History of Yong Chun-by Popovic Zeljko

Posted By : tommy56nc

Last Update: Dec 10, 2015

Category:

Histories - Traditional

Sources

  • Original story:New Martial Hero
  • interview of Tang Yik and Chu Chong Man
  • Retold and added to by Tang Pak
  • 1st Revision in English By-Leung Publishing
  • 2nd Revision By-Popovic Zeljko
  • 3rd Revision-By-Brian Scanlon

    Histories - Traditional

Originating from Foshan,the development of Weng Chun (Yong Chun) kung fu may not be as wide spread as the other Wing Chun Clans, however there are still a number of highly-skilled Weng Chun practitioners in Hong Kong such as Chu Chung Man (Zhu Songmin), Lo Chiu Woon (Luo Chaohuan), Tang Yick (Deng Yi), whom are left as the direct Weng Chun successors. Since Chu Chung Man(as of 2006 Chu Chong Man Passed away, the exact date of mortis is unknown currently) is now working as a doctor and Lo Chiu Woon is a businessman, they do not openly teach Weng Chun to the public. As for Tang Yick, he taught Weng Chun at Da Dai Poultry Market (Dai Duk Lan) in Yau Mai Tai (Yau Ma Tei) and Lin Xiang Rong’s (Lam Heung Wing) place on Nathan Road years ago. However since Lin’s building was rebuilt, the classes had to be suspended for years. In the end Tang Yick simply gave up teaching WWeng Chun altogether.

Fung Siu Ching (Feng Xiaoqing), The Master of Weng Chun. Weng Chun was first passed on by Fung Siu Ching in Foshan. Fung was born in Shunde in China. When Fung was a boy, he was an apprentice in Long Feng (Lung Fung) Tailor Shop at Zhuang Yuan Fang in Guangzhou. His duty was basically ironing and folding actors costumes properly before putting them into boxes once the costumes were made. Fung was quite a rough chap, so he was not apt for doing intricate tasks such as stitching and sewing. As such, the tailor masters at the shop could not train Fung to do detailed jobs like needlework or edging. They could only ask him to do crude duties such as ironing and folding costumes of which he was really good at.

The customers of Lung Fung Tailor Shop were mostly theatre actors and the shop was frequently visited by famous actors. Sun Kam (Xinjin) was a popular leading kung fu actor in san ban tou at that time. As a famous actor, he often had his costumes made at Long Feng Tailor Shop. Since Sun Kam was such a frequent customer, most men at the shop recognized him. One day, Sun Kam was visiting the shop and started talking with Fung’s master. The master told Sun Kam that Fung Siu Ching was doing an apprenticeship at the shop, but since Fung was not very skilled at doing fine jobs, he could not ask him to do dainty task like needlework. And this convinced him that Fung would probably not make much progress in the tailor field. When Sun Kam learnt about this, he was really pleased as it was just what he wanted to hear. Every time Sun Kam walked into Lung Fung Tailor Shop, he would notice Fung’s strong body and his fine skills of folding the costumes properly thinking about getting a boy to help him fold his costumes, and since Fung was good at it, he was the right candidate for the job. Learning that the tailor master was not being too positive about Fung’s future in the costume-making business, Sun Kam talked to the master and asked for his permission to let Fung to work for him instead. Given that Fung might not have much prospects in the business, keeping him at the shop would only waste his time more. The fact that Fung was skilled at folding up actors’ costumes made him seem the right person for the job. Sun Kam would also try to teach Fung the skills he had and train him to be a capable, professional individual.

When the tailor master heard Sun Kam’s proposal, he was really happy as it was all he could wish for. The master then went to talk to Fung immediately and asked him if he was willing to have Sun Kam as his new master. Deep inside, Fung was prepared to change his profession as he always heard his master saying he was not suitable for any tailor jobs and that had made him give up hopes a long time ago. But due to the contract with his tailor master, Fung just could not simply leave. And now with the new proposal, which specified Sun Kam as his new master, Fung agreed without hesitation; for he was too glad to be a student of Sun Kam whom he had admired as the only qualified kung fu actor at that time. The master spoke to the boss about Sun Kam’s plan and with the boss’ approval, his contract with Fung was called off. Since then, Fung Siu Ching became Sun Kam’s apprentice and he followed Sun Kam to the red boat. Fung’s main duty was to fold the master’s private theatre costumes. Besides, Fung was also trained with Sun Kam’s kung fu skills and his on-stage skills as well.

