Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun Kung Fu

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Terveisiä Hong Kongista

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Juttua uudessa Wing Chun Illustrated lehdessä.

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Terveisiä taasen täältä Hong Kongista.

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Hong Kong & Kung Fu

[Shaolinsi]

@Veka Oletteko puhuneet Wan Kam Leungin kanssa siitä päivästä, kun Bruce Lee ja Wong Shun-leung ottelivat suljettujen ovien takana?

Wan Kam Leung oli tietääkseni ottelun silminnäkijä.

[Veka]

@Shaolinsi Kyllähän noista on paljon puhuttu SiFun kanssa ja hän on vuosien varrella tainnut asiaa useissa haastatteluissaankin sivuta. Lähinnä kai tuo sisältö on ollut tuo Wilkipediastakin löytyvä.
Toki myös nuo tarinat ovat aina suljettujen ovien takana värikkäämpiä kuin lehdistölle/tv kanaville annetut.
SiFu on silti aina puheissaan kohtuu poliittisesti korrekti.
Näin ollen en myöskään koe, että on minun tehtäväni näitä alkaa enempää avaamaan.
Eihän toki tiedä jos SiFu innostuu näitä vielä paremmin jossain haastattelussa avaamaan. Noita vanhoja tarinoitahan olisi hänellä vaikka useampaankin kirjaan.

”Wan Kam-leung (溫鑑良) witnessed the fight Wong fought with Bruce Lee when Lee returned to Hong Kong from the United States. It took place at Lee's home in Kowloon Tong. Wong claimed that his hands were faster acting than Lee's, however Bruce retaliated by saying his kicks were much faster, thus provoking the friendly ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki
Wong Shun-leung - Wikipedia”

[Shaolinsi]

Ok. Olen lukenut pari kirjaa, jossa Wan Kam Leung kertoo tuosta kohtaamisesta (John Littlen Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee ja Matthew Pollyn Bruce Lee: A Life). Olisin toivonut kuulevani, miten Wan Kam Leung kertoo omille oppilailleen ottelussa käytetyistä Wing Chun -tekniikoista. Ymmärrän toki, ettet halua asiaa enempää avata. Kunhan kokeilin kepillä jäätä, kun Wan Kam Leung muistetaan monessa paikassa juurikin tuon ottelun silminnäkijänä ja olette hänen suoria oppilaitaan ymmärtääkseni.

[Veka]

Aiheeseen liittyen. Valitettavasti ei tekstiitetty, ei siis ainakaan englanniksi.

Löysin kuitenkin Ranskalaisen Kung Fu veljemme tiivistelmän tuosta ja jopa englanniksi.
”My Sifu Wan Kam Leung on how he enrolled into the Wong Shun Leung (WSL) Wing Chun school and ended up meeting Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee - whenever he finished his acting at the studios - kept training with WSL. And after whoever wins or lose, they would end up deeply discussing on martial arts.

Even Sigung Wong Shun Leung was impressed by Bruce Lee and my Sifu got further inspired by what he was told by Bruce Lee. For instance Bruce Lee told him it is not all about the straight punch which inspired Sifu to explore optimal angles and different levels of knowledge. One punch demonstrated by Bruce Lee and which left a mark was the backfist, which was both heavy and explosive in nature.

Sifu says he had first-hand experience on how fast Bruce Lee really was. And in all honesty, he says Bruce Lee would have won if it comes to a real confrontation with Sigung. Even Sigung Wong Shun Leung said that - if Bruce would not « dose » the power of his legs - he would just die of the impact.

Sifu says Bruce Lee was so fast that it was actually scary. He could kick and withdraw his leg in such a speed that you cannot even see. The most remarkable demonstration he saw Bruce Lee doing, was kicking a ping pong ball at nose height three times, followed by a stretch-kick before it hit the ground again.

Sifu finally concludes that it is a pity that - back then in the old days - there were no videos or cameras to record the practice of martial artists. And that is culturally a loss as it does not do justice to how good and fast Bruce Lee really was and that we have therefore lost a lot of opportunities to « commemorate » these skills

Facebook: wankamleungfrance
Tiktok: wankamleungfrance
IG: wankamleungbefr
”
Löytyi myös vanha artikkeli netin syövereistä. Sen paikkansa pitävyydestä, enkä muustakaan ei minulla ole tietoa, mutta mielenkiintoinenhan tuo on kuitenkin.

