About GM Ho Kam Ming
Grandmaster Ho Kam Ming
A young Master Ho Kam Ming and His Wing Chun teacher, GM Yip Man, circa 1962
Grandmaster Ho Kam Ming is one of Yip Man's best disciples. He devoted his life to studying and refining the art of Wing Chun and he is one of the few men who completed the entire system under Grandmaster Yip Man.
Grandmaster Ho was held in high regard by Yip Man. He spent three and a half years to learn the whole system from Yip Man, after which he helped teach his classes for another three and a half years. It was during this time when he learned the most advanced skills privately from Yip Man. The majority of students followed Yip Man for less than two years.
Above: Grandmaster Ho and his students in Macau. Late Grandmaster Yip Man
is sitting at the center by the left hand side of Grandmaster Ho.
During the seven years Grandmaster Ho was with Yip Man, he trained Wing Chun in the school for at least four hours every day, without taking a single day off. Needless to say, he developed a very
close personal relationship with Yip Man. After seven years of dedicated training, Grandmaster Ho
opened his own Wing Chun school in Macau and the Ho Kam Ming Ving Tsun Association was established.
Unlike many other Wing Chun instructors who chose to teach on a part time basis, Grandmaster Ho
taught Wing Chun full time. Passing down the art has been his life's work since that time.
Above: Another group photo of Late Grandmaster Yip Man, Grandmaster Ho, and his students.
Back in the 1960's and 70's, in addition to teaching Ving Tsun for self-defense, Grandmaster Ho also
trained professional Ving Tsun fighters. His full contact Ving Tsun teams fought in martial arts
tournaments throughout southeast Asia and they had achieved considerable recognition.
During the mid-60's, as the reputation of the school grew, a famous Chinese martial arts
school from Hong Kong called for a formal challenge. Challenge, back then, was a very
serious matter since it was a good way to establish a good reputation.
Although the challenging school had fought and won over a hundred contests in this manner,
they lost completely in this match.
Above: Grandmaster Ho's student who won the full contact fighting championship.
Another notable match was related to the setup of the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Association
(HKCMAA). Tang Sang, the organizer of HKCMAA, received a challenge from the already
established Chinese Martial Arts Association (CMAA). CMAA would send out three fighters from
China, and Tang could pick three fighters from any kind of Chinese martial arts locally in
Hong Kong. Tang Sang could setup the HKCMAA only if two of his men won in this three matches game.
While no fighters were willing to participate, Tang Sang at last turned to Yip Man for help.
The only thing that Yip Man told him was: "give a phone call to Ho Kam Ming in Macau.
Here I have no fighters for you, but you can see if he can help you.". Three part time fighters were
then sent by Grandmaster Ho. The fights were held in the Hong Kong city hall,
and it was being broadcasted live on TV. Of no surprises, Grandmaster Ho's students
won all three matches and HKCMAA was setup afterward.
In the late 1970's, Grandmaster Ho retired from teaching Ving Tsun publicly.
Today, Grandmaster Ho is 95 years old, and his passion towards Ving Tsun has only grown.