Sifu Siu Bio

Background on Chinese Martial Art

Chinese martial art has been passed down for thousands of years, amassing the experiences and talents of many generations. Since communities were relatively closed and not well-connected to each other, Chinese martial art has developed into numerous systems.  Grown in unique environments, each system developed its own characteristics.  As a result, Chinese martial art blossomed into countless schools and styles.

Nowadays, with the advancement in communication, the once obscure branches are able to come to light and be introduced more widely. Wing Chun is one of those styles that were only practiced within the Province of Guangdong, in the City of Foshan, during the past hundreds of years.

Even though Grandmaster Yip Man (葉問) started teaching Wing Chun in Hong Kong since the Second World War, Wing Chun was still little known outside the region until one of his students, Bruce Lee popularized this Chinese martial art to the rest of the world.

FIRST ENCOUNTER

My first encounter with Wing Chun was during a morning exercise with my roommate, Tam Hop Hon (譚俠侃).  We arrived at the top of a hill, with a view of the airport below, and started stretching our arms and legs.  Suddenly, I was struck with intrigue by Tam’s peculiar posture.  He was obviously practicing some kind of martial art, but he was standing completely still in a narrow stance with feet close together, one palm out and facing up, and the other fist held tight below the armpit was unlike any posture I had ever seen before.  This odd stance raised my curiosity and I had to find out more about Wing Chun.  But it was not until after years of following my master’s teaching could I truly understand the depth of Wing Chun. 

After Tam’s introduction and acceptance of my Sifu Leung Sheung to the class, Tam started teaching me the first form. It was quite dramatic that my roommate had suddenly become my senior. I practiced a short section of the first Little Idea form.  The horse stance was torturing. My legs were so fatigued and exhausted that I felt like I was floating on the moon.  Needless to say, I had difficulty stepping down the stairs and almost had to crawl my way home. On the other hand, my seniors were walking at ease; they were in fact running, as though the harsh exercise had no effect on them. They had been practicing Wing Chun for a few months and I was envious of their conditioned horse stances.  Nonetheless, my first experience of learning Wing Chun was very enjoyable. Tam always said, “No matter what you learn, you must learn fully, otherwise you’d better not start it at all.” That advice remains with me to this day.

Sifu’s wu-guan, or kung fu studio, was his residence. The courtyard outside the living room became our training center. As the place was situated near downtown, it was easily accessible. Sifu never advertised, and all his followers were referred by one to another. Though the tuition fee was twice as high as other schools, pupils came in an endless flow. The wu-guan was about 600 square feet and equipped with tools such as long poles, a wooden dummy, and Bart Cham Dao(八斬刀). The pupils, around 100 or more, were divided into three classes, one that practiced in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.  Sifu was a hard working person. Except for Saturdays and Sundays, he taught every class himself, working up to 10 hours a day.

My master Leung Sheung (梁相) was an eminent figure in the martial art circle. Earlier he had trained in Dragon Style (龍形魔橋) which gave him a good foundation in martial art. Although he was quite famous and strong at that time, he was humble enough to follow Wing Chun Grandmaster Yip Man, who was a much shorter and physically smaller man than him.  Leung Sheung became Yip Man’s first Wing Chun disciple outside Guangdong, Foshan. His insight did not fail him, as Wing Chun rose quickly and is now one of the most well-known Chinese martial art systems.  Master Leung Sheung has indeed played an important role in spreading the art. He was humble and always stood for righteousness. He was truly the kind of noble person that one can hardly find nowadays.  He is greatly missed, especially in today’s materialistic and self-centered world. He is definitely a role model, showing us not only the technique of martial art, but also principles of morality and humanity. 

In the spring of 1967, I was majoring in chemistry at Hong Kong Baptist College. At that time, television was not very popular in Hong Kong and going to the kung fu studio became our only leisure activity. I attended all three classes throughout the day and spotted that my fellow classmates came from all walks of life. In the morning it was usually the chefs and waiters from restaurants and hotels, students and taxi drivers would join in the afternoon, and in the evening most of the classmates were white-collar workers who came to class after work. Sifu himself taught me at least once a month. I still recall the words he wrote, such as:  “Make use of your opponents’ attacking force,”  “avoid forceful fights when practicing with classmates,” and “receive what comes and strike back when opponent retreats.”  The more we studied and practiced, the better we understood the profound nature of Wing Chun.

