First World Ving Tsun Conference
by
Richard Loewenhagen and Jeremy Roadruck
Continuing its quest to document the history of Ving Tsun Kung Fu, past and present, the Ving Tsun Museum (VTM) led an American contingent of martial arts practitioners and teachers to the First World Ving Tsun Conference and made a few historic side trips along the way. Master Benny Meng, the Curator of the VTM and the American representative for the 1st World Ving Tsun Conference, led the American participants through 20 major events in 10 days of travel through China and Hong Kong. The events included martial arts demonstrations by the VTM and the Ving Tsun Athletic Association (VTAA) both in Hong Kong and at the birthplace of Ving Tsun Kung Fu, in Fut Shan, China. Also included were World Conference activities and seminars focused on moving the most popular martial arts system on the planet into the next century for even greater growth and improvement. Finally, Sifu Meng and the museum staff visited both Sifu William Cheung and Sifu Leung Ting for the purpose of soliciting their views and support for unifying and advancing the art of Ving Tsun Kung Fu.
Over 30 years ago late Grand Master Yip Man, the century’s most influential teacher of Ving Tsun Kung Fu, predicted a gathering of Ving Tsun Kung Fu practitioners from around the world. On 3-13 November, 1999, that prediction finally came true. Yip Man’s legacy to the martial arts world, the VTAA in Hong Kong, hosted the first ever World Ving Tsun Kung Fu Conference with events scheduled in both Hong Kong and on mainland China stemming all the way to Fut Shan, the legendary birthplace of Ving Tsun Kung Fu. In attendance were more than 700 renowned martial artists from around the globe. To facilitate participants further, the conference was scheduled to coincide with the events of the 5th World Wushu Championships occurring simultaneously in Hong Kong.
In tribute to the man who brought Ving Tsun from its secret roots to the light of the world stage, the conference opened with a visit to Yip Man’s tomb on a hilltop in Fung Ling, the New Territories of Hong Kong. Seminar participants trekked over a quarter of a mile up the hill, passing hundreds of gravesites enroute. When seminar participants arrived at the tomb to pay their respects to the late grand master, they found Sifus Chu Shong Tin, Yip Ching, Yip Chun, William Cheung, Lee Wai Chi, Siu Yuk Men, and Ma Hang Lum, all direct students of Yip Man, waiting to greet them. As it is customary in Chinese memorial ceremonies to offer incense and share food and drink at the tomb, the air was filled with the combined aromas of incense and roast pig. All shared in the feast at the tomb, while many formal photos were taken to document history for the next millenium.
Following the trip to Yip Man’s tomb, participants proceeded to Wa Ying College where the World Conference seminar activities were hosted. Sifu Chu Shong Tin, the current President of the VTAA, opened the proceedings with the following statement: "Grand Master Yip Man predicted that Ving Tsun would have such a profound influence on the world at large and that a world-wide conference would take place. It just took 30 years or so – better late than never!"
Following his inspirational comments, an impressive presentation of banners from schools of the Yip Man lineage spread across the world preceded welcoming addresses by Mr. Lam Kin Wong, honorary President of the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Association, and Mr Ian Fok Esquire, Chairman of the Hong Kong Wushu Union and the 5th World Wushu Championships. Both speakers highlighted the importance of Ving Tsun Kung Fu to the world of martial arts and acknowledged the impressive accomplishments of Yip Man and his extensive lineage.
The first day's events were highlighted by a landmark presentation delivered by Yip Man's eldest son, Yip Chun, calling for development of competitive sporting events in Ving Tsun Kung Fu by expanding the use of its Chi Sao training methodology. Traditional Ving Tsun practitioners have long argued that Ving Tsun is strictly a combat art and, as such, cannot be rendered useful for sporting events. Sifu Yip Chun emphasized that Ving Tsun's growing popularity mandates its employment in sporting events as well. He proposed to use Chi Sao for this purpose and demonstrated scoring concepts to support his position. Evolutionary debate and development on this subject will most certainly grow over the next decade now that the subject has been opened at a World Conference level.
