Wong Shun-leung (; 8 May 1935 – 28 January 1997) was a Hong Kong martial artist who studied Wing Chun kung fu under Yip Man (葉問)Ving Tsun Athletic Association (1990): The development of Ving Tsun Kungfu in Hong Kong: 1954-1960 Retrieved on 24 June 2009. and was credited with training Bruce Lee.Castrounis, L. (1997): Wong Shun Leung (1936–1997) (sic). Retrieved 4 July 2009.Peterson, D.: Wong Shun Leung: The Legend behind the Legend; Recalling the life of Bruce Lee's teacher Retrieved on 25 June 2009.Montaigue, E.: Interview with Wong Shun Leung Retrieved on 6 July 2009.Ving Tsun Update: Interview with Wong Shun Leung Retrieved on 6 July 2009. In interviews, Wong claimed to have won at least 60, and perhaps over 100, street fights against martial artists of various styles, though these numbers cannot be independently confirmed.Poon, D.: Interview with Wong Shun Leung (originally published in Qi Magazine). Retrieved 6 July 2009.Peterson, D. (2001): Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun Gung Fu: A scientific approach to combat (originally published in Fight Times, October 2001, New Zealand). Retrieved 15 March 2009.Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun Kung Fu Association UK Retrieved on 4 July 2009.Smith, J. (16 November 2006): Yesteryear Ving Tsun by Yuen Yim Keung (interview). Retrieved 5 July 2009. Due to his reputation, his students and admirers referred to him as 'Gong Sau Wong' (講手王 or 'King of Talking Hands').Ng Family Martial Arts: Wong Shun Leung 1935–1997 Retrieved on 6 July 2009.Peterson, D., & Verratti, E. (1998): Ving Tsun by definition: Getting it right ... the "Wong Way"!!! (originally published in Martial arts legends: Wing Chun, November 1998, USA). Retrieved 7 July 2009.Peterson, D. (2001): Get out of the way, ... and make them pay: The street-effective footwork of Wing Chun (originally published in Fight Times, December 2001 and January 2002, New Zealand). Retrieved 6 July 2009. Wong recorded one instructional film entitled Wing Chun: The science of in-fighting.Anonymous (2003): Wong Shun Leung Retrieved on 4 July 2008.
Early martial arts training Wong reportedly trained in several martial art styles in his youth, primarily in Tai Chi and either boxing or kickboxing.Peterson, D. (1990): Wong Shun Leung: Wing Chun personified (originally published in Inside Kung Fu, vol. 18, no. 2). Retrieved 25 June 2009. He abandoned boxing because of two incidents: one with his boxing coach and one with Ip Man. The first incident apparently occurred because Wong accidentally struck his boxing coach during sparring. The angry coach attacked in earnest, only to be eventually knocked out by Wong; the incident caused Wong to leave boxing.Bayer, P.: Ving Tsun Update: Wong Shun Leung Retrieved on 25 June 2009. In another account, however, Wong said he had defeated his boxing coach with wing chun techniques: "I was sparring with my instructor and I hit him very hard, he got real mad and came at me very hard. I fought back with wing chun and he ended up bleeding. Boxing was over for me!"
First encounter with Ip Man The second incident came about from Wong's fascination with the stories of legendary wing chun figures, such as Chan Wah-shun (陳華順) and Leung Jan (梁贊). This interest led Wong to look for a wing chun teacher. Friends of his older brother took him to meet Ip Man. According to one version of events, after defeating at least two of Yip's students, Wong had a match with Yip himself and was defeated easily. Another version is that after Wong faced Lo Man-kam, later Yip Po-ching dealt with Wong. In any case, Wong joined the wing chun group and eventually came to assist Yip with teaching, with students including Bruce Lee.
Behind the scenes teacher of Bruce Lee Grandmaster Ip Man once spoke to Wong after Lee achieved superstardom "如果没有你的多方鼓励和指导，李小龙断无今日的成就" ("Without your guidance and encouragement, Bruce Lee wouldn't be having such achievement").
Bruce Lee once wrote in a letter to Wong, "Even though I am (technically) a student of Ip Man, in reality I learned my Kung-fu from you." Wong was believed to have carried the letter in his wallet. Perhaps the best-known letter from Lee to Wong is that of 11 January 1970,Lee, B. (1970): Bruce Lee's letter to Wong Shun-leung on 11 January 1970 (scan). Retrieved 4 July 2009. which has been translated into English as an appendix to an article by Wong.Wong, S. L.: Wong Shun Leung and His Friendship with Bruce Lee Retrieved on 4 July 2009.
In 1970 Bruce Lee wrote a letter in Chinese to Wong Shun-leung:
Official recognition by China in 1996 as Science of Ving Tsun Kung Fu In October 1996, National Sports Administration of China invited Wong Shun-leung (together with 12 students) to Beijing to teach and to promote Wong's Ving Tsun to the Chinese peoples, the seminar turn out very successful with nearly 200 registered participants and among them were martial arts experts, enthusiast, police and army individuals. After the weeklong training with Wong and Wong's students, both organizer and participants unanimously acknowledged that Wong's Ving Tsun is not just an ordinary fighting skill but something deep, significant and highly effective, since then Wong's fighting system became known as 咏春拳学 in Chinese, Ving Tsun Kuen Hok in Cantonese of Hong Kong and Science of Ving Tsun Kung Fu in English, today WSLVT (Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun) is widespread in mainland China and worldwide.
