Mark Phillips Sifu, Abid Mahmood Sifu and James Sinclair recently returned from a very exciting trip to Kong Kong and Mainland China. The journey was arranged to allow Sifu Mahmood the opportunity, after 27 years of training Wing Chun under James Sinclair, to experience the heart of Wing Chun Kung Fu in the homeland of this beautiful art. Sifu Abid is the Midlands Region Senior Instructor and runs his own full time kwoon (martial art school) in Hockley's Jewellry Quarter in Birmingham.As well as having the opportunity to meet many of the UKWCKFA's friends and supporters it was also a chance to support the newly founded World Wing Chun Union.
With the tremendous success of 'Ip Man The Movie' Wing Chun Kung Fu has been propelled to iconic status, with mainland China particularly enjoying the film. As a result Grandmaster Ip Chun wished to unite all Wing Chun lineages into an umbrella organisation that would create an open forum for all instructors to discuss and analyse each other's approaches. As Wing Chun is one system, but with many approaches, it was felt that everyone could benefit from an open forum.
To promote the Union and raise valuable funds for charity, approaching 800 Wing Chun students gathered at the waterfront of Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kong Kong for a Guiness Book of Records World Record breaking attempt. There were so many lineages present it was necessary to adapt and create a simplified Siu Nim Tao (Wing Chun's basic form) in order that all participants perform the same routine. It was only a temporary measure and no students were suggested or expected to continue to use the 'Demonstration Form'.
During the rehearsals Mark and Abid managed to meet the stars of the latest Ip Man Movie, entitled Ip Before Man. This prequel focuses on the early training in Grandmaster Ip Man's life. There is also talk of a television series based on the life and adventures of Ip Man. Whilst there seems to be a little bit of remaking of history and poetic license, it is good for Wing Chun Kung Fu and martial arts generally. Grandmaster Ip Chun appeared pleased to see James again and gracioulsy took time to have a photo taken with Sifu Mark and Sifu Abid.Mark, Abid and James were the only representatives from the United Kingdom and proud to have made the effort. They took their place toward the front of the huge harbour. After a few hours of repeated efforts a new record was indeed set for the world's largest Wing Chun display. The event gained tremendous publicity, being shown on Hong Kong and Mainland China's news channels and went out to a potential 1 billion viewers. Interesting a good portion of the footage shown on the news was of the UK representatives.
There were many people to meet whilst in Hong Kong, but thanks have to go to Donald Mak Sifu, who always seems to find the time to make everybody welcome. In fact Donald Mak invited James and his students to join his Russian students in China for a few days. It was good to see the spirit of Wing Chun is growing so strongly in Russia, Poland and other European countries, this can only add strength to the art and continue it's evolution.
The next stage of the World Wing Chun Union event took part in a huge parade in Foshan. There were well over a thousand people preparing various demonstrations from traditional dances to various martial arts. There was also the longest Dragon anyone had ever witnessed.
The Foshan even was astounding with tens of thousands of people lining the approx 2 mile boulevard waiting in anticipation for the now famous Wing Chun style to be demonstrated. As there were only 3 UK representatives James, Mark and Abid worked alongside the Polish team which was particularly good, building respect and good relationsThe Polish students are all great guys, hard trainers and take Wing Chun seriously and have developed good skills.
The audience were extremely welcoming and cheered as the Polish and UK team moved along the boulevard to demonstrate at various points. It is extremely rare that an audience of such magnitude would appreciate the subtleties of Wing Chun, but Foshan is not like other cities when it come to martial arts. We were informed that Foshan is a true hub for Southern martial arts and that is possible that three quarters of the population have experience in one of the many styles to be found there. It was great to be greeted so well by martial artists in Foshan and to see the 'Little Bruce Lee's' in their yellow cat suits all using their nunchakus to great effect.James, Mark and Abid then went on a trip with the Russian students of Donald Mak Sifu. It was very enjoyable to see other parts of Southern China and visit some of the beautiful landmarks in the region from beautiful mountain scenery to idyllic peaceful temples. The only problem was the temperature and humidity which made every walk resemble a hard training session!
Before going back to Hong Kong a stop was made back in Foshan to visit the Ip Man Tong. This is a museum within a temple in the heart of the city. The museum is dedicated to the Ip Man lineage of Wing Chun, depicting the recent history of Wing Chun and it growth outside of China. It is impressive to see how Wing Chun has mushroomed from a little known art to a world wide phenomenon is such a short period of time. Of course Karate has been outside of Japan and Okinawa for much longer, but the growth of Wing Chun, is incredible. Heading back to Hong Kong James, Mark and Abid still had a few more people to meet.
Before going back to Hong Kong a stop was made back in Foshan to visit the Ip Man Tong. This is a museum within a temple in the heart of the city. The museum is dedicated to the Ip Man lineage of Wing Chun, depicting the recent history of Wing Chun and it growth outside of China. It is impressive to see how Wing Chun has mushroomed from a little known art to a world wide phenomenon is such a short period of time. Of course Karate has been outside of Japan and Okinawa for much longer, but the growth of Wing Chun, is incredible. Heading back to Hong Kong James, Mark and Abid still had a few more people to meet.
The last of 6 hotels in 10 days was situated in the bustling area of Wanchai. Whilst in Wanchai James, Mark and Abid visited Grandmaster Chau Lin Fat (Dennis Chau). In fact Grandmaster Chau Lin Fat is the Wing Chun Grandfather of James Sinclair as he is the teacher of James' first Wing Chun teacher. It was disappointing to hear that Grandmaster Chau Lin Fat had been asked not teach other people based in the UK, but as a true gentleman he ignored this somewhat selfish request and took some time to explain some of his fascinating approach to Wing Chun Kung Fu. Grandmaster Chau Lin Fat is a very humble gentleman with genuine skill and understanding. He has a very effective approach to Wing Chun and produces some good students.
A trip to Hong Kong would not be complete without a visit to meet Grandmaster Wan Kam Leung. In fact James, Mark and Abid meet with Master Wan on three occassions. Grandmaster Wan is a charismatic and talented individual. Again he is very humble and takes the time to make everyone feel they are special. On the last meeting he invited James, Mark and Abid to a beautiful evening meal, all the more enjoyable with his engaging conversation and sense of humour. The next day James filmed some video of Grandmaster Wan demonstrating various facets of Wng Chun. He showed his form, wallbag training, dummy knives and performed some double chi sau with Sifu Abid. James has since edited the clip to include in the great teaching seminar held in 2008. This will be released on DVD with English subtitles and is a must have for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of Wing Chun.
Lastly, but by no means least James Mark and Abid went to visit Master Fung Man. He was originally a student of Master Law Bing one of the original student of Grandmaster Ip Man. After Law Bing passed away Master Fung trained diligently under Grandmaster Wong Shun Leung. Fung Man is a lovely human being, and has good Wing Chun ability. His nature is so humble that he trained in sticky hand with both Sifu Phillips and Sifu Mahmood for quite some time. Later James and Fung Man Sifu trained together and had an enjoyable exchange of skills. As stated Fun man Sifu has a very humble nature and he requested that Sifu's Mark and Abid teach his students, which was very honouring and was enjoyed by all.Since this trip a number of students have requested to know if we will be going back. We are hoping to take up to 60 students in November 2010 with 20 students from Mark, Abid and James' schools. If this is something you would be interested in please inform us as soon as possible as a LOT of arrangements would need to be made.
