Originally Posted by
Original HungGar:The tangled Roots
Sifu Wing Lam was introduced to his Ha Say Fu hung gar teacher, Leung Wah Chew, through a mutual friend. Sigung Leung would make house calls on their tiny apartment, always arriving by a different route. Since open floor space is scarce, they would practice on the rooftops above Hong Kong's crowded urban sprawl. They had the minimal resources for a school-just a teacher, a few students and a meeting time. Often, they fashioned the unique weapons of Ha Say Fu hung gar out of whatever they could acquire, usually substituting wood pieces for metal, just so they could transmit the teachings. Wing Lam never learned his teacher's complete martial lineage. Leung's reputation and skill were enough that he felt privileged to train under him.
Leung had connections with the "dark society" of Hong Kong, what we might call organized crime. He had a kung-fu school in Macao that he closed when he immigrated to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, he was the boss of a major underground casino (gambling casinos are legal in Macao, but not in Hong Kong). His fighting skills were sharpened constantly by this business. Wing Lam remembers when Leung brought over a friend to assist coaching fighting skills. Although this fighter was impressive, the very next day he was ambushed in the streets of Hong Kong by a rival gang, who cut him to death with long Chinese watermelon knives. Wing Lam never again heard anything else about his teacher's notorious guest.
Leung Wah Chew was a good friend of another great master, Um Yue Ming. Together these martial brothers answered the challenge of the first Asian public kung-fu tournament of this century, the famous Chinese Taiwan Kuoshu (national art) Association Invitational of 1957. Competitors from Macao, Taiwan and Hong Kong sparred against each other, comparing a wide range of styles such as shaolin, choy li fut, yau kung moon, snake, white crane, mantis, law hron moon and more. Leung represented Ha Say Fu hung gar and Um represented hop gar. They joined 30 other competitors from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, neither placed very well. Since neither had trained with sparring gloves or tournament rules, both were eliminated before the finals. This loss did little to affect their pride. Um Yue Ming's school used a black lion for two consecutive Chinese New Years to collect lucky money. The black lion symbolizes an open martial challenge to duel with any and all comers. In those days, this was no idle boast. Such challenges seldom went unanswered. Eventually, Um immigrated to San Francisco where he opened a school and clinic on Powell street. Some say he overstepped his boundaries. In the 1970s, he was gunned down at the door of his school.
Wing Lam had heard that Leung recruited his students into dark society, however he never got the chance to find out the truth. After studying with Leung for five years, Wing Lam immigrated to the United States, possibly escaping a life of crime.