Sifu Francis Fong

Interview conducted by Tracey Mannon

 
How old were you when you got involved in martial arts?

When I was 12 years old, I got involved in both Judo and Tae Kwon Do in two separate academies.  The YMCA in Hong Kong offered Judo classes, and I also joined a Tae Kwon Do (TKD) school.  I had a friend that trained Judo with me, and I joined the TKD academy with another friend named Jason Lau.  The TKD school was close to my house at the time.

What attracted you to those systems?

I thought that the military style training and the discipline were impressive at the TKD school; it was very professional.  I liked the throwing in the Judo system, and I liked the TKD system for kicking.  Both martial art systems were very popular at the time, especially with the high school crowd.

How long did you study those arts?

I studied both Judo and TKD for 3 years.   At that time, Jason Lau left the TKD school and he brought me to his Wing Chun classes.  He introduced me to Sifu Jiu Wan’s school in Hong Kong.  It was a closed school; you had to know a student there in order to be accepted as a member.  I joined right away and began training there.

What did you like about Wing Chun?

Wing Chun was great for the economy of motion, speed, sen-sitivity, and practicality.  It was very effective for street-fighting and it helped me to become more confident.

How often did you train?

We trained usually from 7pm - 10pm each evening, 4 or 5 times a week.  In addition, we would practice on our own or with each other every chance we would get.  We would do chi sao at the bus stop, and train at the high school.  We would get a group of friends together and train on the side, too. 

What did you study at school?

I went to a English Catholic School called St. Francis.  We studied Chinese literature, English, arithmetic and science. 

Did you see a lot of violence growing up in Hong Kong?

Yes, there was a lot of violence and gang activity in Hong Kong.  I saw people fighting all the time.

How many brothers and sisters did you have?

Six brothers and four sisters. So including me, my family had 11 children.

That’s a lot of children in one family!  What did your father do for a living?

My father was a fashion designer in the fur coat business.  We were raised in an upper-middle class family.

Did you get along with all of your brothers and sisters?

Um… some of them.  We had a big family, so we would have fights.  I didn’t stay home that much anyway.  I joined boy scouts, played soccer, I played saxophone in the marching band and orchestra, and then I played rock and roll music in a band.  Saxophones were really expensive, so I joined the school band in order to play a saxophone that belonged to the school.  I would take the saxophone home to practice, and that way I was able to use it to play with my own band.

What instruments did you play?

Drums, rhythm guitar and saxophone.

Did you ever have to use your martial arts for real?

Oh yeah, in Hong Kong I had to use it to survive.

What was it like living in Hong Kong?

It was a lot of fun.  There was a lot of excitement, it was al-ways busy and there was always something going on.  But there was a lot of pressure and competition was tough.  There was only 1 university at the time, Hong Kong University, and you had to really get good grades in order to get in.  There was a lot of pressure for high school students.  Most of the students would end up going overseas for college.

Where did you go to college?

I left Hong Kong in 1972 and went to college in Canada, to Queens University in Kingston, for my first year.  I majored in Science.

What made you decide to go there?

There was nothing in Hong Kong for me after I graduated.  I either was going to work for my father or leave and make my way on my own.  I decided to leave.  When I told my father, he said that he didn’t have any money to give to me for school because our family was so large.  I told him just to get me a ticket, and I would take care of myself.  He bought me a 2-way ticket (because if I didn’t make it, I would be able to come back.  I refunded the return flight portion of the ticket to get some money.  I didn’t realize how hard it would be; I couldn’t get a job because all I had was a student visa.  So I taught some Wing Chun to some people to make money on the side.

Did you travel with any friends to Canada?

I traveled with one friend, the only person I knew at that time.   

So how did you survive?

I still had some money left that I had saved, enough for me to get by for about a year.  So I went to school for almost a year.  Then I went to New York to find a summer job in order to make more money and pay back what I owed to the school.  But I never went back.

How many years had you trained in Wing Chun at that point?

I trained in Wing Chun for about 7 years.  We didn’t have a belt system at the school, it was not a formal class and there was no ranking in Hong Kong.  We trained ourselves; most of the time we would come in and train with the SiHings (senior students).  It was mostly the senior students teaching, and then we would also practice in our own group. 

Where did you train once you were in New York?

I continued practicing in New York, and I got a job in Connecticut.  Every chance I got, I would go to Jason Lau’s school in New York to keep training.  Jason had a school in Manhattan and eventually he moved to Brooklyn. 

What brought you to Atlanta?

I came to see my classmate in Atlanta.  I visited him and stayed for a few weeks and realized that it was a lot nicer here in the South, so I planned to settle down here.  I wanted to stay away from New York because it was too much trouble.

Where did you teach?

In 1975, the Chinese American Institute asked me to teach Kung Fu on North Avenue in Atlanta.  I had a few students that asked me to open a school, and so I did in 1976.  My first school was on Buford Highway.  After 2 or 3 years, then I moved to Piedmont Avenue, to a tiny place on the second floor.  It was 850 square feet.  At that time, that was when Sifu Dan came to do Sharky’s Machine.  I met Sifu Dan in 1980.  In 1982, I moved my school to a warehouse close to Monroe Drive.  Also I was teaching for Emory University for a few years -- their P.E. program.  Around 1984 I moved the Academy to the Duluth area and we were there for 10 years.   We moved to Norcross in 2005.

What other martial arts did you study?

