Throughout the years, Hong Kong has gone through plenty of martial art trends. Heavily influenced by movies, we have gone through the love of traditional Chinese kung fu, Taekwondo, Karate, Wing Chun, and the recently increasingly popular Muay Thai and boxing.
As of 2017, we currently have more than 150 operating Muay Thai gyms in Hong Kong. And as the law of demand dictates, we have seen a steady decrease of traditional martial arts gyms.
Yet, 51 year old Eric Wan’s love towards Shinkyokushinkai Karate* remains unwavered.
With a background Taekwondo, Eric first started training karate in his university days when he could not find any other place to train Taekwondo.
He recalls that in his first visit, he was brutally beaten by low kicks and had difficulty walking home. A week later, after his injuries healed, Eric returned to the dojo to learn karate. Surprised by his return albeit his beating, his sensei was impressed and taught Eric diligently.
Eric went on to contest in various tournaments and managed to medal second and fourth in two of those tournaments. Since then, he has opened his own dojo, obtained his third Dan in his black belt and trained hundreds of students in Hong Kong. Many of his students have moved on and become champions themselves.
This year will be his 15th year since he operated his own dojo in Hong Kong.
You may find Eric teaching at his dojo in Lai Chi Kok on Monday, Friday and Sunday.
Is operating the dojo your sole job right now?
No, it’s hard to make a living by solely teaching martial arts in Hong Kong. I work a day job as a full time interior designer.
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When was your most vulnerable moment? How did you overcome it?
Injury has been a grave problem for me. My knuckles are badly inflamed and swollen and I can no longer close my fists due to the pain. I have seen various doctors to try to treat it but I have yet to see any results. I am constantly on medication and a cleaner diet to remedy this.
I have previously also had knee injuries. Luckily, I was able to strengthen them by incorporating squats into my training, so as to enforce my muscles the area to be strong enough to protect my knees.
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What do you think sets you from different people?
I think as compared to other karate gyms, we are quite open minded, for example, we encompass yoga moves and fitness balls into our practice to increase our student’s flexibility.
How often do you train? Do you enjoy training? Why do you enjoy it so much?
I teach and also train 3 days a week. Sometimes I run during the holidays.
I love training Shinkyokushinkai because everything is very practical. To perform this art, you must be very strong and physically fit. You must have great endurance and stamina and with a heart which does not easily give up.
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How do you set your goals?
I try to set challenges for myself all the time. This year, I will try to obtain my 4th Dan in my black belt. For this belt test, you will normally have to fight 40 people to obtain the Dan, but because my health reasons, they have allowed me to fight 10 people instead.
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Do you read a lot regarding martial arts?
Being from Hong Kong, who could forget Bruce Lee, but I was an avid fan of “What is Karate” and “This is karate” by Masutatsu Oyama, our sport’s bible – they are as thick as the yellow pages and the details are amazing!
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How would you prioritize these qualities in terms for a fighter: stamina / technique / strength / speed / precision / distance management?
I would say stamina and strength are equally the most important qualities. In karate, we have a saying that “technique shall be found in strength” (技術在力量之中). I would then rank the importance of technique, speed, precision and distance management in that order.
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What exercises do you think are a must for competitive training?
Running and pads are a must. For running, you must do continuous running, inclined running as well as intermittent sprints. You must also train your explosiveness with pads.
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How many years have you run your dojo? Any unforgettable moments?
I have run my own dojo for 14 years now. My most unforgettable moment was when the landlord decided to increase the rent… haha.
What qualities do you look for in a student?
I always look for the students who are respectful and well disciplined.
But our art builds on heart, technique and body (心技體). We must have the modest heart and a righteous heart, well performed and polished techniques and a well trained and conditioned body.
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How do you motivate your students?
I talk with my students individually one by one all the time. I like to know them personally and guide them to the correct path.
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What is your philosophy of coaching and its relationship to education?
I think coaches should teach students skills in martial arts, but equally as important, we should also encompass teaching how a person should conduct themselves (品行). I truly treat my students like my family.
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What do you think is the most effective way to learn Kyokushin Karate?
To be patient and to keep training. When we first operated the dojo, we always had enthusiastic students calling us, eager to by their first Gi and to start training straight away. However, after paying our fees, I never got to see them ever again.
