Interview by Benny Meng

Recently, my Sifu Benny Meng and I attended the first ever-International Lion and Dragon Dance Festival in Toronto, Canada. Master Sunny Tang hosted this historic event. Master Sunny Tang represents the International Wushu Kung Fu Federation in Canada. My Sifu and I were there to represent the U.S. Wushu Kung Fu Federation, the International Moy Yat Ving Tsun Federation and the Ving Tsun Museum. There were over 25 Lion teams, 2 Dragon teams and many Martial arts schools from all over North America performing demonstrations in front of the crowd. During the festival my Kung Fu family which included Sifu Benny Meng, our Simo Sunmi Meng, Michael Patak, 11 year old Matthew Patak, Mike Matthews and Dan Wells did a demonstration of Ving Tsun forms and Chi Sau. Over 20,000 people throughout the day attended the festival. Also there attending the festival was the Yip Man Athletic Association Chairman and Moy Yat disciple Sam Lau. Master Sam Lau was representing the Chinese Dragon and Lion Dance Sports Association. He traveled from China along with the Chinese Dragon team, which performed a wonderful demonstration of the Dragon dance. It was obvious watching them why they were selected to represent the Chinese government Martial Arts.

After the festival we went with Master Sunny Tang, Master Sam Lau and the Dragon Dance team for dinner. Seeing a rare opportunity my Sifu asked Master Lau if he would grant an interview for the Ving Tsun Museum. Being my Sifu's older Kung Fu brother, Master Lau agreed. Here are the results of that unique and historically eventful conversation.

A: I am the Chairman of the Yip Man Martial Arts Athletic Association, the Hong Kong representative of the World Boxing Council, one of the directors of the Chinese Dragon and Lion Dance Sports Association, I am also founder and President of many business ventures in Hong Kong.

A: Being a youth in the city of Hong Kong with much energy, I decided at a very young age to get involved with Western boxing. In the old days martial arts tournaments were not very popular and real fighting was the only way to test your skill. Challenge matches, called gong sau was how those who dared tested their skill. Ving Tsun guys fought many of these matches it seems. This made the style interesting to me and I decided it would be worthwhile to study it. It was during the early sixties that I had the opportunity to study under one of Yip Man's brightest students. His name is Moy Yat. Also I was able to get to know Yip Man during this time, as I lived very close to his home. Under the guidance of Moy Yat I became a capable fighter and gained a reputation for bravery amongst my peers. Gong Sau was very big at this time and Yip Man was impressed by my willingness to accept challenges without hesitation. Growing up in the streets of Hong Kong, I had many opportunities, along with two of my Kung Fu brothers Jeffrey Chan and Sunny Tang to Gong Sau. At this time it was the only way to test one's Kung Fu and being Ving Tsun students we wanted to find out how good we were. Yip Man used to say that he was most impressed with the Ving Tsun guys that would Gong Sau without having to ask their Moms first. He considered me one of those guys and took notice of me during my time under Moy Yat's teaching. Later on because of this I had the good fortune to become one of the Instructors at the Ving Tsun Athletic Association.

A: At the time when Gong Sau became popular, during the late sixties, the government noticed and decided it was dangerous. It was decided that all martial arts schools would have to be controlled somehow by the government and therefore it became required that the government licenses all schools. It was feared that someone favoring a particular style might get a position in government. For political reasons it was decided that in order to guard against this possibility there would be 3 Ving Tsun organizations registered with the government thereby assuring preservation of the system. One of them was the Yip Man Martial Arts Athletic Association.

A: The Ving Tsun Athletic Association, which is currently still in existence was the first martial art to officially register with the government in 1967. The VTAA was operated and run by Yip Man himself until he passed away. The Yip Man Martial Arts Athletic Association was the second of the 3 created and registered. The Ving Liun (Everlasting United) was the third organization created under Yip Man to represent the style. Ving Liun was founded and run by Leung Shang who was Yip Man's first Disciple. After Leung Shan's death it was decided that because of more stable conditions in government and the cost of maintaining it that the Ving Liun would be closed. However, out of respect for their Sifu's name the Yip Man Martial Arts Athletic Association it was decided would remain open.

A: the Di Si Hings (elders) of Yip Man's students originally ran The YMAA for one-year terms. The function of the YMAA was intended to supplement the activities of the VTAA. While there are members, it is not the main function of the YMAA to actively recruit members.

