Grand Master Garrett Gee (Jyu Ging Hung)
Grand Master Garrett Gee (Jyu Ging Hung) is the Grand Master and inheritor of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu System. He is the eighth generation successor of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen system from the Southern Shaolin Temple, and through the Ving Tsun Museum he brought it to public awareness in the year 2000. He has a distinguished heritage in both the martial arts and intellectual communities. Grandmaster Chu Kim Ho, his father, was a much respected Wu Dong instructor with more than 40 years of teaching experience and whose lineage dates back to one of the Five Northern Tigers, Fu Zheung Sung, during the 1920's in China. Fu Zheung Sung's famous Kung Fu system was Wu Dong Kung Fu and contained Fu Style Tai Chi, Leung-Yi Keun, Sei Cheung Kuen, Lightning Palm Kuen, and Dragon Style Baqua.
The martial arts career of Garrett Gee began at the age of five under the tutelage of his father, Grandmaster Chu Kim Ho (Peter Chu). He was required to master the various styles of Kung Fu that were in his family heritage, including empty hand, weapons, and both hard and soft styles. He also developed an affinity for swordsmanship and is an accomplished practitioner and instructor of traditional Kung Fu weapons. He and his brothers are the sole inheritors of Grandmaster Chu Kim Ho's accumulated knowledge.
Grand Master Gee has a renowned family linage for intellectual leadership, statesmanship, and excellence in martial arts and military matters that can be traced back for thirty three generations to his direct ancestor Zhu Xi who was one of the most prominent philosophers in all of Chinese history. It was Zhu Xi who played a pivotal role in the revival of Confucianism through the establishment of advanced academic institutions, active public correspondence with fellow scholars, publication of nearly 100 books, and the instruction of personal disciples who achieved broad public acceptance for their endeavors. In addition to his enlightening commentaries on Confucianism, expositions on logical thought, and scientific rationale he influenced Chinese philosophical development for generations. In 1251 an Imperial decree designated several of his published commentaries as required reading for all government students.
Grand Master Gee's grandfather, Chu Jun-Bak was a renowned military leader who served as an instructor at Wong Bo Military School and shared responsibility with Chiang Kai Shek in the early 1920's. The Wong Bo Military School was the foremost military school in China, and the equivalent of West Point in the United States of America. Chu Jun-Bak later moved to Fatshan whereupon he became chief of police and then Mayor.
Dr. Wang Ming sought out Garrett Gee to become his student based upon his family heritage and also because he was detached from the secret societies. He recognized that inherent in the young Garrett Gee, at age 13, was the attitude, mental capacity, and the ability to excel that was necessary for the development of a true martial artist. It was during the summer of his 13th year that he had met Dr. Wang Ming, and by his 14th year he began his discipleship training, after which, he studied with Dr. Wang Ming eight months of the year. He would spend two months in China and six months in Hong Kong.
In 1970 Garrett Gee became the 8th Generation Grand Master of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun. He was a "Closed Door" disciple of Dr. Wang Ming, and as providence would have it he would become the inheritor of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun system. Prior to his immigration to the U.S. in 1975 Dr. Wang Ming gave him specific instructions to perpetuate the system. Grand Master Gee has over twenty eight years of teaching experience starting in 1975. In the late 1990's he established a core Wing Chun Group, and it was with this group that Master Benny Meng began his study of the system. After a period of time Sifu Benny Meng became his first indoor disciple. Today, many well-known and accomplished martial art Masters and Instructors are Grand Master Gee's students.
Grand Master Gee has taught Kung Fu in the San Francisco Bay area at five different locations. He began on Clay St. and then moved to Market St. later he taught on Mission St. and then South San Francisco, and is currently teaching at the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen Headquarters in Daly City at 219 Monterey Blvd. He has also taught Kung Fu at Golden Gate University for two semesters, and currently he is conducting seminars on Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen at his affiliate schools and clubs locally, nationally, and internationally.
Grand Master Gee is truly one of China's living treasures and is the last of the original trees standing in the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen forest.
