Sifu Wayen's interview on the subject of discipleship

Today , as we announced several days back , was published Sifu Wayen's interview on the subject of discipleship in Hong Kong's news paper.

 

http://www.metropop.com.hk/contents/497/cover-story/2185/

Here we  publish English translation of the interview

There is a term in Chinese language that represents a lifelong commitment , learning from a teacher for a lifetime. Today we can’t find that term in the context of teacher and student relationship in school. We learn different academic subjects and extra curriculum activities ( music , dance, sports etc) from different teachers .We can have many teachers in our lifetime . Students pay the fees and the teacher give t knowledge. When the curriculum is completed , the student and the teacher does not own each other anything and go their separate ways. Transmission of knowledge became a transaction.
In many trades there was also a teacher and student system like sewing , cooking , photography etc , where apprentice would work and learn at the same time.The Student respects his teacher and the Teacher treats his student as his own son. The Student has the responsibility to learn
and inherit the skills of the trade and  teacher has the pleasure and satisfactionthat the skills is passed on to the next generation.
However times have changed ,society changed. Everything , even teaching is modernized , fast and made to satisfy today‘s needs and requirements .Are there really some people willing to stay committed to their learning and stay with their teachers all of their lives?  Does the teacher students relationship in its  original meaning still can be found in today's world?
There is a saying: ”When you have taught
the student well. The teacher is no longer needed or respected”
Some teachers will not openly teach because of this. Many traditional arts are now being lost because of this.The good news is that there are still teachers out there who is willing to pass all of their knowledge to the next generation.
One of those teachers is Snake crane wing chun kuen Sifu Wayne Yung. Apart from transmitting the traditional arts to the next generation , he is striking a balance using the aids using modern technology to impart the teachings and skills of the Art to next generation

Baisee
Sifu Wayne Yung recalls the day when he baisee to Snake Crane Wing Chun Mun. It was something that happened by accident or maybe it was fate , he didn’t really planned to join the oldest Wing Chun family . During his school years  he engaged in many fights on official competitions and some fights of other kind. The janitor in his school recommend him to visit Chinese physician in order to cure some injuries . At the end of the day , Chinese physician from treating his external wound changed into a teacher who started to transmit his style of kung fu to him. As Sifu Wayne Yung recalls. "That day of the Baisee initiation was a eye opener " We had to slaughter the chicken as a
sacrifice offering to the ancestors and breaking of bowl procedure did really shock him a bit.  After that , I had to kneel and pay respect to the ancestors and the fulfil the wine ceremony and listen to the rules of the mun before I fulfil the tea ceremony to the teacher."
From that moment Sifu Wayne dedicated all his effort in researching the fighting system but also he kept alive the tradition of the style  , he preserved all the traditional ceremonies.
In Chinese traditional arts and trades like Opera, cloth making, calligraphy, painting traditional medicine etc, Baisee tradition is very important thing. The Chinese are very particular of their
origins and roots. As martial arts belong to the corpus of traditional arts , baisee tradition is of outmost significance.  Today baisee ceremony is very much simplified. However Sifu Wayne still require his student to come fulfill the ceremony before start learning .
Without a teacher one will be person without source and if he is one without a source or respect his source he is considered not authentic in the Chinese culture.
Sifu Wayne has written an article on the "Discipleship" to expound on this.

http://snakecrane.blogspot.tw/2016/01/disipleship.html

Accepting discipleship

All teachers wish their students will be good enough to grasp the essence of the art. Sifu Wayne Yung has many students around the world but he is focused his  students not only to become skilled fighters  but also to learn and understand  traditional Chinese culture.

There are many ways to learn a skill these days. We can upload a video to Youtube . Everyone can see and learn from it. But kung fu is not just about techniques but also about character building.
In the beginning we learn for self defense .After a period of time those who train kung fu are able to experience a change in them , they can relax and release their tension and thus their temperament
changes too. I have foreign students but i will only accept them into the family after meeting up and understanding them. It is important not to be a skilled martial artist but to have good martial ethics is the essence of the art.


translation from Cantonese
 John Mark Ng
 

New member of SCWC family

After several days spent in  Hong Kong with teacher Wayne Yung , Sifu Thomas Kluh from Germany finished Bai see ceremony and became a newest member of growing SCWC family . Sifu Kluh is an excellent wing chun practitioner and even better person , an example in every way how one wing chu n sifu should be . He is a great addition to SCWC family and we all welcome him with open arms.

Sifu Waye's interview

Yesterday ,3.23.2016. Sifu Wayne Yung had a long interview for Hong Kong newspapers about "Bai See" , past , present and future , changes and importance of the ceremony . Interview will be published soon on two whole pages .

