Wong Shun-leung (Chinese: 黃淳樑; pinyin: Huang Chunliáng; Jyutping: Wong4 Seon4-loeng4; 8 May 1935 – 28 January 1997)[a] was a Hong Kong martial artist who studied Wing Chun kung fu under Yip Man (葉問)[1] and was credited with training Bruce Lee.
[2][3][4][5][6] In interviews, Wong claimed to have won at least 60, and perhaps over 100, street fights against martial artists of various styles, though these numbers cannot be independently confirmed.
[3][7][8][9][10] Due to his reputation, his students and admirers referred to him as 'Gong Sau Wong' (講手王 or 'King of Talking Hands').
[14][15] Wong reportedly trained in several martial art styles in his youth, primarily in Tai Chi and either boxing or kickboxing.
"[5] The second incident came about from Wong's fascination with the stories of legendary wing chun figures, such as Chan Wah-shun (陳華順) and Leung Jan (梁贊).
[1] In any case, Wong joined the wing chun group and eventually came to assist Yip with teaching,[11] with students including Bruce Lee.
[18][19] Bruce Lee once wrote in a letter to Wong, "Even though I am (technically) a student of Ip Man, in reality I learned my Kung-fu from you.
[21] In 1970 Bruce Lee wrote a letter in Chinese to Wong Shun-leung :[22] 淳樑兄, 很久沒有通信你好嗎？邵在湧(Alan Chaw)從加拿大來信，有問及你借我用的8mm電影，我真是十分道歉，因為多次搬屋以遺失，本來是很磨耗的了，故之很少用而失了，十分抱歉。 我在BEL-AIR買了一新屋，有半英畝大，很多樹是牧場風格，在山頂上近Beverly Hills。再者，除了我的兒子Brandon外，我有一位七個半月大的女兒Shannon。你有再結婚嗎？請代問候你的姊妹。 近來我組織了一間製片公司，且寫了一本"Silent Flute"故事，由James Coburn和我主演，Stirling Silliphant編劇，他是金像名作家 In the Heart of the night，我們預備作第一次荷李活武俠片很有成期望，大約六月左右開鏡，所有合作的均是從我學習的，將來Steve Mc Queen可能又有合作，我對於這籌劃萬二分興奮。 至於武道方面，我仍然是日日修習，與一班徒弟和朋友每星期兩次，無所謂是西洋拳，跆拳道或摔角，派別是無所謂，只要和和氣氣不要反面矣。自從66年開始認真去練習後，覺得以前的偏見是錯了，因此改叫我的心得練出的為截拳道，截拳道衹是名稱矣，至緊要還是不要去局部偏見而練，當然我是日日練走，修習工具，日日要提高基本條件。拳理雖是要緊，現實的還是重要，兩者雖需要。我是感謝你和師父在港時多多指導我詠春門徑，其實是多得你使我多去走現實路，由其是在美國的西洋拳家，我也多和他們練，很多所謂"詠春名家", 我希望他們不要自作勇為去和他們打!
No matter they are western boxer, Taekwondo learner or wrestler, I will meet them as long as they are friendly and will not get angry.
In October 1996, National Sports Administration of China invited Wong Shun-leung (together with 12 students) to Beijing to teach and to promote Wong's Ving Tsun to the Chinese peoples, the seminar turn out very successful with nearly 200 registered participants and among them were martial arts experts, enthusiast, police and army individuals.
[26][27] According to Wong and his students, he became active in beimo (比武): semi-organized bare-knuckle challenge fights in Hong Kong (sometimes known as 'kung fu elimination contests').
[32] It was a style of kung fu practiced by a minority—mostly members of the Association of Restaurant Workers of Hong Kong.
[2] Some have attributed wing chun's fame in Hong Kong to Wong's beimo reputation.
[38] Lee Hang-cheong (李恆昌), one of Wong's students, recalled that Wong had insulted his intended opponent (apparently a well-known kung fu instructor) to coerce him to fight, but regretted both instigating the fight and accidentally blinding the other man in one eye.
[41] On 22 November 1957, the inaugural Taiwan–Hong Kong–Macau Open Chinese Kung Fu Competition (台港澳國術比賽) was held in Taiwan.
[43] Wong competed in his weight class and had a preliminary match with Wu Ming Jeet (吳明哲), a Taiwanese fighter known for his powerful kicks, but was knocked out and eliminated.
[42] A documentary film covering the competition was played in Hong Kong, with a first-day showing on 12 February 1958.
[42] Wong once defeated a fencing champion on television with his wing chun butterfly knives.
[44] Gary Lam recounted that "several years ago my Sifu, the late Wong Shun-leung, sparred with a champion western fencer on television.
Wan commented that Lee's kicks were fast and powerful whilst Wong's wing chun hand techniques were modified and practical.
[45] 1970s Kung fu magazine 17th issue "Who succeed the Jeung-Mun-Yan of Wing Chun" (Chinese: 香港《當代武壇》第17期《誰繼承詠春掌門之位》) published in Hong Kong, in December 1972 after Grandmaster Ip Man died, students of Yip found themselves without a leader, Ip Chun, Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Chu Shong-tin, Jiu Wan, Wong Shun-leung, Tang Sang and Bruce Lee among the candidates to succeed Yip, after 6 months of debates, Ip Chun and students of Yip officially appointed Wong as the new Jeung-Mun-Yan (president) of Wing Chun (Chinese: 香港咏春体育会主席).
"[9] The documentary Dragon since 1973 consists of interviews with various Hong Kong personalities, mostly those who worked with Lee in his Golden Harvest days.
None of the interviewees, including Bee Chan (陳會毅; one of Lee's most trusted assistants), Shek Kin (石堅), and Chaplin Chang (張欽鵬), mentioned that Wong had been invited to work as a fight scene choreographer for Enter the Dragon.
He was scheduled to attend a screen test on the set of Enter the Dragon after Bruce Lee had finished shooting the film and was working on dubbing.
[49] Wong recalled, "About two months before he (Bruce Lee) died he gave me a phone call ... After this he left Hong Kong to settle his film business.
"[50] In a 1986 interview, Wong said, "I told him (Bruce Lee) that I didn't want to go and die in my first movie!
[3] In another interview, Wong said, "It was for Game of Death, but I declined because I thought that the moves of Wing Chun style wouldn’t look good on film.
In this Chinese film, Wong played the role of himself, an instructor at Ip Man's wing chun school who first met a teenager named Lee in the 1950s.
[51] He also starred in a training video, entitled Wing Chun: the Science of In-fighting, which was produced in the early 1980s.
On 12 January 1997, Wong had been playing few games of cards and Mahjong with a group of friends at the Ving Tsun Athletic Association, when he complained of feeling unwell.