Wing Chun Muesum

Alright, I made it back from Dayton, OH and when I was there (Wednesday night), I was able to check out Sifu Benny Meng's Ving Tsun Museum (link) which is located at his school where Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun is taught.

I caught Sifu Meng off guard in his office as I was unaware of what to expect from the museum. There were kids classes going on and the lobby was busy, but he stopped what he was doing and told me the museum is a guided tour but that he'd be happy to show me through - even though it was undergoing some rennovations. Even though HFY Wing Chun is taught here, the museum is set up to honor all lineages and I was impressed at how "non-political" it was. There were pictures of all the grandmasters who have been through the facility.

Let me tell you, Sifu Meng is a really nice guy. He talked to me for around 2 hours about the history of Wing Chun and about the principals and specific history of the HFY system. I train in William Cheung's lineage, which Sifu Meng said is quite similar to what they do and I never felt uncomfortable or that he was talking down to me. In fact, it seems the goal is to promote all lineages, while continuously seeking the truth (something we all should be doing anyway). I was extremely impressed with his knowlege of history and the amount of work he (and other contributors) put into the gathering of historical information. His goal is to minimize the kung fu legends and get down to historical facts, if possible. I can see how this would offend some, but he stressed for me to just keep an open mind and to come to my own conclusions.....no pressure to convert me to his beliefs.

Sifu Meng also showed me some of the differences in SLT and motions based on the principals behind the system. Some points he made and things he showed me have given me a lot to think about and I look forward to talking to my Sifu about the visit. I have to say I came away extremely impressed and could not thank him enough for the time he took out of his night.

I ended up buying the book he helped author - "Mastering Kung Fu: featuring Shaolin Wing Chun". I've skimmed the whole book and have just started reading it but can already tell it will be very enjoyable, worthwhile, and informative. I would recommend it to others just for the historical section in the beginning.

Thanks to those who responded to my previous thread telling me to go. I would highly recommend anyone in the Dayton, OH area to check it out (although, unlike me, it would be a good idea to call first!).

If you have any questions, let me know.

Eric

From an experience POV, I have never known the VTM to be anything less than how you described your experience. Thank you for sharing.

An excellent point that often gets lost in the issue discussions.

In my own personal experience, Benny is a great host, who goes out of his way to see to his guests, and his staff follow his example. Very dedicated, passionate, and well organized.

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Originally Posted by Wilson

I ended up buying the book he helped author - "Mastering Kung Fu: featuring Shaolin Wing Chun". I've skimmed the whole book and have just started reading it but can already tell it will be very enjoyable, worthwhile, and informative. I would recommend it to others just for the historical section in the beginning.

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I brought that book when it first came out. Just to give an alternative viewpoint - for someone with no prior experience of HFY I found the book a curious mixture of modern military jargon (battlefield arrays, perimeter defences etc.) and obscure (i.e. poorly explained) chinese terms (like wandering bridges, 3 points one line etc). No doubt were I face to face with a HFY prac they would be able to show me exactly what they meant but *purely from the book alone* I was left none the wiser.

Of course this may point to a weakness in the medium (i.e. the written word) rather than the quality of the explanation but comparing it to some other wing chun texts (Dave Ps book on WSL, Renes book on YKS) as well as other MA books (Li tianjis Xsing I, Mastering Ju Jitsu, Aikido and the dynamic sphere) I would say its the poorest MA book I own.

The history part just seemed like a story. Maybe true, maybe not but no evidence presented either way (no footnotes and some very weird artists pictures of HFY practitioners including a computer generated one (WTF?!!!).

*This is my honest opinion of the book alone* and is no reflection on HFY or the people who practice it. I would not recommend people spend their money on it.

Here is that book so you can judge for yourself. ;)

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Originally Posted by Nick Forrer

I brought that book when it first came out...........I would not recommend people spend their money on it.

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TTTTTTTTTTTTT

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Originally Posted by GeneChing

Here is that book so you can judge for yourself. ;)

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shameless plug :eek:

I'd like to say something about Nick's assessment of the book. I spent a good 2 hours or so looking through it very carefully recently in a Barnes and Nobles bookstore (where you're allowed to sit down and read the books that they sell).

I find his description of the historical portions of the book to be quite accurate - as it does entail a long and very descriptive story - but without any real evidence or footnotes of any kind to back it up.

So as Nick said - maybe it's true (or parts of it)...and maybe it's false. Who knows?

As far as "poorly explained Chinese terms" are concerned (wandering bridges, 3 points 1 line, etc.)...I found that to be true to a certain extent (and got the distinct feeling sometimes that the vagueness was meant to motivate the reader to want to explore HFY further, (ie.- go to a seminar or join a HFY school and find out more)...

but I also found some of the explanations and illustrations illuminating and revealing...because...as I've said many times before on this forum - there are definite similarities between HFY and the TWC that I've been doing all these years. (Similarities that don't seem to exist between HFY and other wing chun systems).

So all in all, I PERSONALLY found the book to be somewhat interesting and informative. But without a TWC background, I would probably assess the book the same way Nick did.