History and Lineage

Jun Fan Wing Chun

What is Wing Chun?

Wing Chun is one of the most recently developed styles of Kung Fu or Gung Fu (cantonese). It was refined and revised over the last 300-400 years. As most written records of the art don’t exist, the history was verbally handed down from teacher to student over the years. Wing Chun’s roots are within the famous Shaolin Temple.

Wing Chun is known as a Southern Chinese martial arts system. Perhaps best known as a style refined in Hong Kong. What we know from verbal transmission, is that it was founded during the Qing Dynasty by a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui, of the famed Shaolin Temple. Ng Mui, was said to be one of the top five fighters of the time period. She refined her Shaolin material and began to focus on creating a more effective fighting method which did not rely on strength to be effective. Being a female, she knew that when matched against a much larger and stronger opponent, strength vs strength would leave her outmatched.

While the true story is unknown, the most popular version of what unfolded is as follows. The incident that sparked her inspiration was after witnessing a fight between a stork and large rodent where the stork was able to repel the rodent’s attacks by using its wings and legs to attack and defend simultaneously. There’s an alternate version of the story where she found her inspiration after witnessing a fight between a snake and a crane. At the heart of every legend lies a certain amount of truth.

 This new system was well-guarded and passed on to only a few, very dedicated students. Later, the style became known as Wing Chun, named after Ng Mui’s first student, a woman named Yim Wing Chun who she trained to protect herself from an unwanted suitor. Yim Wing Chun, used the style to defend herself against a bandit who was trying to force her to marry him. Ng Mui challenged him to a fight, if she lost she would have to marry him, but if victorious he would leave her alone. The name Wing Chun, translates as “everlasting springtime”.

Wing Chun differed greatly from other Kung Fu styles of the ancient time and modern time. It’s based on the economy of motion, simplicity and directness. It can be thought of as scientific in its approach of abiding by the principles of physics. It’s movements and it’s structure are based on natural, scientific laws, eliminating unnecessary movements to overcome and generate force in the most efficient way. Using principles such as not fighting force with force but to absorb incoming energy and redirecting it. This approach is unlike other Kung Fu styles. It was not based on the imitation of animal movements but on scientific principles.

From Ng Mui to Grandmaster Yip Man (Ip Man)

Over the years, Wing Chun was handed down to only a small number of dedicated students. Yim Wing Chun taught it to her husband, Leung Bok Chau, who in turn passed on the knowledge to Leung Yee Tai and Wong Wah Bo. Leung Yee Tai then taught Leung Jan, who went on to teach his son, Leung Bik, and Chan Wah Shun. Both of these masters taught Yip Man, who went on to become the most well known master of the art and known as the Grandmaster.

The Great Grandmaster

In 1949, Yip Man, who was considered to be the Grandmaster of modern Wing Chun, brought the style out of China into Hong Kong and eventually to the rest of the world. He produced some of the top Wing Chun practitioners in the world. His most notable student would have to be Bruce Lee, but there were others. Some of his top students were: Leung Sheung, Wong Shun-Leung, Moy Yat, Hawkins Cheung, William Cheung, Lo Man-Kam, Chu Shong-Tin, Leung Ting, Lee Che Kong, Duncan Leung, GM Yip (Ip) Chun and GM Yip (Ip) Ching, Yip Man’s two sons. Yip Man is now referred to as the Great Grand Master.