The remainder of the first day's activities was taken up with actual Ving Tsun demonstrations by direct students of Grand Master Yip Man. Sifu Chu Shong Tin opened the demonstrations with a discussion on Siu Nim Tao level training. He placed strong emphasis on body unity and chi energy development, as well as the need to understand and embrace Ving Tsun's key concepts involving use of centerline orientation and straight line movement. He was followed by Sifu Siu Yuk Man demonstrating Chum Kiu level skills and discussions of form, theory, and kicking applications.
Yip Man’s second son, Sifu Yip Ching tackled Biu Je level skill demonstrations with an emphasis on three specific types of power generation: 1) Reactional Power – generated from the movement of opposing extremities, 2) Explosive Power - generated from the body in up/down motion, and 3) Momentum Power - generated from bracing and stepping motions.
Ving Tsun weapons demonstrations followed. The Luk Dim Boon Kwan (long pole) was closely examined by Sifus Chiu Hok Yin and Sifu An Yeung Kim Man of the Wong Shun Leung family. Sifu An brought a rarely seen and unique 12 foot pole to use for his demonstration. Sifu Francis Wong concluded with a Bot Jom Doa demonstration, a discussion of lethal applications, and a historical story of the last group of students to learn Ving Tsun’s butterfly swords directly from Grand Master Yip Man.
The first day's conference events closed with an original home video of Yip Man demonstrating the Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Muk Yan Johng forms 16 days before his death. The purpose of showing this video was obvious to all conference participants. Over the last 30 years, some less scrupulous teachers have altered the Ving Tsun forms and then informed the world that they were the only persons taught how to perform them correctly by the late Grand Master. These same unscrupulous teachers then offered copies of this home video, after extensive "editing" to remove key segments that differed from their claims, as proof of their own authenticity. Unfortunately, the changes these well-known figures made to the forms (and the video) actually violate some of the key principles and concepts of the art itself. For this reason, the original video was presented here at the World Conference to show all participants the precise way that Yip Man practiced these crucial forms. As proof of the original video's authenticity and "unedited" condition, a baby, the son of Sifu Yip Ching, walking across the screen during Yip Man's practice was not edited out of the video. The screening of this video was one of the highlights of the conference as it finally put to rest many contentious issues surrounding competing claims of how Yip Man performed his forms.
The second day's conference events were highlighted by four hallmark presentations that will almost certainly have an evolutionary impact on the direction of Ving Tsun Kung Fu in the 21st Century. The first was a presentation by Sifu Lewis Luk of a proposed instructor grading system put forth by the Ving Tsun Athletic Association. The historical significance is not in the system itself, but rather in the widespread acknowledgement that one is needed. For years many of Yip Man's descendents have argued that only their respective lineage was qualified to fully teach and pass on the art (to the exclusion of all others). Widespread consideration of an instructor grading system by a central organization that owes allegiance only to the art itself is long overdue. Perhaps the next century will entail widespread identification of such an organization and acceptance as well.
The second landmark presentation was an impassioned plea by Sifu William Cheung for unity in the art. Sifu Cheung went so far as to state that he and his representatives made a last minute decision to attend the conference, and only became involved for the sake of unity. Sifu Cheung noted that Ving Tsun was revealed to the world in Hong Kong 50 years ago, and since that time, it has spread across the globe. People everywhere have heard of it and want to know more. He emphasized that the time has come for unity of purpose and progression in the art.
The third history-making presentation was delivered by Sifu Benny Meng in his capacity as the Curator of the Ving Tsun Museum. Meng reminded participants that the museum's purpose is to research Ving Tsun's true history and archive and store its treasures. To that end, it was necessary to share at this conference the results of the museum's research to date, regardless of impact. In a room filled with hundreds of martial artists who long ago accepted the legend of a Buddhist monk and a young woman named "Yim Ving Tsun" as the originators of the art, it took great courage to debunk that myth with the results of research. Yet, that is precisely what Sifu Meng and the museum staff attempted. The museum's position on the roots of Ving Tsun are paraphrased as follows for the sake of brevity in this article.
