Sifu David Peterson, Sopor, and Sifu Benny Meng at the VTM

Sifu David Peterson, 45, has been training in the Chinese martial arts since 1973. He became a student of Sifu Wong Shun Leung after travelling to Hong Kong in 1983. Peterson is a speaker of both the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects, and principal instructor of the 'Melbourne Chinese Martial Arts Club' (MCMAC) which he established in 1983, and where he instructs in the "Wong Shun Leung Way".

Peterson is one of only two authorized and qualified instructors of Wong's system in Australia, and a fully endorsed member of the world-wide 'Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun Martial Arts Association' and the Hong Kong-based 'Ving Tsun Athletic Association'. Peterson translated for his teacher whenever Sifu Wong conducted seminars in Australia, and in 1996 was employed as script translator on Jackie Chan's "Mr Nice Guy" which was shot on location in Melbourne. He is also a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in many local (Australian) and overseas journals, including "Combat", "Inside Kung-fu", "Black Belt", "Masters of the Martial Arts", "Impact: the Action Movie Magazine", "Eastern Heroes", "Australasian Fighting Arts", "Blitz Australasian Martial Arts Magazine", "Traditional Martial Arts Journal", "Impact Martial Arts Magazine", "Qi Magazine", "Australasian Martial Arts Magazine", "Martial Arts Illustrated", "Ging Ving Tsun", "Kicksider" and "Kung Fu Illustrierte". More recently, his articles have featured on several international Web sites in both the English and German languages. A respected seminar presenter of the Ving Tsun system, both in Australia and overseas, in 1998 Peterson was invited to America by Sifu Jesse Glover, the late Bruce Lee's original student. Last year he traveled there for the second time to conduct seminars and workshops at the 'Ving Tsun Museum' in Dayton, Ohio, and to an enthusiastic group of Ving Tsun and JKD enthusiasts in Orlando, Florida. On the strength of the great success of those two sojourns overseas, Peterson is about to embark on his third seminar tour to the States.

David Peterson's first workshop at the VTM

Peterson has recently published his first book on his teacher's methods, entitled 'Look Beyond the Pointing Finger: the Combat Philosophy of Wong Shun Leung'. Peterson can be contacted by mail at: PO Box 150, Ivanhoe, Victoria 3079, Australia; by telephone at: 0407-043-303 (International: +61-407-043-303); or by e-mail at: dmp@cgs.vic.edu.au Further information about his School can be found at: www.geocities.com/omidshayan/opening.html