In fact, Sun Kam’s kung fu was handed down by Wong Wah Bo (Huang HuaBao) in person. The Weng Chun kung fu move, Luk Dim Boon Gwun (liu dian ban gun), and other Weng Chun kung fu techniques, were all taught to Sun Kam on the red boat. Short Kiu and Short stance) (Duan qiao Duan ma), and Single headed pole (shuang tou gun), are both authentic Weng Chun kung fu moves. Thus, it made perfect sense that Sun Kam was the leading kung fu actor at that time.


Dong Zhi (Tung Jik), Deng Suan (Tang Suen) learning Yong Chun at Bu Guo Xuan (Bo Guo Hin - name of place) Sun Kam’s “Look Dim Boon Gwun” dominated the kung fu circles in the Southern part of China at that time. Since Fung was his student, Sun Kam started to teach him his acrobatic and kung fu skills on the red boat. (The red boat was so small that when Sun Kam tried to teach Siu Ching the skills of using the kung fu gun, Sun Kam had to use a shuang tou gun) (again this was recorded wrongly in the original article as the Luk Dim Boon was a long pole which was only 6 ft 4 inches long (this is Chinese length measurement which is longer than the English foot and inches). They also installed a Kwun Chong on the red boat, the Kwun Chong was made from a rectangular wooden frame , hanging onto the wall. The Chong looked like the Chinese character “fieri”, with three poles at each side and one pole at the centre. TheGwun Jong (Kwun Chong) were hung onto the wall, and they have to be movable such that they would have the required flexibility. When practising the Gwun, the (chong) should be treated as a simulated enemy, and one has to practise Look Dim Boon Gwun of “seizing, fencing, pointing, revealing, cutting, transporting and dripping” till one can master all the moves flawlessly. All these kung fu techniques followed the Yong Chun school of kung fu. On one hand, Fung Siu Ching was learning Sun Kam’s kung fu, on the other hand, he was responsible for folding up Sun Kam’s theatre costumes. When Sun Kam first asked for Fung Siu Ching as his student, his intent was to train Fung as a kung fu actor such that Fung could replace his position in Li Yuan (Chinese name to describe the opera profession, Li Yuan is the Pear Garden, a place where the artist was trained) when he retired. After Fung Siu Ching left the red boat with him, Sun Kam continued to pass on his kung fu skills to him, as well as having Fung to practise his vocal. Yet when Sun Kam asked Fung to try to sing a few lines, he found that Feng’s voice was too low and hoarse to attract the audience. Sun Kam knew very well that if one wishes to become famous in the theatre business, one has to have the voice, the looks and the skills. Even if you have the looks and the skills, without an enchanting voice, it would be very hard for one to develop a career in the showbiz world. Once he realized the weaknesses of Fung’s voice, which made it difficult for him to get started in Li Yuan, Sun Kam changed his mind. Instead, Sun Kam decided to train Fung as a well-known Chinese kung fu master, in the hopes that one day he could promote the arts and skills of Yong Chun to the world. Sun Kam went ahead and told Fung about his plan so that he could concentrate on practising kung fu and get ready to develop his career in the kung fu field.

Knowing that Sun Kam had been devoting all his time to train him as a professional Yong Chun practitioner, Fung listened to his master’s advice and focused on practising kung fu. Six years passed and Fung was now a twenty-something young man and his kung fu skills was superb.

Another two years went by. Getting older and older, Sun Kam decided to retire. With Sun Kam’s retirement, Fung Siu Ching had no choice but to leave his place. Upon leaving, Sun Kam told Fung to introduce Yong Chun to the common people and carry forward the fine arts of Yong Chun. Fung complied and he first went back to his hometown Shunde, where he stayed for a short time. Meanwhile, most of Fung Siu Ching’s friends were residing in Fotshan.

