The Untold Story of Why Bruce Lee Left Ip Man's School

Why is it that every movie and documentary about Bruce Lee presents him as this gifted kung-fu prodigy who seeks out Yip Man at an early age to start learning Wing Chun?

They say things about how he's one of Yip Man's most gifted students, but they never talk about why Bruce Lee didn't really know enough Wing Chun to start teaching when he left Hong Kong for America, and they never acknowledge him leaving Yip Man to go study with someone else.

Why don't we ever get the real story about how Bruce Lee learned Wing Chun as a teenager in Hong Kong? I mean, what's the big secret no one wants to tell about why Bruce Lee left Yip Man's school?

#brucelee #ipman #goldenbelltraining
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[Quantum]

A critical piece of information which is not shared is the reason that Bruce stopped learning wing chun and not mastering it fully, was because he was forced to leave Hong Kong for the states due to his troubles with street fighting. His family, and mainly his dad, forced him out of the country to avoid being thrown in jail. That put a pause on his ambitions to training with Ip Man and his elder school buddies. While in the states, he realized the limitations of his wing chun training and it was at that point when he decided to dedicate himself to incorporating various fighting disciplines into his own art. I believe if he had not been forced to leave HK, he may have spent time in jail, or perhaps mastered wing chun, and very likely become a HK kung fu movie actor, and we may not have been introduced to him in the U.S. as the superstar he turned out to be. His global success is what paved the way for kung fu movies and the success of the likes of Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen in the U.S.. Such was his fate.

[swordsman]

Wong Shun Leung was amazing. I was privileged to meet and touch hands with him. He had such skill, control and speed. Best of all he was real, not some movie illusion that we get from the Ip Man films. He would insist that people learn the Sil Lim Tao inside and out, focus on this to develop skill, get this then Chi Sau for sensitivity and focus. Then learn to fight. Respect

[dingfeldersmurfalot]

Fun fact: Wong trained as a boxer before coming to Wing Chun. I bet that hands-on practical training made his Wing Chun very grounded and real.

[TOMMYBOY]

The real truth is that Yip Man would never throw cigarettes at Bruce Lee for kicking practice, you know how much a pack can cost lol

[aquaticlibrary]

Wong Shun Leung is the unsung hero of Kung Fu. Dude was one of the last real deal heroes. He should honestly be as famous if not more than Ip Man.

[jkdfighter]

Interview from Wan Kam Leung, one of WSL's top students:

Q9: How did it happen?
Wan: It all started when Bruce asked my Sifu about his opinion on his kick. Sifu commented that Bruce retreated his hands/legs quicker than his punches/kicks. Bruce denied and claimed that both his punches/kicks hit and retreated equally fast. So, the two martial arts fanatics started to “Gung Sau” (talking hand). They first played Chi-Sau (sticking hands) and then Bok Gik (free sparring). To be fair, Bruce’s kick was really fast and astonishing. If they were in real fight, I doubt Sifu was able to take him down. Of course, they were sparring and not in real fighting. So, they did reserve their strength and power. Sifu was wearing a yellow long sleeve Montagut shirt and Bruce was bare-chested and dressed in a track pant. This gave him more freedom to move and execute his punches and kicks flexibly.

Q10: Could you describe about the fight more specifically?
Wan: Sure. Sifu used his favorite center lines to attack and close the gaps by moving in fast, forcing Bruce to move sideways and then backwards. However, Bruce was able to avoid all Sifu’s punches very easily. Bruce’s horse stance was amazingly agile too. Maybe he was training all the time, that’s why his reactions were fast and when he retreated or moved, all his steps seemed very coordinated and swift. Bruce told Sifu, “You cannot stand still if you intend to move; the heels must leave the ground and then, the steps will become nimble. Once the heels are not fixed to the ground, you’d have a greater mobility and your movement would be faster. However, once you are getting ready to fight, your heel should then avoid leaving the ground because your body will be “floating” if your heels leave the ground. And if so, even your punch has landed on your opponent, the destructive power will be much reduced.” What Bruce said really made a lot of sense to me. I learnt from their sparring and was inspired by Bruce’s words.

Q11: What did your Sifu comment about this?
Wan: Well, he quite agreed with Bruce’s point of view. Since Sifu’s “turning horse” was also not turning his heels but instead was using the center line to turn his toes and feet. This restricts and slows down his movement. Thus, he accepted Bruce’s advice and from then onwards, he adapted to this new changes.

Q12: So, who won the sparring in the end?
Wan: None. They were just sparring for fun. Due to space constraint, they moved carefully yet very fast and lithe. In fact, Sifu was more eager to take Bruce down but Bruce was able to tackle all his attacks and fought back with his fast kicks. Honestly speaking, Bruce’s skills and physical condition outclassed Sifu but to show respect, Bruce reserved his real ability to avoid hurting Sifu. I remembered after the sparring, both hugged each other. Bruce said, “Ha, your hands are still as fast as before and you are still very precise in your center line.” Sifu replied, “Of course, I’ve told you already and don’t forget I’m your Siheng.” Bruce smiled and continued, “But I moved faster and shunned your attacks many times. Sifu said, “You avoided once but you can’t avoid all the time…haha” Then both continued to squabble in a jovial manner. In fact, Bruce still respected Sifu very much?