According to the museum, Ving Tsun represents the culmination of Shaolin Kung Fu as practiced in the Northern and Southern monasteries. The Shaolin temples remained loyal to the Ming dynasty which was overrun by the Manchu, a northern minority, in 1644. This loyalty resulted in the Shaolin coming together with revolutionary groups for a common cause - the restoration of the Ming Family to the throne of China. Two particular monks have been identified as key players in the initial development of Ving Tsun: Chu Ming and Da Jung. Chu Ming is credited with founding the first secret society in the Shaolin temples. Da Jung has been identified as a fighting monk who was sent south to establish fighting skills at the southern temple in Fukien - out of sight of the Manchu whose political and military attentions were focused on the Northern Temple.
In support of the revolutionaries engaged in continuous physical struggle with the Manchu, the monks did not have the luxury of training hand-to-hand combat fighters for 10 to 15 years. They needed to train competent fighters in a much shorter period of time. Consequently, they took the best of their Shaolin and improved it with a focus on human physiology and the science of employing natural human motion.
The Northern Temple monks traveled south to form a secret society that met in a place called the Hung Fa Ting. In the Southern Temple, the meeting place was called Weng Chun Tong. At that time, Weng Chun had a coded meaning - Rebirth of Spring - implying the rebirth of the Ming dynasty. Development of their new fighting art continued and took on the name "Ving Tsun." The development itself was directed by the head monks of the Southern Temple. One of the most important of those monks was named Yat Chum Dai Si. Yat Chum was one of the first to receive the total fighting knowledge of Ving Tsun. He passed this knowledge on to another monk named Cheung Ng. This occurred approximately 80 years after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Around this same time, the Manchu, now entrenched as the Qing Dynasty in China, began to take serious notice of the revolutionary groups activities in the South and their closeness to the Southern Temple. Imperial troops were sent to destroy the Southern Temple. This caused the surviving monks and revolutionaries to move underground. They changed the Chinese characters in Ving Tsun's name from "Everlasting" to "Praise." Their actions were consistent with Chan Buddhism, whose practitioners traditionally passed on customs orally. At this time in history, the revolutionaries could not afford to write anything down, but they had to keep talking about revolution to keep the struggle alive. The word Yim, meaning "keep secret," was added to the name Ving Tsun as a reminder to keep teaching the art in secret. Chinese history is colorful and filled with the use of secret or veiled phrases. These conclusions are all consistent with centuries of Chinese culture and history.
Museum research reveals there are no written or physical records of any kind validating the existence of the legendary nun, Ng Mui, or her legendary student, Yim Ving Tsun. However, the name "Ng Mui" translates to "Five Plums," and the monk who received the Ving Tsun art, Cheung Ng has a similar name. Evidence can validate that Cheung Ng went to Fut Shan and established the Precious Jade Opera Company. This is the history of Ving Tsun according to the research conducted by the Ving Tsun Museum and its is based on certain written facts and consistency with other documented histories. What is most important is that Ving Tsun does come from Shaolin Kung Fu, and it was passed down through the secret societies. Wong Wah Bo and Hung Gun Biu were known to be involved with these secret societies, and there is a style alive today called Hung Fa Yi that came directly from Hung Gun Biu, who was in a direct line of succession from Cheung Ng. These are facts, not historical interpretations. Today you can identify 7 or 8 main lineages, with over 90% of all known practitioners stemming from one family - that of Yip Man.
The final landmark presentation of the second day of the conference was delivered by Professor Kham representing the China Athletic Association, an office of the Chinese Government responsible for the preservation and advancement of Chinese Martial Arts. Professor Kham acknowledged meeting with Yip Chun, Chu Shong Tin, and Siu Yuk Man with the specific intent of reintroducing and developing Ving Tsun Kung Fu in mainland China. Professor Kham noted that Ving Tsun is a true combat art, based on a complete system of development, that develops character as well as skill. As such, he called it one of the best martial arts in the world.