Situated at the lower stream of Sun Kam (West River), Fotshan was one of the four largest cities in Canton (Guang Tung Province). As Fotshan had good business ties with Guangzhou, Fung Siu CHing decided to go there to try his luck. After bidding farewell to his family, Fung Siu CHing went to Fotshan and first visited his best friend Tung Yung Yung here describes a wealthy man). Tung Yung was from Nanhai.He had been keeping a flower shop at Huahong (Fa Hung - flower red which means red flower) Street in Fotshan and the business was doing quite well. Even though Tung was older than Fung, they had become very close friends when Fung was still working in Lung Fung Tailor shop. So once Feng arrived at Foshan, the first thing he did was to go to the flower shop to visit Tung. Fung and Tung had not seen each other for over ten years, and when Fung first appeared at the shop, Tung was very happy and introduced Fung to his two sons right away. His two sons, Dong Zhi (Tung Jik) and Dong An (Tung On) were both in their teens. Tung Jik was the older one at eighteen whereas Tung On was sixteen. The two brothers had already finished school and were now working at the flower shop. In fact, Tung wanted his two sons to start taking care of his business as he wished to retire at an early age. The house of Tung Yung was located at Bao Guo Xuan in Daji. Bao Guo Xuan is a village town where hundreds of buildings were built in the area. The buildings were tall and spacious and Tung Yung’s family resided in Bao Gou Xuan too. Every morning Tung left his house for work, and would not return and rest until late at night. Since Tung wanted his two sons to start learning about doing business, every day he would take them to the shop to do some hands-on training. Tung Jik and Tung On had already met Fung Siu CHing before, but it occurred when they were still little boys and they could hardly recognize Fung now.

When Fung Siu Ching arrived at the flower shop that day, Tung Yung instantly introduced his two sons to him. Tung then started tou, being a student of the famous kung fu actor San Kam on the red boat since he was a kid, and that his kung fu skills was brilliant. The brothers became very excited when they heard this, and both claimed that they had always had a love for kung fu. Back then when they were still in school, they would always make time to learn the Hong kung fu (Hung Kuen or Hung Gar) from a master Zhang (Cheung) at Yu Long Qiao every evening. That lasted for four years. Since Uncle Fung was such an experienced kung fu master, it would be a great opportunity for them to learn kung fu from him.


Though Fung Siu CHing was still a young lad at that time, the fact that he was Tung Yung’s friend made it acceptable for the brothers to greet him as their Uncle. As the brothers wished Fung Siu Ching to show them some kung fu moves, Fung decided to make use of this chance to see what the brothers had learnt throughout the four years under master Zhang. Fung asked Tung Jik and Tung On to demonstrate the Hong kung fu to him. Between the two, Tung Jik’s kung fu was better and he was ready to show his kung fu to Fung. Having his fists firmly clutched, Tung Jik responded, “Since this’s Uncle Fung’s command, I’d just show you a few of my young moves then.” Having said that, Tung Jik made a big, wide stance at the lounge of the flower shop and showed Feng the Hong kung fu skills he had acquired. Though Tung Jik’s stance, chang qiao da ma (long Kiu and wide stance, was quite sturdy and firm, it was still not powerful enough for combat. After careful observation, Fung smiled at Tung Jik and commented, “My dear boy, I believe it must have taken at least four years of endless practices to build up such a solid stance like yours; however I must say the ways you attack are still rather stiff and rigid. I am afraid those moves are probably good to look at, but not practical or feasible enough.”

It was probably not the best comments Tung Jik could get from Fung Siu Ching, at first he did not take it that serious. Since Tung Jik had been learning kung fu for four, five years, before he was really confident that Fung Siu Ching would give him compliments for his great kung fu skills. But now the comments he received turned out to be a bit of both good and bad, and that started to upset him greatly, as he believed Fung Siu Ching had misjudged his kung fu badly. Even though Tung Jik’s father was just sitting right beside him, Fung’s criticisms in regards to his kung fu skills really irritated him, after all Tung Jik was still a young man asked Fung quite conceitedly, “If that’s the case, well Uncle Fung, perhaps you can enlighten me with a few of your kung fu moves?” In fact, Tung Jik’s enlightenment was implying a contest with . However since Dong Weng did not belong to the kung fu scenes, he was not aware of the connotations underneath. Dong Weng thought his son was just pleading for some guidance from Fung Siu Ching, so he intercepted innocently, “Brother Fung, I guess you wouldn’t mind sparing him a few moves, right?” Yet Fung Siu Ching was fully aware of Tung Jik’s intention of putting up a “fight” with him. And this made him feel like taking the chance to teach the young kid a good, valuable lesson; such that Dong Zhi would finally come to terms and be truly appreciative of his kung fu. Fung responded, “kid, I didn’t just randomly make up stuff to make you feel bad, but if you can’t take my words, what I’d do is simply stand here and wait for your attacks. Let’s see if you can get me.” Upon finishing his words, Fung Siu Ching stood firmly there and made a powerful stance that could possibly even restrain a great horse. Facing Tung Jik, Fung Siu Ching shouted, “kid, just come and attack me, be it from the side, from the front, or from afar briskly, I don’t care. Just watch out or you yourself may end up being knocked out!”

