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Chan Wah Shun’s Ancestral House

Chan Wah Shun

This morning the Jee Shin Wing Chun group visited Bruce Lee Paradise and Bruce Lee’s Ancestral house.

Our tour now takes us off to find Chan Wah Shun’s Ancestral Grave site.

Chan Wah Shun was Yip Man’s Sifu.

We have given our bus drivers a vague description of where we have to go,

As we drive along Sifu Garry and Sifu Linda recognized some of the surrounding area.

This is a good sign as it means we are heading in the right direction.

I spot the hill with the graves on it and yell for the driver to stop.

Garry and I are elated that we have found the site.

We pull into the village and park.

Our bus driver proceeds to take us walking into the village away from the graves.

We inform our students that we are not sure where we are going.

A few hundred yards down the street we see Chan Wah Shun’s Ancestral Temple.

A testament to the family’s wealth and stature in the village.

Garry and I are flabbergasted, we can’t believe our good fortune.

Having been here before three times, we had no idea the Temple was so close.

We burn some incense to pay our respects and get some photo’s.

The universe has thrown us yet another gift on our tour.

As we leave totally buzzed out and begin to walk back through the village.

Shortly, a lady reads the calligraphy on our jackets and asks our bus drivers who we are.

He explains we are a Wing Chun School in Melbourne Australia.

She asks if we would like to come with her to a Kung Fu house in the village?

The house is big with a high wave like fence with imitation bamboo logs atop.

It is beautiful, there is a very small entrance area before the door.

This is definitely an influential house.

She unlocks the door and we enter the beautiful courtyard.

Our interpreter then informs us that we are standing in Chan Wah Shun’s actual house.

I’m stunned. How amazing is that.I can’t believe this.

Sifu Garry and I are both gob smacked.

She shows us inside.

It’s a beautiful house, with a magnificent dark Rosewood table and Rosewood chairs.

We step outside and the lady is sweeping the courtyard.S

She opens up a little small square hole in the ground and begins to scoop the rain water out with a ladle.

The Lady then gestures to go to the front entrance.

There, we find Chan Wah Shun’s wooden dummy.

The Dummy looks old and fragile.

I perform some sequences very gently on it.

I can’t believe I am working on Chan Wah Shun’s wooden dummy.

We are so blessed.

The lady of the house, informs us that only wing chun Sifu‘s can go upstairs to the third floor.

We burn incense to Chan Wah Shun.

What an honour.

There is a plaque commemorating his demonstration at Bruce Lee’s Ancestral home on 1/3/1947.

As we retreat back down the stairs, she walks to one of the bedrooms and gestures for us to enter.

Oh my god.

There in the corner, covered in dust and cobwebs are Chan Wah Shun’s Dragon Pole and Big Chopper.

The lady of the house wanted us to perform Sil Lim Tao.

If so, we could take the weapons down stairs and have a play with them.

Of course we are only too happy to comply.

It’s a long pole so I perform a few movements and postures and have some photo’s taken.

Then I pick up the Big Chopper and perform Look Dim Boon Kuan.

I can’t believe I am performing with Chan Wah Shun’s weapons.

I am blown away. Garry and I can’t believe this is happening to us. Thank you universe.

We all pay the lady of the house some money and thank her.

She is apparently the cleaner and only comes once a month to maintain the house.

What are the chances of being there the same weekend and bumping into her on the street.

When we weren’t even meant to be in the village. We are the luckiest martial artists in the world.

We leave Chan Wah Shun’s house and the Lady walks us to the edge of the village.

We thank her so much and we bid her farewell.

We then climb the 108 stairs to Chan Wah Shun’s Ancestral Gravesite.

We burn more incense and thank him for his martial spirit.

Back on the bus, I am just shaking my head in disbelief.

What a day it has been, so full of surprises.

I didn’t get much sleep that night.

I could not stop thinking of the privilege that had been bestowed upon us.

From the morning to the afternoon this would have to be one of the most incredible days of my life.