This day's events concluded with the Ving Tsun Museum group and Sifu William Cheung's group sharing dinner and discussing Ving Tsun history and the need for unity in the art. These discussions were fully documented for museum records.
The following day, many of the conference participants attended the 5th World Wushu Championships at the Tai Yuk Wui Physical Fitness Association to witness the San Shou (full-contact fighting) competitions and the final forms competitions.
The remaining 5 days encompassed extensive travel in mainland China. The first stop on the trip was a visit to Bruce Lee's ancestral home in Shunde, China, where members of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association and the Ving Tsun Museum performed Ving Tsun demonstrations for the local citizens. The Ving Tsun Museum also met with current Sifus of the Chan Wah Shun lineage lineage to document differences in their forms and training methodologies. The interviews were recorded for museum records.
The next stop on the mainland journey was Fut Shan's Jou Miu - Ancestor's Park. Located in the park are two historical artifacts pertaining to Ving Tsun history. The first was an old historic photo featuring two members of the Red Boat Opera playing the Muk Yan Jong (Wooden Man Dummy) form on a Chinese Junk. This photo is part of a two-panel display in Ancestor's Park on the history of Ving Tsun. A replica is available for view on the Ving Tsun Museum web page. The history contained on those two pages fully supports the Museum's current research. The second artifact is an actual stage used by the Red Boat Opera members during the 19th Century. The stage itself was built during the Ming Dynasty, making it over 350 years old. For this special tour, participants were allowed onto the stage for photos and to play Chi Sao where their ancestors had played. For many, this profound experience was the finest highlight of the tour.
The third stop on the journey was Leung Jan's home in Fut Shan, followed by a visit to Yip Man's ancestral home. There participants visited the building that housed the school run by Chan Wah Shun in which Yip Man learned his Kung Fu. The agenda continued with more Ving Tsun demonstrations, including Ving Tsun Museum staff demonstrations of Chum Kiu level skills and Chi Sao progression.
Following four days of touring and demonstrating Ving Tsun Kung Fu, the conference participants returned to Hong Kong. The American contingent, under the leadership of Sifu Meng and the Ving Tsun Museum proceeded to Sifu Yip Ching's home for private discussions of Yip Man's life and history. These discussions were fully documented for Museum records.
A visit to the Ving Tsun Athletic Association Head Quarters came next, as well as a formal museum staff visit to Sifu Leung Ting's world Head Quarters in Hong Kong. Sifu Meng and his staff shared dinner and private discussions with Sifu Leung Ting concerning the history and direction of Ving Tsun Kung Fu in the coming millenium. A final visit was paid to Sifu Lee Hoi Sang, first Sifu of Benny Meng, in Hong Kong for the same purpose. Again, all of these discussions were fully documented for historical purposes in museum archives.
During their short stay of 10 days in Hong Kong and mainland China, the Ving Tsun Museum staff and the American contingent participated in over 20 major activities coordinated by the Ving Tsun Athletic Association and the Ving Tsun Museum. Each activity constituted a unique opportunity to make new connections in the greater Ving Tsun global community, establish new friendships and strengthen old ones, while exchanging fresh ideas with practitioners from around the world.
To briefly summarize this whirlwind journey, the total of the combined activities represented an event of truly global proportions for Ving Tsun practitioners and teachers. Participants agreed that the Ving Tsun Athletic Association created a top-rate event, the ramifications of which will be felt throughout the martial arts world for many years to come. The staff of the Ving Tsun Museum and the American participants offer their most sincere congratulations and deepest thanks to the Ving Tsun Athletic Association for dedication and foresight shown in putting together this historic First World Ving Tsun Conference.
Sifu Benny Meng may be contacted at (937) 236-6485 for further information on Conference results and future Ving Tsun Athletic Association and Ving Tsun Museum agendas.
|