Considering it as a lame joke, Tung Jik became more aggravated, “Well, Uncle Fung, I guess you might have to teach me some real kung fu then.” Tung Yik exercised the Hong kung fu moves and proceeded to attack Fung vigorously. Having a strong body and endless strength, Tung Jik thought Fung would just collapse abruptly once he struck him with his strong fists. But things were not quite what he had expected. The stance that Fung Siu Ching was positioning, though rather slim and narrow, was very pliable in fact. No matter which direction Ting Jik tried to attack him, Fung Siu Ching would not fall, and he was actually capable of striking him back and beating him down mercilessly. Even though Tung Jik had no idea how Fung had crushed him, he was completely convinced of Fung Siu Ching ‘s exceptional kung fu skills and pleaded for Fung to be his kung fu master. Even his father Dong Weng cut in, “Brother Fung, you may as well introduce and promote Yong Chun (Weng Chun) in Foshan. I think my place’s still big enough to hold kung fu classes.”

Fung Siu Ching was very pleased with Tung Yung’s suggestion, “Brother Tung, I’d be more than happy to teach your sons kung fu as they seem to have a genuine interest in kung fu. But there’s one thing I’m worried about… if I’m to run kung fu classes at your place, would it bring you any trouble?” “My place is at Bao Guo Xuan, which is quite remote from the city. The village area is fairly spacious too. My family is living in one building and my sons are using the other building for study and kung fu practices. I think we can put the kung fu equipment in my sons’ building and run classes there. I’m sure everything will be fine.” It sounded like an excellent plan for Fung Siu Ching , so he promised to stay in Foshan and teach Yong Chun to the boys. Learning of the great news, the Tung brothers were filled with excitement. They even asked their father to organize a formal ceremony to celebrate their new master-student relationship with Fung Siu Ching . Since Tung Yung also agreed that the event was quite significant to the family, he brought Fung to his house at once, and then started preparing things for the big night. On his way home, Tung Yung walked past the Gui (turtle) Market where he had ordered some fine dishes at Zhen Wei Gu Su restaurant to his house as he was going to have two banquet tables at home that night. Dong Weng also told his sons to inform a few friends of his and invite them to come over for the ceremony dinner.


Tung Jik had an old classmate called Tang Suen who was born in Shishan (Lion Hill) in Nanhai (Nam Hoi). Tang Suen was close friends with Tung Jik as they both liked kung fu very much. So once Tung Jik had the chance to learn kung fu from such an experienced kung fu master, he went to Tang Suen’s and shared the great news with him. Not even knowing if Fung Siu Ching would agree to take him as a student, Tang Suen went to Bao Guo Xuan with his friend Tunk Jik. By the time they arrived at Bao Guo Xuan, Fung Siu Ching and Tung Yung were already there. Since Tang Suen had been a frequent visitor of Tung’s family, the relation between Tang Suen and Tung Yung was almost as close as a family. Deng Suan would even greet Tung Yung as his uncle whereas Tung Yung would treat him like his own nephew. Since Tang Suen desperately wished to be Fung Siu Ching ‘s student, he asked Tung Yung to say a few words for him and express his wish of learning Yong Chun from Fung. Tung Yung was quite keen to be the middleman for Tang Suen as on one hand, he did hope to get Fung more kung fu students, on the other hand he would love to find a kung fu partner for Tung Jik, and Tang Suen would be perfect as he and Tang Suen were of similar age, while Tung On was a bit younger. With this in mind, Tung Yung indicated Tang Suen’s wish to Fung Siu Ching , and he described Tang Suen as a close brother to him whom had a zest for kung fu as well. Tang Suen had already prepared thank you gifts to express his gratitude to Fung if he would let him be his kung fu student.

