Austin Goh My Journey Austin Goh My Journey Memoirs of a True Master 1. Profile Austin Goh 2.My Journey 3 Meeting Master Lee Shing 4. History of Wing Chun 5. Grand Master Lee Shing 6. Training with my Master 7. Opening my Wing Chun School 8. Looking after the Restaurant 9. Incident with the East End Boys 10. Problem with the Triads 11. Meeting the Triads' Boss 12. Working as a Bouncer 13. Dealing with Five Guys 14. Being Ambushed 16. Healing from my Master 17. Respect is Different Nowadays 18. Challenges in the Kwoon 19. Bodyguard and Stuntman 20. Sil lim Tao 21. Human Energy 22. Cancer Programme 23. Client Testimonials 24. Human Energy Level One 25. My Greatest Thanks 26. My Hope 27. My Wish 28. My Dreams 29. My #quotes 30. Conclusion Austin Goh Personal Profile The Iron Man of Wing Chun Austin Goh grew up in Malaysia where he gained a strong foundation in the martial arts. He left his home town in Malaysia for England in the early seventies to continue his academic studies. It was there that he set up his first Wing Chun school in London and has since expanded into Europe. Sifu Austin Goh has also travelled extensively around the world giving demonstrations and lectures in Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Austin Goh was taught Wing Chun by his master, Lee Shing. Austin was a closed-door student and spent many years training with his master. Now Sifu Austin Goh is the only successor to be still teaching the Lee Shing Lineage which includes centre line Wing Chun, Pien San Wing Chun and Dai Lim Tao. Austin's success as a teacher in the martial arts is due to his friendly and open-minded teaching methods which have gained him the respect and loyalty of his students. He teaches that anyone who wants to succeed in any martial art must be prepared to work hard and be determined to achieve this goal, and he leads in this respect by his own example. Austin was the first Malaysian Chinese Wing Chun teacher in Europe to teach not only Bil Jee (Wing Chun’s third form) but also the Pole form, Wooden Dummy form, and the Butterfly Knives. Austin feels that there should be no secret formulas or techniques in any style of martial art. He believes that as times change, so must the arts – what worked 300 years ago might not be practical now, and so the training systems and principles must change to suit our modern #life. For anything to survive, it should be taught openly and properly. In 1983 Austin appeared on the British television program “Just Amazing” where he gave a chi demonstration. In an awesome display of chi strength, he set a new world record by breaking fifteen four-inch concrete blocks on his chest with a sledge-hammer wielded by one of his students. He also stunned the audience by breaking two concrete blocks against the side of his head with a sledge-hammer! After this performance, the audience nicknamed him the “Iron Man of Wing Chun”. He is also a Guinness world record holder for breaking concrete blocks with his bare arms in 2002. In His Own Words My Journey I was born in the state of Malacca in Malaysia on September 10th 1954 to my mother Madam Chung Ooi Môi and my father Goh Ah Sang. I am 2nd generation Chinese born in Malaysia. As a child I was always sick and weak so my mum took me to many so-called healers in temples, in order to improve my health. This was a very common thing to do in the 50s and 60s. I was taught a few breathing exercises by the taoist priest in the temple. It was a #life changing experience- my health improved greatly and I began training in energy work whenever I could. I felt stronger and moved on to martial arts training, the Shaolin Wing Chun system and energy work. I entered many full contact tournaments at the age of 16, knocking out most of my opponents from different styles and even organized some street bare knuckles fights to earn extra money for my trip to England. Most of my opponents were knocked down with my Wing Chun punches, so after that they nicknamed me "the boy with the iron fists." Journey to London At the age of 18 in 1972 I decided to come to London to further my studies in Physical Education and English, luckily I was sponsored by my English uncle Chris Blackmore who was married to my auntie Chu. After two months living with them in the army barracks in Maidstone I had to go to London to start my studies in Woolwich College. In order to have a few extra pounds for my studies and expenses I decided to look for different ways to earn some money. I started teaching Wing Chun kung fu to a few friends, just to earn a bit of