Amongst remnants and rubble from the massive earthquake of 1999 and despite unemployment rates of over 25%, the Grecian spirit is alive and well in the students of Athenian Wing Chun instructor, Sifu Panagiotis Brebos , who invited me to Greece to share my knowledge and understanding of Wing Chun with him and his students recently.

Working at both his long standing school in downtown Athens and his new school in suburban Ano Liosia, there was no time for the Acropolis, ancient ruins or clear turquoise waters (next time, hopefully, ha, ha). Stances, footwork, partner drills to develop better sensitivity and reflexes took up most of the time.

But there was time for good Greek hospitality and food – always, food, and I certainly will need to increase my training when I return to Australia! Bougatsa for breakfast, loukmades for dessert and everything in between, meats, dips or seafood, indeed there was much warmth and friendship and information exchange over many a great meal with Sifu Brebos and his student, Sifu Yiannos Christoforou of Cyprus, who accompanied me to Athens to help translate.

The publisher of Greece’s martial arts magazine, Mavra Zuni (which means Black Belt), also came by to meet with me and interviewed me for their next issue. I will post the article and its translation when it is published, for your review.

A humble man and a great ambassador for Grecian Wing Chun, Sifu Brebos is a man I am happy to have met and I’m most happy to welcome him and his students into our circle of Wing Chun friends and look forward to sharing and training with them for a long time to come. I thank them all for the fantastic reception, warm hospitality and for the great fun we all had, training and sharing together our Wing Chun experiences!

Check it all out here, and you can find more information on Sifu Panagiotis Brebos and his schools in Greece here.