Our Jun Fan Wing Chun Lineage

When Bruce Lee first arrived in America, he brought with him, his Wing Chun knowledge. Bruce had studied under Yip Man for about 5 years. Bruce did not complete the full Wing Chun system. Stories vary, most agree that he completed the first 2 empty hand forms and half of the wooden dummy form. Others say, he completed the 3 empty hand forms and half of the dummy form. What we can undoubtedly confirm, is that with only 5 years of training, Bruce became an excellent exponent of the art. He’s known as one of the greatest representatives of the art of Wing Chun. When Bruce first began teaching in America, he taught Wing Chun with slight modifications that he made. This became known as Modified Wing Chun, and sometimes referred to as Jun Fan Gung Fu. We call our art, Jun Fan Wing Chun or Bruce Lee’s Wing Chun in English. Lee Jun Fan is Bruce Lee’s Chinese name. Our Jun Fan Wing Chun adheres to many of the concepts and principles as the classical or traditional Wing Chun system, like: Centerline theory, economy of motion, four corner theory or gates, simultaneous attack and defense, trapping, low-line kicking, the Sil Lim Tao form and much more.

Our Jun Fan Wing Chun Lineage comes from both Sijo James DeMile and Grandmaster Leo T. Fong. Both, direct students of Bruce Lee.

Our Classical Wing Chun Lineage

Our classical Wing Chun comes from Grandmaster Samuel Kwok, who was trained by Grandmasters Ip Ching/Ip Chun, who are Ip Man’s two sons. Sifu Dan is currently working to complete the Classical Wing Chun system, under the direction of GM Kwok.

Jeet Kune Do-The Way of the Intercepting Fist

Sijo Bruce Lee, The founder of JKD

Bruce Lee, born Lee Jun Fan on November 27, 1940 in Chinatown San Francisco. Bruce is considered to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century.  But he was much more. He was also a Hong Kong and American actor, director, author and philosopher. Bruce’s films and his magnetic personality helped to change the way Asians were presented in American films. After Bruce’s films no longer were Asians portrayed as subservient buffoons or evil masterminds. His impact has also revolutionized the martial arts world by promoting non-classical martial arts. Many credit him with historically introducing the world to MMA as he promoted the concept of training in more than 1 art, and the blending of arts.

Bruce was introduced to the film industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor in China. Bruce was sent to the US at the age of 18 by his parents to remove him from the mean streets of Hong Kong. After several gang fights he was running the risk of soon being arrested by the authorities. Already having American Citizenship status due to him being born in America while his father was on a Chinese Opera tour, he was able to return and receive his higher education at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was during this time that he began teaching martial arts on campus. He quickly grew a following and later on opened up his first of 3 schools. His martial arts skills proved to be something unique not very familiar to Americans at the time. Kung Fu in those days was very much an underground art, guarded by the Chinese and only transmitted to other Chinese. As his reputation grew he began to join martial arts circuits and give demonstrations at tournaments. It would be through his martial arts demonstrations that someone with Hollywood connections would take notice. This would lead to his role as Kato on The Green Hornet, his first acting job in the US. Later after multiple Hong Kong and one Hollywood produced film, Bruce would elevate the traditional Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, depicting more realistic fight scenes and higher caliber story-lines. The direction and tone of his films dramatically changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the US, Hong Kong, and the rest of the world. This would create great interest in Kung Fu and martial arts in the West in the 1970s. After Enter the Dragon, martial arts schools began to open up all across America and now the world. 

What is JKD?

First lets start by clarifying that JKD is just a name given to an approach to combat. JKD was not intended to be a formal style or system. Jun Fan Gung Fu was the established system that Bruce created. Jun Fan Gung Fu is basically Modified Wing Chun as taught to Bruce Lee by GGM Yip Man. Jun Fan Gung Fu serves as the nucleus of JKD.

Wei Kuen Do- The Way of the Integrated Fist

Gm Leo T. Fong is the founder of the art. Leo is an actor, author, boxer, martial artist, and former Methodist Minister who has been making films, acting, and directing since the early 1970s. Wei Kuen Do is complete system and its deeply rooted in Jeet Kune Do as a result of the time that Leo spent training with Bruce Lee. The principles and concepts of WKD are a reflection of the philosophies of combat developed by Bruce Lee. Other elements can be found within the art of WKD such as : Serrada Escrima, Arnis, Western Boxing, Coy Lay Fut, Northern Shaolin, Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, and Wing Chun.

