W.C.: "Da sempre, sin da quando ero bambino, io e
mio fratello subivamo le angherie del nostro fratellastro George, detto King
Kong, di cinque anni più grande di me. Ho sempre voluto imparare il kung fu per
difendermi dai bulli come King Kong.
A dieci anni mi iscrissi a un club di
nuoto e feci amicizia con Wong Man Leung. Questi mi disse che suo fratello,
Wong Shun Leung, era un bravo pugile e aveva vinto diversi incontri con alcuni
famosi maestri di kung fu. Un giorno Man Leung mi invitò a vedere la sfida tra
Shun Leung e un anziano maestro che praticava uno stile inventato da una donna.
Ero molto curioso di vedere come Leung avrebbe sconfitto questo vecchio
maestro, e magari pensai che avrebbe potuto insegnarmi qualche colpo.
Quando arrivammo all’“Unione ristoratori
cinesi di Hong Kong” a Tsim Shar Tsui vedemmo un ometto di mezz’età venirci
incontro invitandoci a entrare. Senza perdere tempo, Shun Leung sfidò a voce
alta quest’ometto e iniziò a girargli intorno con dei passi simili a un
balletto. Ricordo che rimasi impressionato dalla sua agilità, ma a un tratto
Shun Leung cadde a terra ai piedi dell’uomo. Si rialzò subito, si tolse di
dosso la polvere e si rimise a saltellare; tirò un jab sinistro all’avversario
e si ritrovò a terra. Alla terza volta pensammo che era il caso di andarsene
subito. Una volta sulla strada ci guardammo in faccia l’un l’altro senza dire
una parola.
Pochi mesi dopo seppi da Man Leung che il
fratello aveva iniziato a studiare con quell’uomo di mezza età il Wing Chun
Kung Fu, uno stile inventato da una donna, così decisi che volevo impararlo
anche io..."
W.C.: As long as I could remember, since I was a
little child, my brother, Mathew, and I were bullied by our oldest half
Brother, George-alias King Kong who was 5 years older then me. I always wanted
to learn kung fu in order to defend myself against the big bully like King
Kong.
When I was ten years old, I joined the Swimming
club and got to be friendly with Wong Man Leung. Man Leung told me that his
brother, Wong Shun Leung, was good at boxing and had been winning challenge
matches against some well known kung fu masters. One time Man Leung invited me
to witness Shun Leung’s challenge match against an old master who practiced a
kung fu system developed by a woman. I was very curious to see how Man Leung
could defeat this old master and thought he might be able to teach me a few
moves.
When we got to “The Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant Union’s” headquarters in Tsim Shar Tsui, we saw a middle aged small-framed man coming toward us to invite us in. Without much ado, Shun Leung let his intention be known and issued a challenge to this small man. Shun Leung was dancing around the man with his fancy footwork. I was dazzled by his agility but all of sudden Shun Leung fell to the ground with the man standing over him. Shun Leung got up straight away and dusted himself off. Shun Leung got back in his dancing steps and jabbed his left fist at the man. Again, all of a sudden, Wong fell to the ground. When this scenario repeated itself for third time, we thought we should get out of there immediately. When we got to the street, we just looked at each other in silence – nobody said one word.
A few months later I asked Man Leung old me what his brother his brother shun Leung was training Wing Chun Kung Fu with this old man who taught the Kung Fu System invented by a woman, so I decided that was the kung fu system I wanted to learn.
When we got to “The Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant Union’s” headquarters in Tsim Shar Tsui, we saw a middle aged small-framed man coming toward us to invite us in. Without much ado, Shun Leung let his intention be known and issued a challenge to this small man. Shun Leung was dancing around the man with his fancy footwork. I was dazzled by his agility but all of sudden Shun Leung fell to the ground with the man standing over him. Shun Leung got up straight away and dusted himself off. Shun Leung got back in his dancing steps and jabbed his left fist at the man. Again, all of a sudden, Wong fell to the ground. When this scenario repeated itself for third time, we thought we should get out of there immediately. When we got to the street, we just looked at each other in silence – nobody said one word.
A few months later I asked Man Leung old me what his brother his brother shun Leung was training Wing Chun Kung Fu with this old man who taught the Kung Fu System invented by a woman, so I decided that was the kung fu system I wanted to learn.