Fighting career
Beimo (比武) competition According to Wong and his students, he became active in beimo (比武): semi-organized bare-knuckle challenge fights in Hong Kong (sometimes known as 'kung fu elimination contests').Grandmaster William Cheung Retrieved on 5 July 2009. Supposedly there were no rules, protective equipment, or time limits. As Wong recalled in an interview, "When I competed, it was in secret. We went into a room, and the door was shut and there were no rules. The government did not allow them. They were illegal, but we didn't care. We fought until the other guy was knocked out." Beimo competitions were believed to be held anywhere that was found to be convenient. Some beimo competitions were held on the streets in Hong Kong.Cheung, H.: Hawkins Cheung Profile Retrieved on 6 July 2009.Peterson, D. (2005): The Wong Shun Leung Method of Wing Chun Fung Fu (sic). Retrieved 6 July 2009.
According to Yuen Yim-keung, there were three two-minute rounds with a one-minute rest in between. The ring was five meters in diameter, which was drawn in chalk, and as a result if the opponent went out of the ring more than three times he would be announced as the loser. There were also no attacks to the eyes, throat or groin, but everything else could be applied. Also if there was excessive blood loss, then the injured fighter would be announced as the loser.
In the early 1950s, compared to other kung fu styles, wing chun was hardly known.Leung, D.: The rise and fall of the Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) Family Retrieved on 5 July 2009. It was a style of kung fu practiced by a minority—mostly members of the Association of Restaurant Workers of Hong Kong.Ving Tsun Athletic Association (1990): The Development of Ving Tsun Kungfu in Hong Kong: 1950-1953 Retrieved on 5 July 2009. Different kung fu schools met secretly with each other for challenge matches. Wong was said to have faced opponents from many disciplines—"virtually every style of martial art in the colony." He defeated many opponents in beimo matches in Hong Kong between the ages of 17 and 32, and his reputation grew as he continued winning these matches. Some have attributed wing chun's fame in Hong Kong to Wong's beimo reputation.
Students from different schools sometimes visited each other's schools and issued challenge to their top students and instructors. If a student was able to beat the main teacher or master of a particular school, the school would close down. According to some of Yip's first-generation students, Wong "reputedly 'closed down' quite a number of schools in that way." Reportedly, Wong won most of these contests within a few punches.Martin, M. (2004): David Peterson: If you always assume that there’s always something to learn, you will always be successful! (originally published in Combat Magazine, September and October 2004). Retrieved 6 July 2009. Wong's prowess in beimo helped him convince his secondary school classmate, Wu Chan-nam, to become his first student—Wu witnessed his win in a beimo match.Wu, C. N.: Retrieved on 6 July 2009. In addition, he encouraged his junior fellow students and his own students to compete in beimo competitions and arranged matches for them. According to Yuen Yim-keung (袁炎強), Wong's student, Wong stopped arranging these matches because "his students were defeating not only other Kung Fu styles but also other students of Ving Tsun outside of the Wong Shun-leung family." Wong also reportedly had a beimo match with a much bigger Russian boxer called Giko. John Smith (a student of one of Wong's students),Smith, J. (2004): Illawarra Ving Tsun School: John Smith Retrieved on 7 July 2009. reports that Wong defeated Giko,Smith, J. (2005): Wong Shun Leung: The man and his method (www.takeforum.com). and that Wong himself told Smith how he was able to achieve this victory.
Wong was believed to have had over 60, and perhaps over 100, beimo matches and never lost. This reputation earned him the name 'Gong Sau Wong' (i.e., 'King of Talking Hands'). Once asked if he was the best fighter in the world, he replied, "No, only the second best"; when then asked who was the best, he said, "I have not met him yet."
Retirement from beimo competition In what was to be Wong's last beimo match, he unintentionally blinded his opponent's eye; he then decided to quit beimo fighting.LeBlanc, G. E.: Wing Chun Qi Sao training Retrieved on 7 July 2009. Lee Hang-cheong (李恆昌), one of Wong's students, recalled that Wong had insulted his intended opponent (apparently a well-known kung fu instructor) to coerce him to fight, but regretted both instigating the fight and accidentally blinding the other man in one eye.Lee, H. C.: 一代宗師黃淳樑: 黃淳樑之壯年, 作者: 李恆昌 (The legendary Master Wong Shun Leung: His young and strong age) . Retrieved 7 July 2009. There is a discrepancy between Lee's account and others about Wong's age when he retired from beimo competition. A few sources claim that Wong competed in beimo until the age of 32. Lee, however, said that Wong was around the age of 24.
Another view is that Wong's last beimo match was actually a different kind of incident. In beimo competition, according to Yuen Yim-keung, "There were also no attacks to the eyes, throat or groin, but everything else could be applied." Yuen also said that there were three two-minute rounds in a beimo match. In contrast, others have said that there were no rules and no time limits. Moreover, some question whether or not a referee was present. When Wu Chan Nam fought in a beimo match, there was a referee present—Wong Kiu.Wu, C. N.: Retrieved on 7 July 2009. According to Life and Legend of Bruce Lee, there was always supposed to be a referee present at a beimo match, as Wong re-enacted the scene of a 1950s beimo match on a rooftop and played the role of the referee.IMDb: Life and Legend of Bruce Lee Retrieved on 7 July 2009.
Other competitions