About Grandmaster Fong

Leo Fong was born in Canton, China and immigrated to the United States at the age of five years old with his mother to join his father in Widener, Arkansas where he ran a small grocery store. He is a graduate of Forrest City, Arkansas High School. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Physical Education from Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas, a Masters of Theology degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a Masters of Social Work from University of California in Sacramento, California. Let’s explore the exciting life of Leo Fong and the journey that lead him to Bruce Lee and the discovery of his ultimate truth.

His Martial Arts Journey:

Western Boxing:

Leo’s martial arts journey began at the age of 7 years old on his first day of school. Being the only Asian in school, a group of students surrounded him at recess and began to sing racial slurs at him. When he returned home, his father asked him, “How was school?” Young Fong replied, “Great! Everybody likes me. They even sang to me.” His father asked him, “What did they sing?” Leo replied, “Ching-chong Chinaman.” The father turned red in the face and said to Leo, “They don’t like you. Don’t you know they are making fun of your racial heritage?” The next day at recess, the playground teacher organized a softball game and Leo was designated to play first base. One of the kids hit a single and ended up on first base. He looked at Leo and remarked, “Chink!” Leo punched him in the nose, knocking him to the ground. Unlike his cousins who dropped out of school because of racial intimidation, Leo choose to remain in school and fight. As he encountered other bullies, Leo developed an affinity to fighting. During this time, there were no martial arts schools in Arkansas so Leo sought out the American fighting style of Western Boxing. At the age of 12, he bought a boxing book, “The Fundamentals of Boxing” by the former world welterweight champion, Barney Ross. Leo read the book from cover to cover and then he hung a pillow in his room as a punching bag and proceeded to follow the instructions in the book. The instructions he practiced from the Barney Ross book helped him refine his punching skills and he was able to defend himself quite effectively. He learned early on from the instructions in the book that the left jab and left hook were very effective punches. Bullies who came to him with racist attitude and aggressive wild swings were destined to be knocked out by jabs and hooks. He learned early that a left jab could set up for a left hook or a right cross and with those three punches Leo Fong prevailed against school ground bullies. He had his first formal boxing match at the age of l5 years old and while he lost a close decision, he learned much from fighting in front of an audience. After graduating from High School, Leo enrolled in Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas to study for the ministry. It was at Hendrix he joined the boxing team and received his first formal boxing lessons from an old professional fighter by the name of Kirby “KO” Donoho. In his first year of competition Leo won 7 of his first 8 fights and he scored 5 first round knockouts – all with his left hook.

In his second year in college, Hendrix College decided to disband its boxing and wrestling programs but the local National Guard Unit in Conway, Arkansas invited Leo to join their team. Leo won 5 fights that year with Company G, and also reached the Finals of the Arkansas State AAU Tournament. Leo scored one of the quickest knockouts of the tournament in his quarterfinal fight. He won the second fight by a decision and lost a close decision in the finals to a boxer he had beaten previously in college competition. After his 1950 AAU Tournament competition, Leo continued to compete in three other events; two college tournaments of which he won both by knockouts and the Southwestern AAU Tournament. At the Southwestern he scored a first round knockout, won on a forfeit and was knocked out in the finals. It was after the knockout that Leo decided to retire from competition.

The following summer Leo was hired by the Dallas Board of City Missions of the United Methodist Church to work as an athletic director at Rankin Chapel in West Dallas, Texas. He developed a very strong boxing team at Rankin and some of the members won regional championships in their first year in competition even though none of the boxers had any boxing experiences before Leo’s arrival at the center. After graduation from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Leo was assigned a church in Sacramento, California. This was 1954.

JuJitsu:

While driving down K Street in Sacramento, Leo noticed a sign on the window of a Dance Studio that read: “Jiu-Jitsu School”. Leo stopped, ran up the stairs and met Bill Luke, the owner who was also a dance instructor. Luke said he had trained under a Judo instructor by the name of Bruce Tegner. Leo trained with Luke for over a year until Luke relocated to Southern California.