”Below are excerpts of Wan’s interview in the HK radio program – “Dragon Seeks Its Path” where he spoke about his Sifu, Wong Shun Leung and his Si-suk, Bruce Lee.

Q1: Can you tell us the day where you and your Sifu, Wong Shun Leung visited Bruce’s house at Kowloon?
Wan: Sure. One day (few months before Bruce’s death), I was training with Sifu at our kwoon when the phone rang. It was Bruce. He asked Sifu whether he was interested to come over to his house and have a chat. Sifu said why not. I asked Sifu whether it was convenient for me to accompany him there. Sifu said it didn’t matter and we’d just pay Bruce a casual visit. Thus, we took a cab there. By the time we reached the destination, Bruce who was waiting for us, saw us from his windows and quickly ordered his servant to open the gate. Then, Bruce came over and gave Sifu a big hug. Sifu tapped Bruce’s shoulder twice as an acknowledgement before we all sat down in the hall.

Q2: Did you talk or keep quiet in front of your Sifu and Bruce?
Wan: Of course, as a student, it was disrespectful for me to talk and disrupt their conversation, especially when the teacher is talking to his Si-Dai. They drank tea and my duty was to help poure tea unto their cups and served drinks to them.

Q3: How old were you?
Wan: I was around 20 then.

Q4: Did Bruce show his training room or gym to both of you?
Wan: Oh yes. That training room was filled with training equipment and facilities. I remembered there were many tennis balls being tied to female stockings. My Sifu asked Bruce why so? Bruce replied because of the “elasticity.” It helped to train your reflexes, flexibility and mobility as you move and punch and dodge and jab at the same time. There’s also an air-pressure booster where you punch and the air cushion will bounce back instantly. It’s really an eye-opener for me.

Q5: How do you address Bruce? Was he please to show you his training equipments?
Wan: He’s my Sifu’s junior. So, to show my respect, I addressed him as Si-suk. Bruce told us the various functions and applications of each of these equipments in a systematical way. Initially, Bruce didn’t intend to let me enter his training room. But my Sifu told him to let me accompany him for a look. He had no choice but to let me in too.

Q6: Did you see Bruce demonstrate on any of his equipments?
Wan: Yes. Bruce demonstrated his kicking prowess. There were these tiny little mobile balls being hung with fishing lines. Suddenly, Bruce jumped up and executed 3 kicks each concurrently at 3 different balls which were bouncing at various directions. He was indeed really fast and accurate.

Q7: What do you think are the difficulties of training with this equipment?
Wan: Well, you see, the balls are very bouncy…there are no regular patterns of where they are coming from, either from the front, back, left or right. So, it is not easy to manage. But Bruce was cool as he was able to handle them at ease.

Q8: There are many magazines that said your Sifu and Bruce had a 12 hours long closed door sparring session at Bruce’s secret training room? Was it true?
Wan: I was there and witnessed everything. Actually it didn’t last 12 hours so long, just 4-5 minutes.

Q9: How did it happen?
Wan: It all started when Bruce asked my Sifu about his opinion on his kick. Sifu commented that Bruce retreated his hands/legs quicker than his punches/kicks. Bruce denied and claimed that both his punches/kicks hit and retreated equally fast. So, the two martial arts fanatics started to “Gung Sau” (talking hand). They first played Chi-Sau (sticking hands) and then Bok Gik (free sparring). To be fair, Bruce’s kick was really fast and astonishing. If they were in real fight, I doubt Sifu was able to take him down. Of course, they were sparring and not in real fighting. So, they did reserve their strength and power. Sifu was wearing a yellow long sleeve Montagut shirt and Bruce was bare-chested and dressed in a track pant. This gave him more freedom to move and execute his punches and kicks flexibly.

