Sum Nung

Sum Nung or Shum Lung (岑能) was a Peruvian-Chinese martial artist. He was a Grandmaster of the Wing Chun style and one of the few disciples of martial artist Yuen Kay Shan. At the age of 18, he became famous in Foshan,[1]and is now considered the father of Wing Chun of Guangzhou.[2]

Sum Nung
Born1926 (1926)
Peru
Died3 November 2002(2002-11-03) (aged 75–76)
China
Other names岑能, Shum Lung.
ResidenceFoshan, China
StyleWing Chun
Teacher(s)Yuen Kay Shan
Chung Bo
RankGrandmaster
Notable studentsFelix Leong
In this Chinese name, the family name is Shum.

Early years

Sum Nung was born in Peru in 1926. He was of a Chinese father and a Peruvian mother. When he was about 7 years of age, he traveled to China with the father to visit his grandmother. During his visit, Japan attacked China during the Second World War. The Japanese bombarded their house and his father died, he was then left alone with the grandmother. Communication between the outside as well as within China was terminated. Master Sum lost contact with his mother and his wealthy life, to live poorly as many during the war. When he was about 12 years of age, he was entrusted to work as an apprentice in the restaurant "Sky and Sea'' in the state of Foshan. He had a hard time there since he was often beaten up and humiliated because he was half Chinese and half Peruvian. They made fun of him because of his sharp-pointed and big nose.[3][4]

Career as a martial artist

The chef of the restaurant called Cheung Bo was a master of Wing Chun Kung Fu and began teaching him how to defend himself against his assailants. Then in 1941, the famous Yuen Kay Shan owner of great properties in that state and winner of a thousand death fights/combats, asked Cheung's permission to teach Sum some more techniques since he discovered he had talent. But Sum looking at the master's slim and low physique, doubted his talent and responded that he had nothing to learn from him. Then, Yuen Kay Shan said because it was his passion, demonstrated and gave him a slight beating, another version was that Yuen placed a raw egg in each of his 2 pockets and challenged Sum to break an egg while he stood in the middle of a circle on the ground, Sum could not break an egg or even push Yuen out of the circle after this Sum was convinced that he could learn a lot from him and was now his disciple.[5] Sum Nung developed a great reputation toward the quality of his Kung Fu, he often had to fight to defend himself against the discrimination for being a foreigner. In 1943 he began teaching in Foshan in the village's deep temple to students like Sum Jee. In the late 1940s, he moved to the city of Guangzhou, where he taught Wing Chun to members of several local trade unions. In 1947, he was a professor of Wing Chun in the Guangzhou union machinery. The following year, he opened a natural (herbal) or traditional medicine clinic and was a Chinese doctor at Daisun Street and also ran a martial arts school.[4][3][6][7][8][9]

Philosophy

Hobby and Philosophy Sam's hobby was bird fighting and he said he would not feed birds that were not good at fighting, a philosophy that influenced the choice of his students such as Felix Leong, whom Sum received Felix as a student because he was already a master of Wing Chun under master Lai Chi Wa and he won the title of Australian National Martial arts champion in 1977, the following year he fought in New Zealand and ended up as champion of South Pacific.

The 2016 film Ip Man 3 martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip, and produced by Raymond Wong Pak-ming, which was the third in the series of films based on the life of Ip Man, Grandmaster of Wing Chun, with Donnie Yen in the lead role, also featuring Mike Tyson and Bruce Lee, one of Ip's students, played by Danny Chan Kwok-kwan.

