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Ip Chun Si-Fu, the eldest son of the
late Grandmaster Yip Man (Yip Gei-Man), was born in 1924 in Foshan in the
Zheyieng Delta region of the Guangdong province of Southern China. He began
studying Wing Chun with his father when he was 7 years old, however he admits
that he did not really want to learn at that time and that he remembers
relatively little from that early tuition.
When the communist revolution swept
through China in 1949, the communists began to persecute the wealthy, the
influential and anyone connected to the Kuomintang (the political party founded
by Sun Yat-Sen, the first president of the Republic of China). Since Ip Man was
both wealthy and a Captain of Local Police patrols of Namhoi, he felt forced to
leave China, finally settling in Hong Kong after a short stay in Macao with
friends. However, being only 24, Ip Chun stayed behind to continue his studies
at University studying Chinese history and traditional Chinese music. He also
researched Chinese Philosophy, Buddhism and Chinese Poetry.
In 1950 Yip Man began teaching Wing Chun
in Hong Kong to members of the Restaurant Workers Union to earn a living. Over
the following 22 years he taught hundreds of students, some of whom trained to
an exceptionally high standard, such as Wong Shun Leung, Lok Yiu, Leung Sheung
and Tsui Shun Tin. Ip Chun meanwhile, finished his studies and chose teaching
as a profession. He taught Chinese history, music and science, whilst during
his leisure time he helped the Chinese Foshan Entertainment Department organize
Chinese Operas. During this period he was awarded 'The person with the most
potential in Chinese art' for music research. Unfortunately Mao Tze Tung's
policies and campaigns meant that in 1962 Ip Chun and his younger brother Ip
Ching , were forced to leave China for Hong Kong, where they lived with their
father.
During the day Ip Chun worked as an
accountant and newspaper reporter, at the same time in the evenings he
restarted his Wing Chun studies with his father, maintaining the Chinese
tradition of passing down the Kung Fu skills from father to son. Master Ip Chun
trained with his father most evenings and since Grandmaster Ip Man's home in
Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok was also his Wing Chun school, Master Ip Chun was
able to witness and study his father's Wing Chun and his teaching methods every
evening.
In accordance with his father's wishes,
in 1965, Ip Chun began participating in the work of the Ving Tsun Athletic
Association (VTAA) founding group and became a founding member of the VTAA
proper. The association formally came into being in 1968 and Ip Chun was issued
with the membership number nine. During the first three years of the
association's existence he took on the responsibility of Treasurer and later
was appointed as Chairman. The VTAA has compiled three magazines, of which one
is yet to be published. Ip Chun was the compiler for two of those and was
further elected to the position of committee coordinator/ chief coordinator.
From conception through to the present day, Ip Chun has worked with the
association and has shared in its trials and tribulations as it has grown and
become the success it is today.
1967 Master Ip Chun began teaching Wing
Chun in Hong Kong with his father's blessing and it is testimony indeed that
some of those first students such as Ho Po Kai and Leung Chung Wai still train
with him today. Later between 1970 and 1971 Master Ip Chun and Sifu Lau Hon Lam
taught a class of around 20 students in Ho Man Tin. Students in that class
included Leung Ting Kwok (Patrick) who now teaches for Master Ip.
On 1st December 1972 Grandmaster Ip Man
passed away aged 79. Six weeks before, knowing he had not long to live he made
the supreme effort to commit the Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu and Muk Yan Jong forms
to 8 mm film in order to record and preserve the pure Wing Chun system, this
crucial piece of film footage he entrusted to his two sons for posterity, and
true to his father's wishes Master Ip Chun has carried on his teachings,
keeping Wing Chun pure and maintaining its principles and concepts.
Today at over eighty six years of age,
Master Ip Chun is one of the most successful Wing Chun teachers in Hong Kong
teaching five days a week to individuals at his home or to small groups at the
Ving Tsun Athletic Association, as well as teaching a class in Shatin once a
week. Several of his senior Hong Kong students now teach at locations around
Hong Kong including several of the Universities. Master Ip Chun also has seven
students living and teaching in England, America, South Africa and Australia,
who represent him and help him spread his father's teaching around the World.
Between 1985 and 2001, Ip Chun travelled
the length and breadth of the world to promote and conduct Wing Chun seminars
and in the process receiving various accolades, before semi retiring in 2001 to
concentrate on teaching his classes in Hong Kong.
In 1992 Master Ip Chun decided to set up
the Ip Chun Wing Chun Kuen Martial Arts Association to certify and
authenticate those of his senior students who have attained instructor level
under his personal tuition in Hong Kong and whom, with his express permission,
teach for and represent Master Ip Chun around the world. |
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