Q10: Could you describe about the fight more specifically?
Wan: Sure. Sifu used his favorite center lines to attack and close the gaps by moving in fast, forcing Bruce to move sideways and then backwards. However, Bruce was able to avoid all Sifu’s punches very easily. Bruce’s horse stance was amazingly agile too. Maybe he was training all the time, that’s why his reactions were fast and when he retreated or moved, all his steps seemed very coordinated and swift. Bruce told Sifu, “You cannot stand still if you intend to move; the heels must leave the ground and then, the steps will become nimble. Once the heels are not fixed to the ground, you’d have a greater mobility and your movement would be faster. However, once you are getting ready to fight, your heel should then avoid leaving the ground because your body will be “floating” if your heels leave the ground. And if so, even your punch has landed on your opponent, the destructive power will be much reduced.” What Bruce said really made a lot of sense to me. I learnt from their sparring and was inspired by Bruce’s words.

Q11: What did your Sifu comment about this?
Wan: Well, he quite agreed with Bruce’s point of view. Since Sifu’s “turning horse” was also not turning his heels but instead was using the center line to turn his toes and feet. This restricts and slows down his movement. Thus, he accepted Bruce’s advice and from then onwards, he adapted to this new changes.

Q12: So, who won the sparring in the end?
Wan: None. They were just sparring for fun. Due to space constraint, they moved carefully yet very fast and lithe. In fact, Sifu was more eager to take Bruce down but Bruce was able to tackle all his attacks and fought back with his fast kicks. Honestly speaking, Bruce’s skills and physical condition outclassed Sifu but to show respect, Bruce reserved his real ability to avoid hurting Sifu. I remembered after the sparring, both hugged each other. Bruce said, “Ha, your hands are still as fast as before and you are still very precise in your center line.” Sifu replied, “Of course, I’ve told you already and don’t forget I’m your Siheng.” Bruce smiled and continued, “But I moved faster and shunned your attacks many times. Sifu said, “You avoided once but you can’t avoid all the time…haha” Then both continued to squabble in a jovial manner. In fact, Bruce still respected Sifu very much.

Q13: What other things in the sparring impressed you?
Wan: I was really impressed by Bruce’s superb kicking ability. His kicks were very sharp and speedy. He was able to kick anywhere on the upper parts of your body even at a close distance. His muscles were toned and shapely carved. I really envied him. Bruce said he spent a lot of time and effort training in there and if I was interested and able to endure the pains, I could also develop those kinds of muscles. Nevertheless, he said building muscles should reach an “explosive” state, yet not to a “stiff” and “rigid” state. So that when you punch, it would be full of explosive power. He indeed gave us a lot of useful advices.

Q14: Any interesting trivia after the sparring?
Wan: Oh yes, after leaving Bruce’s house, we returned to our kwoon, I discovered Sifu’s arms were all bruised and swelled. Luckily, Sifu’s long sleeve Montagut shirt covered his arms and no one notice his bruises. Sifu said he used Wing Chun’s Tan Sau to disperse Bruce’s kicks but Tan Sau could only “Tan” the upper 5 inches and lower 5 inches of his legs. Bruce’s kicks still hit Sifu’s arms badly and the places which were hit all turned black and blue. I’ve to use the medicated oil to help him rubbed the bruises.

Q15: Did your Sifu make any changes to his teaching syllabus after this sparring?
Wan: Yes, after his sparring with Bruce, Sifu was inspired. He made some modifications to the training programs by introducing modern scientific training methods. For instance, improving the body stamina by practicing “chi.” Everyone in our academy then started jogging like Bruce in order to be equipped with a better physical condition during the fight. We also emphasized to develop explosive power and mobile footsteps as well as using various training equipments to improve our training. Today, more people came to know and learn Wing Chun mainly because of Bruce Lee. For that, we’ll always remember his contribution to Wing Chun and the martial arts world.”

[Shaolinsi]

Sifu said he used Wing Chun’s Tan Sau to disperse Bruce’s kicks but Tan Sau could only “Tan” the upper 5 inches and lower 5 inches of his legs. Bruce’s kicks still hit Sifu’s arms badly and the places which were hit all turned black and blue.

Miten teidän linjassa opetetaan tan sau? Onko sillä tarkoitus torjua myös potkuja? Muistaakseni modernissa Wing Tsunissa tan saulla torjutaan vain lyöntejä. Omista Wing Tsun -treeneistä on vuosikausia, niin en muista varmuudella. Treenasin ainoastaan 3 tai 4 alinta astetta.