Good evening,
Most recently HFY Sifu Billy Lau shared a new update on his FB page. Sifu Lau took the time to share with everyone some great insights about our Grandmaster Sifu Garrett Gee’s life as well as the culture he comes from. An excerpt follows below:
What is Honor and the true Spirit behind a true Kung Fu Master?
[SIZE=“2”]~based on my personal learning experience, Sifu Billy Lau[/SIZE]
I first would like to give thanks to Sifu Grandmaster Garrett Gee for a wonderful training session on Wednesday morning August 28th, 2013 this past week as we trained rigorously for several hours at the St. Mary’s Square park near San Francisco Chinatown in California. I am personally extremely grateful and appreciate the dedication coming from an authentic Grandmaster offering this type of personalized old Kung Fu tradition of Hou Cheun Sun Sou passing on the art of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen. While we continued to train, I had the fortunate opportunity to have met Richard Ng who was just walking through the park and happens to be an old timer acquaintance of Sifu Gee. Richard Ng had practiced nearly 30+ years in the art of Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu and has known Sifu Gee back in the 1970’s when Sifu Gee first taught in the Chinatown location. Richard Ng ended up sparring with me while we were practicing and even though he was much taller than I with better physique, I was able to utilize the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu Jeet Kiu and Sam Ton Dai Gai on three range interceptions against his Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu. So suddenly I realized the beauty once again of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System of how clear it is that no matter what type of martial arts people learn for extended periods of time, once they utilize outside the box concepts in combat, they violate the true harmony of nature’s Time Space and Energy existence and fall into the category of power, muscle and speed training maneuvering in and out trying to land a lucky punch or strike against me. The advantages we uphold with the unique Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu structure, Sup Ming Dim, Bai Jong, Jeet Kiu and Sam Ton Dai Gai including 3 range execution of Jun Ging and Ton Ging was enough for me to mitigate all incoming blows while kicking him once in the knee knocking him unstable and pushing him back several times with Ng Mui Ying Jong Faat. Richard was a good sport and even though he has trained more than 30+ years ago and has met Sifu Gee back in the 1970‘s, he never had the opportunity to experience Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu in the past. It is his “Fate”, that after he experienced the sparring match today and personally seeing how Sifu Gee trains me privately, he strongly identify the uniqueness of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System and even though he has 30 something years experience under his belt from another Kung Fu Style, he requested to train with Sifu Gee and I every Wednesdays and learn the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System.
Excellent work Sifu Lau for carrying forward the excellence of HFYWCK honorably and respectfully! Sifu Lau is a fine example to follow in showmanship and character.
[SIZE=“2”]Grandmaster Garrett Gee, current lineage holder of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen[/SIZE]
Grandmaster Garrett Gee started training many well known family Kung Fu styles at the age of 5 and is currently one of the very few individual Grandmasters that carry over 40 full Kung Fu forms, styles and systems in depth with an emphasis in our Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System. Sifu Grandmaster Garrett Gee’s also the 33 generational descendant of one of the most important philosophers from the Song dynasty in China history called Zhu Xi. His ancestral bloodline traces directly back to Zhu Xi which according to Life Magazine in a publication to have announced Zhu Xi as one of the 45th most important and influential persons to have existed in the last one thousand years. Spanning from Zhu Xi’s teachings from over 100 written books and publications which have influenced the world‘s cultural developments around the globe. Sifu Gee recalls from his grandfather’s times where his grandfather had 4 bodyguards everywhere he goes, and has lots of money and wealth. Sifu Gee’s father Grandmaster Peter Kim Ho Chu was also a famous and well respected Wu Dang master and instructor with 40 years teaching experience. During the pre-1975’s, before Sifu Gee’s family came to America, Grandmaster Peter Kim Ho Chu was asked by a famous Hong Kong film producer to sign a contract to join the Hong Kong film industry and to film Peter Chu’s Wu Dang Kung Fu style in movies. However, due to deciding to come to the United States, Peter Chu declined the deal. That’s why in Hong Kong film industry you can only see Director Lau Kar Leung’s Hung Kuen and Jackie Chan’s films which influenced the flourish of Kung Fu films to the modern day. Otherwise, we might see more Wu Dang style influence into Hong Kong’s film cinema. This was after Bruce Lee’s death and before Jackie Chan was even famous. After coming to America, we can see the strong friendship ties between the Bruce Lee family and Sifu Garrett Gee’s family. On many occasions, even Bruce Lee’s mother Gracie Lee is a very good friend of Peter Chu. She has always admired Peter Chu’s Wu Tang Kung Fu, she even said when her grandson Brandon Lee grow’s older she’d like Brandon to learn from Sifu Gee’s Father Peter Chu. Every time Gracie Lee comes over from Seattle to visit San Francisco, they would make a special trip to meet with Sifu Gee’s family and Peter Chu.
Not too many personal accounts like this are public knowledge, yet bring some pretty intriguing insights about the closeness of the Lee family to Grandmaster Gee’s family. The rich heritage of Grandmaster Garrett Gee speaks volumes and is reflected in his teachings.
[SIZE=“2”]4th Generation Lineage holder of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Paai, Hung Gun Biu[/SIZE]
We go from very famous family backgrounds and ties to the modern day Grandmaster Garrett Gee, who lives very humbly merging himself into society without the fortune and fame that he could have gotten. To Sifu Gee, that form of thriving for only money and fame has no meaning in itself and is a very low form of spirituality. But rather the highest form of Spirit of a Lineage Holder is to preserve the core essence of such unique kung fu system and pass it on completely to a few genuine and true disciples who will carry on the same missions sworn oath of the legacy that in which we call the “Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System”. Looking back in 1975 when our Grandmaster Sifu Garrett Gee was teaching in the Chinatown Circuit, he had already identified early on what it means to be a Lineage Holder. The highest Spirit that encompasses the requirement and responsibility to not be corrupted by fame and fortune selling out the art to anyone who wishes to purchase it. In Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu we have what we call Hou Cheun Sun Sow, meaning the art must be past through one on one through the word of the mouth and experienced through the daily training of the body karma passed on to someone who is genuine and does not utilize Kung Fu as a “Get-Rich-Scheme” to scam others for profit. As I look around in the martial arts realm of many masters and grandmasters of many different arts or disciplines, the primary objective of such so called grandmasters is for them chasing after money, fame, and produce massive dvd collections of their so called masterpiece or art. I know for a fact that after learning 22 years of collective Wing Chun experience that it is silly for anyone who believes they can learn such sophisticated art such as Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun through a video tape or DVD recording. You must have professional guidance and teachings from an authentic grandmaster.
The full write up on what he has shared can be found here: HFY Sifu Billy Lau (I believe you must be logged into FB and/or be listed as his friend to view his page.)
There are many things he touches upon so I highly recommend it if you are driven by deeper essences of kung fu.
