Karl learned the entire art from Ken Werner as his sole pupil and opened a public class in August of 1982.  Because of Ken's long arms, his chi sao had developed a "long bridge", offering an unusual and effective approach to a traditionally close-in martial art.

 

In 1984, Karl began exploring the parallels between Wing Chun and fencing. Bruce Lee had used fencing concepts and terminology as a model to translate Wing Chun theories into terminology easily acceptable to the Western mind. In 1987, Karl began formal instruction under the tutelage of Philip Gonzales, student of Leonardo Terrone. Terrone trained at the "Scuola Militare Magistale di Schirma" in Rome at the turn of the century. This method of fencing is significant because Terrone, an established dualist, emphasized a touch should be seen as stopping an enemy rather than just scoring a point. Terrone was considered a revolutionary of his time because he strongly felt fencers should be equally skilled with either hand. These two points make this particular branch of fencing especially suitable for Wing Chun technical analysis.

 

In the mid-nineties, Karl re-established his ties with his teacher's California roots by visiting the classes of Kenneth Chung. The classes in Sanford emphasize the soft approach of his teachings in their Wing Chun training. Karl visits Kenneth Chung's classes periodically and sends his students to California at every opportunity.