Fung Siu Ching could tell that Tang Suen was a smart, bright kid; and since he was Tung JIk’s classmate, Fung agreed to accept his gifts and have him as his student. It was evening time, Tung’s friends started to show up at the ceremony. Fung Siu Ching exhorted Tung Yung to place the statue of Buddhist Master Bodhidharma at the kung fu ring with a streamer on top of the statue reading “The lights of Buddha shine to the world”, and an antithetical couplet on both sides of the hall reading “Nine years of Meditation in Shaolin, Buddhist Master Bodhidharma founded the Zen school of Buddhism”; “Away from worldly entities, Bodhidharma established the Three-Vehicle1 under the faith of One Buddha”. Fung Siu Ching also explained to the Dong brothers and Deng Suan that Master Bodhidharma was the Great Worshipping Master of Yong Chun, as during the times when Abbot Chi Shim was preaching at Yong Chun Hall in Shaolin, he used the same antithetical couplet too. After paying tributes to Master Bodhidharma, the ceremony began. The Tung brothers and Tang Suen formally became the kung fu students of Fung Siu Ching From then on, Fung started to promote Yong Chun in Foshan.

Tang Suen’s kung fu classes in Guangdong and Hong Kong There were four Yong Chun Schools of kung fu in Foshan, the biggest school was the one which was passed on to Chen Huagong (Chan Wah Kung) by Liang Zan (Leung jan), followed by Fung Siu Ching’s and Qu Kang’s (Au Hong). There was also another school by Pao Hua Lian (Pao Fa Lin), but he was a merchant and primarily sold cosmetics to women, and products like hair oil and hair gel in Lian Hua Tei. Pao Fa Lien had been leading a quiet life in Foshan for years. There are still some classes in Hong Kong which introduce Yong Chun handed down by Fung Siu Ching These kung fu teachers are Chu Chong Man, Tung Jik and Lo Chai Woon, whom are students of Fung Siu Ching’s students. Chu Chong Man learnt from Tung Jik, Tang Yick’s father was Tang Suen and Lo Chiu Woon’s father is Lo Yam Nam. They all learnt from Fung Siu Ching’s kung fu. But once they acquired it, they were reluctant to pass it on as they wanted to keep it to themselves.

The kung fu successor of Lo Yan Nam was his son Lo Chiu Wan whilst Tung Jik’s student Chu Chong Man was his close friend’s son. Tang Suen was the only one who ran kung fu classes in Foshan to teach it to the common people. He also ran classes in Hong Kong too. During the early years of the Republic of China, Tang Suen was hired by Guangzhou Police Commissioner Chen Jinghua (Chan King Wah) to train the police officers at the police station. Unfortunately, the training camp only lasted for a very short time and it failed to bring about much effects at all.

Nevertheless all these happened throughout the difficult years of Xuan Tong (name of one of Ching Dynasty regime), so Tang Suen’s classes in Guangzhou should be considered as quite long already. Tang Suen first came and started classes in Hong Kong because he was invited by a relative from Foshan, who was in charge of the famous Chinese Herb Store Nan Bei Hang (Nam Buk Hong - South and north company) in Hong Kong, and he wanted his partners and employees to learn Yong Chun. This old relative from Foshan, Mr. Zhao was highly respected in Hong Kong for his excellent work ethics. Mr. Zhao wished to raise the defense and security level of his shop, and since he considered Yong Chun a more “gentle” kind of kung fu, and the fact that Yong Chun can be practised in a confined area, it seemed ideal for business people. That was the reason why Mr. Zhao hired Tang Suen to teach his business partners and staff Yong Chun. The class was barely marking its second year when the Birthday of the Wen Wu Temple arrived. One business Yu Ye Hang successfully hired the Dragon Dance of Feng Gangchang from Heshan as a celebration performance, but the Dragon Dance team ended up having a big fight with several other big Dragon Dance teams in Hong Kong. Quite a number of people died and were wounded in the incident. Since then the Hong Kong government started to watch the kung fu schools closely. Mr. Zhao had always been a law-abiding businessman, he decided not to let Tang Suen teach kung fu in his warehouse anymore as he did not want to get into trouble. Tang Suen then left Hong Kong and went back to Guangzhou. Tang Suen was the person to introduce Yong Chun into Hong Kong, however his stay was too short that his students were not able to learn many kung fu techniques from him. As a result, Yong Chun fail to get much attention in Hong Kong and only a handful of people are taking Yong Chun classes.

