Ting -> Keith R. Kernspecht
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Dr. K. R. Kernspecht had already begun freestyle wrestling, catching, Jiu-Jitsu and Judo (2nd Dan) at the end of the 1950s. These were followed by Kempo (2nd Dan), Shaolin Kung Fu, Shotokan and Wado-Ryu Karate (3rd Dan), Ko-Budo, Taekwon-Do, Aikido, Escrima, (Filipino stick and knife-fighting), as well as various Thai martial arts styles. In 1967 Kernspecht founded the legendary Budo-Zirkel, his own school, which was the first German martial arts club to include Chinese Kung Fu in its programme.
It was at the beginning of the 1970s, in the Chinese quarters of major European cities, that Kernspecht first came into contact with Wing Tsun. He made this still largely unknown martial art into the in-house style of the Budo-Zirkel - thereby embarking on a road which eventually led him to be called the "Father of Wing Tsun in Europe". In 1976 he became the first and only European to successfully invite the most senior Chinese Wing Tsun Master, Prof. Leung Ting, to Germany.
Today, Keith R Kernspecht is the highest-graduated WT-master in the world after his teacher Leung Ting, the German national instructor and WT Chief Instructor for the remaining Western World. He has introduced the Wing Tsun system to more than 53 countries. With more than 1500 schools in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alone, the European Wing Tsun Organization (EWTO/IWTO) which he founded and runs is easily the world's largest martial arts organization.
In 1999, in recognition of his research and teaching activities at the Bulgarian State University, Kernspecht was awarded the world's first doctorate in the martial arts.
