Grandmaster Frank Yee
Grandmaster Frank Yee (Yee Chi Wai) started his kung fu training with his father at the early age of six. He began his formal Tang Fong Hung Ga kung fu training under the tutelage of Grandmaster Yuen Ling, who was a disciple of Tang Fong, who in turn, was a disciple of the legendary Wong Fei Hung. Grandmaster Yee immersed himself in his Hung Ga training and studied intensively and diligently under the watchful eye of his sifu, Yuen Ling. After years and years of dedicated studying, he was rewarded with the Bai See ceremony and became a disciple to his sifu. Grandmaster Yuen Ling also had other disciples who were notable for their Hung Ga kung fu skills: Do Duk Sun, Tsui Hung Bao, Fok Siu Jong, Yuen Yao Chin, Lee Siu Fong, Chiu Sien Jee, Yu Ja Cho, Deng Sing Ging, Yuen Kai Chi, and Kong Wing Kao.
Of all the disciples of Grandmaster Yuen Ling, only Grandmaster Yee has dedicated himself to teaching Tang Fong Hung Ga. Grandmaster Yee also studied Dit Da medicine under the direction of Doctor Sit Chuk Sing, who was famous for his medicinal skills and whose family was renowned for having been the personal physicians to the Imperial Ching Emperor of China for four generations.
Of all the disciples of Grandmaster Yuen Ling, only Frank Yee has dedicated himself to teaching Tang Fong Hung Ga.
In 1968, Grandmaster Yee emigrated from Hong Kong to Montreal, Canada. Soon after, he went to Toronto where he earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from George Brown University. During this period in Canada, in addition to working and going to school, he taught Hung Ga kung fu at George Brown University, the Jong Ting Association, and the Hung Moon Association.
In 1973, Grandmaster Yee arrived in New York City’s Chinatown and established Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu Academy. In addition to teaching at his kung fu school, Grandmaster Yee has also taught at Long Island University and Columbia University. With over 30 years of teaching, he currently has students all over the world. There are Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu branches in Toisan China, Europe, Canada and the United States. Over the decades, Yee’s Hung Ga has competed in countless local, national, and international tournaments, winning thousands of medals including over a thousand gold.
Grandmaster Yee was one of the founding fathers of the Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation and has served as its President, Vice-President and Secretary. At the request of the Toisan City government in China, he is currently the President of the Toisan Kung Fu Association, overseeing martial arts activities for the city of Toisan. He also serves as an advisor to the Wong Fei Hung Museum in Fatsan, China as well as the coach of the museum's Traditional Kung Fu Division.
To spread Wong Fei Hung’s Hung Ga and traditional kung fu, Grandmaster Yee inaugurated the Wong Fei Hung Northeastern All Kung Fu Championship tournament in 1996. It has grown each year, attracting over 500 competitors from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Asia, with over 136 divisions including traditional kung fu, modern wushu, fighting, Shuai Jiao, Ba Gua and Tai Chi.
Grandmaster Yee recently developed and starred in a very popular Chinese TV series teaching the basics of Hung Ga.
In 1997, Grandmaster Yee spent 9 months in China immersing himself in his Hung Ga training. It was during this period of intensive self-evaluation that he raised his consciousness of what Hung Ga kung fu can be and his skill levels are elevated to new heights. It was also from this self-clarity that his goals were established; he created the Toisan City Toi Sing Kung Fu Association where he teaches traditional Southern kung fu and lion dance. Grandmaster Yee accepts only those students who show a commitment to learning and who are of high moral character. He provides living quarters, equipment and training to his students free of charge. From this school, he works to revive traditional Southern kung fu in China in the face of the onslaught of wushu. It is due to his dedication that the people of Southern China are being reintroduced to and are embracing traditional kung fu once again. Grandmaster Yee also regularly travels to the USA to adminster promotion testing and to hold seminars for his disciples and their students.
Grandmaster Yee has passed down the entire Hung Ga system to Sifu Peter Berman Yee, his most senior disciple and head instructor at Yee's Hung Ga Brooklyn.
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