Dear Brad,

To understand what a disciple is about is sometimes hard to understand. As a student one pays money to the teacher for his lessons. A disciple is different. Disciple goes back a long way in very old days. In Chinese we say (spelling - I am not sure of)Tin,Day,Guaun,Chun,Si. Tin is the god in the sky, Day is the god in the earth, Guaun is the emperor, Chun is the parents and Si is the SiFu or teacher (a disciple's teacher).

If your parents tell you to do something and the emperor forbids it then you cannot do it. If the SiFu tells you to do something and the parents forbid it then it cannot be done. So, there are levels to obedience. However, if there is nothing around as say you are in charge of something or you loose your parents then the SiFu represents them. A SiFu is like a father substitute for the Disciple and the Disciple is like a son to the SiFu. It is a binding relationship for life. The SiFu is bound to teach everything he knows and is NOT limited to martial arts. The disciple is like a child minding his parents. It has nothing to do with money. During the ceremony of becoming a disciple it is customary to offer something but it can be $1 or one million or something else. The point is what is offered is whatever is felt is necessary. Never is a SiFu to request and amount for a disciple. This is only tradition, culture.

For me personally, I do not want any more obligations now; therefore, am not interested in taking on any more disciples. Maybe if someone were very worthy I would consider it. When I offer an instructor course for $15,000.00 I am willing to make one an instructor with my full backing and help him develop a school and become a qualified teacher. This is much different than becoming a disciple. I am NOT offering to make anyone a disciple for any money. Sometimes a disciple may not be the best in Wing Chun, it just means that I care for him and am bound and committed to him for a lifetime as I would be to my own son even if his interest was to develop elsewhere.

Thank you for writing.

SiFu Leung

SiFu Leung