In a sense, not everyone is prepared to train, once they come, some may find out that sweating is actually not their thing.
Nowadays, I insist that all students must attend a trial before joining.
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What do you think about other martial arts? Do you encourage cross training?
I am very interested in training BJJ. In fact, when BJJ first came to Hong Kong, I attended one of their first seminars held by a Brazilian.
A lot of my students train other disciplines of martial arts outside of karate and I don’t mind them bringing back techniques from other disciplines as long as they follow karate’s rules.
What does it mean (for you) to have been a fighter?
I think there’s a lot of goal setting to be done when you’re a fighter. The process is of competition is fun, you are forced to motivate yourself and enjoy the game.
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What separates your fighters compared to other fighters?
I think our fighters are a very insisting bunch and just don’t give up that easily compared to others.
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Would you still consider competing at the age of 50?
Definitely, I shall be competing for my 4th Dan this year!
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What are you views on competition?
I personally think that everyone should try hand to hand combat, we do train a form martial arts after all. You can only understand how it works through combat.
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How many dojos in HK right now are practicing Kyokushin karate? Are there enough competitions for the students who want to participate? Should there be more?
There are 7 dojos which practice Shinkyokushinkai in Hong Kong. There’s one Shinkyokushinkai karate competition and one full contact karate competition every year. I feel that there are sufficient competitions for my students.
What do you think about kyokushin karate development in Hong Kong?
I’ve always wanted to teach Shinkyokushinkai in schools but there have not been enough coaches who are available at those time slots. It takes a long while (5-6 years) to get to black belt too, so that creates an additional barrier.
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Do you have a person who has inspired you in your life?
I love Bruce Lee, but I equally admire Kenji Midori, the current president of the WKO Shinkyokushinkai. This is because when he visited Hong Kong in 1999, he was very friendly and respectful towards us. He was deeply touched in our practice in the Japanese arts and respected our choice to practice their art as opposed to traditional Chinese martial arts.
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What is your philosophy towards your art?
To never give up. Your greatest opponent will always be yourself.
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If there was one move you had to learn, what would it be
The jump spinning back kick as executed by Benny “the Jet” Urquidez
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Have you experienced a breakthrough, and if so, what led to it?
They have a saying in Chinese which says that all power is derived from the ground (力從地起), it wasn’t until brown belt I fully understood the meaning of this. It was amazing when I was able to execute my full strength using correct posturing!
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What is your diet like? Do you try to avoid some foods?
I don’t try to restrict my diet in too many ways, but I try to avoid spicy and sour foods to prevent slow recovery.
In you view, which is the most important aspect of martial arts?
I think learning to tame a person’s character and conduct is the most important part of martial arts. To be honest, how many Bruce Lees can there be? Those are characters for you to chase your dreams. You must learn how to take care of your family and not just to care about the arts.
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Looking back at where you were when you started this journey, did you think you would come this far?
Not at all! All I knew was that I loved the sport and I just wanted to train, train more and improve.
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Your entire immediate family practices Kyokushin Karate, would you like your children to try other martial arts as well, if so which art?
My son is in secondary school now, I want him to learn BJJ when he turns 15.
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Do you have any interesting stories about your family and martial arts you would like to share?
My wife is an Asian and well as Hong Kong champion in Shinkyokushinkai karate, but even though she is only a few younger than me, she just refuses to stop competing! She’s told her family that she would be retiring soon but she just keeps going!
*Stemming from Karate Kyokushinkai originally created by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, the original Kyokushinkai school was subsequently renamed to Shinkyokushinkai Karate by his disciples in order to protect its unique identity. They stand true to the codes of Oyama Sosai who was against the professionalizing and commercializing of the Organization.
Today, Shinkyokushin is one of the largest leaders in full-contact karate, with 93 country members.
Since 2001, the president of the Organization has been Kenji Midori – world champion from the 5th World Championship (1991), who was also the last champion of the United Kyokushin.
Shinkyokushinkai Karate competition allows punches and elbows to the chest but prohibits punching to the head. Competitors are permitted to kick and knee any part of the body (excluding the groin and knee joints). Clinching is not allowed. If a knocked down opponent cannot recover within 3 counts, their opponent will be awarded a full point victory (Ippon-gachi)
Photo credits to photographer Wong Ka Lok
