Ng Wah Sum Wing Chun

AN INTRODUCTION

- Alex Danos

Sifu Ng Wah Sum was born in 1937 and initially, he was a Hung Ga practitioner. After several years of practicing the art, he participated in a Beimo challenge fight against a Wing Chun practitioner.

The story goes that Ng Wah Sum lunged against his opponent but before he could strike, his opponent countered with rapid Chain Punches that hit Ng Wah Sum’s chest. Ng Wah Sum was very impressed by the speed and efficiency of Wing Chun and went back to his Hung Ga Sifu and tried to figure out what had gone wrong in the fight and how his opponent could counter his attack with such ease.

A few months later, Ng Wah Sum spotted the Wing Chun practitioner he had fought, and he had a conversation with him. He discovered that he was a student of Leung Sheung, Ip Man’s first student in Hong Kong. Ng Wah Sum was later introduced to Leung Sheung and started training with him in 1961.

Learning from Leung Sheung and Grandmaster Ip Man

Sifu Ng Wah Sum trained under Leung Sheung for several years, but he was also introduced by Leung Sheung to Grandmaster Ip Man himself and got to spend significant time learning directly from Ip Man. An interesting story shared by Sifu Jason Fung, one of Ng

Wah Sum’s students and my instructor in the Leung Sheung style relates to how Ip Man used to encourage his students to test their skills. Apparently, Ip Man would actively encourage Ng Wah Sum to pick up fights with random people in the streets so he could test his skills. Although this might seem an odd practice, it is a testament to the real fighting experience that Wing Chun students used to get in the 1950s and ’60s.