The actor Zhang Jin was cast in the supposed role of Sum Nung, who was also an expert in Wing Chun and an able opponent of Ip Man in complex battles.[10][11][12] However, due to Sum Nung being a disciple of Yuen Kay Shan, the name Sum Nung was changed to Cheung Tin-chi to avoid conflicts with Yuen Kay Shan's lineage and descendants, which was previously erupted in a controversy of Yuen Kay Shan being shown at a lower level than Ip Man in the 2010 film The Legend Is Born: Ip Man.[13][14]

Legacy

Nowadays, many Wing Chun practitioners in Guangzhou are his descendants. Over the years, he carefully taught selected students. Sum Nung contributed in training many students who have helped to preserve and disseminate their style throughout the world. Among which are; Felix Leong, Sum Jee, Cheung Chut (Cheung Bo's son), Kwok Jin Fen, Leung King-chiu (Leung Dai Chiu), Dong Chuen Kam, Ngo Lui Kay, Kwok Wah Ping, Lee Chi Yiu, Wong Wah (Tom Wong). Nung's son Sum Zhaowei (岑兆偉) is the inheritor of his fathers wing chun of Guangzhou.[2]

Lineage
Wing Chun Lineage
SifusYuen Kay Shan (阮奇山)
Chung Bo
Sum Nung (岑能)
Direct students:

Sum Jee (Sum Nung's uncle)
Cheung Mo Gan (also known as 'Cheung Chut'/'Ah Chut' (son of Cheung Bo)
Sum Zhaowei 岑兆偉 (Sum Nung's son)
Kwok Jin Fen
Leung Dai-Chiu (Liang Dazhao)
Dong Chuen Kam
Ngo Lui-Kay (Ao Leiqi)
Kwok Wan-Ping (Guo Yunping)
Lee Chi Yiu
Wong Wah (Huang Hua, Tom Wong)
Teddy Wong
Felix Leong

[3]

References
  1. Hanyan, Shen (9 August 2016). "东莞武林外传：学咏春六年 怕技艺生疏回东莞低调开武馆". Dongguan Time Network News (Online). Dongguan News Media Group. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  2. Youde, Wei (11 December 2020). "「公雞人」吹嗩吶逛大街叫賣　詠春傳人坐鎮廣州永慶坊 原文網址: 「公雞人」吹嗩吶逛大街叫賣　詠春傳人坐鎮廣州永慶坊". ETtoday News Cloud (Online). ETtoday. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  3. Ritchie, René (1 August 1998). Yuen Kay San Wing Chun History And Practice (Paperback ed.). ISBN 1892515032. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  4. Chu, Robert (25 June 1998). Complete Wing Chun: The Definitive Guide to Wing Chun's History and Traditions (Paperback ed.). Tuttle Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 9780804831413.
  5. "盤點詠春拳術十大宗師級高手，葉問榜上有名". zi.media. 字媒體 ZiMedia. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. "广州咏春"岑能咏春"传人岑兆伟:我想让咏春走入寻常百姓家". Dayang.com (Online). Guangdong Media. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  7. "咏春入粤两大宗派之一:广州岑能咏春落户恩宁路回归西关". Nanfang News (Online). Nanfang News. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  8. "广州有群咏春隐士". Jinyang Evening news (Online). 羊城晚报. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  9. Kaifan, Zhang (30 December 2019). "小记者体验"咏春拳"". Meizhou Daily (Print and Online). Meizhou Daily. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  10. Michelle, Sara (22 January 2016). "Heartfelt Ip Man 3 a Triumph for Donnie Yen". moviefreak (Online). MovieFreak.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  11. "DONNIE YEN IS BACK AND READY TO PORTRAY THE WING CHUN LEGEND IN IP MAN 3". Black Belt Magazine (Online). Black Belt Magazine 1000 LLC. 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  12. B, Lee (14 November 2015). "Donnie Yen Experiences Mike Tyson's Fists in "Ip Man 3"". Dramasian (Online). Damasian. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  13. "冼国林向阮祖棠斟茶道 (Xi Kwok Lam serves tea to Yuen Jo Tong)". Yang Sing National Newspaper (National Print edition). Yang Sing National Newspaper. July 2010.
  14. Li, Li (15 July 2010). "《叶问前传》剧组向咏春派道歉 险成"全武行"". Yangcheng Evening News (TV). Yangcheng Evening News. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
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