Tang Suen went back to Guangzhou and was the teacher of national martial arts to the police officers at the police training camps, but what he taught was Yong Chun kung fu essentially. Tang Suen was initially hired by Police Commissioner Chen Jinghua. Chen Jinghua was an open-minded man, and his original intent to have his officers trained and equipped with martial arts was a splendid idea. Yet he was not even in the office for two years before he was discovered by Provincial Military Governor Long Jiguang for having secret liaisons with Chen Jiongming and planning treasonous activities against the Republican President Yuan Shikai. Chen was then allured to a resort at Guangyin Shan to enjoy the moonlight one night and he was murdered. After Chen’s incident, Tang Suen had no choice but to go back to Foshan. Chan Wah Shun was the best student of Leung Jan, and Chan’s students like Ng Chun So, Yuan Laozha and Huagong’s own son Chan Yiu Men, were teaching Yong Chun in Foshan. Ng Chun So, Yuan Laozha and Chan Yiu Men had always had great relationships with Tang Suen, they even called each other brothers and there was no borderline among them at all.

Tang Suen knew that Fung Siu Ching’s students like Tung Jik had already moved to Macau whereas Lo Yan Nam had gone to Hong Kong. Lo Yan Nam was a businessman, not a kung fu teacher; and he would only teach Yong Chun to his sons as a self-defence tool when he had spare time. As in Foshan, only Tang Suen himself practised Yong Chun. Since Tang Suen refused to see Yong Chun to be lost, he had picked a few shops in town and taught


Tang Suen was now 30 something and had a wife. Although his wife did give him six kids, they turned out to be all girls. Since Tang Suen had no son to carry on the family traditions, many asked him to get a concubine to give it a try. Deng Suan hesitated. At this time, there was a girl from Wunan who had lived the life of an adventurer, working and drifting from town to town. She had been following her father Mr. Meng(Mug) all her life, and they made a living by doing street performances. Her kung fu was known to be quite good too. Unfortunately, when the father and the girl arrived in Foshan, the father died from an old illness. The girl was then left homeless in the foreign town. Knowing that, Tang Suen was thinking about getting a concubine, the girl was approached and persuaded to marry to Tang SUen, and she agreed. Through the arrangement of the matchmaker, Ms. Meng was married to Tang Suen as his second wife. Tang Suen also started to teach her Yong Chun soon after their marriage.

Two years went by, and Ms. Meng gave Tang Suen a boy, who was named Tang Yik. In spite of the fact that Tang’s wife Ms. Meng was born in Wunan, she gradually got accustomed to the local dialect and customs of Foshan and was becoming more like a Fushaner, after all she had been living in Bao Guo Xuan during all those years and had had frequent contact with the Foshaners. Under Tang Suen’s constant guidance, Ms. Meng could now master Weng Chun very well. She even incorporated Weng Chun into her own Shengzhou ba zhang, which made her become an expert in Weng Chun Chun kung fu.

At the age of five or six, Tang Yik was already learning kung fu from his mother after school. Since Tang Yik was trained by his mother that his kung fu was not just composed of Yong Chun, but also a bit of Ms. Meng’s Wunan kung fu techniques. Under his mother’s coaching, Tang Yik’s kung fu moves such as Weng Chun Kuen, san bai fu shou, da sha bao and mai zhuang had become more mature and advanced. Tang Yik’s kung fu achievements were largely attributed to his mother’s hard work.

Since Tang Suen was the only one coaching Weng chun in Foshan, he had quite a few kung fu teaching jobs at several big companies at the same time. Every night after dinner, Tang Suen would go and coach kung fu classes in these companies, where all kinds of kung fu poles were set, especially the ones for practising Weng Chun. What was normally absent could be found in these companies which made it possible for Tang Suen to teach Gwun Chong techniques to his students there. Though Tang Yik was only medium built, he was strong enough to practise Look Dim Boon Gwun and soon after he was able to master the move perfectly.

Having finished tutoring the kung fu classes in these companies, Tang Suen reached his retirement age and moved back to Shunde. This left only Lo Yam Nam teaching Yong Chun to his sons and his nephews in Hong Kong, and Tung Jik to Chu Chong Man in Macau. Chu Chong Man came from a small town called Pu Jun Xu in Foshan, and he first took up kung fu as a means to build up his body when he was a child. His first teacher was Da Shan Shu but after practising kung fu for a certain period of time, Chu turned to Tung Jik and spent a couple of years learning kung fu from him. In seven, eight years’ time, people began to see Chu as Florist Jik’s (Tung Jik) best student. Under his father’s command, Chu Chong Man traveled to Macau and started to learn about doing business there. Chu specially invited Florist Jik to stay in Macau and to teach him the advanced skills of Weng Chun. That was the reason why Chu Chong Man naturally became the kung fu successor of Florist Jik in the later years.

