Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun
People in the martial arts world have called Wong Shun Leung, many things. England's '
Fighters' magazine called him, "...a communicator and teacher of Wing Chun par excellence";
Jesse Glover, the first American student of the late Bruce Lee, wrote in his book 'Bruce
Lee's Non-Classical Gung Fu' that Wong Shun Leung "...is one of the greatest Wing Chun
teachers in the world"; Bey Logan, editor of the British martial arts magazine 'Combat'
wrote that "...Wong Shun Leung is far more important as a Wing Chun teacher in his own
right than just a figure in the life of Bruce Lee. He deserves better than to be in
anyone's shadow"; America's 'Black Belt' magazine simply called him "...a Wing Chun
phenomenon."
Which ever way you want to look at it, there is no denying that Wong Shun Leung was a
great representative of the dynamic Chinese fighting art of Wing Chun. He was the man who
put Wing Chun on the map in the late 'fifties and early 'sixties in his well publicized
challenge matches against representatives of all the major combat arts in Hong Kong. He
was the late Bruce Lee's teacher, and influenced the development of Lee's personal art of
combat, Jeet Kune Do. His ego was such, that Wong Shun Leung preferred to be known simply
as a sifu, and refused to accept accolades such as "master" or "grandmaster", terms which
he believed worthless because they have been abused so readily in recent years.
Written by David Peterson
For more information on Wong Shun Leung and his Wing Chun System, you can visit David Peterson's web site by clicking this link:
www.wslwingchun.com
David Peterson trained with Wong Sifu on a regular basis, in Hong Kong from 1983 to 1992.
In addition to being the Principal Instructor of the 'MCMAC', David is also a full-time
teacher of the Chinese language, as well as a freelance writer whose articles have
appeared in many local and overseas journals, and more recently, on the Internet.