A: One of the activities is a Dragon Dance team to represent the Ving Tsun style. In the old days the Lion dance was traditional in China. However, Yip Man did not want people to see Ving Tsun as a style that used the lion dance as a means to make money so, he did not want to have a team representing his school. Things are different now and the Elders of the VTAA agreed that it would be ok to do this. However, out of respect for their Sifu the Elders chose to promote a Dragon Dance team instead. Creation and promotion of the Dragon team was and still is the responsibility of the YMAA. A Dragon team consists of ten people carrying a dragonhead and body of up to fifty feet. This Dragon team, created and promoted by the YMAA, was the first team representing the martial art community that went back to China from Hong Kong to perform during ceremonies celebrating the return of Hong Kong to mainland China. This Dragon team is unique in that it is the only one of its kind in existence. Called a moonlight dragon, it shines in the dark thereby hiding the people carrying it. Even China itself does not have anything like it. The YMAA also offers classes to teach the Dragon Dance and of course the Ving Tsun students there all learn it along with their Ving Tsun.

A: Up until 1991 the YMAA Chairman was a yearly term of elected elders. In 1991 with the approval of all the VTAA Elders I became permanent Chairman. Because I am very close to the Elders in the VTAA and also because it was more efficient to just have one chairman for YMAA they were all comfortable with me taking the position.

A: With the relaxing of policies in the Chinese government over the last decade there have been many opportunities for traditional martial arts to be formally recognized there. Now All Chinese martial arts are considered treasures by the government. Because of this there has been much support from within China to research and promote not only modern day Wushu but, all classical styles that are the history and culture of this country. In September of 1996 the late Master Wong Sheung Lung and I made a trip to Mainland China, representing both the VTAA and YMAA. This was to celebrate the official reintroduction and recognition of Ving Tsun back to China. This took place in China's capitol city Peking. During this trip we met with the top leaders of the Chinese martial arts community to discuss the future of Ving Tsun in China. As a result of this meeting's success Wong Sheung Lung was invited back to China to teach a course on Ving Tsun for government sponsored martial artists. Over one hundred were in attendance. During this time he mentioned that Ving Tsun was a great system but could be improved with the support of the Chinese government and martial arts community. He hoped that with the help of the government the system could have up to date methods of teaching and training without losing its original principles.

A: I think that if Ving Tsun is to survive and continue to thrive that it can not be done by one individual. After the passing of Yip Man there has not been a recognized Grand Master of the Ving Tsun system to replace him. Mostly the organization is run by those senior students still alive today. This has created much conflict amongst those students as some have tried to lay claim to this title. Also many of the senior disciples of Yip Man are getting old. After they are gone it will be impossible to find any combined support from the next generation of Ving Tsun guys. My Sifu, Moy Yat, and I have this idea to promote Ving Tsun as a national art of China. In order to accomplish this it is necessary to bring the style back to Mainland China and have it accepted and developed by the Chinese government. This, of course, would be done with the support of and help from the Senior Yip Man Ving Tsun family members and Ving Tsun Museum. In July of this year, I went back to China and discussed this very subject with the Chinese government martial arts officials. They, like me believe that the government has a much better chance to represent the style and help it to further grow.

A: Yes, it's true. The goal of China right now is to promote Wushu as an official Olympic sport. But, because of China' s interest in classical martial arts also right now, I think it is a good opportunity to try and promote Ving Tsun as a classical national martial art in China.

A: Yes. I have presented my ideas to them and they seem to be very supportive. Most are senior disciples of Yip Man. Some of them are Lok Yiu, Chu Shong Tin, Wong Shun Leung, Yip Ching, Moy Yat and Chen Wei Hong.

A: Before taking Ving Tsun back to the Chinese government we must first agree on a standardized system. The elders of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association and Yip Man Martial Arts Association will discuss this and agree on what is to become the standard for the system. If this is not successful then I will individually interview each of the elders myself and then take this information back to the martial arts officials in China and ask for their help in using this information to standardize the art. Step two is to have the Hong Kong Ving Tsun community bring the style back to the Shaolin Temple and develop what will be the first generation of Ving Tsun Monks. From there the martial arts community will organize it further and develop a Ving Tsun program that is suitable for both the young and old. Once the goal of establishing Ving Tsun as a national art is reached it is hoped that the government will promote it overseas. The problem today is that Ving Tsun is not organized like other arts such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do. These arts are supported and promoted by their governments. This is what I feel is necessary for Ving Tsun.

Master Benny Meng: Si Hing, well thank you very much for giving the interview. As it is the Ving Tsun Museum's purpose to collect, document and store information about Ving Tsun families all over the world, we are thrilled to have had this opportunity. I hope that we can work together in the future to promote and preserve Ving Tsun for generations.

Although at the time I could not understand, it is now obvious to me from this interview that Master Sam Lau has big plans for preserving the art that he has dedicated a lifetime studying and promoting. Is it possible to make such things happen? Well no can say for sure at this point but, we at the Ving Tsun believe that Master Lau's ideas are a step in the right direction. If the success of other martial arts promoted by their respective governments is any indication, we think Ving Tsun is destined to find it's rightful place as one of the best style to learn. The Ving Tsun Museum hopes that Master Lau has much success with his newest venture and we'll certainly be there to witness and document it as part of the history of this great system.