![]() Numerous Hall of Fame awards, including the USA Wushu Kungfu Federation's formal recognition of his efforts to collate the knowledge of Wing Chun, attest to the magnitude of this quest for knowledge and preservation of a world treasure. Fortified with the most comprehensive knowledge possible of the most practiced lineage of Wing Chun, the Yip Man system, he was fate's most logical choice to open the doors of the Ving Tsun Museum to the study and examination of the other lineages of Wing Chun Kung Fu. ![]() He also trained with several other of Moy Yat's kungfu brothers and was certified as a senior instructor by Yip Man's Ving Tsun Athletic Association in China. This course of study was completed in 1997. Sifu Meng began a third journey through the system that same year via extensive private lessons with his S? Baak (kungfu uncle) Yip Ching (yihp jing). These intense private lessons were completed in 1995 and he was awarded the Moy Yat family's highest level of technical recognition - a level granted by Moy Yat to only 10 people in his 40 year teaching career.ĭue to Grand Master Moy Yat's foresight and wisdom, he instructed Benny Meng to spend time with Moy Yat's own kungfu brothers, thereby showing respect for their accumulated knowledge as well. The goal of both the teacher and the student was to examine the details and the deeper aspects of the art form in totality. In 1994, Benny Meng began another journey through the system with Moy Yat, this time in private lessons. Sifu Meng officially started teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu in 1987. Studying and training full time, he completed his first trip through the entire system that same year. He resumed Wing Chun training under Sifu Moy Yat (m?ih yaht) in New York City in 1985. ![]() Sifu Meng's training under Lee Hoi Sang was interrupted by his return to the United States. Chan Yiu Min was the son of Chan Wah Shun (chahn w?h seuhn), also Yip Man's own teacher. He had completed training in the Wing Chun system through Chan Yiu Min (ch?hn y?h m?hn) in Mainland China prior to beginning his training with Yip Man. In his early years as a teacher, Yip Man primarily taught only accomplished artists or teachers of other arts. Jiu Wan was trained by Yip Man in Hong Kong. Not knowing that Wing Chun would become his chosen martial art in the future, fate led Meng in 1982 to Sifu Lee Hoi Sang (l?ih h?i s?ng), himself a student of Jiu Wan (j?u w?hn). In 1981 he embarked on an extended study of Chinese martial arts that took him back to Hong Kong and Mainland China where he was one of the first Americans to visit the Shaolin Temple and train at the Sichuan Sports University. In 1974 he began studies of tae kwon do in the United States which led to a highly successful tournament career and ultimately a 5th degree black belt in that art. No stranger to travel in pursuit of martial arts excellence, his personal journey began at the young age of 10 in Hong Kong where he studied judo. Since childhood, he was groomed for a quest such as this. The leader chosen by fate for this historic journey of discovery was Sifu Benny Meng (s? fuh maahng hing f?ng), renowned curator of the Ving Tsun Museum (wihng che?n miuh s?m). Dedicated practitioners of Wing Chun could and did respond to legitimate investigation, ultimately unfolding into the rediscovery of Wing Chun's rich history and origins. Yet science begets science, and the process of documenting history is no less a science than Wing Chun itself. Secrets both political and criminal had to be guarded. Along the way, 17 major magazine articles, a published book and 4 others in the works, 60 seminars, 20 tournaments, and 15 major demonstrations were undertaken to elicit support and open the doors (or sometimes small windows) of knowledge tightly held in both veiled and not-so-veiled organizations.Īt every stop on the journey, fierce loyalty to legends had to be honored and sometimes combated. Undaunted, the group logged over 2 million travel miles on 75 major research and support generation trips. ![]() Sparked by the dreams of a visionary senior teacher of the Yip Man (yihp mahn) lineage and the passionate leadership of a younger one, a handful of practitioners began a revolutionary journey in 1993 to rediscover the roots of Wing Chun. ![]() Yet, as often happens in the history of science and man, a small but determined group of men and women went beyond legends and myths. To the majority of the world's Wing Chun practitioners, those roots were destined to remain shrouded in secrecy and legend. Stemming from 330 years of revolutionary activity which gave rise to 8 or more major lineages of practitioners across the seven continents, the true roots of Wing Chun Kung Fu (wihng che?n g?ng fuh) defied detection. ![]()
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