Born in Darlington in 1963, Alan started on the winding road of kung fu at the age of nine under Francis Wong.
Being so young he had no idea what kung fu style he was studying but recalls that the main emphasis of training was self-defence.
At the age of fifteen he joined a class being run by Robert Tin who taught the Lau Gar style of kung fu. Sifu Tin emphasised the traditional side of training, the use of formwork both empty hand and weapons and breakdown of techniques. This was his first introduction to traditional training methods.
Due to work commitments he was forced to move to Cheltenham at the age of 19, where he was employed in the leisure industry. After work his first stop was at the local martial arts club run by Mark Wolf who taught a mixture of Karate and Lau Gar.
Alan trained with Mark for two years before he again had to move for work reasons, this time to Corby working for a construction company. After settling into his new job he went to view a club run by Alex Barrowman, which he joined.
Alex taught Lau Gar kung fu and a sport kickboxing, Alan’s training was again in the traditional section of that group and achieved the grade of Brown Sash around 1990.
Over a period of time the emphasis of the club changed with more and more time being devoted to the sporting side, for this reason Alan became disillusioned so began to look around for other schools.
Alan travelled widely viewing as many classes as he could; one of these journeys took him to Leicester where he sat in on a class being run by Sifu Derek Frearson.
‘ If it's traditional you should be able to trace your style back to the founder ’. The style being taught was Seven Star Praying Mantis which looked very impressive he liked the relaxed friendly manner of how the class was run and the results were there for all to see, a good group of skilled students.
At the end of the class he approached Sifu Derek with a whole list of questions.
‘ Everything he said impressed me, his willingness to talk about his background the styles he teaches, his past and present masters ’.
So many of the previous clubs he visited could not explain their lineage, there were Shaolin stylists who’s teacher had spent over 20 years at the Shaolin Temple but could not tell you the name of their style, Wing Chun practitioners who could not tell you their training background because it was a secret.
‘ If its traditional you should be able to trace your style back to the founder, and of course be proud of your heritage ’. Not only was he impressed with Sifu Derek's background he was also stunned at the prices being charge, reasonable class and membership fees and the lowest grading fees of any National Association he had encountered.
Alan started to train with Sifu Derek while still maintaining his studies in Corby until he became a closed-door student and would travel to Leicester two to three times each week for private tuition.
After he attained his Black Sash he opened his first class in Corby he recalls that it was hard work getting it going, but he soon built up the numbers and trained his students to a high standard.
His junior squad has been very successful in Forms competitions two of his students in particular have done remarkably well.
Sue Crawford and James McNeal have won over 170 trophies between them, his sparring group has also done well in various competitions including the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts
Qinda (traditional sparring) tournament.
The Corby school also practises the Lion Dance, which is an integral part of all traditional kung fu training, and as one would expect the team is very busy around Chinese New Year.
He has also had the opportunity to train with Sifu Derek’s teacher Master Lee Kam Wing on various seminars organised by the Association and to attend the closed door instructor sessions which Master Lee runs during his stay, Master Lee has also taught several mini seminars at Alan’s school in Corby.
On one of these occasions James McNeil was in attendance viewing the class, his hand heavily bandaged Master Lee asked what the problem was? James explained that he had put a pie in the microwave and of course now realised that it was in there too long. On taking the pie out and while lifting it up to his mouth, the pie burst open spilling bubbling hot gravy down his arm. His arm and wrist area were badly blistered and very painful, Master Lee removed the bandage and applied Wisest Oil (made by Master Lee) to the wound, after he finished he told James to apply the oil daily and what foods to eat and not to eat.
Within a short space of time the wound had heeled with no scarring.
An ardent promoter Alan now runs clubs in Corby, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Cambridge, Kettering and Huntingdon.
He teaches while still in full time employment evenings and weekends and now has over 200 students studying the three main styles as taught to him by Sifu Derek, Seven Star Praying Mantis, Wing Chun and Yang style Taijiquan.
The above schedule is obviously very demanding on time and energy, so why do it? ‘ I want more people to know about traditional Chinese Martial Arts ’.
Aims for the Future
‘ I think the future is looking good for traditional kung fu styles, people now have a much larger choice than when I started training. Take Corby for instance for years there was only one kung fu style there, now we have five I personally think that this is a good thing. Every traditional kung fu style has something to offer ’.
He now has his first group of students coming up to Black Sash level and hopes that eventually these students will open further branches within the Association and thus bring his beloved art to more people.
His next ambition is to travel to China with Sifu Derek to meet his other two Grandmasters and to see kung fu taught in its home base, with his dogged determination and love for his chosen arts this will be the trip of a lifetime. A traditional pilgrimage for a traditional man.