Chu Chong Man was a very experienced kung fu practitioner, but he was primarily a business person who had no intention of building a career out of kung fu. Chu Chong Man was working as a medical practitioner in Macau who specialized in both surgery and physiology, which was different from regular doctors who usually majored in treating fractured bones, contusions and strains. Chu had also opened his own clinic on Feng Lai Xin Street. In his free time, Chu would teach his sons Weng Chun and his sons were getting quite good at it.

The development of Weng chun Chun in Hong Kong during the post-war period In the 1950s, the only Weng Chun kung fu specialist was Lo Chiu Wan, a businessman. Although Lo Chiu Wan did not have a proper place to teach kung fu to the public, he did pass on the kung fu skills to the young business owner of Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market Wai Yan was drawn to kung fu for health benefits.

That explained the setting up of the big wooden kung fu poles and sandbags at Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market. Wei An was devoted to learning kung fu and after practising kung fu for a substantial period of time, he passed on his kung fu skills to his colleagues.

Two years went by and Tang Suen’s son Tang Yik came to Hong Kong. Lo Chiu Wan introduced Wai Yan to Tang Yik, who was then invited to teach kung fu at Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market. Tang Yik was glad to have a place to settle down that he agreed every night he would go and coach Wai Yan colleagues kung fu at Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market. Knowing that Tang Yik was particularly skilled at Look Dim Boon Gwun, Wai Yan had a Weng Chun kung fu pole fixed at his place and asked for Tang Yik’s guidance. Through diligent practices, Wei An became fairly proficient in applying the gun techniques.

Tang Yik had already spent a few years teaching Weng Chun at Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market. At this time, Chu Chong Man also moved to Hong Kong from Macau. He was hired by the Hong Kong-Kowloon Flower Association as the medical practitioner and had no plan to coach kung fu in Hong Kong. Tang Yik, Lo Chiu Wan and Wai Yan became very good friends. Every year they would organize a celebration ceremony for the birthday of Buddhist Master Bodhidharma at Dai Duk Lan Poultry Market. They even proposed to set up a Weng Chun Sports Association together. However the plan did not work out as only a handful of people showed interest in joining the association. Up till now the plan is yet to be realized.

During the 1960s, Lin Jiasheng’s (Lam Ka Sing - a Chinese Opera actor) father Lin Xiangrong had an arts society on Nathan Road. Some of the performers there were admirers of Weng Chun and Tang Yik was hired to teach them kung fu after having a thorough discussion with Lin Xiangrong. Among all the students, Chen Kaixuan (Chan Hoi Suen) was the best performer, whose expertise was the Weng Chun Chun Gwun. Again, Chan’s Weng Chun Chun was chiefly used for self-defence as he had no desire to get into the kung fu career field. At the same time, Lin’s premise was rebuilt which left no place for the kung fu classes. The classes were thus suspended, and Tang Yik simply gave up teaching kung fu.

It is though that Tang Yik has no intention of passing on the Weng Chun kung fu secrets to the public, yet he does worry that Weng Chun would be lost one day. As Tang Yik inherits a very strong sense of family traditions, he has been training his two nephews, Tang Chung Sum, a teacher and Tang Pak (that’s me!) the skills of Yong Chun. Tang Sum and Tang Pak had shown very positive initiatives about learning kung fu. That is why Tang Yik decided to teach them Weng Chun, in the hopes that they would bring forth the traditions of Weng Chun one day. Tang Yik had once lamented to me that, although he had been teaching Weng Chun in Hong Kong for almost 20 years and had had numerous kung fu students, it was a pity that very few of them had great achievements in the kung fu field: the good students always reluctant to pass on the kung fu skills to the others; while the ordinary students are always way too eager to teach kung fu classes. Of course Tang Yik would not let it happen. To Tang Yik , there does not seem to be a suitable candidate whom he would approve of running Weng Chun classes for now. Therefore his hopes of carrying forward the Weng Chun kung fu can only cast on his two nephews, Tang sum and Tang Pak.

Posted By : tommy56nc

Last Update: Dec 10, 2015

Category:

Histories - Traditional

Sources

  • Original story:New Martial Hero
  • interview of Tang Yik and Chu Chong Man
  • Retold and added to by Tang Pak
  • 1st Revision in English By-Leung Publishing
  • 2nd Revision By-Popovic Zeljko
  • 3rd Revision-By-Brian Scanlon

    Histories - Traditional