Master Leung Cheung was one of the earliest and most outstanding disciples of Master Ha Hon Hung.  He originally came from Shun Tak, a county close to the Southern Chinese city of Canton.  Master Leung Cheung was an industrious and conscientious young man, intelligent and perseverant, and man of few words. As well as the full system of Yau Kung Mun, Master Ha taught him the art of healing (including bone correction & manipulation, and herbal medicine) and dragon and lion dancing. 

Master Leung Cheung’s kung fu training was very rigorous and intensive.  His first two years learning Yau Kung Mun were spent on perfecting the stances and basics of the system only.  In later years his stances had become so strong that when he rooted the stance the ground would shake… this was witnesses by many at countless demonstrations.  Master Leung Cheung at over 60 years of age would train his internal power most mornings on huge trees in Centennial Park in Sydney, shaking the upper branches with every strike.

Master Leung opened his own Chinese Martial Arts Academy in Hong Kong in 1954, where he taught Yau Kung Mun martial arts and lion & dragon dance. His Academy and his students participated in numerous shows and demonstrations of Chinese Martial Arts including lion and dragon dance in the Festivals of Hong Kong while he was a member of the “Urban Council of Hong Kong”.  The Academy also contained a clinic for Chinese herbal medicine and bone setting & manipulation.  Over the years he became renowned in Chinatown for his Dit Dar Chinese medicine, the Traditional Chinese Medicine College in Hong Kong still displays his portrait as recognition in their school.  In 1973, he established the Leung Cheung Sports Academy.  His aim was to use Yau Kung Mun for the defense and strengthening of the body as well as maintain the spirit and tradition of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. 

The students of the Academy competed in a variety of martial arts demonstrations and tournaments, with excellent results.  Some of the victories include winning the gold medal in the Hong Kong Festival, first prize in the Chinese Martial Arts Gun Mo Competition, and first prize in the South East Asia Chinese Martial Arts Competition (accomplished by Chan Siu Yick in the middle & light weight categories).  The effectiveness of Master Leung Cheung’s teachings was proved time and again by his dedicated students.

When the disciples of Master Ha established the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Association, Master Leung was one of its executive committee members as well as being deputy public relations officer.  Master Leung also played an active role in the fields of charity and social welfare, lending his support to the “Fight Crime” and “Keep Hong Kong Clean” campaigns.  Master Leung Cheung worked hard and served selflessly for his community. 

In 1977 Master Leung Cheung migrated to Sydney, Australia, where he taught at the local Chinese Martial Arts schools as an honorary instructor.  After gaining enough students to warrant establishing his own school, he founded the Australian Yau Kung Mun Chinese Martial Arts Academy in Chinatown, Sydney in 1980.  In the following years the school continued to flourish, producing many tournament champions along the way.

Once again Master Leung offered his support to the local community.  With fund-raising through martial arts performances and lion & dragon dancing he helped many organisations including The Sydney Hospital, The Spastic Centre, The Cambodian Refugee Foundation and The Australian Chinese Sanatorium.

Master Leung was also committed to the promotion of Chinese culture.  He represented the local Chinese community on many occasions in various programs on Australia Day, Ethnic Day and in the Festival of Sydney. During the Guandong Province Trade Exhibition in Sydney, his troupes of lion dancers went out to many suburbs to support the cultural exchange.  There were also demonstration performances of Chinese Martial Arts and lion & dragon dancing in the exhibition grounds in cooperation with the Guandong Acrobatic Troupes.   

In 1988 Master Leung Cheung closed the Chinatown school and retired from publicly teaching kung fu, although he continued to instruct a few select students, later performing the Bai Shee Ceremony on a handful of dedicated disciples.  He also continued to treat and heal many people with his Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Master Leung Cheung passed away April 1999.  His passing was felt through the whole Australian Chinese community, and by Martial Arts associations around the world.  Numerous important dignitaries, as well many Masters of kung fu schools, and martial artists from across the globe, attended his traditional Chinese funeral.

His teachings are carried on today by the students who loved him as a father and pledged to carry on the traditions of Yau Kung Mun in his honour.

Copyright © 2001 - 2005 Shaolin Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu Academy.  All rights reserved.
 

Grandmaster Leung Cheung

A young Grandmaster Leung Cheung performing the Yau Kung Mun salute in Hong Kong.




Grandmaster Leung Cheung (left) with Sifu Garry Hearfield at the Sydney Daoist Temple.

Traditional Chinese weapons - the tiger fork and general's gwando, both antiques.