It was an honor to be invited to the Seattle Kung Fu Club’s 60th Anniversary celebration in Seattle, Washington. Even better was that we were able to celebrate Grandmaster John S.S. Leong’s 86th birthday at the same time. Gigi and I attended Grandmaster’s Leong’s 80th birthday party 6 years ago and had a wonderful time, and we were excited to travel north to see our friends again.
More than 400 people came to the China Harbor Restaurant to celebrate what Grandmaster Leong founded 60 years ago. Leong was originally from Guangzhou, China, and immigrated to the USA he was 25 years old. He established the Seattle Kung Fu Club in 1963, and it has occupied the same location for the past 60 years. It’s in a building above the Kau Kau B.B.Q. Restaurant, and there’s a shop below that sells martial arts gear and curios. Grandmaster Leong graced the 100th issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine – JAN+FEB 2008.
I had the honor of sitting with Grandmaster Leong, his wife, and three daughters, as well as Grandmaster Lily Lau, from San Francisco. You could feel admiration and love for Seattle Kung Fu Club and Grandmaster Leong amongst all the attendees.
The event was put on by Grandmaster Leong’s son, Master Robin Leong backed by a dedicated team from the Seattle Kung Fu Club. Between toasts, the audience was entertained by demonstrations and videos of congratulations and birthday wishes. One of the videos was a news segment from KIRO 7 in Seattle. It was such a great piece documenting the achievements of Grandmaster and Seattle Kung Fu Club.
Highlighting the event was performances from a group of Canadian Kung Fu masters, Seattle Kung Fu Club members (some of which had been training for over 40 years), and THREE generation of Leongs. Margaret Hammond, Barbara Ford, and Paula Nelson performed a wonderful Tai Chi Sword. Seattle Police Captain Pierre Davis, who has been at the club for 48 years performed the Kwan Do. Actor Marc Singer (THE BEASTMASTER, 1982, V 1983-5, ARROW, 2014-5) who has been with the club since1969 (54 years!) gave a heartfelt speech and performed as well. Grandmaster Leong’s grandsons, Brady and Lucas performed, followed by their father Robin Leong, and the man himself, Grandmaster Leong, all in front of a delighted audience.
The Leong’s also know about giving back to the community. At each of their events they make sure to donate to charitable causes. This event was no different. On behalf of Leong family, donations were made to the Wing Luke Asian Museum, The University of Washington Department of Asian Languages and Literature, Kin On Nursing Home, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The Seattle Kung Fu Club had long established their place in Seattle. Grandmaster Leong still teaches there. He still trains for an hour there every day. With deep roots in the Seattle community that will continue to grow, the Seattle Kung Fu Club will live long into the future.
To celebrate Grandmaster John S.S. Leong’s 86 birthday and his Seattle Kung Fu Club’s 60th Anniversary, over 400 guests, many of whom were Kung Fu Masters, came to congratulate Grandmaster Leong.To add to the many U.S. Masters and students’ excellent demos, the Canadian Masters and students also respectfully performed the following Kung Fu forms:
1) Master Paul Lam, disciple of the Great Grandmaster Mok Gui Lan, wife of the fabled Kung Fu icon Great Grandmaster Wong Fei Hung, performed a Hung Gar combined set with moves from Tiger and Crane and Tame The Tiger (Gong Ji) forms;
2) Master Raymond Cheung performed a Hung Gar combined set with moves taken from the Iron Wire and Tame The Tiger forms;
3) Master Wing Ip performed a Wing Chun, Hung Gar and Bak Mei combined form;
4) Master Dennis Kwan performed a Dragon Sign form “Lung Ying Mor Kiu”;
5) Bak Mei Style Master Wilkie Wu’s student Heidi Tang performed “Sam Mun Kune”;
6) Master Wilkie Wu’ student Donald Zhou performed “Dai Zhen Guan” staff form;
7) Master Wilkie Wu’s student Stephene Ferre performed “Sup Zhi Kune”;
8) Donald and Stephane performed Spear vs. Staff fighting set;
9) Master Wilkie Wu’s assistant instructor Sifu Dennis Tan performed “9 Step Push” Bak Mei Kung Fu;
10) Sifu Andrew Chan demonstrated practical applications of Bak Mei Style Kung Fu.
The above demos were arranged and respectfully narrated by Master Ken Low, President of Wushu B. C.
