Chu Shong-tin (also Tsui Sheung-tin or Toi Shan-tien) (;

Jyutping The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme, also known as Jyutping, is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed in 1993 by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK). The name ''Jyutping'' (itself the Jyutping ro ...

: ''ceoi⁴ soeng⁶ tin⁴''; 1933–2014) was grand master of

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...

kung fu who had lived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. He was the third student of the famous teacher

Yip Man Ip Man (born Ip Kai-man; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972), also known as Yip Man, was a Chinese martial arts grandmaster. He became a teacher of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martia ...

, and remained at Yip Man's school to become his senior instructor.

Biography

Chu Shong-tin was born in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 13 May 1933 and moved to

in 1949. He started work as the secretary of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Restaurant Workers Union where he met Master Ip Man, who was teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu to members of the union. The two became friends and in 1951 Chu became the third student of Master Ip after Leung Sheung and

Lok Yiu Lok or LOK may refer to: Places * Lok, Serbia, a village * Lok, Levice District, Slovakia, a village * Lok, Pakistan, a village * Loka (pronounced Lok): a plane of existence in Dharma People Surname Lok (English origin) * Anne Locke, L ...

. Chu Shong-tin trained and eventually taught continuously from 1951 until his passing in 2014. Early on, Chu questioned Master Ip about the meaning of the first Wing Chun form name -

Siu Nim Tau Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial arts style characterized by its focus on ...

- and was just told "keep practicing". He persevered in only practicing this first form and eventually "felt something different while practicing. A sort of understanding that was not there before." He told his Master about his experience and Ip Man started to call him "Siu Nim Tau Wong (小念頭王)" or "Siu Nim Tau King ". In 1977, the martial art magazine '' Secret's of Kung Fu'' (distributed in Australia, the U.K, the US and France) stated "The four most highly-achieved exponents of the Wing Chun School at Present are Sifu Liang Hsiang (Leung Sheung), Sifu Lo Yao (Lok Yiu), Sifu Huang Ch'un-Liang (

Wong Shun-leung Wong Shun-leung (; 8 May 1935 – 28 January 1997) was a Hong Kong martial artist who studied Wing Chun kung fu under Ip Man, Yip Man (葉問)Ving Tsun Athletic Association (1990)The development of Ving Tsun Kungfu in Hong Kong: 1954-1960R ...

) and Sifu Hsu Shang-t'ien (Chu Shong-tin). They have all been given an in-depth teaching of true learning by Ip Man and are well-known in martial art circles." In 1988, Chu Shong-tin was invited to Australia to represent Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) Chinese Kung Fu at the

1988 International Ancient Martial Arts and Cultural Exhibition 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

In 1992, the first trip to represent

Ving Tsun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial arts style characterized by its focus on ...

(Wing Chun) back to mainland China, to the birthplace of Ving Tsun,

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

, was organized by Master

Ip Chun Ip Chun (born Ip Hok-chun; 10 July 1924), also known as Yip Chun or Yip Jun, is a Chinese martial artist and actor in the style of Wing Chun. He is the elder of two sons. Chun's father, Ip Man, was the Wing Chun teacher of Bruce Lee. Early lif ...

( Master Ip Man's son) of The Ving Tsun Athletic Association. The trip was led Master's Chu Shong-tin, Wong Shun-leung, Ip Ching, and others. Chu Shong-tin was on the Ving Tsun Athletic Association Board of Directors from 1997 to 1999 and 2002 - 2004 (serving as

Chairman of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

in 1999) In 1999, as Chairman of the VTAA Board, Master Chu, along with Ip Man's sons (Master Ip Chin and Master Ip Chun) realized a dream that Master Ip had had 38 years before, to organise a conference of Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) practitioners from all over the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu Shong Tin Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong 1933 births 2014 deaths