Leung Ting

Dr. István Simicskó, a member of the Hungarian National Assembly and former Minister of Defence for the Hungarian Government recognizing GGM Leung Ting’s contributions. Leung Ting (; born 28 February 1947) is a Hong Kong martial artist, publisher, choreographer, screenwriter, director, and former actor. He is the last direct 'closed-door' disciple of Grandmaster Yip Man, and one of Yip's most significant students by popularising Wing Tsun throughout Europe and mainstream networks since the mid-1970s.

Leung Ting is also the founder of International WingTsun Association He garnered fame from spreading his WingTsun Kungfu system globally since the 1970s.

In April 2025, Leung Ting received an award from Dr. István Simicskó, a member of the Hungarian National Assembly and former Minister of Defence for the Hungarian Government recognizing GGM Leung Ting’s contributions to the spread of WingTsun Kungfu in Hungary.

Background Born in Hong Kong in 1947, Leung began studying Wing Tsun aged 13 from Leung Sheung, Yip Man's most senior disciple in Hong Kong, then later directly under Yip Man as his last 'closed-door'

Appointed by Yip Man, Leung served as head instructor on the board of directors for the Ving Tsun Athletic Association between Dec 1969 to May 1970. When the Ving Tsun Athletic Association moved from its former premises of 438 Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei, Leung Ting remained at the location to found his own Wing Tsun Gymnasium (1970) and later Association (1973).

Leung Ting is the founder and president of the International WingTsun Association (IWTA) and developed a structured and standardised Wing Tsun teaching & grading system known as the Leung Ting Wing Tsun system. Leung chose the spelling of Wing Tsun to differentiate his teachings from those of other Wing Chun schools, and to keep them from passing off their style as his own. (There is no standard romanization of Cantonese; the Chinese characters remain the same.)

He achieved prominence by spreading Wing Tsun and Chinese kung fu culture internationally since the 1970s.

Among the achievements in his career outside of teaching and writing about Wing Tsun, Leung has made significant contribution to Hong Kong Kungfu film industry by serving as fight director of famous Kungfu movies such as Five Deadly Venoms (1978). Also, he was the director and screenwriter for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Kung Fu World! (大踢爆), a humoristic documentary on the history and culture of kung fu. Leung appeared on episode 1 of the first season of the BBC show Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves; a 10 part series on martial arts masters of the east hosted by Chris Crudelli.

Filmography Producer and host: Real Kung Fu (真功夫) (1976) - a 24-episode martial art TV program by Rediffusion Television Fight choreographer: Stranger from Shaolin (1977) Fight choreographer: Five Deadly Venoms (1978) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Fight choreographer: The Brave Archer Part II (1978) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Fight choreographer: Invincible Shaolin (1978) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Fight choreographer: Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (1979) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Fight choreographer: Life Gamble (1979) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Fight choreographer: Heaven and Hell (1980) distributed by Shaw brothers Studious Director and screenwriter: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Kung Fu World! (大踢爆) (2000)

Career In 1968, he was admitted to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature of Hong Kong Baptist College, majoring in Chinese Language and Literature. In the same year, Yip Man accepted Leung as his closed-door disciple. Leung opened a WingTsun martial art class at Baptist College, becoming the first person to introduce Chinese martial arts to a Hong Kong tertiary institution.

Leung Ting is the founder and president of the International WingTsun Association (IWTA). He achieved prominence by spreading Wing Tsun and Chinese kung fu culture internationally since the 1970s through his association, the IWTA, which had an estimated 3000 instructor branches across 65 countries during the mid-1990s

Martial art demonstration in HKBU

In November 1969, while a student at Hong Kong Baptist College, Leung Ting organized a Chinese Kungfu show that featured his grandmaster, Yip Man, as a VIP guest alongside prominent masters of other martial arts—marking the single documented instance of Yip Man attending a kung fu exhibition organized by his own students. Photos from the interview show Leung was with Yip Man during the time.

Lineage controversy Some of Yip Man's students, most notably including his eldest son, Yip Chun, and William Cheung have questioned if Leung could be considered a student of Yip Man. Yip Chun, who co-authored the 1981 book 116 Wing Tsun Dummy Techniques with Leung, has publicly stated that his father held a strong dislike for Leung and did not consider him a student. Specifically, Yip Chun stated, '我老豆最憎最嬲係梁挺呢個人!' ('My father dislike this person Leung Ting the most!') and claimed '唔係葉問徒弟' ('He is not Yip Man's student').

Addressing the public disputes and claims, Leung held a public press conference in Hong Kong in May 2010 with notable figures of the Hong Kong Martial arts community to present evidence in support of his training history, including:

Photographic Documentation: Unedited photographs showing Leung Ting alongside Yip Man at private lessons, public martial arts demonstrations, his own wedding, and during the grandmaster's final media interviews. Media and Publication Records: The 1972 feature in New Martial Hero magazine (Issue #56, page 31), identified Leung Ting as a 'closed-door' disciple (封門弟子) during an interview with Yip Man; photographs from that interview show was Leung present alongside the grandmaster.

During the press conference Leung publicly threatened a defamation and slander lawsuit unless he received a public apology. Yip Chun has since remained silent on this matter.

The controversy was further fuelled by allegations that Leung altered a photograph with Yip Man to replace the New Martial Hero editor — which Leung denied claiming that the editor of New Martial Hero had pasted his own head over Leung's for the article.

Evidence from Leung shows the original to be uncropped and at a higher resolution to the magazine's published photo.

Critics have also cited a funeral armband worn by Leung during Yip's funeral as suggesting a second generation rank, though the broader photographic and print record continues to be cited as primary evidence of his direct training under Yip Man. On 29 April 2010, Court of First Instance Judge Darryl Gordon Saw quashed the conviction, ruling that the medical reports supported Leung's account rather than Lip's, and cleared him of all charges.