Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Virtual Wing Chun

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Chandler, AZ
    Posts
    138

    Virtual Wing Chun


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    303
    HEard about this since 1999.

    Has it come out yet?

    David

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    225

    Re: Virtual Wing Chun

    Originally posted by 45degree fist
    Has anyone seen this? Opinions?
    http://www.matrox.com/mga/3d_gaming/...e_wingchun.cfm
    Vapour Ware.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Shu Yan U's AI Wing Chun

    Ip Man goes AI: team at university in Hong Kong develops software to teach martial arts legend’s wing chun moves
    Shue Yan University project taps martial arts experts to develop AI software for schools
    Wing chun enthusiasts hope project will revive interest in history, culture of martial art form

    Fiona Sun
    Published: 9:30am, 30 Oct, 2021


    Donnie Yen (left) and Wu Yue in a still from Ip Man 4: The Finale. Photo: Handout

    A Hong Kong university research team is using artificial intelligence to develop a way to teach the Chinese martial art of wing chun, and keep alive the legacy of legendary grandmaster Ip Man.
    His grandson, Ip Kong-chiu, a grandmaster himself, will demonstrate the movements of the martial art’s first form, Siu Nim Tau, which will then be turned into software to teach primary and secondary school pupils.
    The year-long project is the idea of wing chun enthusiast Kaman Lee Ka-man, head of the department of journalism and communication at Shue Yan University.
    She and part-time lecturer Sin Ho-yin will track Ip Kong-chiu’s movements digitally and, by using a technology called skeleton-based action recognition, will produce the AI-based lessons.
    When pupils use the software to learn wing chun, their attempts will be tracked and assessed, and they will receive guidance too.

    Shue Yan University’s Kaman Lee (left) and Sin Ho-yin. Photo: Jonathan Wong
    About 1,380 children from more than 20 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong will be taught with the software, and wing chun masters in the city will be invited to hold workshops to tell them about its origins and history.
    “The aim is to encourage youngsters to learn about wing chun, not only the skills but also its culture and history,” Lee said. “It is also a breakthrough that the masters are trying new, innovative ways to pass on the martial art.”
    Ip Man is credited with bringing the wing chun style of kung fu, with its swift yet fluid hand movements and sturdy stances, to Hong Kong when he arrived in 1949 from Foshan, in Guangdong province.
    By the time he died in 1972, he had trained thousands of students, the most famous of whom was the actor Bruce Lee. Ip’s two older sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching, became exponents and grandmasters too.
    Ip Man inspired several films, including a four-part series in which he was played by actor Donnie Yen Ji-dan. In other films, his role was played by Dennis To Yu-hang, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Anthony Wong Chau-sang.
    The box office success of the first Donnie Yen movie, in 2008, sparked a resurgence of interest in wing chun, which the Hong Kong government included among the city’s first intangible cultural heritage list in 2014.
    Kaman Lee started learning wing chun in 2013 and was struck that students at the training centre – or dojo – came from diverse backgrounds but stayed focused on their martial art.
    “People were not defined by their professions and education level or what watches, rings and jewellery they wore. All relationships were simply built through wing chun,” she said. “This is precious, especially in today’s Hong Kong.”
    She spent eight years researching how wing chun skills were passed from father to son, and master to student, including the story of Ip Man’s sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching, and four of his students. She published a book based on her research in August.

    Wing chun masters (left to right) Leung Kum-tong, Lee Yuk-cheong and Pang Yiu-kwan. Photo: Jonathan Wong
    Lee Yuk-cheong, who began learning wing chun in 1996 and studied under Ip Ching, is now chairman of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association, which has about 4,000 masters.
    He recalled Hong Kong’s wing chun mania that followed the Ip Man films, and days when every class in a 1,000 sq ft dojo would be packed with 50 to 60 students.
    The martial art’s popularity has since died down, and few students these days practise as hard as in the past, when he and students like him spent seven to eight hours a day training.
    “Chinese kung fu as a whole has only a small circle of practitioners, and the number of those practising wing chun is even smaller,” the 50-year-old said.
    He has taught wing chun since 2003 in Hong Kong and in places such as Italy, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. His school in the city has about 20 to 30 students.
    Caritas Chong Yuet Ming Secondary School principal Pang Yiu-kwan, 54, who learned under Ip Chun, called the martial art “an excellent way to promote culture”.
    He started learning in 1989 and began teaching it in 1995. He said the culture and theories behind wing chun, including the relationship between master and student, were worth teaching in schools and universities.
    He established the Wing Chun Martial Arts Society at the University of Science and Technology in 1995, and has taught it there. He also held interest classes about the wing chun culture for NGOs.
    Pang, who is a consultant to the Shue Yan University AI project, said it would help pass on the wing chun legacy to younger generations.
    Leung Kum-tong, 79, who learned the martial art from Leung Sheung, Ip Man’s first student, now runs two wing chun schools in Hong Kong with students aged from four to their 80s.
    He picked up wing chun in the 1960s for self-defence but, according to him, these days there are children who learn it to improve their concentration, the elderly want to keep fit and avoid injury, and women want to protect themselves.
    He has also taken the martial art to elderly care homes, children’s centres and special education schools.
    During the coronavirus pandemic, he recorded wing chun lessons for his students to practise at home and ran online classes too.
    “I feel happy and touched to see wing chun help my students who then contribute to society,” he said.


