Master Leo Au Yeung (Leo Au Yeung) - famous British expert and teacher Wing Chun. Several years ago, after the invitation of producers, he, together with the legendary Sammo Hungg и Donnie Yen, was involved in the choreography of fights in the film about the greatest master Wing Chun Ip Man. The most famous student Ip Man was a fighter and actor Bruce Lee, who studied under him from 1954 to 1957, and, years after his untimely death Bruce Lee, Wing Chun began to stand out noticeably against the background of other Chinese styles kung Fu. Not so long ago Yeung worked on a prequel "Ip Man" called “The Birth of a Legend: Ip Man”, which was released in June of this year.
The master and I Yeng sat down to discuss Chinese kung Fu, "Ip Man" and collaboration with legends of the genre.
Who was your inspiration as a child?
Leo Au Yeung: When I was a child, the ones that impressed me the most were Donnie Yen и Jackie Chan. When I grew up a little, my next inspiration was Bruce Lee, since he was primarily a fighter and actor, rather than just a movie star.
How did you start practicing martial arts?
Leo Au Yeung: I have been interested in martial arts since I was 4 years old, but I didn't know which style to start with. I was confused and didn't know what to do until I met my uncle, who had been studying Wing Chun. I expressed my interest and he introduced me to Wing Chun, advising that I study with a great master Ip Chun, since he was one of the most famous masters in Hong Kong. So I started training.
How did you get involved in the “Ip Man” project?
Leo Au Yeung: One of the film's investors "Ip Man" - admirer Wing Chun. Besides, he is a good friend of the master Samuel Kwok. He decided to make a film to show the whole world the “real” Wing Chun. For this reason, several years ago he began asking around if there were people somewhere who could create fight choreography for "Ip Man". He was looking for a person who was well versed in Wing Chun, able to present this art in a more traditional way. Master Kwok immediately thought that I was the best candidate for this job, since he did not doubt my knowledge Wing Chun. He believed that I was capable of presenting his vision of the film's choreography. On the other hand, except Wing Chun, I'm proficient in a lot of other martial arts styles, and this really helped to compare on screen Wing Chun with other styles.
Tell us about your participation in the project.
Leo Au Yeung: I stayed in China for about two months and was responsible for training the actors and stuntmen in the style Wing Chun. In the film, they had to fight like experienced fighters. I was only given three weeks to train them, and at first it seemed impossible, but fortunately, most of them had been practicing martial arts for over ten years, so they picked it up very quickly. At the end of the intensive training course, they managed to achieve a decent level. After that, I devoted all the remaining time to what I agreed with Sammo Hungg choreography for numerous fights. For us, the most difficult task was how to make it so that Wing Chun looked good on screen as most of the moves in this style are minimalistic and complex. Sometimes we had to exaggerate the movements a little to make them look better on screen. Of course, we should not forget to focus on Wing Chun. We ended up spending over seven days coming up with the choreography for the three-minute fight.
How was it working with such legends as Sammo Hungg and Donnie Yen?
Leo Au Yeung: My acquaintance with Donnie Yen It was short-lived, but he impressed me by being a passionate martial arts fan and a very professional action actor. Sammo – a very calm person with a great sense of humor. For us it was like "big Brother", he constantly looked after his team members. For example, he bought us hot breakfasts every morning to keep us warm. Sometimes he would ask his wife to cook something in the evening and bring us food the next day. Moreover, he was always one of the first to arrive on the set, thus setting a good example for the rest of the team. I truly respect him and it is a pleasure to work with him.
What do you think of his production and directing skills?
Leo Au Yeung: In terms of how Sammo capable of handling the camera and choreography, I don't think anyone can doubt that he is one of the greatest directors of our time. However, the most difficult task is creating specific and unique choreography. As you know, nowadays audiences have already seen a lot of things, so it is very difficult to create something that no one has seen before.
How did Ip Man influence Chinese martial arts?
Leo Au Yeung: First of all, Yip Man was a great master Wing Chun because, being short in stature, as can be seen from the photographs, he could still defeat an opponent larger than himself. In this regard, he was really able to pay attention to the Chinese kung Fu. You don't have to be big to be a good fighter. The most important thing is to know how to use your body effectively.
Secondly, he was the first person to introduce the style to Hong Kong Wing Chun, and over the past 30 years Wing Chun has become one of the most popular types of martial arts. Many people around the world do what I did Yip Man – practice Wing Chun. He was also a teacher Bruce Lee and I guess everyone knows how much Bruce Lee influenced Chinese martial arts, many people began to study Chinese kung Fu из-за Bruce Lee.
What's your favorite martial arts movie?
Leo Au Yeung: There are actually quite a few, but if you asked me, I would say that this is a film Liu Chia-Liang called “36 steps of Shaolin” (The 36th chamber of shaolin), “My young auntie” (My Young Auntie) “Kung Fu of the Mad Monkey” (Mad Monkey Kung Fu), etc. Among the latter, of course, "Ip Man".
[Who's cooler] Jackie or Jet?
Leo Au Yeung: In my opinion, they are both good action actors, but I have never seen them fight in real life, so I don't know how good they are or who is better than them.
Which fight do you consider to be the best of those you have seen?
Leo Au Yeung: In this case, I would like to mention the fights in “Ip Man” - the fight between Donny and a dozen Japanese.
If it weren't for martial arts, what would you do?
Leo Au Yeung: I have no idea. Without martial arts, I would be a completely different person. Maybe I would have been like everyone else, sitting at home and playing on Xbox, etc.
You have your own martial arts school in London. Tell us more about this...
Leo Au Yeung: Our school's goal is to teach people first-class traditional kung fu. I teach kung Fu only a small group of people because for me the most important thing is quality, not quantity. Especially in Wing Chun. For me, half an inch is the difference between life and death. I concentrate on every small detail, even if one finger is out of place, it will be a mistake for me. I always tell my students that the number of years in training doesn't matter, it doesn't mean anything. The most important thing is the correct training. I don't earn my living from this. This means that I run the school, not like any business or enterprise. My main priority is educating my students, not increasing the number of schools.
The main thing in Wing Chun it is the correct body structure and hand position. A student can be negatively impacted by even a one-inch error in stance. In large classes, you have no way to notice or correct this, and over time, it becomes a bad habit for students. This disadvantage becomes obvious when it comes to close combat (Chi Sau), and the enemy is given more chances to strike. It's a shame, but sometimes, in close combat with some experts Wing ChunHaving trained for years, you notice that they have not properly learned the basic skills of style.
Author: Phil Hobden
Source: fareastfilms.com
Translation: EvilDollaR
Home » Articles »
Tags: Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Yip Man, Ip Chun, Leo Au Yeung, Sammo Hungg
Tags: Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Yip Man, Ip Chun, Leo Au Yeung, Sammo Hungg
3 part:
youtu.be/7nLBqmahkf0
Part two:
youtu.be/4L2hS9xbaWQ
The first part of the documentary The Spirit of Kung Fu with Leo:
youtu.be/wrE8uEw9JVk
So that's who the off-screen choreographer was! ) Now we know)
Yeah, the guy remained in the shadows. )
As far as I know, Bruce Lee always refuted different styles of Kung Fu. It is unclear why the article says that it was because of Bruce that everyone rushed to study Kung Fu.
I should have studied Jeet Kune Do =))
Thank you for the article! As someone who has practiced Wing Chun for some time, I always follow with interest everything related to this style. :)