Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Feb 2, 2022

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK FEBRUARY 2, 2022
Good teachers and skilled
martial artists are often hard to find. In Grandmaster
John Di Virgilio, Wing Chun
students here and abroad have the best of both worlds.
By Bill Mossman WPhoto by
Anthony Consillio
natural at it. His lessons are always well-researched, well-structured and invari- ably well-communicated. And even in those rare in- stances when his words are insufficient at creating under- standing among students or strangers, he’s always more than willing to teach through action, too.
of Di Virgilio’s background in kung fu — approached him with a question. Specifically, it involved the 1-inch punch popularized by Bruce Lee.
very long because the short punch sent him sprawling over a nearby hedge, where he landed flat on his back. Thankfully, he was OK — although his ego was likely bruised.
For the Wing Chun grand- master and former president of Hawai‘i Wing Chun Kung Fu Association, helping oth- ers attain greater knowledge in the Chinese martial art is just part of what makes him tick.
Di Virgilio is constantly ap- proached by kung fu sifus ea- ger to tap into his vast wealth of martial arts knowledge and all unwilling to let this Wing Chun treasure pass them by. As a result, Di Virgilio often spends his time with teach- ers and students on the West Coast to far-away locales as Malaysia and Japan, where his application insights and keen ability to explain the system’s sets and forms are always appreciated.
other (sifus) and helping them out, but it’s only because I’ve found it most useful doing it Wthat way. I get to coach here and there and fill in the blanks wherever else there is need.”
hen it comes to teaching, John Di Virgilio is a
Despite Di Virgilio’s care- ful explanation of the tech- nique, the stranger refused to believe his words. So, the veteran teacher chose to take a more hands-on approach to the question.
As for his query about whether sufficient striking power could be achieved from an inch away, well, Di Virgilio wound up answering that question in quick and de- cisive fashion.
ing Chun is a cen- turies-old, con- cept-based system
Such was the case years ago when a somewhat cocky stranger — after having heard
The stranger agreed and braced for impact. Suffice to say, he wasn’t on his feet for
“I remember him tell- ing me afterward, ‘It didn’t look hard, but I sure felt the punch!’ ” recalls a chuckling Di Virgilio.
Little wonder why even in retirement, the 67-year-old
SEE PAGE 5
“I told him, ‘You know what? I’ll just hit you lightly in the center of your chest. You can tell me what you think about the punch, OK?’” recalls Di Virgilio.
“But, knowledge is for those who dare take the chance,” adds the former Jefferson Award winner and public school teacher, who retired in 2016 after nearly three decades of working for the state Department of Ed- ucation. “If you don’t reach out and grab it, it’s going to pass you by.”
known primarily for its heavy use of the sticky hands tech- nique called chi sao and for being named after a woman.
Understanding achieved. Lesson accomplished.
“I’ve never been one to ad- vertise myself,” says the low- key Di Virgilio when asked about his growing demand as a traveling instructor. “Sure, I’ve gone around visiting the
“It’s a very open-minded system in that there’s no one size that fits all,” explains Di Virgilio. “It’s not a fighting system in and of itself, but one that gives you a core foundation with tools to help