    Fiona Sun

    Fiona Sun joined the Hong Kong desk of the Post in 2019. She writes on issues that matter to the city’s residents, including geographic communities, ethnic minorities or those brought together by common causes and interests. She has a master's degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong.
    How do you chi sao virtually? Asking for a friend...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    How do you chi sao virtually? Asking for a friend...
    Maybe they have a Wing Chun dummy that hits back!

    Its unlikely they will ever teach it "in schools and universities" that are in California. There's a huge oversupply of personal injury lawyers...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Shue Yan University Research Complex

    Members-only wing chun martial arts centre in Hong Kong opens its doors to visitors using virtual reality
    Hong Kong Shue Yan University will host a virtual exhibit that allows visitors to experience how late grandmaster Ip Man sparred with practice dummies
    Rare opportunity as members-only venue opens up archives to showcase key moments and attract more interest in traditional martial art practices

    Jess Ma

    Published: 10:12pm, 8 Nov, 2022

    A visitor uses virtual reality to learn the martial art of wing chun. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
    Hong Kong’s wing chun masters are using virtual reality (VR) technology to showcase their half-century-old legendary headquarters for the first time, in a bid to modernise the age-old martial art and stay connected with overseas devotees.
    The VR headsets, provided as part of an exhibition curated by Hong Kong Shue Yan University, put visitors in the middle of the members-only historical headquarters commissioned by the late grandmaster Ip Man to experience how he and his top followers use their fighting skills to strike a muk yan jong, a wooden practice dummy.
    “It’s an exhilarating experience. There are sounds coming from the wooden dummy with every flick of the console. I’d say it’s a very realistic experience for what it was,” said Lee Yuk-cheong, chairman of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association.
    The virtual tour of the 55-year-old site in Prince Edward, regarded by some as the locus of wing chun in Hong Kong, is a centrepiece of the exhibition titled “Shuttle through 50 years”, which opens from Wednesday until November 19 at the Shue Yan University Research Complex at Braemar Hill.
    Wing chun, a traditional martial arts practice from southern China, came to Hong Kong with Ip in the 1950s as the maestro fled the country’s civil war. As Ip and his sons spread their craft in the city, his followers were tasked with establishing a formal organisation and procuring permanent premises.
    The site located on Nullah Road opened in 1968, providing a place for practitioners to host classes and providing a space for members of the association to gather.

    Ip Kong-chiu, a grandson of martial arts grandmaster Ip Man, shows techniques from wing chun. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
    Both the association and the university said they hoped the virtual exhibit would also help to promote the martial art, with the event to feature archival records such as newspaper clippings of followers’ performances and the minutes of a committee meeting which was halted due to the Ip’s death.
    Visitors will also be able to catch a glimpse of how devoted practitioners and students from all walks of life have kept the art alive over the past decades, the organisers said.
    “Ip Man was a visionary. He began thinking about how to promote Chinese martial arts fifty years ago … I think these records showed how they were willing to try new things [to keep the art going],” said Kaman Lee Ka-man, head of the university’s department of journalism and communications.
    The association also previously organised online tournaments to stay connected with the wing chun community worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as using an artificial intelligence program to attract youngsters’ interest in martial arts.
    Lee said the competitions had attracted around 120 participants from more than 11 countries, including Singapore, the United Kingdom and Japan to contest in Taolu – or forms.

    Jess Ma
    Jess joined the Post in 2021. She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Human, Social, and Political Sciences, specialising in Politics and Social Anthropology.
    Anyone here involved in this at all?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •