Pascal Iadarola

Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola began his martial arts journey at the age of six in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, training in the Japanese art of Judo. During his early years, he competed successfully in several local tournaments, laying a strong foundation for a lifelong dedication to martial arts. In his teenage years, he expanded his training to include Pencak Silat (Pamur style) and Wado Kai Karate, further broadening his technical and cultural understanding of combat systems.

A lifelong admirer of Bruce Lee, Sifu Sergio immersed himself in studying Lee’s life and martial philosophy. Learning that Bruce Lee’s own martial foundation was Wing Chun, Sifu Sergio naturally gravitated toward this art. His early research included written correspondence with some of Bruce Lee’s first students, such as James DeMile and Jesse Glover, seeking insight into Bruce Lee’s personal martial development. At the same time, he actively explored Amsterdam’s diverse martial arts scene, visiting numerous schools to observe classes and train in a wide range of systems.

In 1987, Sifu Sergio began formal Wing Chun training under Sifu R. Vogel and Grandmaster Wang Kiu, a direct student of the late Grandmaster Ip Man who had immigrated to The Netherlands in the 1970s. Shortly after beginning his training, he encountered Wing Tsun Kuen by Grandmaster Leung Ting. Deeply inspired by the book and its systematic approach, he made the decisive choice to pursue the Leung Ting Wing Tsun lineage. Later that same year, he began training under Frank Schäfer, although his progress was temporarily halted by a serious car accident.

After approximately nine months of recovery, Sifu Sergio resumed his training with renewed determination. In 1994, he received his 1st Technician Level directly from Sifu Keith R. Kernspecht, Chief Instructor of the European Wing Tsun Organization (EWTO), in Aachen, Germany.

Between 1994 and 1998, driven by an uncompromising pursuit of excellence, Sifu Sergio traveled extensively throughout Europe. He attended numerous seminars in Germany and Italy with Sifu Emin Boztepe and undertook hundreds of private lessons with senior Leung Ting Wing Tsun masters, including Sifu H. P. Edel and Sifu S. Avci. These years of intensive study culminated in his appointment as Israeli Chief Instructor of the EWTO by Sifu Kernspecht in 1997–1998. This role required relocating to Tel Aviv, where he successfully established and operated a Wing Tsun school for approximately one year before leaving the country due to increasing political tensions.

Throughout this period, Sifu Sergio held a clear personal goal: to become a private student of Grandmaster Leung Ting. This aspiration was realized during a trip to Asia, where he met Grandmaster Leung Ting in Hong Kong. Under exceptional circumstances, he was accepted as a personal student, and arrangements were made for intensive daily private training.

Prior to relocating to Hong Kong, Sifu Sergio traveled to Zagreb to complete the unarmed Leung Ting Wing Tsun curriculum under Sifu Slavko Truntic, one of Grandmaster Leung Ting’s senior disciples. This ensured that his subsequent training in Hong Kong would focus on refinement and correction rather than completion of the system.

Between January 1998 and October 2001, Sifu Sergio received over 100 hours of private instruction from Grandmaster Leung Ting in Hong Kong and Shunde (Shun Tak). Concurrently, he trained extensively under Grandmaster Cheng Chuen Fan at the Leung Ting headquarters on Nathan Road, attending both regular and instructor-level classes. During this time, his relationship with Grandmaster Leung Ting deepened beyond formal training, including shared travel to Miami, USA, where further private instruction continued.

In 2000, Sifu Sergio completed and received final corrections for the entire unarmed Leung Ting Wing Tsun system directly from Grandmaster Leung Ting in Hong Kong—an achievement attained by only one other Westerner at that time.

