Wong Gong 黄江 was born in Jiāngmén in 1928. From a very young age he studied Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛, first with his father and later with Grandmaster Chan Choeng-Mou 陳長毛, of whom he was a prominent student already from a very early age.
However, Chan Choeng-Mou was already very old at the time, and asked an old colleague of his, Grand Master Chan Yen 陳恩, who was then in charge of the original school founded by Chan Heung 陳享 in King Mui 京梅, to help him with Wong Gong's training. Thus, Wong Gong continued his apprenticeship with Chan Yen and became, at the age of 19, an instructor, teaching at two schools in neighboring villages to King Mui.
Chan Yen
Grand Master Chan Yen
Chan Yen (1918-1993) had studied Kung Fu with his father Chan Kau 陳裘, who was a pupil of Chan Heung. Chan Kau was in charge of the school founded by Chan Heung in King Mui and his son helped him in teaching, until Chan Kau retired and Chan Yen succeeded him.
As a child, he was naughty and he liked to provoke his companions to fight and test his skills. This attitude lasted until maturity, so it was known as Lou Wan Tung 老頑童, "Old Naughty Boy". It is said that Chan Yen was a man of great strength, hard skin like leather and possessed a great capacity for resistance to pain.
With the establishment of the communist regime in China in the year 1949, Wong Gong moved to Hong Kong, where he was working as a sailor for many years in order to survive, until he was established as an acupuncturist and traditional physician. There he has continued to teach Choy Li Fut until today, when with 90 years of age still maintains the vigour that characterized him in his youth. In 2006, Chiu Kam Wing 赵锦荣, the adopted son and successor of Chan Choeng-Mou, gave up his title as Guardian of the Hung Sing 雄勝 School of Jiāngmén to master Wong Gong for his great work in teaching the system.
Wong Gong is also an expert in Lion Dance. His son Wong Tat Wah and the pupil of his Wong Yu Fan 黄宇帆 keep alive the Jiāngmén branch of Choy Li Fut in Hong Kong to this day.
Sources:
-Plum Blossom International Federation