Masters gallery
Grand Master Yip Man
(1893 - 1972)
When Yip Man was thirteen years old he started learning Wing Chun. Because of his Sifu's old age, Yip Man learned most of his lessons from his second Sihing Ng Chung Sok. After three years Chan Wah Shun died, but one of his dying wishes was to ask Ng to continue with Yip's training.
At age sixteen, Yip Man went to attend school at St. Stephen's College in Hong Kong, which was a secondary school for wealthy families and foreigners who lived in Hong Kong. According to one story, one day one of his classmates challenged him to try his martial arts skill with an older man. The man beat him with a few strikes. It turned out that the old man was his Si-Bak Leung Bik (梁 璧), son of his Si-Gung. After that encounter, Yip Man continued to learn from Leung Bik. At age 24, Yip Man returned to Fut-San, and his Wing Chun skills had improved tremendously while he had been away. His fellow classmates believed he learned a different kind of martial art and treated him as a traitor to Wing Chun.
In 1972, Yip Man suffered from throat cancer and subsequently died on December 2 of that year. As a fitting obituary for the man, within the three decades of his career in Hong Kong, he established a training system for Wing Chun that eventually spread across the world. On Nov 9th, 2002 Fut San China opened the Yip Man Tong in honor of the man credited with bringing Wing Chun out of China to Hong Kong and the rest of the world
At age sixteen, Yip Man went to attend school at St. Stephen's College in Hong Kong, which was a secondary school for wealthy families and foreigners who lived in Hong Kong. According to one story, one day one of his classmates challenged him to try his martial arts skill with an older man. The man beat him with a few strikes. It turned out that the old man was his Si-Bak Leung Bik (梁 璧), son of his Si-Gung. After that encounter, Yip Man continued to learn from Leung Bik. At age 24, Yip Man returned to Fut-San, and his Wing Chun skills had improved tremendously while he had been away. His fellow classmates believed he learned a different kind of martial art and treated him as a traitor to Wing Chun.
In 1972, Yip Man suffered from throat cancer and subsequently died on December 2 of that year. As a fitting obituary for the man, within the three decades of his career in Hong Kong, he established a training system for Wing Chun that eventually spread across the world. On Nov 9th, 2002 Fut San China opened the Yip Man Tong in honor of the man credited with bringing Wing Chun out of China to Hong Kong and the rest of the world
Grand Master Leung Sheung
(1918 - 1978)
Leung Sheung was born in 1918 in the Canton Province. By the time of his early youth, he was in the Macau area, a Portuguese Colony at the mouth of Pearl River, located near Hong Kong. At 14, he started his formal martial arts training in Choi Lay Fut, White Eyebrow, and Dragon style.
By 1949, Leung Sheung had developed quite a reputation in several areas, one as a restaurateur, another as a lion dance performer, and as a martial artist. Leung Sheung was very, very fond of the Lion Dance. During this period in Hong Kong, merchants would extend a collection of vegetables from their second floor balcony for the Lion Dancers. Attached to the vegetable bundle would be a red envelope containing "lucky money." Toward the conclusion of the Lion Dance, the "lion" would take the vegetable bundle and money. The performers, usually a three-man team, would be required to climb upon each other so that the "lion" could take the money in his mouth. All the lion dancers wanted Leung Sheung, a big man, as the base.
As a restaurateur, by 1949, Leung Sheung had been in the restaurant business for some time. In recognition of his abilities in the restaurant business, Leung Sheung was selected as an officer in the Restaurant Association in Hong Kong. The Association owned a flat in the city of Kowloon. They used the flat as an office and for lodging for people coming from main land China, escaping the Communist rule there. As an officer in the Restaurant Association, Leung Sheung had some level of influence in the use of this flat.
As a martial artist, Leung Sheung was well respected for his proficiency in Dragon Style. He taught White Eyebrow in the flat. As people "hot bunked" (slept in shifts), there was room to teach and practice during the day and night. Leung Sheung had heard about Wing Chun since he was quite young, but as Wing Chun was quite secretive and well protected, he had never seen it; but, this martial art intrigued him, as did the stories about one of its teachers, Yip Man. The thought that he would take Wing Chun at his first opportunity was beginning to emerge as a prominent thought in the back of his mind.
