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The State University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria and the European WingTsun Organisation are cooperating to offer a degree course in "Sports Education specialising in WingTsun".  The "Doctorate in Martial Arts" is now a reality. At the end of April 40 pioneers began the new correspondence course, which they will conclude as Bachelors, Masters or Doctors, at Langenzell Castle near Heidelberg. Several times each year they will attend lectures at the State University in Bulgaria and at the WingTsun Trainer Academy in Langenzell Castle. The remainder of the course will be absolved by home study.
WingTsun (which translates as beautiful springtime) is a Chinese martial art which is growing in popularity in Europe. In the German-speaking countries alone the European WingTsun Organisation has 2000 affiliated schools and more than 50 000 members. Many WingTsun instructors have already turned their hobby into a profession and concentrate on teaching this martial art full-time. The new aspect is that this will be possible with an academic qualification in future.
The course of study is entitled “Sports Education specialising in WingTsun“ and probably represents the first opportunity worldwide to achieve a doctorate in the martial arts. The idea of establishing WingTsun as an academic subject originated with Dr. Keith Kernspecht, who brought this martial art to Europe in the mid-seventies and founded what is now the world’s largest professional martial arts association, the European WingTsun Organisation. “Practicing a martial art is regarded as good form in Japan, for example. Many managers quote Sun Tzu, but only very few know what they are talking about. We wanted to establish a practical course of study which encompasses the martial arts as a whole“, says Kernspecht, who holds the 10th Grand Master grade and is the world’s second-highest master of WingTsun. For a long time he sought a suitable cooperation partner with the necessary high reputation both in the classical sports disciplines and in the martial arts. Eventually he was successful in Bulgaria, at the world champion producing university in Plovdiv, where the martial arts have been taught for many years and WingTsun is also now recognised as an academic discipline. As exotic as the course may sound, it is not suitable for would-be Bruce Lees. “We take the subject very seriously“, says Kernspecht, pointing out the wide range of subjects studied. In addition to martial arts, the students will cover the classic curriculum of sports studies: light athletics, swimming, general anatomy, biomechanics, sports medicine and training theory, as well as modern trend disciplines such as snowboarding, golf or kite-surfing. Theoretical subjects such as nutrition, psychology and philosophy are also in the timetable, as are Chinese stratagems and “English for Martial Arts“. The students who started out on the first term at the end of April all have previous knowledge of WingTsun. According to Grandmaster Kernspecht this need not remain the case: “Previous WingTsun experience helps, but is not necessary. During the scheduled five years of the course it will also be possible for beginners to achieve their academic qualification.“ This not only means the first teaching grade in WingTsun, but also a doctorate in Kung Fu. Source: http://www.wingtsunwelt.com/artikel.php?id=959
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