26-year-old S'porean Wing Chun instructor is 4th-gen disciple of Grandmaster Ip Man

Wing Chun is not for the faint-hearted.

Joshua Lee | November 09, 2017, 09:59 AM

Meeting Daryl Yeo for the first time, one is struck by how young he is.

Yeo is a fourth generation disciple of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, and he is only 26 years old, with 13 years of martial arts training under his belt, and teaches up to 30 students every week.

"I started practising martial art because I was very inspired by Tony Jaa (of Ong Bak fame)," said Yeo. "That's when I picked up Taekwondo. The moment I picked it up, I knew that martial arts is the thing for me."

Image by Lenz Angelo.

It wasn't until Wing Chun that Yeo found something he fell in love with.

"Wing Chun is simple, direct, and very realistic," explained Yeo. "It makes you a very meticulous individual."

"The biggest misconception people have about Wing Chun is that it's kungfu and it's usually for the elderly."

Image by Lenz Angelo.

It is the same meticulousness that Yeo says you can bring to other forms of martial arts, once you establish Wing Chun as a foundation.

But don't take this meticulous nature to mean that Wing Chun is a dated art form.

"The biggest misconception people have about Wing Chun is that it's kungfu," quips Yeo, "and it's usually for the elderly -- similar to Taichi."

It's not hard to see why. During a Wing Chun demonstration by Yeo, we observed that his moves were measured, graceful, yet forceful at each turn.

But thanks to the Ip Man films, people have been warming to the idea of Wing Chun as a martial art form for all ages, especially one that spars to a deadly end.

Via YouTube.

Yeo explains that in Wing Chun, the sparring places an emphasis on self-preservation. "When your life is in danger, you need to protect yourself, you go for the kill -- the emphasis is different from Judo or Akido."

"I think the public takes Wing Chun very lightly, (because) it's not as violent as Muay Thai. When you reach a certain level of Wing Chun, it's quite fatal and deadly."

Origins

Originating from mainland China, Wing Chun was the brainchild of a group of nuns and monks who sought to create a shorter, revised version of kungfu -- or as Yeo calls it, a "hybrid of all other kungfu".

While there are other people who brought Wing Chun into Singapore as well, none of them has reached the same level of prominence as Yeo's sifu (master), Chua Kah Joo.

Chua Kah Joo (in striped polo) is Yeo's sifu. Via Facebook.

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"My master is a Singaporean who met his Wing Chun master in Europe when he went there on a ballet scholarship," said Yeo.

"After his scholarship, he returned to Singapore in 1990, where he opened his training centre (Wing Chun Kuen Training Centre)."

As an aside, Chua also played a bit part in a Hollywood movie.  "Yea, he was a calefare in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," Yeo laughed. "You can find him on IMDB!"

Wing Chun for the modern masses

"I was quite lucky because my master could see that I was quite keen, so he paid quite a lot of attention to me as compared to the rest of the class."

This special attention from sifu Chua was meant to groom Yeo into a protege of sorts.

"My master comes from the era where you groom one student until he reaches a certain standard where he is able to help you groom the rest," said Yeo.

Today, Yeo bears the title of Lineage Holder - meaning that he is able to conduct classes under the auspices of his master's Wing Chun training school.

Image by Lenz Angelo.

There are, of course, generational differences in the way classes are conducted by Yeo and Chua.

Yeo agrees, and thinks that his way of teaching Wing Chun results in a younger class, while his sifu's students tend to be older.

"I make my lessons more interactive," he said. "The way I was taught was "You learn A, but if you do not get A right, you don't get to learn B and C."

"The way I teach is I teach you A, B, C, D, and you go master them in your own time."

Yeo also credits his students as being more open to approaching the instructor and asking questions about the rationale for certain moves -- a far cry from how his sifu's students used to learn.

Wing Chun classes today also need to cater to students with a different demand. Instead of mere theory and rote actions, martial arts students want to experience a good "workout".

"I think why MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and Muay Thai are successful is because they give people a very good workout, good cardio," mused Yeo. "You sweat a lot and you feel very good afterwards."

Ten years down the road

We ended off the interview with his thoughts on where he sees himself in another 10 years.

"In 10 years' time I want to operate a proper gym," Yeo replied, explaining that he currently travels around teaching classes in multiple locations.

"I also feel that given my age, I'm not ready to have a gym."

Image by Lenz Angelo.

When asked what then is the proper age to own a gym, Yeo paused for a moment.

"Actually I can open a gym now. It's just that there will be a lot of critics questioning the skills of a 26 year-old opening a school."

"Even I will question myself," he added with a wistful smile. "So maybe a gym would be possible in five to ten years' time."

We think that with his skills and dedication, it's likely we'll see it sooner than later.

 

Top image by Lenz Angelo. 

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