Sean66
03-09-2012, 05:21 AM
Since we're on an interview kick, here's one with Wan Kam Leung that I saw posted in Facebook.
Wan Kam Leung Interview - By Pui Yee and Ivan Heretynski
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Q Can you tell a bit about yourself and your early history?
Sifu WKL: This year I will be 63 years old. I was born in a village near Hong Kong called Po On village. It is a very small village. Around 1958/59, when I was a teenager, I moved to Hong Kong. Since my earliest childhood I had interest in Kung Fu, even when I moved to Hong Kong. I went to see a lot of Kung Fu styles and as it happened, my brother introduced me to Wing Chun which I have practiced and taught until this day.
Q When did you start training Kung Fu? Did you train other styles before Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: As I said previously, I was very interested in Kung fu, so I had to check out various styles, imitating the movements and even practicing them, but I was very young back then. As it happened, after I started training Wing Chun, I was convinced that this is the style that suits me most, so I focused on learning and practicing this boxing style.
Q Who did you learn Wing Chun from?
Sifu WKL: Actually, when I moved to Hong Kong in 1958/59, my first Sifu was not Wong Shun Leung but Leung Sheung. I learned from him around half a year. When my Si-Fu Wong Shun Leung opened his school I was the first to join the school, hence I belong to the first generation of Wong Shun Leung’s students. In fact, when I wanted to sign up for a membership, his school was not opened yet. He had only put up his Wing Chun sign but the school had not opened yet. Si-Fu then told me to come back in a month when he would open his school, which I did on the very first day it opened – this is why I am one of his most senior students.
Q How long did you learn from Wong Shun Leung?
Sifu WKL: I started training with him from the 60’s to the 80’s until I graduated and got my certificate - after which I spent a little less time at his school. I remember when people came to the school to challenge or talk about Kung Fu I was always interested in taking the challenges, or my Si-Fu would send me out to represent him in numerous challenge fights on a no. of occasions.
Q When did you start to only teach Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: I often went to Si-Fus school and helped teaching or listening to Si-Fu until I started to teach Wing Chun part time. In the beginning it was only a part time job, not full time, and first when I got a lot of students I started teaching full time. Actually, my full time teaching in Wing Chun started in 1994 when I started to teach the police G4 unit.
Q What is your vision of Wing Chun? And can you explain the practical aspect of Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: Why did I call my style Practical Wing Chun? Well, I compared the Wing Chun I have learned from my Si-Fu with other styles and tested it and understood what was good in Wing Chun and what could be changed to further improve the practicability of the style. In this period I changed what I did not think was good or could not be applied, because I liked to exchange experience with other styles and when I trained with these people I saw the benefits and disadvantage of Wing Chun. So what I learned from my Si-Fu, I trained a lot, analyzed it and trained with other styles in order to compare it. So I changed what I found suitable. Like my Si-Fu - what he taught in the beginning was not the same as in the end. He had also made changes and modifications to his boxing style. He told me himself that when you have had contact with Kung Fu for a long time, the more you have taught Wing Chun, you can not but make changes in it. These words I remember from my Si-fu and I find this very true today.
Q What is the difference between Wing Chun and other styles?
Sifu WKL: Some parts of the Wing Chun style are very useful, while others are not ideally suited to certain situations. All styles have their benefits and disadvantage. Say, Wing Chun can be used with great effect when you only have small space or fight at close range. Like the predecessors, when they exchanged skills it was on a very small platform. So back then you could not step too much backwards, so the platform made you have to keep a close distance. So the chances for winning you have to be fast and have good Kung Fu skills. Also, the three forms of Wing Chun boxing, Siu Lim Tao, Cham Kiu and Biu Ji, all have specific advantages and disadvantages, so is up to you to use them correctly. If you compare Wing Chun with other styles, you can say that Wing Chun is fast and the theory makes sense, for example talking about centerline, angle and speed. This is all benefits in Wing Chun. Actually, there are many things in Wing Chun that are worth noticing, but many Wing Chun practicioners don’t realize this: Chinese people say that hand techniques that follow ‘siin siu hou da’ (first defend and then attack) are not very good techniques. Liin siu dai da (defend and attack same time) is better. But the fastest is ‘Siin da hou siu’ (first attack and then defend) - in my theory that is the best. So if you want to be good in Wing Chun both your hands have to be coordinated well. Like when you begin learning Siu Lim Tao, you start training with one hand and when you get better you start making two different movements at the same time. When you start feeling coordination between the arms is good and you apply it with speed, it is much easier to react when the opponent launches attacks and to counterattack.
Q What is the most important theory or what do we have to know about Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: In Practical Wing Chun my personal view is that first you have to see if you launch your punch correctly. This is very important. You have to know that Wing Chun is about angles and centerlines. In my view there are 5 centerlines and if you can master these, then it will be very useful for you and you will be more fast and precise.
