Si Jo Leung Ting

Of a family native to the Chungshan District of Kwangtung in Southern China, Sifu Leung Ting was born in Hong Kong. As a small boy he was playful and active, though feeble and sickly. As he was often bullied by his schoolmates, the idea of learning the art of fighting was germinating in his mind. Martial art films, especially those taking as their themes stories such as "The Monkey", "Fire at the Red Lotus Temple", and "Fong Sai Yuk at the Tournament" etc., were the vogue of the day. Heroic characters in those stories became Leung Ting¹s idols, and their gallant deeds had a strong effect on this very impressionable boy, who would often swish and flog sticks or poles at home and was often punished for it. As he grew older he inclined more towards the art of fighting, and thus most of his pocket money was spent on buying martial art books, while he was even more involved in learning fighting techniques, though often recklessly. He would stay away from home very late at night, crushed into crowds around a troupe of martial art performers, much to the disapproval of his parents, who often thought that a knowledge of the art of fighting would only aggravate their son¹s bad behaviour. So they naturally forbade their boy to learn martial arts.

One night, at the age of 13, Leung Ting and a friend of his were strolling along a street, when his friend became involved in a fight with a large group of young people. Leung Ting, seeing his friends was greatly outnumbered, fought courageously in support of his friend. Soon he became the target of the attack as the youngsters abandoned his friend and began to concentrate their punches on him. Although he was himself heavily outnumbered, Leung Ting eventually succeeded in breaking through the siege. He was chased by the youngsters and eventually received several wounds. His maternal uncle by the name of Cheng Fook, a competent Wing Tsun practitioner, knew of the injury to his nephew, and thought it would be better for his active nephew to acquire kung-fu skills to avoid being bullied, and also to keep him from wandering about, doing nothing. So it was his uncle Cheng Fook who brought Wing Tsun into Leung Ting¹s life. However, Cheng Fook did not teach Leung Ting himself, he introduced his young nephew to a Wing Tsun instructor.

All this time Leung Ting strove to work harder at kung-fu. Even during his secondary school age, he had been helping his uncle Cheng Pak in giving tuition at a gymnasium at Hunghom, Kowloon. The gymnasium was later closed because his uncle had some other important business to deal with, and Leung ting had to pay more attention to his own education. It was after Leung Ting had completed his secondary, which now left him more time, that he intended to make use of the deserted gymnasium by turning it into a martial art dojo for himself and a few of his younger fellow students, notably Cheng Chuen Fun. Later he was advised to give tuition to a few good friends, at the same time as he kept learning for himself, so as to make the best use of the gymnasium and it¹s equipment. This was the first time Leung Ting actually engaged in teaching kung-fu.

At an opportune occasion, Leung Ting was introduced by one of his elder kung-fu brothers to Yip Man, the Grand Master of Wing Tsun, who had at that time retired from his martial art career for years. It was Yip Man¹s noble personality and attitude towards life that impressed Leung Ting. On the other hand, Yip Man was pleased with Leung Ting¹s dedication to the study of kung-fu. So Yip Man admitted Leung Ting as his disciple, and gave him personal tuition in advanced Wing Tsun techniques such as those of the Wooden Dummy.

In the winter of 1968, Leung Ting opened a Wing Tsun class in the Baptist College, which was the first and most well organized Wing Tsun class held in post-secondary colleges in Hong Kong. The class, with well over 60 students at the beginning, was enlarged to accept more then one hundred and twenty classmates. It was then incorporated into the "Wing Tsun Classmates Society of Baptist College".

In November of 1969 Leung Ting held a "Wing Tsun Kung-fu Demonstration and Tournament" on the campus of the Baptist College. Grand master Yip man and many other famous kung-fu masters were among the honored guests. This was the first open demonstration and contest in Wing Tsun Kung-fu ever, since Grand master Yip Man began his kung-fu career in Hong Kong. Soon after that Leung Ting was recommended by Yip Man to take the post of chief-instructor of the martial art class in the "Ving Tsun Athletic Association". Under the guidance of Leung Ting, the class developed rapidly, and had produced from the new followers quite a number of reputed practitioners.

During 1970 Leung Ting devoted all his energy to giving shows of Wing Tsun kung-fu to a great number of associations and educational institutes, and, at the request of radio and television stations, gave public demonstrations. Besides that, he also set up Wing Tsun classes in the Students Center of the Chinese Christian Mission, and the secondary Section of the Chu Hai College. He also advocated encouraging girls to receive training in kung-fu, by setting up the first all girls class in his gymnasium. This attracted a lot of female trainees.

In 1972 the classes in his gymnasium expanded rapidly, and Leung Ting became too busy to deal with the affairs of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association. He therefore resigned his post of chief instructor of the Association in order to devote his time to the work in his own gymnasium.

In 1973, the total number of students attending classes in his gymnasium soared to over eight thousand, among which a few dozen had already completed their training in the whole system. The ever-increasing number of students made it necessary for Leung Ting to set up branch gymnasiums. The first branch was opened in the spring of 1973. The site covered an area of about a thousand square feet. Leung Ting¹s younger brother Leung Tuen and some of Leung Ting¹s graduated disciples were in charge of conducting classes in this gymnasium. In the winter of the same year, a second branch was opened in Kowloon. In the summer of 1974, Leung Ting¹s first branch was moved, across the harbor, to facilitate students living on the Island of Hong Kong. From then onwards, students kept flocking to his gymnasium in great numbers.

Since the formation of the Hong Kong Martial Art Association, several open tournaments have been held in which teams from Sifu Leung Ting¹s gymnasium had taken part, and had gained brilliant results. In recent years, greater efforts are being made by Sifu Leung Ting in promoting Wing Tsun kung-fu, not only in Hong Kong, but also in the United States, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, etc. Up to know Wing Tsun classes have spread to over 56 countries around the world.