Grand Master Gary Lam Workshop

Ving Tsun Museum Hall of Fame Inductee
Grand Master Gary Lam of the Wong Shun Leung family, Ip Man Lineage
April 18th, 2011

In Chinese culture, the number 18 is a very lucky number. On the 18th of April, 2011, I was proud to play host to two Wing Chun VIPs together at the Ving Tsun Museum. They are both highly respected leaders within their respective kung fu families: Grand Master Gary Lam and Grand Master Kenneth Lin.

Every year the Ving Tsun Museum inducts a VIP into the Wing Chun Hall of Fame. The requirement for induction is for the candidate to have made a significant impact and contribution to the Wing Chun community. Grand Master Gary Lam is an obvious choice.

Sifu Lam has been a dedicated Sifu for many years with students, instructors and schools throughout the world: the US, Asia and Europe. He trained with the Legendary Sifu Wong Shun Leung, for 15 years and served as the instructor at Wong's school in Hong Kong for an additional 6 years.

As one of Sifu Wong Shun Leung's top student, Sifu Lam put his Wing Chun skills to test by entering tournaments and destroying the competition. His excellent fighting skills made him the undefeated champion of the Hong Kong full Contact Tournament in 1978-1979. His trophies and titles are too numerous to mention.

In recognition of his Wing Chun skills and character, his Wing Chun peers in Hong Kong elected him as the President of the Hong Kong Wing Chun Society in 1991. In more recent years, Sifu Lam has produced a series of highly regarded videos on his approach to Hong Kong Wing Chun, Fighting, Chi Sau, and Application Skill.

Sifu Lam, together with Sifu Todd Wright, Head Instructor at Guardian Kung Fu Leadership Academy in Columbus, IN and several other students arrived from Indiana in the late afternoon. Sifu Lam’s Mo Dak (martial arts etiquette and protocol) was excellent, with Sifu Lam and I exchanging gifts. He was very gracious, positive, excited and happy to have the opportunity to share his passion for Wing Chun with like-minded members of the Wing Chun Community. Sifu Lam is very approachable, saying to me the first time we met: “We’ve known each other a long time, Sifu Benny Meng, but this is the first time we’ve met face-to-face.”

The VTM has been a long-time supporter of Grand Master Lam and his efforts to promote and teach the Wing Chun system. We were honored to host him in person. I gave him a tour of the Ving Tsun Museum, including the Tiger (the training hall) and the Dragon (the exhibit area). He and his students were impressed with their tour.

Afterwards, we held our formal inductee ceremony for the Ving Tsun Museum Hall of Fame: Grand Master Lam is the most recent inductee, witnessed by Grand Master Kenneth Lin of the Hek Ki Boen lineage (and also a former VTM Hall of Fame recipient) and many students of the VTM.

Following the induction ceremony, we shared fellowship over a special banquet. The evening ended early so that Grand Master Lin could return to Indiana, with plans to invite him back for a formal workshop already in the planning stages.

One of the VTM’s missions is to help share and promote friendship and flow of information between all lineages and families of Wing Chun. The VTM highly recommends dedicated students of the martial arts student with the Grand Masters recognized by the Ving Tsun Museum’s Hall of Fame. The wisdom and expertise these experts can share with you will grow your skill, compressing decades of experience into just days! Experiences like this will keep the martial art community continually growing and improving.