Mr. Lee, also an officer in the Restaurant Association, in 1949, found out that Yip Man was currently in Hong Kong. Knowing Leung Sheung's interest in Wing Chun and Yip Man, he informed Leung Sheung that Yip Man was in town. Leung Sheung urged Mr. Lee to introduce him to Yip Man. By the time they met, Leung Sheung had already decided that he wanted to learn Wing Chun from Yip Man. He would provide the flat for Yip Man to teach in. In addition, Leung Sheung would turn over his White Eyebrow class to Yip Man, and he would become a student again.
Leung Sheung promptly introduced Lok Yiu and Tsui Sheung Tin to Yip Man, and the three of them became the first batch of Wing Chun students in Hong Kong. Both Leung Sheung and Lok Yiu resided at the Restaurant Association's flat during this time. Yip Man would now live in the flat, having no place to stay, and from 1949 until 1955, Leung Sheung and Lok Yiu trained under Yip Man intensively.
In 1955 Leung Sheung returned to Macau, and taught Wing Chun during the one year he was there, returning to Hong Kong in 1956. In 1956, Leung Sheung began to teach Wing Chun publicly, along with Lok Yiu, Tsui Sheung Tin, and Wong Sheung Leung. They formed the first generation of teachers from Yip Man's class, and were widely recognized as the best students Yip Man ever produced.
From 1956 though 1978, Leung Sheung taught Wing Chun continuously. During his entire teaching career, he maintained a very low profile, never advertising his school. His famous saying from this period was, "You find me, you are lucky."
Leung Sheung's teaching philosophy in Wing Chun was to think of students as drift wood. As a teacher, figuratively, he lived on the bank of a wide river, and from time to time, driftwood came up on the bank in front of his house. Occasionally he inspected the driftwood, and from time to time, he'd find a piece that interested him. He'd drag the select piece up the bank a bit so it wouldn't wash away. As the pieces accumulated higher on the bank, he would find one piece that interested him enough to take it into his shop and begin to shape it. As with all things, the external appearance does not always show what lies beneath. Some driftwood will not be molded, either because of too many knotholes or other various failings. However, he would keep the driftwood that molded at the master's hand.
Deeming a student as appropriate, a piece of driftwood to be kept, Leung Sheung would then become very demanding on that student. It was back into the river for those students with "too many knots."
In 1968, when Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong to shoot a movie, he attempted to have a (daily) friendly dialog with Leung Sheung. Bruce Lee always payed him "high respect" during their meetings. Both Bruce Lee and Tsui Sheung Tin referred to Leung Sheung as their older brother.
In 1970, Leung Sheung had a kidney stone removed. After the stone's removal, Leung Sheung's health began to degrade steadily from that point onward. Leung Sheung passed away in 1978.
By 1949, Leung Sheung had developed quite a reputation in several areas, one as a restaurateur, another as a lion dance performer, and as a martial artist. Leung Sheung was very, very fond of the Lion Dance. During this period in Hong Kong, merchants would extend a collection of vegetables from their second floor balcony for the Lion Dancers. Attached to the vegetable bundle would be a red envelope containing "lucky money." Toward the conclusion of the Lion Dance, the "lion" would take the vegetable bundle and money. The performers, usually a three-man team, would be required to climb upon each other so that the "lion" could take the money in his mouth. All the lion dancers wanted Leung Sheung, a big man, as the base.
As a restaurateur, by 1949, Leung Sheung had been in the restaurant business for some time. In recognition of his abilities in the restaurant business, Leung Sheung was selected as an officer in the Restaurant Association in Hong Kong. The Association owned a flat in the city of Kowloon. They used the flat as an office and for lodging for people coming from main land China, escaping the Communist rule there. As an officer in the Restaurant Association, Leung Sheung had some level of influence in the use of this flat.
As a martial artist, Leung Sheung was well respected for his proficiency in Dragon Style. He taught White Eyebrow in the flat. As people "hot bunked" (slept in shifts), there was room to teach and practice during the day and night. Leung Sheung had heard about Wing Chun since he was quite young, but as Wing Chun was quite secretive and well protected, he had never seen it; but, this martial art intrigued him, as did the stories about one of its teachers, Yip Man. The thought that he would take Wing Chun at his first opportunity was beginning to emerge as a prominent thought in the back of his mind.