In late 2001, Sifu Sergio traveled to New York to complete the Leung Ting Wing Tsun weapon systems: the Luk Dim Boon Kwun (Six-and-a-Half Point Pole) and the Bart Cham Dao (Eight-Cutting Broad Swords), under his Si-Pak, Fong Wai Hung (Alan Fong). He became the first individual ever to be taught the Bart Cham Dao by Sifu Alan Fong. During this period, he was promoted to 7th Level Practitioner in recognition of his skill, depth of understanding, and familiarity with recent curriculum developments from Hong Kong.

In January 2002, due to changing circumstances, Sifu Sergio founded the International Wing Kung Fu Association (IWKA) to preserve and promote the authentic Leung Ting Wing Tsun system as taught in Hong Kong. Under his leadership, dozens of IWKA schools were established across Europe.

As his research deepened, Sifu Sergio became increasingly aware that the Ip Man lineage represents only one interpretation of Wing Chun. He discovered that older and more complete Wing Chun and Weng Chun lineages existed in China, many of which contained internal components absent from most modern interpretations. This realization led him to devote the following decade to the systematic study of these lesser-known lineages.

He trained in the Lo family Weng Chun system under Sifu Cheng Kwong, successor to the late Sifu Wai Check Yan, studying Saam Bai Fat and Kam Na (Chin Na). He also studied under the son of the late Grandmaster Pak Cheung, a direct student of Tang Suen, in mainland China. Eventually, Sifu Sergio entrusted his European IWKA headquarters to senior students and relocated permanently to Hong Kong, later obtaining permanent residency. He became one of the first Westerners to successfully establish schools in both Hong Kong and mainland China.

To further deepen his understanding of the Tang family Weng Chun (Eternal Spring lineage) of the late Grandmaster Tang Yick, Sifu Sergio trained for several years under Sifu Tang Chung Pak, learning the Luk Dim Boon Kwun, the Weng Chun Kuen form, and multiple two-man sets. He later became a close student and personal friend of Sifu Sunny So, the final disciple of Grandmaster Tang Yick, who transmitted the remainder of the system to him through years of intensive private instruction.

Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola also delved deeply into the Sum Nung (Yuen Kay San) Wing Chun system, and researched the Gu Lao Wing Chun lineage under Sifu Fung Chun, plus studied Wing Chun ancestor lineages like Fujian Yong Chun Bai Hei (White Crane) system through extensive private training in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand. And Hong Kong. His research further extended to Vietnam, the birthplace of Vietnamese Wing Chun through Yuen Chai Wan, where he researched and exchanged with various lineage holders.

The final phase of his research into the praising Spring lineage culminated in the acquisition and study of the Wing Chun Secret Note as recorded by the late grandmaster Law Tai Wan in 1890. These writings document the absolute beginning of the system from around 1855 after the burning of the King Fa Wui Koon, from where the system was developed and where the ancient single set Siu Lin Tau from the end of the 1700’s was forged into the three-form structure of Siu Nim Tau, Chum Kiu, and Biu Tze.

The manuscripts and teachings of the Snake Crane Wing Chun Mun that Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola received from Sifu Wong Kwong Lun (Disciple of grandmaster Law Chiu Wing) confirm that early Wing Chun Kuen was a highly sophisticated internal system, with its origins in the ancient Single Set Siu Lin Tau which derived from the Fusion of some particular parts of Fujian Bai Hei (White Crane) and Emei Zhe Zhuang. The Snake Crane Wing Chun Mun indoor knowledge confirms that the system is at the very least comparable in depth and function to the northern internal Arts.

Diagnosed with a light form of Asperger’s syndrome in childhood, Sifu Sergio attributes much of his exceptional capacity for learning, systemization, and deep internalization of martial knowledge to this condition. This cognitive profile enabled him to complete the curricula of multiple lineages and attain master-level proficiency in several systems within a relatively short period of time.

Today, Sifu Sergio Pascal Iadarola is recognized as a leading authority and lineage holder on both internal Wing Chun (Snake Crane Wing Chun Mun) and Weng Chun (Tang and Lo family) dedicated to preserving, researching, and transmitting the authentic roots of the Eternal Spring arts.