SCWC visit to Vietnam Wing Chun

Snake Crane Wing Chun Sifu from Singapore , John Mark Ng visited a Wing Chun school in Hanoi , Vietnam . The school is from Yuen Chai Wan lineage .  John's impressions are totally positive . People are very nice and hospitable and also very skillful and knowledgeable . Their art is very soft , just like SCWC . Their style have 8 forms , one Qigong set and four kind of weapons, long sword, butterfly swords, long pole and flying darts. The school is family oriented and they hold  old traditions .

After several hours of training they went to dinner together and continued discussion about history of the art.

An interview with Master Wayne Yung

Master Wayne Yung is based in Hong Kong and he is a current leader and chief instructor of Snake Crane Wing Chun. I deliberately don’t use title “grandmaster” ,”gatekeeper “ or other bombastic titles used today to show highest rank in Chinese Martial Arts, because he doesn’t like any of it , actually master Yung do care much about titles, he is simply a Sifu, teacher . In my humble opinion he is one of the most knowledgeable Wing Chun sifus today , one of the rare few who have complete understanding of the art .

 

Sifu Wayne Yung had learnt different Chinese martial arts, TaeKwon Do and Judo in his teenage years. In 1976 and 1977, he won the Hong Kong South China Athletic Association Open Hong Kong Tournaments . Then he taught Judo and became a Judo referee until 1993 when he retired from Judo. In 1978, he baiseed to Snake Crane Wing Chun Mun(SCWCM) GM Law Chiu Wing and he still practicing it today. His lineage was kept secret until 2009 , In 2014, SCWC is listed in one of the three HK wck lineages in the Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage.It is Sifu Wayne whop brought Snake Crane Wing Chun to public and he still doing a great job in spreading his art. Sifu Yung graduated from Civil Engineering, majored in Structure and Applied Mechanics in 1983 and gained his Master degree in Computer Science in England in 1986.

 

 

VZ: You were an accomplished martial artist prior to Wing Chun training , yet you left everything behind and started to practice Snake Crane Wing Chun. What is the reason for that , not many people are ready to give up all their accomplishments and start for the beginning?

 

WY: In my teens, I was , like many others, influenced by Bruce Lee, I loved marital arts a lot. However, I didn’t know what martial arts I actually want to practice. It was a time of search and discover. I learnt Judo, Hung kuen, Northen styles, tai chi, to see which one is most suitable for me.  Eventually, in 1978, I got started with Snake Crane Wing Chun .  Because SCWC was keep in secret, and I loved to fight , Judo was a perfect solution for hot blooded kid I was. I won numerous competitions , I enjoyed Judo fights , it helped me to satisfy my desire for fighting , on the other hand I did it in honorable way , by participating in official competitions , not fighting on the street .Later , as I understand more about SCWC, I completely devoted my self to it .  I gave up all other arts, and finally left Judo as well. 

 

VZ: You said , you fought in honorable way, in official sports competition, not on the street. What do you mean by that.

 

WY: Exactly what I said. When you fight in a competition you have no bad emotions toward your opponent , it is a simple comparison of the skill and determination. If you win , you win with honor , respecting your art , your teacher and your opponent.

Fighting on the street is for two reasons , either you fight to survive or you are the attacker, which is the worst thing someone can do . I know some people were seeking opportunity to fight on the street and they are proud on what they did , but not me . I had my share of fights , Hong Kong is not the safest place on Earth , especially in the days of my youth but I never talk about it, that is not example I want to set to my children and to my disciples who I also consider my children . I survive , thanks to SCWC, that experience I incorporated in my teaching , but talking , or even worse ,bragging , that is not me , not my art , I am trying to set a positive example to the martial arts community .

  

VZ: How did you find your Snake Crane Wing Chun teacher , having in mind that your teacher haven’t taught openly and he didn’t have a school , in fact Snake Crane Wing Chun was closed to public until 2009?

 

WY: in 1978, just before I finished my secondary school, a worker’s wife who lived in my school, knowing I am crazy about martial arts and always got hurt because I have been practicing too much , gave me my sifu’s business card and advised me to visit  him and learn bone setting. Soon after I went to visit my sifu and we talked about my martial arts experience and practice . I remember the way Sifu looked at me , and then he started reading my palm , after a while he said it would be the best if I  follow him and learn SCWC.  He told me the rules of  SCWC and asked me to think about his offer.  After a month consideration, I eventually went to my sifu in September 1978.  Two months later, in November 1978, we did the discipleship ceremony in his flat. 

 

VZ: How many students you teacher had over the years ?

 

WY: Not many, according to my knowledge, in the late 60’s , there were Chan Wing Jin and Li Yuen, 70’s, there were Mr. Yuen Chi Choy, Chan Kwok Keung and 80’s there was Sammy Ho, in 90s Mr. Yeung Chi Cheong and David Yuen Man Kong. In this century, there were Mr. Mok Wei Keung and Mr. Lam Kwok Ming , totally 16 disciples .  General speaking, every 10 years, he would accept one or two person as disciples.  He didn’t teach openly and that’s why he only accepted people as disciples, not students.