Mr. Lee, also an officer in the Restaurant Association, in 1949, found out that Yip Man was currently in Hong Kong. Knowing Leung Sheung's interest in Wing Chun and Yip Man, he informed Leung Sheung that Yip Man was in town. Leung Sheung urged Mr. Lee to introduce him to Yip Man. By the time they met, Leung Sheung had already decided that he wanted to learn Wing Chun from Yip Man. He would provide the flat for Yip Man to teach in. In addition, Leung Sheung would turn over his White Eyebrow class to Yip Man, and he would become a student again.
Leung Sheung promptly introduced Lok Yiu and Tsui Sheung Tin to Yip Man, and the three of them became the first batch of Wing Chun students in Hong Kong. Both Leung Sheung and Lok Yiu resided at the Restaurant Association's flat during this time. Yip Man would now live in the flat, having no place to stay, and from 1949 until 1955, Leung Sheung and Lok Yiu trained under Yip Man intensively.
In 1955 Leung Sheung returned to Macau, and taught Wing Chun during the one year he was there, returning to Hong Kong in 1956. In 1956, Leung Sheung began to teach Wing Chun publicly, along with Lok Yiu, Tsui Sheung Tin, and Wong Sheung Leung. They formed the first generation of teachers from Yip Man's class, and were widely recognized as the best students Yip Man ever produced.
From 1956 though 1978, Leung Sheung taught Wing Chun continuously. During his entire teaching career, he maintained a very low profile, never advertising his school. His famous saying from this period was, "You find me, you are lucky."
Leung Sheung's teaching philosophy in Wing Chun was to think of students as drift wood. As a teacher, figuratively, he lived on the bank of a wide river, and from time to time, driftwood came up on the bank in front of his house. Occasionally he inspected the driftwood, and from time to time, he'd find a piece that interested him. He'd drag the select piece up the bank a bit so it wouldn't wash away. As the pieces accumulated higher on the bank, he would find one piece that interested him enough to take it into his shop and begin to shape it. As with all things, the external appearance does not always show what lies beneath. Some driftwood will not be molded, either because of too many knotholes or other various failings. However, he would keep the driftwood that molded at the master's hand.
Deeming a student as appropriate, a piece of driftwood to be kept, Leung Sheung would then become very demanding on that student. It was back into the river for those students with "too many knots."
In 1968, when Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong to shoot a movie, he attempted to have a (daily) friendly dialog with Leung Sheung. Bruce Lee always payed him "high respect" during their meetings. Both Bruce Lee and Tsui Sheung Tin referred to Leung Sheung as their older brother.
In 1970, Leung Sheung had a kidney stone removed. After the stone's removal, Leung Sheung's health began to degrade steadily from that point onward. Leung Sheung passed away in 1978.
Grand Master Kenneth Chung
In 1964, Ken and two of his buddies started learning Wing Chun from Winston Wan. Winston was a very good student of Lok Yiu, and became part of a 10-person class.
Four to five months later, Winston was immigrating to Canada. At this point, Ken had learned the first set. To not leave them without a teacher, Winston said he would take them to Leung Sheung. In 1965, Ken started his training under Leung Sheung.
Ken graduated from high school in 1966, and applied to come to the US for his continuing education. His acceptance by the US schools followed soon after. Matriculation classes were then scheduled to prepare Ken for the US schools. Based on his current acceptance to the US, Ken did not devote much time to his studies. The back door of the matriculation school led directly to Leung Sheung's school. Additionally, his father passed away in 1967, and his mother pressed upon him to not leave for the US. Ken delayed his departure from Hong Kong for two years.
In those two years, Ken threw himself into Wing Chun. Ken showed great promise to Leung Sheung as a student of Wing Chun. As such, Ken became the example for people asking about a particular Wing Chun move, "How long until I can do this?" Leung Sheung would answer, "Look at Ken. It took him this amount of time." During this period, there were three classes a day at Leung Sheung's school. There was the 9:30 to 11:30 class, primarily for the Graveyard shift Hotel workers. Then there was the 3:00 to 6:00 class for the general students.