Judo:

Then, Leo heard that there was a Judo program at the Sacramento YMCA so he joined the Y and enrolled in the Judo program. The instructor was Bob Bendicts and Leo received a green belt under Bendicts after over a year of Judo training.

Tae Kwon Do:

In 1958, Leo had met a Tae Kwon Do instructor at Sacramento State University, who held a 4th Degree Black Belt. He agreed to train Leo and two other friends who worked for the Sacramento Fire Department. After three years of training, the instructor (Chong Yuk Yong) graduated from Sacramento State University and decided to return to Korea.

Kung Fu:

Also in 1958, Leo was speaking at the Jones United Methodist Church in San Francisco, California and after his speaking engagement he went to Chinatown to have lunch. By chance he saw an elderly Chinese man standing on the corner of Jackson Street and Grant Street in Chinatown and he asked the old man if there were any Kung Fu schools in the area. The old man replied, “There’s one down there near the park, and one up there near the Baptist Church on Waverly Place.” Leo asked him which one is the best and the old man laughed, “It’s up to you. An old man runs the one near the park. The one up near the church is run by a younger man.” Leo decided to go with the old man near the park because he thought the older man would have more experience. It was there in a cellar basement kwoon that Leo met Choy Lay Fut Grandmaster Low Bun. That first meeting with Grandmaster Low Bun was an interrogation session as the old man wanted to know the reason that Leo wanted to train in Gung Fu. Finally after about 30 minutes of questioning, Low Bun agreed to train Leo in Choy Lay Fut. Leo commuted to San Francisco Chinatown every Friday evening for over three years, until one evening someone suggested he should check out the Sil Lum School. He and a friend went to the Sil Lum School and at the school there was a student standing in front of the mirror doing forms with small dumbbells in his hands. When he finished, he turned around and introduced himself to Leo, this was James Yimm Lee who would later Introduce Leo to Bruce Lee (no relation). James Lee  invited Leo to join the club and he did, this was the beginning of a long-standing friendship with James Lee.

Bruce Lee/ Wing Chun/ Jeet Kune Do

During this period Leo continued to commute from Sacramento to San Francisco every Friday to train with T.Y. Wong at the Sil Lum School until James and Professor Wong had a falling out over ten dollars. James told Leo about the incident and said he was quitting the club. Jimmy said that he would be starting a class in his garage in Oakland and that Leo was invited. Leo followed Jimmy and trained in his garage until 1962 when James told Leo about a young Gung Fu expert named Bruce Lee who would be appearing at Wally Jay’s Annual Luau in Oakland. When Leo found out that Bruce was only in his teens, he was skeptical of his ability. However, at the demonstration, Bruce quickly erased any doubts about his fighting skills, as he demonstrated his speed and explosiveness on several volunteers from the audience. The following Monday after the Luau, James invited several martial artists to his house to meet Bruce. Leo was present in that small gathering. Thus was the beginning of a ten-year relationship with James and Bruce until both of their deaths. During the intervening years, Leo, Bruce and James had many discussions about martial arts and martial artists. Bruce was particularly fascinated by Leo’s boxing skills and his position as a professional minister in the United Methodist Church. On one occasion Bruce asked Leo why he trained in so many different systems of Gung Fu and Leo responded that he was looking for the ultimate. Bruce smiled and said, “Man, there ain’t no ultimate. The ultimate is in you” (as he pushed his index finger on Leo’s chest). Leo was a little confused at the point so Bruce then elaborated. He said to Leo, “With your boxing skills, learn a little grappling, learn how to kick, learn some trapping and you will have the ultimate.” As Leo thought about what Bruce said, he immediately remembered the words of the Gospel in which Jesus said, “The kingdom is within you.” Little did Bruce realize how much influence those words would have on Leo’s life journey as well as his martial arts journey.

