Sifu Elliot Leung
The Beginning
Sifu Elliot Leung’s formal Wing Chun training began in the early 1970’s with Sifu Peter Chow on Atlantic Street in Stamford. With his brother Wai, Elliot trained diligently for more than two years until their training ended abruptly when Sifu Chow relocated elsewhere. During this time, there were no other Wing Chun schools in CT for them to continue training.
Later, during college, Elliot studied Tang Soo Do in the hopes that it could fill the gaps from his previous Wing Chun training. After reaching the rank of red belt in almost two years, Elliot decided not to take his test for black belt. There was still something missing.
After graduation Elliot began his professional career, first as a COBOL programmer at ZOTOS Int’l in Darien and then as a Software Engineer at Donnelly Marketing Information Services in Stamford. All this time he continued to practice his Wing Chun with his Brother Wai, but the Wing Chun was not complete. There was something missing.
The Search
Changing careers, Elliot went on to be a stock broker, first with Blinder and Robinson Inc on Summer St. In Stamford, then Wall St. for J.T. Moran and Co. A Year after Black Monday in October 1987, Elliot found himself back in Stamford working for Fashion Slippers Inc on West Main St. After two years, he was transferred to the Hong Kong office where he oversaw the manufacturing and design of footwear. While in Hong Kong, Elliot asked his friends and relatives whether there was a Wing Chun School that was reputable. None were recommended because Kung Fu, at the time still had a reputation, though untrue, for attracting the more unsavory crowd. After a brief time working with his brother Wai, on a joint venture project in China, the brothers moved back to the U.S. in 1996.
The brothers again searched for a Wing Chun instructor. This led them to a number of local and not so local organizations that advertised to teach Wing Chun. One school taught “Wing Chun Tai Chi” and “Wing Chun Kick boxing”. After visiting a class and not recognizing any of the fundamentals of Wing Chun, the brothers continued their search. Wai along with a friend, John, went to a school and found the instructor performed part of the first form backwards. The search continued. Another school used almost all joint locks during ‘Sticking Hands’ training. Though the brothers' training in Wing Chun was far from complete, they knew GOOD Wing Chun when they saw it. At this point, the search almost stopped. It was thought that:
“Wing Chun as we know it is dead!’
Or Is It?
In 2002 while working as a Producer at The Advocate, Elliot came upon a phone number in a martial arts magazine. It was under the heading of Wing Tsun in the schools directory and only a contained a phone number. The number appeared to be from Norwalk. After making an appointment with the instructor, Elliot and Wai proceeded to an intro class. While Wai participated, Elliot watched the instructor’s movements and listened to his explanations. Both brothers were so impressed by the knowledge and skill of the instructor that they immediately committed to be his student along with their third and youngest brother, Ryan. The decades search had ended. Now ‘The Leung Brothers’ are proud to call Alex Richter, ‘Sifu’
Elaine Leung, Primary Level Technician (Assistant Instructor)
Elaine Leung was surrounded by martial arts schools while growing up in Hong Kong. However, she had no interest in the martial arts. Instead, like most people, in the then British territory, she spent much of her time working. She held positions in manufacturing in China and corporate offices in Hong Kong. In 1996, Elaine decided to emigrate to the United States.
In 2002 she was introduced to Wing Tsun kung fu by her husband. Still there was no interest in the martial arts. Since her husband and brother in-laws were all involved in kung fu, she was often asked why she was not interested in any martial arts. Her answers would always be a name, “Bruce Lee… I do not like his arrogance in the movies”.
In November of 2008, while Elaine was watching a Wing Tsun class at Club Kung Fu, she thought of a female relative that was admitted to the hospital because she had been severely beaten. It was then that she decided to learn Wing Tsun. With the same work ethic she had in Hong Kong and her no nonsense approach to everyday life, Elaine trained diligently while holding down a full time job and raising two sons. In the past few years Elaine has trained with Great Grand Master Leung Ting, Sifu Lau of Toronto, Sifu Lee in Hong Kong and of course her Sifu, Alex Richter of NYC. She is now one of a handful of assistants that help her husband teach at Club Kung Fu.