In memory of Sifu Michele Chiovetta

Michele Sifu Rosario Chiovetta was born in Catania on May 8st, 1963. He has always been passionate about martial arts and combat sports, as a boy and for many years he practiced judo also participating in national competitions.

In 2007 he met Sifu Luca Damante in Catania for a private lesson and from that moment he began his practice of Wing Tsun.

That first private lesson was the beginning of a great and fruitful journey between a student and his teacher.

Since then, Michele has never stopped practicing the discipline, following the development of WT in Sicily and following his teacher wherever he went, at the end of 2007 Michele follows his Sifu who from the WTOI enters the Awta, where after a few years he becomes first assistant, then instructor and in 2019 he obtains the title of Sifu and for his seriousness and his constant commitment he becomes responsible for the schools of Catania and the Province.

Michele during the years of practice has always shown a deep respect and admiration towards his Sifu and was always present in everything that concerned Wing Tsun, following Sifu Damante on various trips for demonstrations and seminars, in Italy and abroad, even going twice to the United States (New York 2014 and Washington 2017) to carry forward our way of understanding WT and the art of self-defense, someone even underlined “where there is Sifu Damante there is Michele Chiovetta”, this is because he never missed a Wing Tsun appointment wherever it took place.

Michele with his behavior, his honesty, his sense of duty to discipline managed to create a relationship with his Sifu and his companions that was an example for many, he was even the envy of some masters, because not everyone can establish honest and truly respectful relationships with their Sifu and vice versa with their students and have a person at their side in whom they can place total trust, it is not for everyone and it is not a given.

Michele with his Sifu represented the perfect union that can exist between a student and their teacher, always maintaining great mutual respect, great esteem and complicity.

In August 2023 Michele discovered he had a serious illness, from there everything changed, there was another battle to fight, there was a fight for life. The student, the assistant, the Friend, Sifu Michele, finds himself face to face with an enemy never encountered before, we had only heard about it, it is called Cancer. Michele with his usual courage accepts the challenge, this distances him a bit from the usual practice of WT, but does not distance him from his own Si fu and from the relationship with his companions and colleagues, yes, because Michele in Wing Tsun had found a lifestyle, had built healthy relationships based on respect, on Friendship, on mutual trust and on the courage necessary to pursue this noble goal, making his voice and his beliefs heard on several occasions.

Often during conversations, in the last period, we tried to find the right words and arguments to stay close to him and comfort him in such a difficult moment, but Michele always asked about the progress of the school because he said that talking about Wing Tsun distracted him and made him feel good, yes, it made him feel good.

In fact, until the end he was interested in WT and the school, taking part in the creation of the new Organization, the WING TSUN DAMANTE SYSTEM, his beloved school.

WTDS was born in December 2023 and Michele participates through a video message of good wishes to the whole WT family.

Sifu Michele Chiovetta leaves this earth on February 21st, 2024.

When two or more people feel within themselves the propensity to bond and share the same passion, through trust, sympathy and respect, this can be called Friendship and friendship requires responsibility, requires honesty and coherence, always.

Many have had the opportunity to know Michele, keeping a dear memory of him, for everything he represented in many years of practice.

This is why our Wing Tsun deserves the right respect, because it was the connecting link of this great story of friendship, a martial discipline that carries the characteristics of the men and women who practice it, seeking understanding, complicity, trust, respect, responsibility, and this is and will be the soul of our school.

The memory of Sifu Michele Chiovetta will live in all that he represented in these years, his desire to learn to improve himself, his desire to be united, his bringing joy, his courage, his being an honest and faithful friend. And may it be the basis for all those who will pass through this school, because there are no good teachers without good students and not even good students without good teachers.

Goodbye my dear Michele

your Sifu and Fraternal Friend Luca Damante