Chun Gwan Ling

Born in Li Wan Qu district of Guangzhou 1957, Chun Gwan Ling (Chen Jun Ling in mandarin) spent his youth growing up in various districts of the capital City of Guangdong province in the south of China. in 1970 Chun Gwan Ling heard about a style of martial arts that was being taught behind closed doors to limited number of people in Guangzhou. This style that interested him went by the name of Wing Chun. During this time in the south of China it was illegal to practice and/or teach Wing Chun kung fu. The local police would harass and sometimes even arrest Wing Chun practitioners. Wing Chun was banned because the Wing Chun taught in Guangzhou comes though an imperial martial of the Qing dynasty named Fong Siu Ching which has techniques that can anti the police forces martial arts, including techniques that can be used while handcuffed. For this reason, up until recently Wing Chun in China has always been taught away from public view behind closed doors. This has kept the art close to its original form and maintained the traditional training techniques and theory's stemming back from it's beginnings. Despite the fact that Wing Chun was illegal, through the Chinese concept of Guangxi Chun Gwan Ling was able to find a teacher and learn this art. Ever since then Chun Gwan Ling has spent his entire life devoted to the art of Wing Chun

Throughout Chun Gwan Ling's 30 plus years in Wing Chun he has studied under no less than 5 Famous masters of Guangzhou based Wing Chun. While training Chun Gwan Ling would train with a Master at least 3 times a week every week and on top of that, he would train every day for well over 2 hours. This daily training has gone on for all of his life, and is something that he still keep's up to this very day.

Chun Gwan Ling is a well known and well respected man in the martial arts community in Guangzhou and further afar in China for his down to earth attitude and skill in Wing Chun. On meeting him, he comes across as a very warm, friendly, caring and quiet man, who spends his free time on the subjects of interest to him such as politics, Law, and English as well as writing articles for both the Wulin and Jing Wu martial arts magazines. It's not until you see him move that you can tell that he is a master of Wing Chun kung fu. Despite this lack of a hard man look and the mouth that comes with a lot of martial artists during his training Chun Gwan Ling had to test his Wing Chun skills for real in the illegal fights that went on between different styles of kung fu in Guangzhou. He has also had to use his Wing Chun for real on many occasions on the streets of Guangzhou, including against armed attackers.

Sources:

  • AWKCRI
  • Yu Yi Wing Chun Website