For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 5, click here.

July 25, Saturday - Day 10

Master Yuriy Vyalkov and Vinh Xuan Dang Gia, Vietnamese “Buddha style” Wing Chun Kung Fu

Introduction

With the phone number from Mr. Aslan (associated with the Olympic Committee and Wushu Federation of Kazakhstan), Aika (my new translator and friend) had gotten in touch with Master Yuriy Vyalkov, a teacher of Vinh Xuan Dang Gia, also known as “Vietnamese Buddha Style Wing Chun Kung Fu.”

Our appointment was set up for 7:00 pm at Master Vyalkov’s school. It took a while to find his place, being tucked behind a rather nice Sushi restaurant in a building that also has a dance studio.

I went with Mike Adams, also a Wing Chun teacher living in Almaty, but we were not sure we were climbing the stairs in the right building because there was no sign outside of any sort except advertising the dance studio. And so it was gratifying indeed upon reaching the 4th floor to look left and suddenly see the familiar sight of a uniformed formal traditional martial art class working its way through disciplined attack/defense sequences. Upon entering we met Master Vyalkov who paused in his teaching for an interview. Before interviewing he asked me to simply watch his pairs work with a single student. It was breathtaking and very, very fast. At any age, much less 64, he’s astonishingly quick and precise.

The Door to Master Vyalkov's Wing Chun Studio.

 

His martial arts journey began some 35 years ago in the Soviet Union, his homeland. His first martial art training was in Karate . He had attained a relatively high level of mastery when he first encountered a Wing Chun master who “showed him the light.” For those of us with a background in fighting this might seem like a familiar realization: “Wow, this stuff really works.” In my opinion different people’s body types and personalities “fit” better with different martial arts, and when one finds a style that “fits,” it’s a good feeling. After that he was convinced that Vinh Xuan Dang Gia, Vietnamese “Buddha style” Wing Chun Kung Fu was the ticket to superior martial art skill and subsequently began training. He’s been teaching for some 15 to 20 years now and has been teaching Vietnamese “Buddha style” Wing Chun at his current location for about two years.

Master Yuriy Vyalkov’s Master is Nguyen Xuan Dang Nham who teaches in Hanoi and every year Master Vyalkov travels there to re-sharpen his art and nourish the spirit. According to Master Vyalkov, Vietnamese Buddha Kung Fu is a close range combat fighting system and is one of the most simple, direct and efficient forms of martial arts and self-defense. It emphasizes directness and softness.

At this time Master Vyalkov is teaching three groups, a beginner class with about 20 students, intermediate with about 10 students and an advanced group with 4 students. Asked about his curriculum he promptly began demonstrating some of his Vietnamese Buddha Style Wing Chun and I could instantly tell it was different in several ways from traditional Chinese Wing Chun. How so? For one thing the circle of defense and attack is larger (vertically, not horizontally), and there is more pivoting and turning (along the spinal axis like other internal styles). But like Chinese Wing Chun every defense was instantly followed by a counterattack targeting the body or attacking limb.

Master Vyalkov talked a bit about several aspects of Vietnamese Wing Chun Kung Fu, including “sticky hands,” (Li-za) emphasizing instant trapping /counterattack techniques and the absolute necessity to have a solid foundation in qigong and meditation. The quiet, efficient very, very fast attack/counterattack training that was going on when we entered is a testament to the fact that these gentlemen are very high level Kung Fu masters.

Nguyen Te Cong, photographed with his disciples.

I also heard about Grandmaster Su-to Nguen Te Cong who earned his fame through many challenge fights. In 1939, Master Nguyen Te Cong fled to Vietnam and since then became the founding father (Su-to) of the Vietnamese Wing Chun branch (Vinxxuan).  From 1939 to 1954 Su-to lived in Hanoi, training disciples in Wing Chun Kung Fu.  These disciples were Chinese and Vietnamese, several of whom became his true successors (see photo).  However only two from these six disciples went on to teach this Vietnamese Buddha Style Wing Chun.

Vinxxuan's system is based on four empty hand forms 1st Form:

Thu dao quyen ( The young idea )

2st Form: Bai 108 Tai, Cho Khong Thong

Bai 108 Doi Luyen, Tai Cho (108 form with the opponent) Bai 108 Tien lui Doi Lyuen, Ben Phai

Bai Moc Nhan So 1, Tien Lui

3st Form: Tam kieu (Bridging the gap )

4th Form: Tieu Chi ( Thrusting fingers) 

Vinxxuan also includes the Moc Nhan ( wooden dummy) training form and exercises based on sensitivity and timing of the arms  called “Linh Giac” (sticky hands ) in Vietnamese and helps the practitioner fight at very close distances.

Vinxxuan also includes five animal forms (tiger, crane, snake, dragon and leopard).

 

After a few photos, I was starting to wrap it up when some ladies showed up for the next class and I found out they have a number of female students with the oldest being 62 years young. According to Master Vyalkov she can defeat men far younger and stronger. After exchanging contact information we had to bid our farewells.

Mention should be made here that researching Kung Fu along this old Silk Road isn’t easy, mainly because I hate to say goodbye. Finding and making good friends is fun of course, and sharing those positive relations with others is excellent indeed, but still, I just start to feel at home and it’s time to move on.

After leaving, a friendly young enthusiastic couple with quite good English helped get me on the right bus back to my hotel and I stopped at a small restaurant across the street to pick up some spiced rice with vegetables, chicken and beef, and some unusual fermented sour milk. Wow! That was a delicious feast!

National Museum of Kazakhstan_Center two figures are warriors.

 

Earlier in the day I’d toured the National Museum after a 10 K hike looking for a bicycle rental shop. Tomorrow first thing (after breakfast of course) I’ll head for the Almaty International Bus Station called: “Cairan” but written something like: CaИpaH in Cyrillic. A word to the wise, if you want to travel Central Asia, it’s very helpful to speak Russian because that’s the only lingua franca of Central Asia. If you’re looking for English speakers its best to try talking with people who look like high school and university students.

Lastly, if you’re thinking of visiting Almaty, Master Yuriy Vyalkov’s Vinh Xuan Dang Gia, (Vietnamese Buddha style Wing Chun Kung Fu) class is a must. It’s classic, powerful, fast and looked like a whole lot of fun.

 

For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 7 — click here.