Leo began to look inward rather than outward and he began to let go of the need to train at five different styles of martial arts to find the ultimate. Bruce encouraged Leo to seek his own truth and he reminded him many times that a good teacher is one who points the finger to the door but does not go in with the student. The student must enter in and discover for himself what is truth.

Leo also had an impact on Bruce and his martial arts style – Jeet Kune Do, as Bruce began adding the boxing punches and approach to fighting. At the class in Jimmy’s garage, Bruce had everyone getting into classic the Bai Jong stance of Wing Chun with the lead hand high and the rear hand low (by the solar plexus). Leo told him that he didn’t like the position and Bruce said “What do you prefer?” So Leo got into the modern American boxing stance with his lead hand low and his rear hand by his cheek. Bruce took one look at him and said “I like it because I can’t trap your lead hand.” And then Bruce just walked away and let Leo train that way. Over the next few years, Bruce completely changed his primary fighting stance and eventually adopted more of a boxing stance as his own.

The Birth of Jeet Kune Do and the Wong Jack Man Challenge Match

There are many controversies over the birth of Jeet Kune Do and many of the second and third generation practitioners believed JKD was born in Los Angeles. Leo dispelled the myth that it was born anywhere else except in Oakland. In the middle 60’s, a Kung Fu instructor by the name of Wong Jack Man immigrated to San Francisco to teach Northern style Kung Fu. He was also employed at the Jackson Café in Chinatown as a waiter and it didn’t take long for the word to get out through the Kung Fu community that Wong Jack Man was one tough fighter. Even one of Leo’s close Wing Chun friends, Lucky Chan of Sacramento said that Wong Jack Man had the “vibrating punch.” When he hit you, the Chi will vibrate all the way through your body and leave you helpless, much like a Taser Gun. Leo told Bruce about this and he said it was just a lot of B.S. Eventually, one event led to the next and one of Wong Jack Man’s friends brought the news to Bruce that Wong Jack Man wanted to challenge him. The messenger (who instigated the bad blood and was also a Kung Fu practitioner) fueled the flame, going between San Francisco and Oakland with “Wong said this about you to Bruce” and then he would go Wong and say “Bruce said this about you and etc.” Finally, Bruce ran out of patience and told the messenger to tell Wong Jack Man to come to Oakland and settle it once and for all. The match was to be held at a Kwoon on Broadway Street in Oakland that James and Bruce had opened together. When the group arrived, Wong Jack Man had about ten students with him and he immediately wanted to discuss rules. Bruce said, “Hell with rules. Let’s fight.” They squared off but as soon as Bruce advanced, Wong Jack Man turned and ran around the room. Finally, Bruce caught up with him in a corner of the room, grabbed his throat and was about to finish him off, when Wong Jack Man yelled out in Chinese that he wanted to give up. Bruce made him say it in front of his ten students. Leo was in Stockton at the time since it took about 2 hours to drive to Oakland so Leo missed the fight. After it was over, James called Leo and told him that as soon as Bruce hit him with his forward Wing Chun blast Wong turned away and ran and Bruce could not catch him. During the fight, Wong Jack Man scratched Bruce’s neck as he ran around swinging his arms. When Bruce got on the phone, he said to Leo “Man I need more angles. The forward blast is limited against a mobile target.” Leo suggested to Bruce “Go boxing, Bruce – hooks, uppercuts and crosses.” The following week when Leo arrived for his weekly training, Bruce was in James’ basement practicing a repertoire of punches on a glove hanging from a chain. Bruce was moving around like Muhammad Ali and this new approach to combat gave birth to the creation of his art called Jeet Kune Do.

Sifu Dan has been fortunate enough to have trained in several different lineages and eras of Jeet Kune Do’s evolution including the Seattle era Modified Wing Chun, Oakland era JKD, LA era JKD, Contemporary JKD and Wei Kuen Do. Sifu’s personal expression of JKD he integrates them all into our Chinese Boxing class curriculum.  

