Wing chun masters honouring Bruce Lee teacher share their love of the Chinese martial art

More than 100 martial artists from around the world gathered in Hong Kong at an event dedicated to Wong Shun-leung, student of Ip Man

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Pure Ving Tsun boss Jerry Yeung (left) and martial arts actor Philip Ng train at PVT Group Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui on November 24, 2024. Both attended an event in honour of wing chun master Wong Shun-leung in November. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 6:15pm, 15 Jan 2025Updated: 7:27pm, 15 Jan 2025

Corrected [7:26pm, 15 Jan, 2025]

[7:26pm, 15 Jan, 2025]
The photograph of the event at Hong Kong Shue Yan University was wrongly credited to the writer of the story and has been updated.

To get a sense of how widely Chinese martial arts is being practised and promoted today, one only needs to look at a recent gathering in Hong Kong to honour the late Wong Shun-leung, a wing chun sifu, or master, who studied the Southern Chinese-style of kung fu under grandmaster Ip Man and is credited with being one of Bruce Lee’s teachers.

Among those paying their respects to Wong – who died in 1997 at age 61 – was Jamie Hibdon, a 39-year-old baker who has been practising wing chun for nine years.

“The ethos of the art really speaks to me. There’s nothing unnecessary; you train only what is essential,” he says.

Hibdon is now an instructor himself in Kansas City, in the US state of Missouri, after moving there from Chicago.

Jamie Hibdon (left) trains with students of actor and wing chun master Philip Ng (second right) at PVT Group Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Participants in the “WSLSA Homecoming Gathering 2024 – Hong Kong” event, which honoured wing chun master Wong Shun-leung, watch a video of Wong (left in the video) at the event, at Hong Kong Shue Yan University in North Point, on November 22, 2024. Photo: Chinese Martial Arts and Sports Culture Communication

While Chinese martial arts are not as popular in the US outside the big cities and he only has one student for now, Hibdon hopes to eventually teach regularly and spread the craft to more people. After all, the sense of community is one of the main reasons he appreciates wing chun.