Wong Shun Leung was a Hong Kong martial artist from Hong Kong who studied Wing Chun kung fu under Ip Man and was credited with training Bruce Lee. In interviews, Wong claimed to have won at least 60, and perhaps over 100, street fights against martial artists of various styles, though these numbers cannot be independently confirmed.Due to his reputation, his students and admirers referred to him as ‘Gong Sau Wong’ (‘King of Talking Hands’). Wong recorded one instructional film entitled Wing Chun: The science of in-fighting.

Wong reportedly trained in several martial art styles in his youth, primarily in Tai Chi and either boxing or kickboxing. He abandoned boxing because of two incidents: one with his boxing coach and one with Ip Man. The first incident apparently occurred because Wong accidentally struck his boxing coach during sparring. The angry coach attacked in earnest, only to be eventually knocked out by Wong; the incident caused Wong to leave boxing. In another account, however, Wong said he had defeated his boxing coach with wing chun techniques: “I was sparring with my instructor and I hit him very hard, he got real mad and came at me very hard. I fought back with wing chun and he ended up bleeding. Boxing was over for me!”

The second incident came about from Wong’s fascination with the stories of legendary wing chun figures, such as Chan Wah-shun and Leung Jan. This interest led Wong to look for a wing chun teacher. Friends of his older brother took him to meet Ip Man. According to one version of events, after defeating at least two of Yip’s students, Wong had a match with Yip himself and was defeated easily. Another version is that after Wong faced Lo Man Kam, later Yip Po Ching dealt with Wong. In any case, Wong joined the wing chun group and eventually came to assist Yip with teaching, with students including Bruce Lee.

Grandmaster Ip Man once spoke to Wong after Lee achieved superstardom (Without your guidance and encouragement, Bruce Lee wouldn’t be having such achievement”.

Bruce Lee once wrote in a letter to Wong, “Even though I am (technically) a student of Ip Man, in reality I learned my Kung-fu from you.” Wong was believed to have carried the letter in his wallet. Perhaps the best-known letter from Lee to Wong is that of 11 January 1970, which has been translated into English as an appendix to an article by Wong.

In 1970 Bruce Lee wrote a letter in Chinese to Wong Shun-Leung :

Dear Shun-Leung, Jan. 11, 1970

It has been a long time since I last wrote to you. How are you? Alan Shaw’s letter from Canada asks me to lend you my 8mm film. I am sorry about that. It is because I have lost it when I moved my home. That film is already very old and I seldom use it, so I have lost it. I am sorry for it. Now I have bought a house in Bel-Air. It is about half an acre. There are many trees. It has the taste of a range. It is located on a hill top near Beverly Hills. Moreover, besides my son Brandon, I have had a daughter, Shannon, who is seven months old now. Have you re-married ? Please send my regards to your sisters. Recently, I have organised a film production company. I have also written a story “The Silent Flute”. James Coburn and I will act in it. Stirling Silliphant is the screen-play writer. He is a famous screen-play writer (In the Heat of the Night). We plan to make the first fighting film in Hollywood. The prospect is good. About six months later, the filming work will begin. All who participate in this film are my followers. In the future, Steve McQueen may also work together with me.

I am very excited about this plan. As to martial arts, I still practice daily. I meet my students and friends twice a week. No matter they are western boxer, Taekwondo learner or wrestler, I will meet them as long as they are friendly and will not get angry. Since I started to practice realistically in 1966 (Protectors, gloves, etc.), I feel that I had many prejudices before, and they are wrong. So I change the name of the gist of my study to Jeet-kune-do. Jeet-kune-do is only a name. The most important thing is to avoid having bias in the training. Of course, I run everyday, I practice my instruments (punch, kick, throw, etc.). I have to raise the basic conditions daily. Although the principle of boxing is important, practicality is even more important. I thank you and Master for teaching me the ways of Wing Chun in Hong Kong. Actually, I have to thank you for leading me to walk on a practical road. Especially in the States, there are western boxers, I often practice with them too. There are many so-called masters in Wing Chun here, I really hope that they will not be so arrogant as to fight with those western boxers.

I may make a trip to Hong Kong. I hope that you will live in the same place. We are intimate friends, we need to meet more and chat about our past days. That will be a lot of fun? When you see Master Yip, please send my regard to him. Happiness be with you!

Some sources claim that Wong choreographed some fight scenes in Enter the Dragon, saying that “… when shooting Enter the Dragon in Hong Kong, he [Bruce Lee] invited Wong to come on location to discuss the fight scenes” and that “Wong in fact had been invited to choreograph some of the fight scenes in Enter the Dragon.” The documentary Dragon since 1973 consists of interviews with various Hong Kong personalities, mostly those who worked with Lee in his Golden Harvest days. None of the interviewees, including Bee Chan (one of Lee’s most trusted assistants), Shek Kin, and Chaplin Chang, mentioned that Wong had been invited to work as a fight scene choreographer for Enter the Dragon.

A photograph of Wong, Lee, and Raymond Chow on one of the sets of Enter the Dragon (the weapon room) implies that Wong was present during filming. Wong appears in the same clothing in that photograph as he wears in the footage of himself sparring with an extra on that particular set, and thus could have been from the time when Wong attended a screen test for Game of Death, as described below.

The transcript below is from the video “Wan Kam Leung recalls Bruce lee fighting with Wong Shun Leung” by Po-Wei Chen.

Po-Wei Chen (YouTube Channel):

“He is the best student of Master Wong Shun Leung.  He witnessed his master fought with Bruce Lee.”

Wan Kam Leung (Grandmaster Chinese martial artist and Qi Gong practitioner who developed & teaches Practical Wing Chun):

The place was Bruce’s home at Kowloon Tong, they did a demonstration.  Master Wong suggested that.  His hands were fast acting.  At that time, I was there.  Luckily, he asked me to go with him.  When we arrived, they were demonstrating.  Bruce Lee kicked, my master fought with hands.  They argued.  One said he stopped fast but attacked slowly.  One said his kick was fast.  So they fought at home.

Wan Kam Leung (Grandmaster Chinese martial artist and Qi Gong practitioner who developed & teaches Practical Wing Chun):

Bruce Lee kicked, of course.  His kick was really beautiful.  It’s really fast.  He kicked and turned fast.  My master was a great martial art master, too.  He always taught us straight fist, but his punch wasn’t that straight.  It wasn’t straight when he fought with others.  I saw him intending to attack Bruce’s leg but the punches were not straight.  They fight a short time.  My master said Bruce Lee’s kick was really powerful.

Wan Kam Leung (Grandmaster Chinese martial artist and Qi Gong practitioner who developed & teaches Practical Wing Chun):

When I had a screen test with him in Golden Harvest, he was very active. He didn’t calm down much. When they changed the set, he did things, which was not related to the shooting, say he poked with other people, acted as Master Wong Fei-Hung. He acted well. He should be proud of that. It proved that he was born to be an actor. Foreigners accept the school of Wing Chun more.

Wan Kam Leung (Grandmaster Chinese martial artist and Qi Gong practitioner who developed & teaches Practical Wing Chun):

They came a long way to China to learn Kung Fu because they think Bruce Lee is a symbol of Wing Chun School of Kung Fu, because of Bruce Lee, famous too Wing Chun became.  Many of my students came from abroad.  They came because they are Bruce Lee’s fans.  This is a proud deed done by Bruce Lee.