I spent five years learning from my master, practicing no less than two hours per day. Some of my classmates later started teaching their own pupils and helped to spread the martial art. They included Ah Cheung (亞祥), Ah Tak (亞德), Ah Tim (亞添), Sin Pang (羨鵬) from the morning class, Robin Wong Man Ho (黃文浩) and Ken Cheung (鍾萬年) from the afternoon class, and Wong Chu (王柱), Ng Wah Sum (吳華森), and To Wai (杜慰) from the evening class.

Though life became busy after graduation, I still tried my best to visit Sifu once in a while until I came to the United States in 1973.  Sadly, two years later I received an urgent call from Sifu’s son, telling me that his father had just passed away. It was so regrettable that I was stuck in New York at that time and not able to attend Sifu’s funeral.

My Wing Chun junior Sin Pang, who was the first person to teach Leung Sheung’s Wing Chun in Los Angeles years ago, died of cancer in August 1991. His pupils wanted to continue learning and requested me several times to give them lessons. In April of 1993, I finally followed my master and fellows’ footsteps, shelving my Chinese painting hobby, and started teaching Wing Chun as my second career.

Moving from a simple garage to the present private kung fu studio as our new teaching center, it looks as if we were back to the days when we practiced at Sifu’s place 40 years ago. The wooden dummy Sifu used in Hong Kong has crossed the Pacific Ocean, stayed at Sin Pang’s place for some time, and finally settled at my new studio. When master Chung Man Nin visited me from Northern California, he was so moved when he saw the wooden dummy, saying that this log had once been wetted by our sweat during exercise. Facing this same wood dummy, I sincerely hope that our followers will practice as hard as we did. We should not fail Master Leung Sheung, but instead, carry forward the great spirit of Wing Chun.

I have no intention to compare Wing Chun with other branches of Chinese martial art. The truth is that every stream flows from the same origin – the Shaolin temple, and later developed its own characteristics.  Shaolin emphasizes the moral aspects of martial arts and forbids confrontation.  It is widely accepted that through practicing martial art, one can embody a moral message, learn self-discipline, and raise self-confidence.

Wing Chun has only three empty hand forms, all very simple. However, the simpler it is, the easier it is for practitioners to gravitate to either of two opposite extremes - monotony or versatility. 

It is not surprising that beginners find Wing Chun dull and thus often quit half-way. But if one can persevere, this stage is soon overcome and the versatility of Wing Chun can be appreciated. The value of Wing Chun lies in that it is pragmatic and complies with the principles of physical kinetics.

Unlike most other martial art styles, Wing Chun emphasizes offense rather than defense.  With its short punch, it neutralizes the opponent’s incoming force and simultaneously strikes back immediately. There are many more different ways of fighting in Wing Chun. It is only through practicing with various opponents, from tall to short, fat to slim, strong to weak, male to female that one can feel and learn to react. Self-learning through books, the web, pictures, or videos often results in bad habits that could hardly be corrected in the future.

I would like to express my gratitude to Sifu’s family and to Tam Hop Hon, Ah Cheung, Ah Tak, Ah Tim, Sin Pang, Robin Wong Man Ho, Kwong Siu Yin, Chung man Nin, To Wai, Dr. Jack Ling, and other classmates for their support and dedication.  Ah Cheung is especially held in high regard as he persists in teaching even after undergoing several brain surgeries in the past few years.

My special thanks to my American-Korean student Tania, for making this website http://www.wingchuntong.com possible for sharing.  This is my brief biography written at her request, not to sing my own praises, but to give a brief account of my experience in Wing Chun.

Wong Siu, Wing Chun Tong, Los Angeles, California, USA. September 1, 2005

Translated by Mr. Daniel Leung, Dr. Winnie Tang,  Jenny Kam and Bruce Li.

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