Grandmaster Moy Yat
師太公梅逸
One of Ip Man's closest disciples was Grandmaster Moy Yat (梅逸, 1938-2001), whom he was first introduced to in 1957. For 15 years, Moy Yat kept a close relationship with Ip Man in Hong-Kong, living the "Kung Fu Life". It was at this time that he learned from Ip Man the principles and deeper aspects of Ving Tsun. He eventually became one of Ip Man's top disciples.
In 1973, after Ip Man's death (1972), Grandmaster Moy Yat migrated from Hong-Kong to the United States where he began teaching kung fu in New York City's Chinatown. Moy Yat would soon develop a loyal following of students, many of whom had sought him out to learn authentic kung fu. Just as Ip Man had done, GrandMaster Moy Yat followed his master's example and used the same traditional method to teach his own students.
He instilled upon his students the importance of "Kung Fu Life", the use of the Ving Tsun principles in everyday life. He always said that Ving Tsun kung fu can best be learned outside the classroom.
Grandmaster Moy Yat is still well respected in the community, as a kung fu teacher and as an accomplished artist. His paintings, calligraphy and stone carvings can be seen throughout his Chinatown school, as well as in art shows which were held regularly in the city.
Grandmaster Moy Yat retired from teaching physical kung fu on his 60ᵗʰ birthday (1998), but before retiring he placed his efforts in preparing some of his main disciples to preserve the Ving Tsun System and his legacy. To this day, this is our work and our challenge. He continued to teach the principles of kung fu through "Kung Fu Life", as well as teaching art and massage up until his passing, in 2001.
"Kung Fu without a system is not Kung Fu,
but Kung Fu that depends on a system is not good Kung Fu."
— Grandmaster Moy Yat
The symbol of the Moy Yat clan is the plum flower, a design in red created by him, with the white chinese character Yat (逸) in the middle, stylized to resemble the central structures of a real plum flower.
Grandmaster Moy Yat was truly able to spread Ving Tsun throughout the world. His disciples are now teaching the system in their own schools in many cities in the United States, and also all around the world, with schools as far reaching as Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and now Ireland.
We work to transmit Ving Tsun using the same principles as passed to us through our family, starting with the patriarchs in China, including Ip Man, passing through Grandmaster Moy Yat and his schools in the USA, then arriving in Brazil through Senior Master Leo Imamura (São Paulo) and Senior Master Anderson Maia (Belo Horizonte), and now coming to Dublin with Daniel Balparda (Moy Ba Daat).