Now, taxi drivers in Hong Kong did not have a common place to hand off their vehicle to the next shift. The transfer of drivers was haphazard, and could take place anywhere. This meant that those drivers who wanted to take Wing Chun from Leung Sheung wouldn't arrive for class until the end of the 3-6 class. Promptly at 6:00, Leung Sheung stopped classes, pulled out the table, and served tea.
So, Ken found himself teaching the taxi drivers who arrived late for the 3-6 class. After this class and the tea, everyone would clean up for dinner. Once cleaned up, around 7:00 p.m., they would pile into one taxi driver's car. Note that the taxi drivers were usually the only working class people who could afford private cars other than the affluent few in Hong Kong at this time. Ken would hop a ride with one of his taxi buddies who were taking Leung Sheung and other classmates to dinner. This was quite a convenience for a high school kid, and they'd let him off at his house around 7:10. Ken would eat dinner with his family and then, maybe, take in a movie. The movie theaters were primarily in the Mongkok area, which was only a 15 minute walk from Leung Sheung's school. Often, after the movie, Ken would hustle back to Leung Sheung's school for an additional workout. This 8:00 to 11:00 class was reserved for white collar workers, teachers, taxi drivers and factory workers.
As Aug. 30, 1968 approached, the date when Ken would leave for the US, Leung Sheung began to show the rest of Wing Chun to Ken. The common belief in Hong Kong during this period was that when people left to the US, they wouldn't be coming back. Leung Sheung began to cram what was left of the Mook Jong, the knife set, and the staff set into Ken. Leung Sheung cautioned Ken that he wasn't really ready for this training. He urged Ken to continue his training in the US, and upon revisiting these techniques, hopefully, they would begin to make sense.
On Aug. 30th, Ken arrived in the US. On Sept. 2nd, he met Ben Der and began teaching Wing Chun in San Francisco. In June 1973, Ken got married, and prepared to return to Hong Kong. He held a banquet on May 1973 in San Francisco Chinatown and established the Wing Chun Student Association. The Wing Chun torch in the Bay Area was passed to six of his students: Ben Der, Sidney Wong, Gate Tsao, Nelson Fong, Mike Lam, and Bradford Louie.
After touring Europe and various points around the world, Ken returned to Hong Kong. In the fall of 1973, he returned to Leung Sheung's studio on Nathan Rd. in Kowloon. By this time, Ken had developed quite a bit of power. One of his moves was especially effective, and met little resistance when he applied it to various boxers and other martial artists, even other Wing Chun practitioners. While in Leung Sheung's studio, he would use this "move." He had little trouble defeating all of the students in the studio except two, Ah Cheung and Ah Tak. Leung Sheung just shook his head at the young Chung. Ken was puzzled at Leung Sheung's response, but had a deep belief that Leung Sheung was trying to tell him something. Ken continued to go to the studio and worked out diligently.
Leung Sheung did not touch Ken's hands for approximately six months after Ken's return to the school. Finally, Leung Sheung and Ken worked out for the first time in the spring of 1974. Leung Sheung was currently 55 years old and suffered from a liver or kidney problem. During this workout, Ken felt the opportunity to apply his "move" and did so, full-power.
One has to understand what happened next in the layout of the room, and Ken's intent. At the point Ken tried his "move," Leung Sheung's back was close to a plate glass window. Across the room, about 6 feet away, was a bench. Note that Ken's intent was not to "take" his teacher, for Ken respected Leung Sheung far too much to try that. It was just a result of energy building up as the workout continued and it just released, as it always had.
Ken recounts the episode as the time Leung Sheung "benched" him. No sooner had he started the move than Leung Sheung deftly dropped Ken's hands with one hand, and placed his other hand on his nose. By the time Ken realized his predicament, he was sitting on the bench on the other side of the room. Ken relates that, at 26 years of age, he began to learn Wing Chun all over.
Ken traveled back and forth between the US and Hong Kong until 1978. He brought Ben Der back with him in 1976 on one trip to meet Leung Sheung and returned to the US to stay in 1978. From 1978 until late in 1982, Ken had no desire to teach Wing Chun. He and Ben simply conducted seminars and workshops.
