Joseph Cheng taught Kung Fu.
He came to the UK from China in the early Seventies when the Kung Fu craze kicked off. He had studied under Grand Master Lee Shing, who himself had studied under Wing Chun founder Ip Man. Bruce Lee was also a student of Ip Man.
I had the great honour of being taught by Joseph Cheng at our local Wing Chun club in Preston, where I was a young member. I would have been age 13. He had been invited along by club instructor John Darwen. I recall the Saturday morning sessions being totally exhilarating whilst they lasted because Jo Cheng was a Kung Fu Sifu or master.teacher from China. To me he seemed like Bruce Lee himself!
He had a club in London too, Chong Woo Kwan, i think. I have no idea if he is still alive.
Whilst in the UK back then Sifu Cheng did at least two things to promote Wing Chun Kung Fu to a wider audience. He featured alongside John Darwin in a lengthy article in the popular magazine Karate and Oriental Arts. he even featured on the cover:
He also appeared on the superb kids' TV facts show, HOW! with the Fred Dineage and co, where he spectacularly bent a shaolin spear using just his adam's apple! I haven't been able to find any reference to this online but here are the brilliant HOW team to jog your memory!
Sifu Cheng also wrote a book, which was and is still well respected in the world of Kung Fu and Wing Chun. I remember it being advertised in Karate and Oriental Arts magazine when I was a youngster.
It took me forty three years to actually add a copy to my book collection this year, which brought me right back full circle to those glorious high kicking days of my early youth!
That's the end of my Kung Fu nostalgia week. Hope you enjoyed some if not all of it.
Hi-Ya!
