My Training with my Sifu -“Tsui Seung Tin” By Master Jim Fung
After the communist take over of China in 1949 the legendary Yip Man returned to Hong Kong and started teaching Wing Chun at the Hong Kong restaurant workers union premises. A couple of years later, in January 1951, Tsui Seung Tin, my master began learning the Wing Chun art there. Tsui Seung Tin was the secretary of the restaurant workers union association. He was already doing Tai Chi and when he observed Yip Man teaching he found the Wing Chun system both very interesting and very effective and decided to seek training.
Only a handful of students were training under Yip Man when Tsui Seung Tin started. Yip Man, Tsui Seung Tin and two other students Leung Seung and Lok Yu were actually living together at the union. This is how the term “closed door student” came about. The live in students were almost like personal servants to Yip Man, doing the cooking and cleaning and other household chores in exchange for his teaching.
As a result of his interest in the logical and scientific aspects of Wing Chun Tsui Seung Tin had a real and deep understanding of the system, and the more he discovered about the intricacies of the art the more interested he became. Living with Yip Man he followed a strict routine of practicing every day from morning until night.
When he commenced training Tsui Seung Tin was definitely an underdog. He had a very slight frame and couldn’t wield as much physical strength as the others in his class, but he truly believed in a system which taught that you didn’t need to use brute force to defend yourself and followed its principles devotedly. After many months of training those who were able to push him around in the beginning had lost their advantage. They were now astonished by his awesome fighting power, his ability to generate maximum force without having increased the size of his muscles.
Sifu Tsui was so dedicated a student and had such a good analytical mind that he not only managed to glean the essence of the Wing Chun art from Yip Man but was able to improve upon it. It is not widely known that before Yip Man passed away he openly acknowledged in a Hong Kong daily interview that Tsui’s skill had surpassed his own. He dubbed him “the king of Sil Lum Tao form” due to his superb mastery of it.
Since my early teens I have been extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to train under this great master. My studies with him as a private student began in 1960 and are still continuing. He is an excellent teacher, a patient one, and very understanding of his pupils and their mistakes. He always manages to clearly communicate the most important aspects of Wing Chun, make his lessons interesting, and never tires of people asking him the same questions.
Along with another boy I trained with Tsui three times a week. I remember that many times before training Sifu Tsui and I would have Yum Cha together and spend hours talking about the Wing Chun art. He carefully guided me through all my training – you could say he held by hand the whole way – and his passion rubbed off on me. I felt very honoured to learn that many long standing students of my Sifu have only had the opportunity to do chi sau with him a couple of times through all their years of training. It has been my great privilege to do chi sau with my Sifu regularly throughout my years of study.
Looking at Sifu Tsui you would never have know he is a top Kung Fu master. He is unassuming, courteous, and jovial as opposed to some Kung Fu masters who project an image of being stern and unapproachable. Yet he is also very disciplined and principled and carried himself with the bearing of a true master.
Tsui’s Contribution to the Wing Chun System
Tsui expanded and improved on the knowledge handed down to him by Yip Man due to his ability to explain any concept of the Wing Chun system using a variety of different perspectives and angles. As a result he could tailor his teaching to any kind of person. His analytical and logical approach to the art also meant that he always gave practical and scientific examples to illustrate his points.
What he could teach in theory he could back up in action. A demonstration of the incredible stability of the Wing Chun stance involved him standing on one leg, incorrigibly maintaining his balance with a minimum of effort while 3 strong men would try to push him over, from frontwards, backwards and sideways. At another demonstrations he would subdue a volunteer of any size from a live audience with a simple Bong Sau or Tan Sau, sending them flying, showing you could deflect powerful blows with a slight movement of the hand. His kicking and punching was too awesome to describe. He amazed onlookers when he participated in martial arts exhibitions – challenge fights against other martial arts masters – and no one could even get near enough to touch him.
Even now in his mid sixties he can do all these things still. Those who have had the good fortune to experience his live demonstrations are not only impressed by his extraordinary skill but can truly appreciate what the Wing Chun system really exemplifies – self defense not dependent on brute force that is dynamically economical and so very powerful.
In conclusion, Tsui Seung Tin is not only my guiding light but also a true example of what the Wing Chun art should be. Without him this incredible martial art would have been lost through ignorance and bastardization. He understood what the true art was and was able to communicate it.
Sifu Jim Fung
