Master Wong

A rebel with a cause

- Kleber Battaglia

PROBABLY ONE of the most controversial figures in the modern Wing Chun world, Master Wong is either hated or loved by those who find him on the Internet, where his YouTube channel has reached 1.3 million subscribers. He is recognised for his passionate, no-nonsense approach to both martial arts and life, which has garnered him fame and recognition in a world where traditional martial arts struggle to adapt to modernity.

While many traditionalists criticise him for not openly revealing the sources of his martial knowledge, he gives the public something they hunger for. Let us discover who Master Wong really is and how he achieved popularity, despite all the odds.

Many people who teach martial arts in the Internet era have a hard time adjusting traditional arts to modern society. How is your approach different, and why do you think it’s so successful?

I do half-and-half, half traditional martial arts and half nontraditional. On the Internet, I don’t put out the traditional stuff because it’s boring and people don’t understand it. When you try to make people believe things they don’t understand, you lose them. I get a lot of criticism from the martial arts world for that. However, everyone has their own way of doing things depending on what you’re trying to portray.

What I try to portray is that I’m not teaching martial arts for people who just want to fight. You can go learn that from street fighters. They’ll teach you how to beat up somebody properly. However, I teach a way of living, what martial arts can do for you, for your health and your business because you could be the best martial artist in the world and still live a terrible life because no one cares about what you do.