Wan Kam Leung Interview - By Pui Yee and Ivan Heretynski
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q Can you tell a bit about yourself and your early history?
Sifu WKL: This year I will be 63 years old. I was born in a village near Hong Kong called Po On village. It is a very small village. Around 1958/59, when I was a teenager, I moved to Hong Kong. Since my earliest childhood I had interest in Kung Fu, even when I moved to Hong Kong. I went to see a lot of Kung Fu styles and as it happened, my brother introduced me to Wing Chun which I have practiced and taught until this day.
Q When did you start training Kung Fu? Did you train other styles before Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: As I said previously, I was very interested in Kung fu, so I had to check out various styles, imitating the movements and even practicing them, but I was very young back then. As it happened, after I started training Wing Chun, I was convinced that this is the style that suits me most, so I focused on learning and practicing this boxing style.
Q Who did you learn Wing Chun from?
Sifu WKL: Actually, when I moved to Hong Kong in 1958/59, my first Sifu was not Wong Shun Leung but Leung Sheung. I learned from him around half a year. When my Si-Fu Wong Shun Leung opened his school I was the first to join the school, hence I belong to the first generation of Wong Shun Leung’s students. In fact, when I wanted to sign up for a membership, his school was not opened yet. He had only put up his Wing Chun sign but the school had not opened yet. Si-Fu then told me to come back in a month when he would open his school, which I did on the very first day it opened – this is why I am one of his most senior students.
Q How long did you learn from Wong Shun Leung?
Sifu WKL: I started training with him from the 60’s to the 80’s until I graduated and got my certificate - after which I spent a little less time at his school. I remember when people came to the school to challenge or talk about Kung Fu I was always interested in taking the challenges, or my Si-Fu would send me out to represent him in numerous challenge fights on a no. of occasions.
Q When did you start to only teach Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: I often went to Si-Fus school and helped teaching or listening to Si-Fu until I started to teach Wing Chun part time. In the beginning it was only a part time job, not full time, and first when I got a lot of students I started teaching full time. Actually, my full time teaching in Wing Chun started in 1994 when I started to teach the police G4 unit.
Q What is your vision of Wing Chun? And can you explain the practical aspect of Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: Why did I call my style Practical Wing Chun? Well, I compared the Wing Chun I have learned from my Si-Fu with other styles and tested it and understood what was good in Wing Chun and what could be changed to further improve the practicability of the style. In this period I changed what I did not think was good or could not be applied, because I liked to exchange experience with other styles and when I trained with these people I saw the benefits and disadvantage of Wing Chun. So what I learned from my Si-Fu, I trained a lot, analyzed it and trained with other styles in order to compare it. So I changed what I found suitable. Like my Si-Fu - what he taught in the beginning was not the same as in the end. He had also made changes and modifications to his boxing style. He told me himself that when you have had contact with Kung Fu for a long time, the more you have taught Wing Chun, you can not but make changes in it. These words I remember from my Si-fu and I find this very true today.
Q What is the difference between Wing Chun and other styles?
Sifu WKL: Some parts of the Wing Chun style are very useful, while others are not ideally suited to certain situations. All styles have their benefits and disadvantage. Say, Wing Chun can be used with great effect when you only have small space or fight at close range. Like the predecessors, when they exchanged skills it was on a very small platform. So back then you could not step too much backwards, so the platform made you have to keep a close distance. So the chances for winning you have to be fast and have good Kung Fu skills. Also, the three forms of Wing Chun boxing, Siu Lim Tao, Cham Kiu and Biu Ji, all have specific advantages and disadvantages, so is up to you to use them correctly. If you compare Wing Chun with other styles, you can say that Wing Chun is fast and the theory makes sense, for example talking about centerline, angle and speed. This is all benefits in Wing Chun. Actually, there are many things in Wing Chun that are worth noticing, but many Wing Chun practicioners don’t realize this: Chinese people say that hand techniques that follow ‘siin siu hou da’ (first defend and then attack) are not very good techniques. Liin siu dai da (defend and attack same time) is better. But the fastest is ‘Siin da hou siu’ (first attack and then defend) - in my theory that is the best. So if you want to be good in Wing Chun both your hands have to be coordinated well. Like when you begin learning Siu Lim Tao, you start training with one hand and when you get better you start making two different movements at the same time. When you start feeling coordination between the arms is good and you apply it with speed, it is much easier to react when the opponent launches attacks and to counterattack.
Q What is the most important theory or what do we have to know about Wing Chun?
Sifu WKL: In Practical Wing Chun my personal view is that first you have to see if you launch your punch correctly. This is very important. You have to know that Wing Chun is about angles and centerlines. In my view there are 5 centerlines and if you can master these, then it will be very useful for you and you will be more fast and precise.