1968年表演,前排正中為標指王梁相先師,最後排右二為梁錦棠師傅。

【跑友愛詠春】梁錦棠詠春師傅專訪(一):自小聽盡葉問威水史! (English version)

上文提要。Mary開始義教詠春之後,跑友們均熱衷學習,看得出香港人對詠春十分之熱愛和景仰。故我上了館找Mary的師父梁錦棠先生做了一個專訪。

*Please scroll down for the English version

現今在詠春界的殿堂人物當中,除了一代宗師葉問的兒子葉準和葉正之外,梁錦棠師傅也絕對是其中一位重量級人物。1943年在香港出生的梁師傳,師承標指王梁相先師,梁相則為葉問的第一批入室弟子。梁師傳雖年屆76,但因自小習武,故身體仍非常壯健而且身手敏捷。梁師傅告訴我他之所以習詠春是因為受爺爺所感染,他說爺爺自小便帶他到蓮香飲茶,飲茶的時候爺爺經常和茶客聊天,說來自佛山的葉問打詠春相當耍家,所以自小便聽了很多葉問的威水史。

1968年表演,前排正中為標指王梁相先師,最後排右二為梁錦棠師傅。
1968年表演,前排正中為標指王梁相先師,最後排右二為梁錦棠師傅。

梁師傅出來在車廠工作之後,因經常有爛鬼來搞事,所以他爸爸便安排一位非常有名的洪拳師傅,在收工後教他們一大班學師打洪拳。但學了洪拳一年多之後,爺爺就鼓勵他還是學詠春較好,因詠春是以弱制強以柔制剛的功夫,所以較適合他個子比較細小的學習。

四年之後他轉當酒店營業代表,因越戰關係,當時大量美軍來香港度假,他負責接待這些美軍,而當時有一些類似黃牛黨的飛仔,經常恐嚇他要交出這些美軍讓他們帶往別的地方消費來賺取佣金,如果不交出來的話便不客氣,自此之後他便下定決心要學好詠春來防身。

左為梁錦棠師傅
左為梁錦棠師傅

梁師傅在1962年便正式拜梁相為師,他記得當年詠春又叫少爺拳,原因是學詠春的學費一般較其他功夫高一倍,一般打工仔是沒有能力學的。梁師傅說他在初學的時候大約40至50元一個月,而一般功夫只需要20元。主要原因是教詠春經常要單對單教導,例如黐手便需要親自教授。梁師傅說他們年輕時,一般年輕人都愛練功夫作為消閒娛樂,當時門派之間切磋是十分普遍,輸贏都不會記仇,但也有一些不是比武這麼簡單。梁師傅說他在廿多歲時轉到啟德機場做,當時有十多個黃牛黨來搞事,恐嚇他要介紹生意給他們並喊打喊殺,但他一於少理。有一次他下班的時候遇到這班人其中三個埋伏,他們可能以為梁師傅容易欺負,結果給梁師傅三兩下便打低,自此之後的三十多年,同事都封梁師傅外號做「師傅堂」。

梁錦棠師傅示範打木人樁
梁錦棠師傅示範打木人樁
梁錦棠師傅示範標指
梁錦棠師傅示範標指

梁師傅說以前比武拳拳到肉不會帶甚麼裝備,他說以往就算在街頭打架,原來只要雙方都承認打架,警方便會充公保釋金然後放人,並不會留有案底。他說葉問宗師名下有四大高手,分別為他師傅標指王梁相、尋橋王駱耀、念頭王徐尚田、講手王黃淳樑。而在詠春界裏面有一個講法,標指不出門,因標指力貫四指就如一把利刀具有大攻擊力,所以詠春師傅一般要看徒弟的品行才會教標指。眾所周知李小龍打遍天下無敵手,梁師傅說李小龍當時已經成為國際巨星,但經常會找他師傅梁相和黃淳樑切磋武藝,我估李小龍應該找不到近水平的對手練習,所以才找梁相和黃淳樑練習。原來在49年解放後,國內一直嚴禁教導及練習詠春,梁師傅說大約直到1970年才解禁,我估計應該是詠春這門功夫太厲害所致。

原文載於《經濟通》。感謝作者馮華添、盧楚仁授權轉載。

English version:

[RUNNERS LOVE WING CHUN] INTERVIEW WITH MASTER LEUNG KUM TONG WING CHUN (1): I HAVE HEARD IP MAN’S HISTORY SINCE CHILDHOOD!

As mentioned before, Mary began to teach Wing Chun, the runners are delighted to learn which reflects how much the Hong Kong people love and admire Wing Chun. Therefore, I interviewed her teacher, Mr. Leung Kum Tong.

Among the figures of God’s class at Wing Chun, Master Leung Kum Tong is certainly one of the heavyweights besides Ip Chun and Ip Ching, sons of Ip Man, the Great Master of Wing Chun. Born in 1943 in Hong Kong, Master Leung Kum Tong is trained under the King of Biu Tze, the late Master Leung Sheung who was the first batch of disciples of the late Great Master Ip Man. Although Master Leung Kum Tong is now 76 years old, he is still very strong and competent because he has been practicing martial arts since childhood. Master Leung Kum Tong told me that he learned Wing Chun because his grandfather had infected him by taking him to Lin Heung Tea House, where he overheard a lot about the extraordinary martial arts history of Ip Man who was a great playmaker in Foshan’s Wing Chun since he was a child.

While working in a car repair center that had always been the target of bad guys looking for trouble, his father arranged for a very famous teacher from Hung Kuen to teach him and his colleagues on how to defend themselves after work. However, after studying Hung Kuen for over a year, his grandfather encouraged him to learn Wing Chun, because Wing Chun is a Kung Fu that makes the weak control the strong and the soft grip harder, it is more suitable for a small and delicate person like him.

1968年表演,前排正中為標指王梁相先師,最後排右二為梁錦棠師傅。
The photo was taken in a performance in 1968. In the middle of the front row was the King of Biu Tze, the Late Master Leung Sheung, and the second from the right in the last row, Master Leung Kum Tong.

Four years later, he became a hotel sales representative. Due to the Vietnam War, a large number of American troops arrived in Hong Kong for vacation. He was responsible for the accommodation of these American troops. At that time, there were crooks who often threatened him to hand over these American troops and took them elsewhere to earn consumer commissions. If he disobeyed, he would be beaten up. Since then, he determined to learn Wing Chun to defend himself.

左為梁錦棠師傅
Master Leung Kum Tong on the left.

Master Leung was formally trained under Leung Sheung as in 1962. He remembers that Wing Chun was also called Young Master Kuen because the tuition fees to learn Wing Chun were generally twice as high as those of other Kung Fu. In general, wage earners were unaffordable to learn. Master Leung said that when he was a beginner, he paid about HK$40-50 per month, while general Kung Fu only cost HK$20. The main reason is that Wing Chun is often taught individually. Master Leung said that when they were young, younger people liked to practice Kung Fu as a leisure activity. Back then, duels were very common, and there was no revenge to win or lose, but some were not as simple as martial arts. Master Leung said that he was transferred to Kai Tak Airport at the age of twenty. At that time, there were more than a dozen crooks who were threatening him to turn the business over to them, but he was less worried. Once, when he encountered three of these crooks in an ambush while away from work, they might have thought that Master Leung was being bullied. As a result, Master Leung severely beat them. Since then, more than thirty years later, his colleagues have called him “Master Tong”.

梁錦棠師傅示範打木人樁
Master Leung demonstrates wooden dummy techniques.
梁錦棠師傅示範標指
Master Leung demonstrates Biu Tze