[joeallen]

The man is been gone for 50 years and his legend grows bigger than it was in the 70s. I'm still finding more amazing stories and firsthand accounts of his amazing life. He's a legend. Legends never die

[kkamiya]

I agree with what's said here, as I'm a Hong Konger and my dad is a martial arts teacher, doing Seven Star Mantis and 六合八法.
In Southern and Northern styles, when one starts to learn, you first go through the tea ceremony to declare your allegiance to your master, but usually, as this guy said, the senior students, or the Si Hing, would teach the juniors and new comers.
My dad does this in his school too, coz he said by teaching one knows the style even more intimately.
The student is still technically under the master, and only through demonstrating their skills, they may become accepted as the inner room students, or 入室弟子, and get private tuition with the master.
There's even an extra privilege for the inner class, with the top of the inner class being able to meet personally with their Sifu's master, their Si Gung. I know this from my dad's recollection from his days training.

[davidwongwantho]

I like you for being brutally honest about Bruce Lee and his Wing Chun training. Most of Wing Chun practitioners are wrong in the founding history of Wing Chun and they took pride that Bruce Lee raised the importance of Wing Chun. Really, they are so myopic in accepting facts.

[paulgorman]

Thank you for setting the record straight with your videos regarding Bruce's training. There's interviews from people who were friends with Bruce like Hawkins Cheung (his best friend growing up), but this video really fills in the gaps by shedding light on all his teachers you mentioned (and how he gained skill so quickly). Your videos are spot on and you've really done your research. Plus: Wong Sheung Leung is finally given his due! ^o^

It's also really nice to see Bruce's actual family speak up and contribute. I know one of Bruce's brother's was a fencing coach and that's a HUGE crucial piece of important info that seems to get left out, as it's a BIG part of Bruce's "Tao of Jeet Kune Do, " portion on passing footwork a la fencing. <---- (Can this fencing connection be a potential video? >_^ )

Please keep making these, you've earned a subscriber.

[davidlancaster]

Excellent! Thanks for always keeping the record straight. Your passion for the topic and truth is always evident. Thanks 👍👊

[jameskelly]

Movies seldom get anything right. They couldn't even get the ten commandments right even though its source was from a book anybody had access to: the Bible.

[chriskrueger]

I studied Wing Chun under a student of Ho Kam Ming who was one Ip Man's closest students. It was related to me that Bruce studied Wing Chun for maybe a year and a half. We have footage of Bruce practicing Si Lum Tao but that's about it. He offered to buy Ip Man an apartment to video and show the wooden dummy form, but Ip denied. As far as Bruce moving to the US because of his fighting. That is not true. He moved back because he had to to retain his citizenship because he was born there and had to do so while he was 18. As somebody that studied Wing Chun for 6 years, Bruce was nothing more than an intermediate. Yes he was great at what he learned but he did not learn the whole system.

[theJimKata]

Thanks for posting one of the few videos out there that tells the truth. I was a student of Jesse Glover in Seattle, he was Bruce Lee’s first student in America in 1959. I got to learn a lot about who Bruce Lee really was as a person, not the big screen Kung Fu star that we all later came to know. And yes, his time in Wing Chun was a few years at best, and mostly under Wong Shun-leung and William Cheung.

[dilnaylomogorhaiyee]

Dude I am Chinese .. 40 years old… lived in HK for a few years.. Bruce Lee.. Jackie Chan.. Ip Man movie fan and I never even knew or heard about Wong Shun Leung before.. excellent content 👍👍👍

[mdanam]

You know you've shattered Beerdy's entire universe with this particular video right? 😂😂😂😂

[James-dontgiveuponJesus]

Being a second generation student of Ip Man myself my direct master was Jim Fung, I thank you for being real, and bringing out the truth, I hate these Chinese whisperers out there

[ehisey]

The Ip Man fight in the movie against the boxer was actually based on Wong's fight with a Russian boxer, which he won. Bruce is pretty well documented as being a bit on the cocky side. But he was famous, so it kind is expected. That is absolutely true about southern kung fu schools, assuming a school is not getting started in a new place, the Master provides the lessons for the class, and then the senior students work with the lower ranks. In schools that use the Guest system this even more explict in that the Host students must properly teach the Guests before they are allowed to advance to the next level of learning with the Sifu typically correcting the Host when the Guest is messing up.

[cookingwthechampllc]

The truth is never as entertaining as a story that's imbellished by movies 🎬

[rotorairgroup]

So what you are saying is that you heard that Bruce had a lot of inner dojo challenges with other students but nothing competitive or sactioned against professionals. Nothing changes. He was just an actor playing fighter characters. Xu xai dong proved how dangerous real Kung Fu masters are by beating many of them. Thank you for confirming what we already knew.