Master Philip Nearing brings over 30 years of teaching and training Ip Man’s Wing Chun to your daily classes at the Philip Nearing School of Wing Chun. He began his study of this art in 1983 at Chicago’s first Wing Chun School with Steve Lee Swift and has trained on a daily basis ever since. He opened his own school in 1989 and has established a reputation for quality and professionalism that marks it as one of the premier academies in the country in which to learn Ip Man’s Wing Chun.

Master Nearing has been a student of Grandmaster Samuel Kwok since 1994 and is his senior student in the United States. Grandmaster Kwok is a direct student of both Ip Chun and Ip Ching, the two sons of Ip Man and is perhaps the World’s leading authority on Ip Man Wing Chun. When you train at our academy you will be directly linked to Ip Man’s legacy and have the opportunity to become part of the Wing Chun family and take your place in our lineage.

As a senior student of Grandmaster Kwok, Master Nearing has accompanied his teacher in his travels to Hong Kong and China and had the opportunity to train with his teacher’s teachers, Ip Chun and Ip Ching. He has also traveled far and wide to train and teach Wing Chun, from England to South Africa and throughout the United States. Master Nearing has also been the recipient of many honours, among them demonstrating Chi Sao with Grandmaster Kwok at the First World Ving Tsun Conference in 1999 and performing the Six and a Half Point Pole Form at the opening of The Ip Man Tong in Ip Man’s hometown of Fatsan. He has also been instrumental in the development of some of the first Wing Chun competitions in the United States. All of Master Nearing’s experience is accessible to you when you train at the Philip Nearing School of Wing Chun as is the opportunity to train with Grandmaster Kwok when he visits the Chicago academy.

In our age of information the martial arts are constantly developing and evolving. Master Nearing continues to expand on his knowledge by interacting freely with the martial arts community at large. He has coached MMA fighters for the Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Team and holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Professor Andre “Negao” Terencio. As the main thrust of study in his studio is the practical application of Wing Chun, Master Nearing feels it is crucial to explore outside of the confines of his own gym in order to keep his teaching methods current and effective. However, we are also firmly grounded in fundamental Wing Chun concepts and theory. As Ip Man said, “Wing Chun taught originally will remain strong.” We offer you a traditional martial art and real world effectiveness. We offer you traditional martial arts values in a friendly, professional environment. We offer you lineage and the opportunity to become part of Ip Man’s legacy and the Wing Chun family. We offer you a chance to be on the cutting edge of Wing Chun.