pocket money to pay my bills. And in the evening I worked as a bouncer in a night club called Le Kilt in Greek Street,Soho; after finishing work in the club most nights I would normally go to have my supper in London's Chinatown Canton restaurant which was the only place that was open till the morning. Meeting Grandmaster Lee Shing In that restaurant one morning when I went downstairs I saw a man teaching Wing Chun in the kitchen. I later found out it was Grand Master Lee Shing. I approached him and explained to him my background in Wing Chun and he seemed to know about the different Wing Chun systems in China that were lost after the cultural revolution. It was fate or luck that we met but he decided to take me as his official disciple which was unheard of at that time, where Chinese Martial Arts were rarely spoken of, or taught, as the communist regime was still feared, even though it was thousands of miles away. Westerners always thought that the Chinese were very secretive but they did not realize what the Chinese left behind- often all their loved ones - and what they had gone through in order to keep their lives while fleeing the country from the communist regime. History of Wing Chun Wing Chun Kung Fu is a southern Chinese style of Martial Art. This unique fighting system was devised by a nun nearly four hundred years ago in Fukien, the centre of Chinese pugilism. The principles of this deadly fighting system is to be simple, practical, efficient, use the centre line to attack, be effective in close quarters and to use the opponent's strength to counter. Training the waist and wrist in order to generate explosive power for punching and kicking as well as footwork is practiced to the full by all students from the very first lesson. As a result, a well trained Wing Chun fighter can use their skill to defend,attack and counter-attack in all situations, be it on the street or in an enclosed space. A good example is that one can use their hands and feet to defeat their opponent even in a telephone box! These attributes lead the art of Wing Chun to be considered one of the most effective street fighting systems in the world. Grandmaster Lee Shing. He was the European and U.K President of the Yip Man Martial Arts Association and founder of the International Lee Shing Wing Chun Martial Arts Association. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Kowloon Chinese Medical Association and was a qualified Chinese doctor. These positions are testimony to a #lifetime's dedication to Wing Chun and his impact on the development of Wing Chun in Europe which has been very significant and yet it is largely an untold story. Grandmaster Lee Shing was born in 1923 in Hoxan in Southern China. He first studied Gulao (Pien San) Wing Chun at an early age in mainland China under his first teacher Fong Yee Ming, who himself had learnt from Wong Wah Sam who had learnt from Leung Jan. Lee Shing was inspired to research the different styles of Wing Chun, he therefore researched and went on to study under Fung Sang who was one of the central figures of Pien San Wing Chun, having studied under his father Fung Lim and his uncle Koo Siu-Lung (both students of Wong Wah Sam). He then went on to learn from the famous Kung Fu Master Ng Jung. Lee Shing moved to Hong Kong where he met and became friends with two Wing Chun experts, Lok Yiu and Jiu Wan. They were two of the four leading practitioners of Wing Chun in Hong Kong who became known in Wing Chun circles as the "Four Kings of Wing Chun". The other two were Leung Sheung and Tsui Shan Tin. It was not long before an exchange of styles took place between Lee Shing, Lok Yiu and Jiu Wan. While working one day, an older gentleman entered wearing the traditional Chinese dress. Lee Shing noticed that the others greeted the man very respectfully, so much so that he was curious to know who he was. It was then that the stranger was revealed to be none other than Grandmaster Yip Man, the teacher of the 'Four Kings' of Wing Chun; in fact Lok Yiu, a former master of another kung fu style, was Grandmaster Yip Man's first student in Hong Kong. Lee Shing was formally introduced by Jiu Wan to Grandmaster Yip Man. At the time Grandmaster Yip Man was teaching Wing Chun in Hong Kong's Restaurant Workers' Union. Lee Shing was fortunate enough to be accepted by Grandmaster Yip Man as a student and received instruction privately from him on a one-to-one basis. He was known only to Grandmaster Yip Man's senior students and later to Grandmaster Yip Man's eldest son Yip Chun. Over