Does anyone have any information about or know where information can be found on Yip Bo Ching? There doesn’t seem to be much info on him, and im kinda curious…
Thanks
Jesse
Far as I understand, he was an early student of Yip Man who joined sometime similar to Tsui Sheung-Tin (he was one of the ones there when Wong Shun-Leung showed up). I believe he was an osteopath, or had some osteopathic training. He was one of the first, if not the first, to pay for private lessons from Yip Man to learn the dummy and weapons.
He was supposed to have been a good applicant. He passed away a long time ago.
Rgds,
RR
The late Yip Bo Ching was the real McCoy.
Yip Bo Ching
The following information was collected from interviews with Wong Shun Leung (deceased), Choy Shung Tin, Wong Chock (deceased), Robert Yeung, Yuen Yim Keung, and Yip Bo Ching’s nephew Wong Ping Kwan.
Yip Bo Ching was a well to do businessman with a decent education. He made much of his wealth in the construction industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Yip Bo Ching was among the first group of Hong Kong students under Yip Man. Yip Bo Ching had many advantages - money, connections, a strong martial arts mind, and was a physically big and strong man. Most important, Yip Bo Ching admired the useful combative mechanics found within the Wing Chun Gung-fu system. He became Yip Man’s favored student…some would say “most favored” student. Yip Bo Ching’s had the means to pay for long term private lessons. He often sent his car (or drove himself) to transport Yip Man to and from the many private practice sessions lasting a handful of years.
It was Yip Bo Ching who rough up the young (non-WC) Wong Shun Leung. In 1997, master Wong Shun Leung recounted that “Although I do not believe that I lost that fight, I do believe most people there would say that he (Yip Bo Ching) won.” Wong himself soon joined the group and became Yip Man’s most famous fighter and longest follower.
Yip Bo Ching was reputed to be the first to learn all three open hand sets, the Dummy, and the Kwan. He was also one of only two people to learn the twelve section version of Yip Man’s “Eight Chop Broadswords” and was among the selected few allowed to copy the three Dr. Leung Jon medicine books held by Yip Man. There is some belief that Yip Bo Ching was well on his way to become Yip Man’s most cherished protege.
Fate, however, would not be kind to Yip Bo Ching and he contracted what was believed to be hepatitis and quickly died while still in his early 30’s (his true age is unknown). Today is name is faded and few of the old timers remember much of the man who might well have been the keeper of Yip Man’s WC art.
John D.
Thanks much for your great input. Your interview based story
coincides with my impression of Yip Bo Ching and the learning of the knives. Thats why I said that Yip Bo Ching IMO was the real McCoy.
John D
Did Yip Bo Ching have any students or did his knowledge die with him?
RE: Yip Bo Ching
He helped Wong Shun Leung get started and also taught some to Fung Hon and Stephen Law and possibly showed things to members of his own family..
Your the man John 
You are like a Wing Chun encyclopedia, and I mean that in a good way. While we are on this history lesson, do you have any information on Au Chi Keung? Lam Sifu has told me many times that he learned from both Au and Yeung at the same time when they had a joint teaching situation going on until they split up. There isnt much of any info on him on the net. Any info would really be appreciated…
Thanks :)
Jesse
yuanfen
for some dude in A-zone, you sure know alot about sifus in Toronto! I’m impressed.
Steve learned from Wong and from Stewart. I never heard Stewart mention Yip Bo Ching before…I’ll be sure to ask him next time I see him as he was also a closed door disciple of Yip Man…
Steve Law doesn’t keep in contact anymore but I have seen him and his brother around at restaurants and stuff I know he’s still teaching in TO
Would you happen to know anything about his current activities?
empty cup
Stephen Law might have some pics of Yip man from his Yip Bo Ching days!!
fen,
In the Ving Tsun lineage book (the black one), Steve is listed as the only student of Yip Bo Ching! How did he learn from him?
Maybe I should seek Steve out for instruction as he learned from three great sifus. If Yip was privy to the inner secrets of the system, and he was his sole student, he would have valuable knowledge 
Wong’s name speaks for itself from his beimo expertise, and Stewart is also very knowledgeable b/c of his access to Yip Man…
Yip Bo Ching and Wong Shun Leung are both gone so in order to learn their respective teaching, one must turn to their students!
But I heard Steve has some tough bada$$ed students! Hmmm…maybe WH learns from him? 
Yip Bo Ching vs. Wong Shun Leung
WSL’s chinese website (don’t remember the link) recounts the story of how he joined the Wing Chun school, and follows much of what John D wrote here. Basically, it seems that Yip Bo Ching and WSL beat each other to bloody pulps, with Yip using his longer reach and bigger size, and WSL using his boxing. The story makes it sound as if no true victor emmerged.
should’ve asked wong when he was here…oh well…
since he was strictly a boxer then and Yip was supposedly a good fighter, it would have been nice to get the beimo champ’s retrospective view on wing chun’s use during the “fight” against his boxing