Master Benny Meng (Maang Hing Fung)
Master Benny Meng (Maang Hing Fung) is a Master in the art of Shaolin Wing Chun Kung Fu. He is a 73rd generation descendent of one of China's greatest philosophers, Mencius, who was a direct successor to Confucius. He is an author and in 1996 he wrote his first book the" voice of Ving Tsun Kung Fu Systems". In September of 2001 the magazine Kung Fu Qigong recognized his efforts by featuring him on its cover, and presenting his article "Wing Chun's Secret History". In 2003 He co-authored our book "Mastering Kung Fu", which details the techniques and training methodologies of Wing Chun Kung Fu.
He started his martial arts training at the age of 10 in Hong Kong (Judo), and broadened his skills and knowledge with Tae Kwon Do training under Grand Master Y.C. Kim (9th Dan, WTF) in the United States. Additional Tae Kwon Do training included Grand Master K. J. Park, former Head Judge at the Kuk Ki Won, which is the International Headquarters for Tae Kwon Do. In 1981, He embarked on an extended study of martial arts that took him back to Hong Kong (Tai Chi Mantis & Ving Tsun) Mainland China (Shaolin Temple and Sichuan Sports University), Korea (Tae Kwon Do with the Korean National Team) and Taiwan (Shaolin, Chi Kung).
He began his Wing Chun Kung Fu training in Hong Kong in 1982 under the movie star Lee Hoi Sang, a student of Jiu Wan, who studied under Chan Yiu Min, who was the son of Chan Wah Shun, the first teacher of Ip Man, who taught Bruce Lee. He continued his training under Grand Master Moy Yat in New York City, and began teaching Wing Chun in 1987.
The Ving Tsun Athletic Association, and the Moy Yat International Ving Tsun Federation have certified him as a Senior Instructor (7th Degree Black Sash). Additionally, the Chi Sim Weng Chun International Federation and the Hung Fa Kwoon Federation recognize him as an instructor. He holds the rank of 5th Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is certified by the Krav Maga International as an instructor. His schools are affiliated with the Fatsaan Jing Mo (China), the Wushu and Kuoshu Kung Fu Federations (USA).
Master Benny Meng performed his Baai Si April 15, 2000, and was accepted as the 1st Disciple of the 9th Generation in the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen lineage by the system's inheritor and Grand Master Garrett Gee.
He founded and built the Ving Tsun Museum in Dayton, Ohio which is dedicated to the research, origins, and history of Wing Chun. Under Master Meng's leadership the Wing Chun organization has grown to over 10 schools located in North and South America.
Sifu John Lambert
Sifu John Lambert is the Senior Instructor at Meng's Martial Arts of Cincinnati. He performed his Baai Si under Sifu Meng on November 16, 2003, becoming the 8th member of the 10th Generation Disciples in the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen lineage under Master Meng, granted and accepted by the systems inheritor Grand Master Garrett Gee.
He began his journey in martial arts in 1956 as a student of Sensei Eugene Fields in Judo. It was Sensei Fields who planted the seed of awareness, humility, and the love of the martial arts in his student. Later in life he would find that Tae Kwon Do had its place in his life and would study under Grand Master Kyung Won Ahn and then Master William Scott Sr. He then would embark on a trek into Chinese martial arts with Sifu Kenneth Ware and Sifu Martin Ware that would introduce him to the Northern Chinese arts.
On October 16, 2000, due to a chance of fate, he found the Ving Tsun Museum and Ving Tsun Kung Fu. He subsequently met his Sifu, Master Benny Meng, and began his study in the Ip Man Kung Fu System, a Southern Chinese Wing Chun martial art. In November of 2000 he had his first contact with Grand Master Garrett Gee, and was so impacted by him that he requested permission from Sifu Meng to be trained in this art. In January 2001 he began his study in the Martial Art of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen with his Sifu, Master Benny Meng, this would later lead him to become a Disciple under Grand Master Garrett Gee. In Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu he has found the martial art that is the correct "fit" for his Body, Mind, and Spirit.
He continues his studies as a lifelong commitment to the promotion and preservation of the martial arts. As a Hung Fa Yi Disciple and Black Sash he has accepted the responsibility to impact the Body, Mind, and Spirit of his students. He teaches them in the same "Hou Chuen Saan Sau" manner that has been handed down for generations. The physical training prepares the body for combat by learning the forms and techniques that are expressed through body karma. The instruction in the History, Chan (Zen) philosophy, and the three dimensional approach to combat prepares the mind and establishes the students identity. The Body and Mind experience invigorates the Spirit (the energy of the being) of the student. The total experience is the "Kung Fu Life".
