Self-Protection Archive
Joseph Cheng
Salim wrote: Joseph Cheng was a legend amongst the
wing chun community in the 80's in England. Please tell me about his skill
and is he still alive?
what is your opinion of the other wing chun teachers?
Steve wrote: I met Joseph in 1970 after being
sacked from the LKK and effectively quitting karate. He gave me an insight
into something much more substantial than the karate I'd been practicing.
Out of that, through his knowledge of the Fujian systems, he identified
goju-ryu as an offshoot. This encouraged me to begin what would be a 30 year
research into the Fujian systems and their connection to Goju-ryu.
Joseph was a very charismatic person. He was a great performer and his Wing
Chun skills were second to none. I'll always fondly remember him. I think he
introduced me to everybody in Chinatown who was anybody! Really great guy.
In fact, when I got Earlham Street in 1972 I made him head of the Wing Chun
division, and we parted company in around 1975 when the club was
full-contact and I think Joseph was getting security work with Arabian
princes.
I heard some years ago from Yap Leong that he was dead. The circumstances of
his death as I understand them, are tragic. But I don't know the full
details, and if anybody does, I would prefer they don't post them publicly
out of respect.
He was a great martial artist, and when I got the news I was gutted.
I don't know whether this is common knowledge, but Joseph was also a great
magician. He'd apparently worked in a circus, he could juggle and do all
sorts of things.
One of my fondest memories was when he invited me to train with Lee Sim, who
ran a restaurant in Chinatown. We were really close.
I'm working on an updated bio for my website, and I'll be writing more about
Joseph in that.
With regard to the other part of your question. I only knew Joseph Cheng,
and I knew of Paul Lam and Victor Khan, who were also great Wing Chun
practitioners. But having left Wing Chun behind in 1975 I really haven't
followed the current trend.