 

VZ: You said , your teacher only accepted disciples , not students, what was the reason for that?

 

WY: My teacher is very traditional , he strictly followed the rules of the style. One of the governing rules was to keep style away for public. In old times , before public kung fu schools emerged at end of 19^th and beginning of 20^th century , martial arts teachers had only disciples , not students is modern sense of the word, disciples not only practiced directly under teacher’s supervision , but they lived with their teacher , they were considered as a part of the family, in fact hierarchy and structure of traditional school is just mirrored hierarchy of traditional Chinese family. All the titles are family related , even today we still use these titles like kung fu brother, kung fu uncle, ect.

One more interesting thing , following the rule of practice form the Ching Dynasty period , when conspiracy was essential , my teacher taught all his disciples separately , until recently most of us didn’t even know about one another . In the past we rarely met each other , and even then , only couple of us at the time , never all at the same place at the same time .

 

VZ: What else can you tell us about your teacher?

 

WY: Not much actually , my teacher kept his private life , private, he never talked about himself. But I can tell what kind of person he is . At the day of my acceptance for his disciple , being still a student , I didn’t have money for the’ red envelope”, my teacher opened his wallet ,put some money in it and gave it to me so I can fulfil complete the ritual and give the envelope to him.

 

VZ: Can you describe how traditional Bai See ceremony looked like in old days?

 

WY: Yes, my sifu choose a specific date which is believed to be good day for the discipleship ceremony according the traditional Chinese event calendar (通聖) .  He invited one of our senior Sihings to come as witness.  That day, sifu brought out all the ancestors tablets, actually his grandfather’s and other ancestor’s wooden tablets on the table, there was also a picture of a written Chinese character ‘budda佛’.  On the table were 3 types of dishes cooked from domestic animals a chicken, a duck and pork .  When everything was set up ,Sifu asked us to write the red envelop and yellow envelop.  The red envelop is for baisee to sifu, and sifu will keep it and add our name to the successor chart.  The yellow envelop is for the ancestors only to let them know that, today, we are going to baisee to sifu and formally get into the SCWC Mun (family).  A red pocket is also prepared for sifu. 

The ceremony started by Sihing recited the mun’s rules and ask us to follow.  After he finished, Sihing chopped the chicken head and help to burn the yellow envelop to the ancestors.  Then we kneeled down and offered a cup of tea with the the red envelop with the lai see to sifu. Sifu will accept the red envelop and lai see and drink the tea, which means that he accept us as his disciples.  After completion of the ceremony with Sihing as witness, the ducks, chicken and pig will be eaten for dinner.

 

 

VZ: Today ,you simplified Bai See ceremony , why?

 

WY: Ritual is important form tradition’s point of view , but not the way most people think. Ritual have a purpose to mark the moment of bonding , moment when person becomes a member of Snake Crane Wing Chun family (Mun) , that is a true meaning of Bai See ceremony, without that , not matter what kind of ritual you performing , it is meaningless. I have changed and simplified things to make it acceptable for people of different cultural and religious background . This way I still follow SCWC tradition and also avoid conflict with other traditions . Today SCWC Mun has disciples from all over the world and they all performed Bai See. Tradition is kept alive , which is very important for SCWC ,but now we are open to everyone.

 

VZ: Why and how did you decide to “open the door” of your style for public ?  

 

WY:  In 2008, my sifu talked to me about his age and the fact he has no son to succeed the art.  His 3 daughters found no interest in learning SCWC.  In order to preserve the from disappearing in my sifu;s generation, I urged him to open the arts to public.  SCWC was kept in secret because well know political issues connected to Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom period and fire of red boats and Find Jade Halll . Qing dynasty collapsed over a century, republic of China moved to Taiwan in 1949,the communist party rule China today. In 1967, the cultural revolution destroyed a lot of the Chinese traditional kung fu and practitioners were prosecuted and many were killed. But all these things are long gone ,today, SCWC no more has any political issues, and should be open to the public.  Finally, my sifu decided to allow open teaching and let the art continue by the appropriate persons.  Then he made a public announcement in the newspaper for 3 days that any SCWC matters are not related to him anymore, because he got retired.  In 2009, 8 Jan, he assigned me as the president of SCWC Mun and passed the marshall flag to me to lead the mun people to go to the world.

 

VZ: How do you see the future of SCWC?

 

WY: I think the future of SCWC will be bright , many good WCK practitioners show interest in my art and many schools are opened recently . We have brunch schools all over the world and many people are interested to come, learn and bring SCWC to their countries .

 

Vladimir Zlatic
(Huang Ning) 

 

SCWC seminar in Tunisia

Sifu Ridha Liba held 2 days seminar , March 5th and 6th, in Tunisia. These are great news for SCWC ,the art is rapidly spreading all over the world.