What or Who introduced you to Wing Chun?

[shaolinhouse]

What or who introduced you to Wing Chun and when did you begin practicing?

[Faruq]

Steve Lee Swift at his Simon Lau Academy of Wing Chun Kung Fu back on the corner of Broadway and Devon Avenues when I was 16 years old, right across the corner from Loyola University's Lake Shore Campus. I studied there for a year to a year and a half if I'm not mistaken. I've never come across another practitioner of his calibre since.

[WCgreg]

Researching around Kung Fu then finding the ip man films!

Yeah I'm pretty new to wing chun but still love it

[Almost A Ghost]

While I was filling in for a Kempo instructor who was on vacation I met a manager of the furniture store it was next to and he showed me somethings that really impressed me, but I was too naive (and style proud) to ask him for training. Four years later I tracked down an instructor. Next month will be my tenth year practicing Wing Chun.

[Phil Redmond]

I did Shorinryu in 1966 when I was in the Corps. I got out in 1970 and studied Fu Jow Pai. Later on in 1970 I met a guy who studied Wing Chun. He showed me a few things and I liked it.

[Lee Chiang Po]

I grew up looking at it so to speak. My entire immediate family did it. 5 brothers and 2 sisters, mom and dad. I was the youngest and started at age 10. Dad was an instructor, or sifu if you will, for a very large and extensive Chinese business mans association. Among other responsibilities of course. So I guess I enherited my Wing Chun. I never took it overly serious, but did train more than most people did or do. It was 6 days a week for years. It was not for sport or for fun, and in fact I almost grew to hate it over the years. Mostly early on when I had to dedicate so much of my time to it. It was expected that it would become a part of my lifestyle, and it pretty much did, but not to the extent that was expected of me. In fact, I am the only one that actually followed in my dad's footsteps to any extent.

[Wu Wei Wu]

My dad did Karate and he got murked up by some guy in a white suit. My dad then got proper vexed, came home and ripped my Bruce Lee poster so I had to move my wooden dummy to an abandoned house with my friend who looked like a young Jermaine Jackson. Not sure how, but I channeled the ghost of Bruce, who taught me everything I know.

[shaolin_allan]

I was just looking for a kung fu school anywhere near my side of town. I knew what wing chun was but had never tried it. I found a guy teaching out of his garage the augustine fong lineage. I only got to study with him a couple times cause my college schedule made me have to stop going. Then on a different forum I was asking about kung fu and ran into grumblegeezer and he got me started in wing chun. It was more the personality of the sifu than the style that got me into it.

[shaolinhouse]

Thank you for your responses.

[LoneTiger108]

I found my Sifu in 1994 at a Bruce Lee Convention, which was quite a wierd experience to be honest! So, I wasn't introduced by anyone, but over the years many people have introduced me to other ways, some within the same family and some that are more mainstream.

[Vajramusti]

We have had threads similar to this before.

[LoneTiger108]

We have had threads similar to this before.

Not to rain on your parade Joy, but I find that most threads posted recently have been covered before! I think the only new thing I have seen for the past 6 months has been the Ng Chan information :)

So why not share, if only just for the new members here?

[TenTigers]

My dad did Karate and he got murked up by some guy in a white suit. My dad then got proper vexed, came home and ripped my Bruce Lee poster so I had to move my wooden dummy to an abandoned house with my friend who looked like a young Jermaine Jackson. Not sure how, but I channeled the ghost of Bruce, who taught me everything I know.
yep, and he had you call him,"Lee de ga," which I suppose is either a mispronunciation, or a different dialect for Lee Dai-Goh???

[TenTigers]

I met Alan Lamb when he lived in Flushing, NY. I used to train in his basement. His step-daughter, Nadine was a total fox! I should have stayed longer with him.....
Then, John Crescionne,
then Mark Neiderman (student of Duncan Leung and of Augustine Fong)
then Michael Manganiello, with visits from Robert Chu,
Then an "Indoor disciple" of Moy Yat,
then Alan Lee (with visits from Duncan Leung)
then Yue-Sifu-some friend of my Sifu from Guangzhao, who did Yuen Kay San Wing Chun...
oh..and now Jook Lum!:eek::D

[Vajramusti]

Not to rain on your parade Joy, but I find that most threads posted recently have been covered before! I think the only new thing I have seen for the past 6 months has been the Ng Chan information :)

So why not share, if only just for the new members here?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lone Tiger- I won't do the full brief- just a skinny. I have always been interested in martial activity and sport long before wing chun which I began in 1976. Wing chun became the capstone of my training though I am interested in many things. Bruce Lee or the Bruce Lee image had nothing to do with my getting started in wing chun.

In the 70's I lived in Tucson, sponsored the boxing club at the University of Arizona and sparred regularly with a friend of mine who was a wado ryu Sensei Otsuka blackbelt. Had two sons and my wife's nephew who lived with me. My oldest got some judo under his belt but did not like fighting. I wanted the boys to be able to take care of themselves.Wife didn't want me to teach them boxing. She would settle for a "gentle"(haha) Chinese art-- probably thinking taiji. I began to do my homework on what martial arts were available in Tucson. Houck Sr. taught Judo, there was a Koyama shotokan club at the U, a two different Kim's teaching TKD, both on Speedway Tiger Kim was ferocious-served in the South Korean contingent in Viet nam, a good aikido teacher- student of O-Sensei and other arts. Augustine Fong had moved from Nogales to Tucson around72- 73.

I visited every school and art that I could find. Danny Chan used to play volley ball at Bear down gym where the boxing club also met and I worked out also with my wado ryu friend.Danny's son later on was on the US volley ball team..Danny talked about his sifu Fong. Then I ran onto another student of Fong sifu and decide to try some lessons from him. I sensed there was something unique about wing chun.
But I was not totally impressed with the second Fong student overall.he has dropped out.. He held up a bag of beans to test my "power". When I hit the bag it burst and beans went flying-- enough of that- I took the boys to Master Fong. The boys quit after a year. I stayed and have not missed a day of wing chun since.
Some wing chun folks understimate a boxer's skill but I began to see that wing chun had a very effective long run and unique learning curve. It became my engine and my game.
The older son years later is now relearning the wing chun punch- correctly done. The younger
went to a local boxing gym(where Tyson used to work out)- for about a year.
The nephew went on to being a first class high school football lineman in Oklahoma- has decked Troy Aikman at the high school level and went on to become the top seeded high school heavyweight wrestler in Oklahoma( a football and rassling state)- then for personal reasons walked away from it all.
But I remain- to cross the styx- witha wus sao ready if needed.


Wing chun is my game- I analyze the rest for insights on others.I try to understand human motion... among many other things.

Figthing? Been there done that.

yuanfen- my good fortune.
Too much said already.

joy chaudhuri

[mjw]

I trained for years at one of those places that teach Karate and called it kung fu lol (really though used japanese names and said it was rooted from a kungfu style developed in Okinawa etc etc.) And a friend of mine was doing Wing Chun we sparred a few times then later I went to his Kung-fu School and I was sold by the in your face aspect of Wing Chun and never looked back in regards to striking arts anyway......

[mjw]

Steve Lee Swift at his Simon Lau Academy of Wing Chun Kung Fu back on the corner of Broadway and Devon Avenues when I was 16 years old, right across the corner from Loyola University's Lake Shore Campus. I studied there for a year to a year and a half if I'm not mistaken. I've never come across another practitioner of his calibre since.

My Sifu's first Sifu before later learning from Fong however he only has good things to say about him very fast and athletic......