In 1982, Ken met Eric Chung through Ken's aunt. During dinner one evening, Eric and his cousin started to talk about martial arts, and engaged Ken in the conversation, knowing nothing of his background. Eventually, Ken asked about which martial art they were learning. They responded, "Wing Chun." Ken responded, "Show me." After a bit, he commented that what they were doing wasn't really Wing Chun as Leung Sheung had so recently impressed upon him. He went on to display a little. Eric and his buddy immediately began to press Ken to teach them. Ken refused, saying he really didn't have the time nor the facilities to train them. They insisted. Ken again refused. The conversation played out for some time. Eric and his buddies finally said that since Ken couldn't come to them, they would come to Ken at his house to learn.
So, in Feb. 1982, in his garage, Ken started teaching Eric, and some of his buddies: Billy Kwong, Wilson Ng, Patrick Au, and Tom Lee, the latter two being the core group of teachers in Eric's class. Patrick had gotten his primary Wing Chun training from Wong Si Wing. Wong Si Wing was the brother of Wong Kiu, someone whom Ken had known in Hong Kong back at the beginning of his training. Tom Lee had gotten his primary training from Wong Sheung Leung. The class grew very, very quickly, with workouts spreading to the front yard, the driveway, etc. which proved to be quite a distraction to the neighbors. So, to keep peace in the neighborhood, the class was moved to Pena Mohai and eventually migrated to the warehouse on Leland. Please see LeungSheung.com for current information regarding SiGung.
Four to five months later, Winston was immigrating to Canada. At this point, Ken had learned the first set. To not leave them without a teacher, Winston said he would take them to Leung Sheung. In 1965, Ken started his training under Leung Sheung.
Ken graduated from high school in 1966, and applied to come to the US for his continuing education. His acceptance by the US schools followed soon after. Matriculation classes were then scheduled to prepare Ken for the US schools. Based on his current acceptance to the US, Ken did not devote much time to his studies. The back door of the matriculation school led directly to Leung Sheung's school. Additionally, his father passed away in 1967, and his mother pressed upon him to not leave for the US. Ken delayed his departure from Hong Kong for two years.
In those two years, Ken threw himself into Wing Chun. Ken showed great promise to Leung Sheung as a student of Wing Chun. As such, Ken became the example for people asking about a particular Wing Chun move, "How long until I can do this?" Leung Sheung would answer, "Look at Ken. It took him this amount of time." During this period, there were three classes a day at Leung Sheung's school. There was the 9:30 to 11:30 class, primarily for the Graveyard shift Hotel workers. Then there was the 3:00 to 6:00 class for the general students.
Now, taxi drivers in Hong Kong did not have a common place to hand off their vehicle to the next shift. The transfer of drivers was haphazard, and could take place anywhere. This meant that those drivers who wanted to take Wing Chun from Leung Sheung wouldn't arrive for class until the end of the 3-6 class. Promptly at 6:00, Leung Sheung stopped classes, pulled out the table, and served tea.
So, Ken found himself teaching the taxi drivers who arrived late for the 3-6 class. After this class and the tea, everyone would clean up for dinner. Once cleaned up, around 7:00 p.m., they would pile into one taxi driver's car. Note that the taxi drivers were usually the only working class people who could afford private cars other than the affluent few in Hong Kong at this time. Ken would hop a ride with one of his taxi buddies who were taking Leung Sheung and other classmates to dinner. This was quite a convenience for a high school kid, and they'd let him off at his house around 7:10. Ken would eat dinner with his family and then, maybe, take in a movie. The movie theaters were primarily in the Mongkok area, which was only a 15 minute walk from Leung Sheung's school. Often, after the movie, Ken would hustle back to Leung Sheung's school for an additional workout. This 8:00 to 11:00 class was reserved for white collar workers, teachers, taxi drivers and factory workers.