The Filipino Martial Arts/ FMA

The Filipino Martial arts focuses on the use of sticks, bladed and blunt weapons, improvised weapons, and empty hand techniques. The names sometimes vary from region to region, but it’s often referred to as Arnis, Eskrima or Kali.

The Inosanto-Lacoste system

While our roots began with the Inosanto-Lacoste Sytem of Kali, we have gone on to explore other systems of FMA. We now represent the Jedokan Arnis System. We still preserve our roots and have blended the 2 systems into our own expression of FMA. Within the Inosanto-Lacoste system of Kali, Silat is very prevalent. We use Silat in our expression of FMA mostly for takedowns or sweeps and ground-fighting. Sifu/Guro Dan has a Full Instructors Certification in the Inosanto lineage through Paul Vunak’s Progressive Fighting Systems.

Jadokan Karate Arnis / Suministrado Kamao Eskrima

Jedokan was re-branded to Suministrado Kamao Eskrima is a martial art system created by GM Jeff Jeds. it’s roots lie in Shotokan Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, Kickboxing, Combat Judo, Kung-Fu and Eskrima. Jeff has trained under such notable Filipino martial artists such as: Dr. Guillermo Langson, Sensei Ben Torres and Sensei Robert Torres. Jedokan is composed of drills specializing in footwork, dodging, deflecting, boxing, kickboxing, karate, self-defense, grappling, Arnis-Stick and knife work. The objective of the Jedokan practitioner is to be versatile, elusive and effective in actual combat situations. Sifu/Guro Dan holds a 5th Degree Black Belt in the system.

The History of FMA

When discussing the  combative arts of the Philippines, it’s like a look back at your social studies or history class.  The first Filipino warriors descended from transplants who arrived to the Philippine islands from other lands and brought with them their own unique cultures. They had the strength and fortitude to survive the long journeys and possessed the skills to create a new land and a new culture. They traveled from places like Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India and Burma. Along with their own unique religions, languages and cultures they also brought with them their indigenous combative arts. Ancient Filipino warriors defended their lands from invaders such as Magellan. The Chieftain Lapu-Lapu is probably the most notable and most revered among them for his defeat and slaughter of Magellan.

The individual styles and systems of FMA vary from region to region. The differences can be due to adaptations in different terrains and environments or due to personal preferences developed by a particular tribe or family. FMA much like JKD is not a “classical or traditional” a system. Techniques vary and there is no standardized curriculum. There are over 7,000 islands in the Philippines and historically there were about an average of 3 different tribes per island. If you do the math, that’s about 21,0000 different systems of combat.

Most commonly the art is predicated on the use of numbering systems and angles of attack using the stick and knife. But it’s not limited to only weapons. The empty handed portion of the art, often called Panantukan or Filipino Boxing is also based off those same angles of attack as the stick and knife. Therefore any training that you do will develop attributes that can be used in any area of the art. It’s an art that compliments many other martial arts and blends particularly well with JKD.

Sifu Dan’s JKD/WKD/FMA Instructors Certifications:

Full Instructor, Jun Fan Gung Fu/ Oakland JKD-GM Leo Fong

5th Degree Black Belt, Wei Kuen Do-GM Leo Fong

Full Instructor, Jerry Poteet JKD Lineage/Real JKD Association-Sifu Paul Johnson

Full Instructor, Progressive Fighting Systems-Contemporary JKD and FMA-Sifu Dan Andersson

Full Instructor Jun Fan Gung Fu/ JKD- Larry Hartsell’s Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association

5th Degree Black Belt Jedokan Karate Arnis/ Suministrado Kamao Eskrima

Contact us for more information

Phone: 917-565-3322

Email: JkdSifuDan@gmail.com

If you live in the areas of Somers, Peekskill, Ossining, Mahopac and Carmel then you are close enough to come train with us!