Bruce Lee and the Master that he couldn't defeat

Reading time: 3 minutes
23/07/2019

Bruce Lee and the Master

Bruce Lee and the Master who taught him Wing Chun and real fighting strategies is not a well known story. Of course everybody knows Bruce. But have you ever heard something about the teacher that started it all?
His name is Wong Shun Leung, a direct Yip Man student and Bruce's teacher. Without a doubt Bruce was really determined about his training and career, but Wong may not be as much secondary to his success as we might have thought.

Grand Master Ip Man & Bruce Lee
Ip Man and Bruce Lee

Wong Shun Leung remembers Bruce

As Wong says in the interview, it seems that Bruce was a real "trouble maker" as a kid.
At the beginning he was very sceptical about this Wing Chun style. But his interest increased since he saw a little man defeat a much more bigger one. Fortunately he had found the best teacher out there - Yip Man himself.
At that time Wong already did really great at Wing Chun, and started to teach the basics to Bruce himself. Bruce come to Yip's school at the age of 16 or maybe 17.
We have to say that Yip accepted new students only by reference from an already internal students. Fortunately a student of Yip knew Bruce and invited him. As Wong says in the interview: they were both rascals and so they played together.

Bruce Lee and the Master that he couldn't defeat

Bruce returns to Hong Kong after beeing in the USA

When Bruce returned from America, he went to Hong Kong and discussed his Jeet Kune Do with Wong. They discussed about it's core concepts and principles for 12 hours. Whenever they didn't agree on something, a practical demonstrations or academic fights occurred in order to test themselves. Subsequently, they sat back down and discussed about it even more.

Bruce Lee and the Master that he couldn't defeat

Wong's Superiority

After everything they passed together, the two remained good friends till the end. When Bruce was in America, they exchanged many letters and, when he came back to Hong Kong, Bruce always wanted to talk for hours with Wong about fight strategy and so on.
Jesse Glover, one of Bruce Lee's best students and also the first, wrote in his article: "When Bruce returned in Hong Kong for the second time, Wong Shun Leung was the only man capable of defeating him".
This sentence can give you an idea about Wong's abilities and skills. It is clear that the Little Dragon referred about Wong and his skills very well.
The last time that Wong and Bruce met, they did some sparring together. After a while, even with the age gap between the two, Bruce stopped and admitted that he wasn't able to do anything to him.

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Ambrose
Bruce lee can't be defeated by wing chun master. Since wing chun is one of incomplete style Bruce lee stated and that's why he created jeet kune do the
Hi Ambrose, this is actually what Bruce Lee declared publicly. As always, it's not about styles but about athletes. As you probably already know since you have red this article, Wong Shun Leung was his master, sparring partner and friend in Wing Chun.
Wing Chin is not incomplete Bruce Lee disnt complete his training. He completed second form and that's it. He didnt complete Biu Jee and he used other arts to fill in the holes. Instead of simply posting an opinion go to a real Wong Sheu Long school and see the difference.

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Sir, As Wong Shun Leung was Ip Man’s disciple and top student and was in charge of training Bruce it stands to reason as to why Bruce couldn’t defeat Leung, a student can never defeat his master remember a master doesn’t teach you everything! For the record Bruce was 13 when started training with Ip Man until he was 18 when he left for America,Bruce had a few teachers he trained with that were never mentioned.

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Alex
I wonder why there are no Wong Chun Leung AAA quality movies at all? I looked really hard, but I could only find Bruce Lee and Yip Man movies? I could not find ONE HOLLYWOOD AAA MOVIE about Wong Chun Leung being the best. Can one of you please point me to the movie about Wong Chun Leung that shows how he beat Bruce Lee and Yip Man, and all the other masters? I would love to see it - I would like to have as many heroes as possible! Unfortunately, its hard to really get into a Sifu's "legendary status" if they are not even recognized as being legendary by Hollywood...

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Yan-Li Che
@Ruben Santiago GM Yip Man had no disciples, he never had tea ceremony with any of his students. Bruce Lee started WC @ the age of 16 approx and studied for about 2 years. He never finish the system. Not sure how far he got. Wong Shun Long es not his master, he was Bruce Lee’s Sihing and yes, he was in charge of his training but he was not Bruce’s master/ instructor or teacher.

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Yan-Li Che
@Jim Leonidas where did you read he finished the second form? I know he did not complete the system, but never really knew how far he got. Cheers!

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Javi
This wong liar nevered went public when bruce was alive this is fake news

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Bob's your mom
@Alex f#&$k Hollywood. They choose to talk about only things that are flashy and exciting. Not everything they choose to make a buck on is worth ones time anyways. The best martial art documentaries and drama come out of Asian production companies anyways. They don't sacrifice acting and plot for CGI like Hollywood does now. For those of you that think one style is better than the other, it doesn't matter. It all comes down to the practitioner who dedicates themselves, experience, as well as understanding of leverage, timing, and posture; let's not forget ones ability to stay cool and collected during engagements and has a strategic mindset. A healthy blend of internal qi cultivating is also needed if you plan to carry on into old age as well.

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Paul Caruana
I was not even aware Bruce Lee existed when he passed away. I was 13 years old then, and not in any way interested in MA. But after I ‘discovered’ Mr Lee, his teachings and philosophy became my way forward in life. This article to me, proves one thing, Wong was Bruce’s senior, therefore Bruce might have had this image of Wong as better than him. Psychologically it might have worked against Bruce. An image in his psych he was never able to remove. Still, I do think that in a real no holds barred thing, Wong would have been in serious trouble.

