Like everyone who knew him well, the news hit me completely unexpectedly and out of nowhere. That's why I'm only writing this now, after a period of reflection. In particular the EWTO national coach in Bulgaria, Master Stanislav Bagalev, GM DaiSifu Oliver König, of course his daughter Natalie and his Yiliquan Shifu Jimmy Heow, his son and myself had been in Plovdiv with him just before. As always, he was full of life, full of drive and exploration. Every second - as always - he worked on his concepts and principles, both internally and externally, in order to try them out on the next person.

Apart from my own shifu, Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, I have never met anyone who maintained this beginner's spirit of learning and exploration to the end. Both around 80 years old, they spent and still spend their time from morning to night refining their principle of martial arts, just like on the first day. So there was nothing to suggest that they would pass away so quickly, which came as a complete surprise a few days later.

We last met at GM Kernspecht's last seminar, then at his last official dinner and spent some private time late into the evening at his hotel. The photo is from that day. Just a week earlier, we met in Rheine, Germany, for another Hall of Fame award ceremony, where he asked me to translate for his Malaysian shifu.

But where did we meet for the first time?

Always aware of each other, it was my book 'Pushing Hands' that brought us together. In 2008, I outlined the inner principles of our Chen style Taijiquan for pushhands. Tactile sensitive principles instead of external techniques. This caught his attention and he was kind enough to write a foreword for this book, just as I wrote one for his book 'The last will be first'. Since then, we have met at his home in Kiel, in Hamburg or whenever and wherever we found ourselves nearby internationally. It also happened that I received a message from him at one in the morning and we chatted about inner concepts of martial arts until six in the morning.

He had no reason to do so and yet he let me in on many of the internal processes of his association's work with regard to his current Magic Hands, with which he expanded the EWTO to include the inner principles, as he had already done with the iWT.

Everyone is aware that he created a historic work for Wing Tsun. From my perspective as an internal martial artist, however, this last step in particular must of course seem to me to be the perfection and conclusion of his work. He created something that was so unique for the world of Wing Tsun up to that point: he closed the circle between a soft martial art and an inner martial art.

For this he gained my full respect not only as a friend but also as a colleague. I remembered him from the time when we didn't know each other personally as someone who was conspicuously critical of Taijiquan in public. It was all the more impressive when he himself began not only to train principles as we know them from Taijiquan, but was also able to officially recant his opinion at the time. Hardly anyone in his position is able to look at themselves critically. Perhaps more than any other Western master of the internal martial arts, I had the pleasure of always being protected and supported by him.

But there was something else very special that not many people could do: He himself was something very special. But at the same time, he also made everyone else feel very special!

Martial arts masters who have already achieved everything they wanted with their system very rarely 'start from scratch' and embark on a second search. They very rarely question themselves again and re-examine their entire system. GM Keith R. Kernspecht has done this in an exemplary manner, and it is precisely because of this that he has not only spread Wing Tsun worldwide like no other. In my opinion, he also raised it to an unprecedented level. So it was only a logical next step for him to bring his knowledge back to China the following year. Corresponding invitations and fixed seminar dates had already been arranged. Even if these can unfortunately no longer take place, the circle has now been closed and GM Keith R. Kernspecht leaves behind a complete life's work that places him in the ranks of the unforgettable forefathers of Chinese martial arts.

His sudden and completely unexpected death, albeit at an advanced age, which in no way affected him physically or mentally - the opposite was the case - reminds us of one of life's most important lessons: what you want to do in this life, do it now - just as he did day after day.

A great role model echoes in us and his legacy will influence generations.

Thank you GM Keith R. Kernspecht for our friendship and this immeasurable inspiration!
In memory of his wife Sigrun, his daughter Natalie and his entire family, but of course also the Martial Arts family,

Jan Silberstorff
Ps: He often just held my hand and laughed...