Meet The Team
Dave Richardson
Sifu Dave
Born in 1972, Sifu Dave Richardson began his study in Wing Chun in 1989. He switched to Muay Thai and Western Boxing when the school closed and there were no other Wing Chun schools in the area.
High profile work in the security industry at South Bank Parklands in Brisbane, Indy Carnival on the Gold Coast and various other sites from 1993 saw Dave engaged in Personal protection for:
- Celebrities and dignitaries
- Crowd control and armed services
- Hotel security and management
- Security dog handling and training (both dogs and handlers)
In 2007, he found a Traditional Wing Chun kwoon in Browns Plains and resumed the Wing Chun journey that had started years before. He continued his training until Sifu Alfredo Del Brocco stopped teaching in 2012.
Sifu Dave then travelled to Melbourne and met with Grandmaster William Cheung himself and was most fortunate to become his student. In 2016 he was graded to Provisional Master 3rd level in Grandmaster Cheung’s system. Grandmaster Cheung then went on to retire from public teaching and Sifu Dave was once again without a teacher.
Back in Brisbane, Sifu Dave was having lunch at a restaurant one evening when an elderly Chinese gentleman overheard a conversation about Wing Chun, and he asked who Sifu Dave trained under. This gentleman turned out to be Grandmaster Gregory Choi, who had also trained under Ip Man.
It was fate that this meeting occurred, and it was also Sifu Dave’s good fortune to be accepted as Grandmaster Choi’s final student.
This proved to be the moment that forever changed the direction and purpose in Sifu Dave’s life and opened up a higher understanding of the art of Wing Chun. Sifu Dave is continuing his training and studies under the watchful eye of Grandmaster Choi and is learning the teachings of Wing Chun Ling Tung Gong as passed down by Grandmaster Choi.
He is committed to ensuring the art of Wing Chun Ling Tung Gong is preserved for future generations and that the methods practised are effective and have been tested in a real-world environment.
SiJe Kamini
Kamini first began learning Wing Chun in 1998, and after a temporary hiatus, she found Kung Fu Southside in March 2015 and began her new chapter in Wing Chun training.
Kamini is now a closed-door student of Sifu Dave Richardson and has been studying the Wing Chun Ling Tung Gong system to further develop her skills. She began helping with the kid’s classes in 2016 and in June 2018 was promoted to become the kid’s kung fu program coordinator.
Kamini has a keen interest in the internal side of martial arts. Her aim is to continue her Wing Chun journey from a holistic perspective, encompassing not only the skills of fighting but also incorporating the benefits of mindfulness and overall well being which comes with Wing Chun Ling Tung Gong’s qigong practice and philosophies.
Kamini’s passion for teaching women was the catalyst for the introduction of Women’s Only classes in 2020. A focus for her has been expanding the women’s programs and delivering Self Defence Workshops for women and girls.