I got involved in a lot of different martial arts.  I studied Wushu with my cousin’s husband once I moved to the United States.  I also studied Kali/Escrima and JKD Concepts (Sifu Dan Inosanto), Thai Boxing (Ajarn Chai Sirisute), Boxe Francaise Savate (Salem Assli), BJJ (the Machado brothers), and Tai Chi (Sifu Tsao).

Was Wing Chun always your favorite?

Yes, because the body mechanics help me to understand a lot of different arts.   It is my root.   It also especially helps me when I am practicing the healing arts.

Can you tell us about the time that you trained the Fort Benning Army Rangers?

In 1989, MSG Max Mullen asked me to train the Ranger Training Battalion in Wing Chun, Kali, and Muay Thai, in order to update them in techniques for hand-to-hand combat.  I also helped to develop the army combative manual.

Did you prefer the traditional feel of your Wing Chun school?

I think that tradition has value but sometimes they are very close minded.   It is good for respect and values.

How did you respect your Sifu in Hong Kong?

We always respected him like a father.  We would appreciate everything that he did and treated him like a father.  We al-ways would get him birthday gifts and do things like that to show our appreciation.  It was a small group so it felt like a family. 

Do you try to keep that family feel in our Academy?

Yes, I try to keep the family atmosphere and maintain the values, integrity and loyalty.  It is very important to me that all of the students at my Academy are considerate, and that the Academy always maintains professionalism.  Family and business cannot be mixed. 

I think that there are 3 things that you must have in your life to succeed: 1) You have to love what you do, 2) You have to care about what you are doing, and 3) You have to have com-passion for yourself and for others.  All we have in our life are memories; that’s it. 

What inspired you to create the Wing Chun Association? 

I created the Wing Chun Association of the U.S.A. to get people together and promote the art of Wing Chun.  I also want to emphasize the benefits of cross-training, and how Wing Chun can be incorporated into other martial art systems.

Wing Chun is the foundation and tool to help you to discover your own potential.  Learning Wing Chun helps you to realize body mechanics and structure; then you can adapt into different martial arts.  The concepts of Wing Chun help you to relate to other martial arts and, as a result, help to improve your abilities in Wing Chun.  As with all martial arts, Wing Chun is all about self-development.

Is Wing Chun for everyone?

It depends on the individual person.  Some people like it; others prefer to focus on other arts.  It doesn’t have anything to do with the size of the person, but it has to do with their mindset (if that’s what they want).  Some people really have potential, but even if they are not outwardly talented, it doesn’t mean that they cannot master themselves.  Wing Chun should be used as a tool, not just a style.  If you don’t open your mind, you cannot learn.  The most important thing is what you really want, and how you establish what you are looking for.  In order for you to succeed at anything in life, you have to have three things: love, compassion, and caring. 

What advice would you like to give to your WCA Instructors?

Keep an open mind. Never stop learning.  Do the best that you can.  Help one another.  Give to people, and it will come back to you.

What would you say to someone who is interested in Wing Chun but thinks that they are too old to begin learning?

I would give encouragement to this person.  It is never too late to begin – how can it be too late?  Age doesn’t matter.  What does matter is what you think.  It doesn’t matter what other people say.  It matters how you feel.  There are no excuses.  Today, a lot of people are going back to college later in life.  Some people are in their 60’s, and they are studying for the first time in many years.  Don’t let your dream die with an excuse.  You can do whatever you set your mind to.  If you want something badly enough, and you put your heart into it, you can achieve it.

At what age is it appropriate to begin Wing Chun training?

Between 12 and 15 years old is an ideal age to start – depending on the maturity level of the student.  Wing Chun is not easy because you need a lot of patience, even as an adult.

What do you focus on teaching the beginning student?

It is important to focus on foundation and basics… form, drill and application.  Form is structure and sequence.  Drilling provides repetition of technique.  Application is understanding when to execute the technique.  I start by teaching the student Sil Nim Tau.  If you don’t get the basics down, then you can’t go any further. It’s just like learning English… first you learn letters and syllables.  In Wing Chun, learn the basics – learn proper position and understand structure.  You cannot just do it, you have to understand it. 

What type of student excels at Wing Chun?

Some students excel faster than others because they are talented.  Others do better because they put more time into it, and they are passionate about what they are doing.  They are excited about practicing the art; they have positive energy, determination and a good attitude.  Talent is not everything.

If people have negative energy and a negative attitude, they will never succeed, no matter what they do in life.  They blame other people for their failures, or bring it on something instead of taking responsibility for their actions.  They need to hold up a mirror and look at themselves.  Your enemy is your own self.  Control your temper, selfishness, attitude and discipline.  Martial arts will help to ground you and understand who you are.  You have to keep your balance.

It is very important to have positive energy.  Attitude will determine your behavior.   I always tell my students, “Try doesn’t work”.  “Try” never works because when people try, their mind is set on trying and not doing.   When you try, you don’t put 100% effort into what you do.  You should either put 100% or 0%.  When someone asks you if you can do a job, do you say you’ll “try your best”; or you will “do your best”?

Why does the Francis Fong Academy focus on cross-training?

Every system has strong points and weak points.  There is no perfect system for every situation.  For example, Wing Chun is good for sensitivity; Kali for weapons, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for ground fighting, and Muay Thai for stand-up fighting. 

Cross training can help you to understand yourself better.  You have to discover what is suitable for you, as well as for a particular situation.  Focus on yourself.  When you understand yourself, you can then begin to understand others.   

Is there anything that you’d like to say to your students all over the world?

The most important thing is to keep an open mind.   Keep learning.  Keep going.  Keep giving and sharing your knowledge with others.