One of the world's best known martial artists and a leading figure in Australia's Chinese business community, Grandmaster Jim Fung, has died in Sydney. Grandmaster Fung, whose International Wing Chun Academy grew from a backyard shed to Australia's largest martial art school, had been fighting cancer for three years. He was 62.Grandmaster Fung came to Australia in 1959 as a secondary school student, having trained in Wing Chun kung fu for a number of years under Great Grandmaster Tsui Seung Tin in Hong Kong. Master Tsui, a disciple of the legendary Yip Man who took Wing Chun to Hong Kong during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, is the world's leading exponent of the art. Grandmaster Fung, who continued to train with him for more than 47 years, was his number one student.
Grandmaster Fung majored in law and accountancy at Adelaide University and established his Academy in that city in 1973. At the time, local knowledge of Chinese culture was limited; there were no other Wing Chun schools and no formal training materials available on the art. Grandmaster Fung set about implementing his own unique training programme which he refined over the years, making Wing Chun easy to learn for modern day students, whatever their age or gender.
He quickly gained a reputation as an exceptional teacher and his ethics, morals and genuine love and compassion for his fellow man forged strong bonds between himself and his students. This reflected the traditional Chinese master/student relationship which is similar to that of a father and child. The high regard in which he was held is evident in the present membership of his Academy which includes prominent politicians, lawyers, doctors and top sportspeople.
As word spread about his skills, Grandmaster Fung became the subject of countless media articles, television and radio programmes. A major source of fascination was his famous 'One-inch Punch' a technique in which his fist, placed just one inch from his target, could send a person reeling backwards three metres or more. The technique uses Wing Chun's remarkable 'determination force', or chi, which is a method of drawing all available energy from the body to explode on a simple point of impact.
Grandmaster Fung wrote two books, 'Wing Chun' (published in 1981) and 'The Authentic Wing Chun Weapons' (1984) and produced a teaching video, 'Wing Chun' in 1985. His first book remains the official handbook of the Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association, the world's leading body for Wing Chun, and is sold all over the world.
In 1988, Grandmaster Fung was chosen as the sole representative of Australian kung fu to participate in the International Grandmasters Exhibition held in Adelaide during the South Australian bicentennial celebrations. Greater acclaim followed in 1998, when his Academy was listed in the Chinese Government's official 'All China Martial Arts Register', being one of only five martial art schools outside of China to be so recognised.
Known affectionately by his students as 'Sifu Jim', Grandmaster Fung's life ambition was to spread his knowledge of Wing Chun to as many people around the world as possible. To this end, he pioneered full-time education in Australia for martial arts. In 1988, the IWCA became the first martial art school in Australia to deliver full-time courses in Wing Chun. The approval of student visas and AUSTUDY grants for students of these courses opened the door to thousands of people, both local and overseas, who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to study under a master of his outstanding skill.
Using his considerable business and entrepreneurial ability, Grandmaster Fung built up his business to more than 20 branches in three states, including main offices in Sydney, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, and was establishing a network of overseas franchises at the time of his death. The 30th anniversary of his Academy, celebrated in Sydney's Chinatown in 2003, was watched by more than 2,000 people with hundreds outside the venue having to be turned away.
Grandmaster Fung's enthusiasm for Wing Chun never waned. He once said: "The reason I signed up for Wing Chun all those years ago was because it doesn't rely on brute strength. Instead, it takes skill, speed and positioning to overcome your opponent. Wing Chun is a science which mixes physics, maths, logic and biology all into one. Even at my level, I find there is always something new to learn."
His commitment and dedication to Wing Chun was epitomised in the final days of his life when, despite his ill health, he continued to train his senior students with extraordinary enthusiasm despite suffering constant and debilitating pain from his illness.
Grandmaster Fung's family - his wife, Linda, and children, Tristan, Naomi and Daniel - are committed to keeping his legacy alive to honour his life's work. The Academy's ties with his master, Great Grandmaster Tsui, remain as strong as ever and classes will be run as usual under the guidance of the Academy's senior instructors, several of whom have trained faithfully under Grandmaster Fung since the 1970s and 1980s.
A memorial service for Grandmaster Fung will be held in Sydney Town Hall on Saturday, April 14, from 10:30am to 1:00pm (inquiries to IWCA Sydney). All IWCA students and instructors must wear full uniform out of respect to Sifu Jim.
During his illness, Grandmaster Fung was a generous donor to cancer research. Those wishing to contribute to the Sifu Jim Fung Memorial Fund for Cancer Research can do so by contacting the International Wing Chun Academy, 1/F, 355 Sussex Street, Sydney 2000, telephone +612 9264 2712, or make their donation in person at the memorial service.