the years, Lee Shing learnt the complete Wing Chun system. He had mastered the three hand forms, the wooden dummy form, the six-and-a-half point pole form and most importantly of all, Grandmaster Yip Man had taught Lee Shing the complete butterfly knife form and its applications. This last form was of particular importance as it represented the highest point of learning in Wing Chun. At the time Grandmaster Yip Man had taught only three people the complete knife form. Lee Shing was allowed to open up a school on Hong Kong Island in the early 50s - with the opening ceremony being conducted by Grandmaster Yip Man himself. It was at this time that Lee Shing met Yip Chun who had resumed his studies in Wing Chun. The two became firm friends and henceforth when Yip Chun came to England, he would always stay at Lee Shing's home. "The Art of Simultaneous Defence and Attack" Grandmaster Lee Shing brought Wing Chun to Europe and was a major influence on the development of Wing Chun in the western world and for many years Grandmaster Lee Shing had a close friendship with Grandmaster Yip Chun, eldest son of Yip Man. There was great mutual respect on both sides. After Grandmaster Yip Chun's arrival in Hong Kong from China they were introduced in the famous Yang's restaurant by Grandmaster Yip Man. Whenever he visited the U.K. Grandmaster Yip Chun would visit Grandmaster Lee Shing and stay in his house as an honoured guest to discuss amongst other things the further promotion of Wing Chun in U.K. and Europe. Though he was always one to shun the spotlight, Grandmaster Lee Shing should be given full credit for bringing the Chinese Martial Art of Wing Chun to the United Kingdom and Europe. Thanks to him, I have been able to spread the art all over the world. Training With My Sifu July the 8th 1972 was the first day of training, I remember the first day with him, it was an intense feeling as I was worried that he wouldn't like me as I am not from Hong Kong and so perhaps not going to be fully accepted as his disciple. But my worry was not for long. He treated me with kindness, looking after me, offering food to me often during training knowing that I was a poor student at that time. He taught me the finer points of Wing Chun kung fu with great details and explanation. It was amazing. I felt so lucky and privileged to study under him not knowing he was part of a great legacy and history in the Martial Arts world and I am honored to be part of it, too. As I used to study in the afternoon and go training and teaching from 6 to 8 pm, then work as a bouncer from 10pm to 3am, I spent most of that time training with him after 4am to 7am in the restaurant -as he also worked until that time so it was a match made in heaven. My master was a perfectionist,as he always said "why learn so many styles and you can't even perfect one", with this in mind I always practised any new technique he taught me over and over again. I used to spend hours just practicing my techniques, taking my time, practising it over and over again until my master approved of it. It was hard but I loved it, it must be in my blood, for there were other students training there too but most couldn't last more than a few months, as my master wanted to make sure they had to perfect their techniques before he would show us any other techniques. Many found it too hard or too long, wanting to master everything as quickly as possible but it's not to be. As I loved to do a lot of kicking in those days (I always wanted to be a top stuntman in movies; it was one of my dreams) and seeing that I was always doing my splits and jumping around he taught me the kicking form technique which was unheard of. I was so excited practising in my master's house! In the front room I jumped up in the air and tried to kick the ceiling. I tried a few times but failed, being me stubborn as usual, I took a deep breath using my chi and one last effort this time I did it but on the way I smashed the ceiling lamp. Hearing a loud noise my master and his wife rushed into the room and seeing what happened, my simo was flabbergasted and she tried to ban me from ever training in the house. My master just laughed and he even praised me about my kicking ability. I was so happy and proud of my achievement- sounds crazy, I must be mad. Wing Chun kung fu is an art designed for quick and rapid attack against any stronger and bigger opponents. It is a closed contact fighting system, it uses the opponent's strength against them, therefore making it easy to defend oneself and attack the opponent.