by Benny Meng and Richard Loewenhagen

Throughout history, true martial artists were akin to military generals. They amassed legions of followers and developed the leadership traits necessary to minister the growth and development needs of their practitioners. In essence, they needed to be scholars, teachers, warriors, healers, and artists. This is the picture history has painted of the "traditional" martial artist. Grand Master Moy Yat is one of the traditional martial artists alive today worthy of depiction on that same historical canvas. In the world of Ving Tsun Kung Fu he has amassed thousands of students and grand students whose skills attest daily to his leadership as a scholar, a teacher, a warrior, a healer, and an artist.

Moy Yat is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable men alive on the nature of Ving Tsun and the scientific system of instruction that surrounds it. Moy Yat’s dream as a young man was to become a teacher of Ving Tsun. The lessons of history on generalship were not lost to him. He recognized that scholarly study into the nature of man and the cultures surrounding him represented essential tools for an exercise in leadership. He carried this same wisdom into his study of Ving Tsun Kung Fu. He surrounded himself with in-depth study of the principles and concepts of Ving Tsun. He then spent forty years examining the nature of every technique and training method of the system in relation to those same principles and concepts. Few alive today understand those relationships as deeply as Moy Yat.

Yip Man recognized young Moy Yat’s vent for scholarship and commissioned him to carve the tenets and history of the artform in stone for universal preservation. Instead of jumping right into the stone carving, Moy Yat recognized the historic significance of the task given him. He began by expending five years researching fifty-one centuries of chop making. He examined styles and stones alike. The masterpiece he ultimately created gave a new dimension to universality by incorporating the progress of chop-making over the centuries in the priceless "Ving Tsun Chops."

The Scholar at work

Today, as a "General" of the Ving Tsun artform, Moy Yat the Scholar travels the world giving seminars centered around question and answer sessions designed to trigger scholarly endeavors in all participants. His students and grand students have authored books, video tapes, seminars, historical treatises, and technical magazine articles far too numerous to list in this brief essay.

Many have purported that the best measure of a teacher is in the degree of leadership shown by his students. Against such a yardstick, Moy Yat qualifies as a teacher with few equals. The majority of his students have become leaders in whatever course they have chosen in their lives. In fact, throughout his years of teaching, Moy Yat has always avidly asserted that a real Ving Tsun practitioner will live the artform, thereby succeeding in all that he pursues. A quick look at the martial arts leadership shown by his more famous students bears this out.

Master Jeffrey Chan, current Dai Sihing and renowned fighter of the Moy Yat family, is also the Chairman of the International Moy Yat Ving Tsun Federation. Samuel Lau, a senior student from Moy Yat’s Hong Kong School, is the current Chairman of the Yip Man Athletic Association in Hong Kong. Master Sunny Tang is the founder of the Chinese Kuo Shu Federation and currently President of the United Wushu Federation of Canada. Master Henry Moy has trained many of the top Sifus in New York City’s prestigious Chinatown. Master Mickey Chan is the American Dai Sihing of the Moy Yat family. Renowned for both his skill and knowledge, he has spent over 20 years assisting the growth and development of his younger martial arts brothers and sisters. Master Pete Pajil is recognized as the most knowledgeable herbal healer in the Moy Yat family. Master William Moy runs the Moy Yat Family headquarters in New York City and is Chairman of the Moy Yat Special Student Association. Master Miguel Hernandez, a renowned teacher and Ving Tsun author, specializes in training world class fighters. Master Javier Ramirez, a recognized television producer and broadcaster, heads the Mexican Branch of the International Moy Yat Ving Tsun Federation. Master Benny Meng, also a renowned fighter, teacher, and author, founded the Ving Tsun Museum and serves as its Chairman. As a central figure in preserving the artform for all time, he has traveled throughout Hong Kong, China, and the Western Hemisphere with Grand Master Moy Yat to research and document the history of Ving Tsun for future generations. Master Leo Imamura is President of the Sao Paulo State Kung Fu Federation in Brazil, and a full Professor of Martial Arts at Santo Andre Physical Education College. He, too, has authored several definitive books on Ving Tsun.

Together, the above leaders have trained tens of thousands of Ving Tsun students and grand students, while devoting the time and energy necessary to hold positions of international leadership as well. Their academic endeavors continue to produce scholarly treatises, books, instructional tapes, documentaries, and seminars that open the artform to practitioners around the world. Their accomplishments, along with those of thousands of business and professional leaders of the Moy Yat family, are the real measure of Moy Yat as a teacher.