As Aug. 30, 1968 approached, the date when Ken would leave for the US, Leung Sheung began to show the rest of Wing Chun to Ken. The common belief in Hong Kong during this period was that when people left to the US, they wouldn't be coming back. Leung Sheung began to cram what was left of the Mook Jong, the knife set, and the staff set into Ken. Leung Sheung cautioned Ken that he wasn't really ready for this training. He urged Ken to continue his training in the US, and upon revisiting these techniques, hopefully, they would begin to make sense.
On Aug. 30th, Ken arrived in the US. On Sept. 2nd, he met Ben Der and began teaching Wing Chun in San Francisco. In June 1973, Ken got married, and prepared to return to Hong Kong. He held a banquet on May 1973 in San Francisco Chinatown and established the Wing Chun Student Association. The Wing Chun torch in the Bay Area was passed to six of his students: Ben Der, Sidney Wong, Gate Tsao, Nelson Fong, Mike Lam, and Bradford Louie.
After touring Europe and various points around the world, Ken returned to Hong Kong. In the fall of 1973, he returned to Leung Sheung's studio on Nathan Rd. in Kowloon. By this time, Ken had developed quite a bit of power. One of his moves was especially effective, and met little resistance when he applied it to various boxers and other martial artists, even other Wing Chun practitioners. While in Leung Sheung's studio, he would use this "move." He had little trouble defeating all of the students in the studio except two, Ah Cheung and Ah Tak. Leung Sheung just shook his head at the young Chung. Ken was puzzled at Leung Sheung's response, but had a deep belief that Leung Sheung was trying to tell him something. Ken continued to go to the studio and worked out diligently.
Leung Sheung did not touch Ken's hands for approximately six months after Ken's return to the school. Finally, Leung Sheung and Ken worked out for the first time in the spring of 1974. Leung Sheung was currently 55 years old and suffered from a liver or kidney problem. During this workout, Ken felt the opportunity to apply his "move" and did so, full-power.
One has to understand what happened next in the layout of the room, and Ken's intent. At the point Ken tried his "move," Leung Sheung's back was close to a plate glass window. Across the room, about 6 feet away, was a bench. Note that Ken's intent was not to "take" his teacher, for Ken respected Leung Sheung far too much to try that. It was just a result of energy building up as the workout continued and it just released, as it always had.
Ken recounts the episode as the time Leung Sheung "benched" him. No sooner had he started the move than Leung Sheung deftly dropped Ken's hands with one hand, and placed his other hand on his nose. By the time Ken realized his predicament, he was sitting on the bench on the other side of the room. Ken relates that, at 26 years of age, he began to learn Wing Chun all over.
Ken traveled back and forth between the US and Hong Kong until 1978. He brought Ben Der back with him in 1976 on one trip to meet Leung Sheung and returned to the US to stay in 1978. From 1978 until late in 1982, Ken had no desire to teach Wing Chun. He and Ben simply conducted seminars and workshops.
In 1982, Ken met Eric Chung through Ken's aunt. During dinner one evening, Eric and his cousin started to talk about martial arts, and engaged Ken in the conversation, knowing nothing of his background. Eventually, Ken asked about which martial art they were learning. They responded, "Wing Chun." Ken responded, "Show me." After a bit, he commented that what they were doing wasn't really Wing Chun as Leung Sheung had so recently impressed upon him. He went on to display a little. Eric and his buddy immediately began to press Ken to teach them. Ken refused, saying he really didn't have the time nor the facilities to train them. They insisted. Ken again refused. The conversation played out for some time. Eric and his buddies finally said that since Ken couldn't come to them, they would come to Ken at his house to learn.
So, in Feb. 1982, in his garage, Ken started teaching Eric, and some of his buddies: Billy Kwong, Wilson Ng, Patrick Au, and Tom Lee, the latter two being the core group of teachers in Eric's class. Patrick had gotten his primary Wing Chun training from Wong Si Wing. Wong Si Wing was the brother of Wong Kiu, someone whom Ken had known in Hong Kong back at the beginning of his training. Tom Lee had gotten his primary training from Wong Sheung Leung. The class grew very, very quickly, with workouts spreading to the front yard, the driveway, etc. which proved to be quite a distraction to the neighbors. So, to keep peace in the neighborhood, the class was moved to Pena Mohai and eventually migrated to the warehouse on Leland. Please see LeungSheung.com for current information regarding SiGung.
