Loukas Kastrounis

Loukas Kastrounis is a third-generation direct descendant of Great Grand Master Yip Man through Sifu Wong Shun Leung. He learned the Wing Chun system with Master Nino Bernardo at the now legendary "The Basement" school of Wing Chun in London. Master Wong was better known as Gong Sau Wong—king of talking with the hands—and was Bruce Lee’s foremost Wing Chun teacher. Throughout the 50s and 60s Wong was undefeated in all of his challenges and recognised as one of Yip Man’s best students and as the foremost instructor of the legendary martial artist and film star Bruce Lee. Master Nino Bernardo was one of the few who had completed the Wing Chun system in Hong Kong under Wong Shun Leung. Loukas was also taught Kali Eskrima, Arnis/JKD by Nino Bernardo (whose Kali lineage comes directly from world-famous Bruce Lee student and Kali master Guru Dan Inosanto). Loukas has been teaching Kali and Wing Chun to beginners and seasoned martial artists alike since 1992. Many advanced teachers and practitioners of Wing Chun, Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido, Kali, JKD and boxing have taken instruction from Sifu Loukas. He has also provided specialist instruction to security firms, bodyguards, and law enforcement officers, including the military. In 2000 he choreographed fighting scenes at the Sonning Mill Theatre in Berkshire (UK). In October 2003 Loukas was presented with the Hall of Fame Award by Combat Magazine at an award ceremony in Birmingham UK in recognition of his commitment to the development of Martial Arts in the United Kingdom and around the world. He has been featured in a number of martial arts magazines and newspaper articles in the UK and abroad and has been interviewed twice live on BBC Radio Berkshire. In September 2008 Loukas played a leading role in an action-combat martial arts film "Game Over". This film was screened at various short film festivals around the world including the 2009 International Film Festival in Rome. The film won first position at the Tokyo Short film festival in Japan (2009), and second place in Hollywood, USA (2010). In 2012 Loukas was interviewed by several Greek newspapers and the magazine Rhodes Mirror. In 2012 Kosmos TV broadcast an interview with Loukas discussing his Wing Chun teachings. This proved to be very popular resulting in Kosmos TV broadcasting a half-hour documentary on Loukas’s work in 2013. In 2014 the BBC aired a documentary focusing on Loukas’s Wing Chun school`s in Reading, Berkshire . Loukas continues to teach Wing Chun in the UK and Europe, including to members of the armed forces. He is the Founder of the Martial Arts training school`s `Reading Academy Wing Chun -Kali Eskrima, Arnis, JKD at Reading, Berkshire in UK Est 1992 & Crete island, Greece Est 2014. He is also founder of the European Wing Chun Association and travels frequently to teach and conduct seminars around the world.