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Roberto SantAnna
This is bull shit. Bruce Lee respecred the man because his seniority. Just that. Bruce modified WC and mix with Boxing which made him far superior in Real fight comparing with Master Wong.

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Doug Rogers
This is silly! Wong Shun Leung was no disrespect intended no athlete and physically incompetent. Speed is only one attribute of a fighter but Wong was certainly not fast. It is a myth that every student of some famous master must be great too. Bruce Lee no doubt showed Wong and Ip Man respect after he went back to Hong Kong, of course he is not going to beat them up - that would be like beating up your Dad. Wong Shun Leung was a genuine master albeit a physically incompetent one and poor athlete, go look at videos of him such as his instructional one 'The Science Of In Fighting' to see not only is he physically incompetent and obviously not athletic but technically he is very rough round the edges too. There is NO WAY Wong would have stood a chance against Bruce Lee in his prime - a vastly superior athlete, with far greater speed and power and ability to adapt. Bruce knew Wing Chun very well so Wong would have been very predictable to him.

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Marcus Harvey
@Wing Chun Kung Fu EU I'm 51 years old and would be humble and honored to be able to learn from you, maybe than I could finally find my balance from within.

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Chris
@Wing Chun Kung Fu EU Can't find interview or article where he publicly admitted he couldn't do anything to wong shun leung in sparring. Can you point me o where I can find this information? Maybe give me a link?

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Chris
Where did bruce admit he couldn't do anything to WSL. This is the only site saying this.

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Chris
Where did bruce admit he lost.

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Ding Sifu
@Alex https://www.wingchunillustrated.com/videos-on-demand/

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Ding Sifu
@Doug Rogers you really have no idea, do you???

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Chris
@Wing Chun Kung Fu EU where did bruce admit he couldn't do anything to wong shun leung in sparring publicly? Can't seem to find this info. Did he say this in article or tv interview? Could I be sent a link or shown where to find this info?

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@Wing Chun Kung Fu EU Where did Bruce admit publicly he couldnt do anything to wong shun leung in their last sparring session? Was this in an article or a tv interview? I cant seem to find this information. Could you send me a link to this or show me where to find it?

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Where did Bruce Lee publicly admit he couldnt do anything to Wong Shun Leung in their last sparring session? Was it in a tv interview or magasine article? I cant seem to find this information. @ Wing Chun Kung Fu EU could you send me a link or show me where to find this information?

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@Ambrose actually read jesse glovers bio, bruce lee defeated them all at the third time he went to hongkong. Second time he couldnt defeat yes, third time he did so.

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Andre abreu
@Yan-Li Che. Isn t true that Moy At was one of Yp Man s disciples ?

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Chris
Lol sorry for my comment being spammed in to the comments section. When I tried writing it a month ago it didn't show up right away after posting it. So I wrote it again and again. Obviously they take a while to show up and I didn't realise. I thought the site was just broken lol
We have a manual approvement system in order to avoid the spam.

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Paul C.
@Ruben Santiago Bruce was 15...thats documented.

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Paul C.
There were many people that Bruce couldnt defeat. Its not like he fought more than a few non fighters anyway.

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Sumit Kumar Dutt
@Yan-Li Bruce died too early .to learn about Wing Tsun Of zmadame NG Mui. Bruce did some research in all martial arts skills but as he was a born actor and Show man he did what Warner Brothers want of him His movies prove that he was bent in mskin aPopular name in Hollywood and so did his fellow actors Bob wall Chuck Norris Bolo Yeung etc. Do be a martial man and to be ashowman are two entire opposite poles which are parallels but never join.Prove that they ever joined.

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Sumit Kumar Dutt
Bruce was an Actor 95percent 5percent all else

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Glenn Barres
@Jim Leonidas how much grappling is there in Wing Chun? How does Wing Chun handle retreating when circumvention is not an option? How does Wing Chun block a high kick?

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Glenn Barres
@Alex Legacy is what gets people in movies or movies made about them. Ip Man and Bruce Lee were iconic in their own ways, thus earning their status. Just because a master wasn't in a movie or a movie was never made about them, that doesn't mean they weren't legendary. Legacy and Legendary are two different things. And Hollywood is a poor metric of one's status anyways.

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Jeah
Jediný ktorý dokázal Bruce Lee poraziť bol sám Ip O tomto som presvedceny

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David Kirkman
@Alex wing is mentioned in some of the Ip Man movies!

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Larry Lee Luck
Many years ago, predating the internet, I read in an Inside Kung Fu or other magazine, that Bruce would ask fellow practitioners upon reaching Hong Kong, "Think I am as good as Ah Hing now?."

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Zac
@Jim Leonidas bruh wing chun is shit as, ive done it taught for many years got to a higher level then Bruce Lee completed all the forms besides the dragon pole, I dedicated my life to it for 10 years i was one of the best students to be trained in my academy which is preety much the same lineage as these FAKE FIGHTERS. Its horrible its a waste of time its not a elite martial art not even close. I'd put money on a amateur boxer with a couples years experience to beat 90% of Wing Chun Instructors in the world there all shit and they lie to make money

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Kambira joseph
Bruce was a man of his word,he was very engger that he can't be defeated coz what I hard that he even challenged his master.But help me to know who is this master Wong?Coz in Bruce lee's legancy this is my first time to read about this master

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jkb zee
Years ago I met sg Wong a few times. When I asked him about what kind of man he (BL) was , he called him an ass hole. Remember the well known Hong Kong roof fights were mostly done and won by Wong.

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Vasca
I hope they can remaster all of his training films before they are gone forever.

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