Has anyone heard of Leo Fong?

Question

I bought a martial art book from a charity shop called,

Wei Kuen Do ( the psychodynamic art of free fighting ).

Its an old book first published in 1976 through to 1980.

I 've never heard of this guy and the book although only costing £1 seems to be a rip off of Jeet kune Do or am I wrong???

Answer 1

Can't add more than has been said by Allen on the early years.

However....

He was a student and friend of Bruce Lee's during the Oakland years. I believe that it was Bruce who introduced him to Mito Uyehara (owner of Black Belt and publisher of O'Hara books) who published several of his books. Most popular of which is Choy Lee Fut kung fu.  He regularly support Oakland JKD events.  He is now a pastor and is a reknown kung fu historian. He had a real love for boxing as well.

Answer 2

Yes its Mr & mrs Fongs son...

Answer 3

I vaguely remember hearing the name.  The art form of "free fighting" in the Korean sense wasn't a rip off but an interpretation of a combination of Okinawan Karate and Tae Kwon Do by the Japanese military.  (It was meant to move and strike quicker than your opponent)

Sorry I can't give you more info.

Answer 4

Yes.  I began my martial arts training in 1968 (way before OHARA books or any other martial arts books were readily available).  And Leo Fong did a lot of early martial art techniques in Black Belt Magazine which I seriously read.

Leo Fong and Ron Marchini published a book on weight lifting for martial artists called: POWER TRAINING IN KUNG FU AND KARATE (1974) which I purchased and used extensively for my Judo/Jiu-Jitsu weight lifting routine.

Leo Fong did a lot of articles on punching and counterpunching in the BLACK BELT MAGAZINEs of the early '70s.

Answer 5

Yes I have and always meant to buy his combat street fighting book way back in 1982,but got side tracked in karate lol as for the above answerers here is the rest of the story as leo fong did know Bruce lee.

http://www.worldblackbelt.com/Living_Leg...

Best wishes :)***

Answer 6

About Leo Fong

Leo Fong was born in Canton, China and immigrated to the United States at the age of five years old with his mother to join his father in Widener, Arkansas where he ran a small grocery store.  He is a graduate of Forrest City, Arkansas High School. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Physical Education from Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas, a Masters of Theology degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a Masters of Social Work from University of California in Sacramento, California.



His martial arts journey began at the age of 7 years old on his first day of school. Being the only Asian in school, a group of students surrounded him at recess and began to sing racial slurs at him. When he returned home, his father asked him, “How was school?”  Young Fong replied, “Great! Everybody likes me. They even sang to me.” The father asked, “What did they sing?”  He replied, “Ching-chong Chinaman.” The father turned red in the face and said to Leo, “They don't like you. Don't you know they are making fun of your racial heritage?”  Next day at recess, the playground teacher organized a softball game and Leo was designated to play first base. One of the kids hit a single and ended up on first base. He looks at Leo and remarked, “Chink!” Without hesitation Leo punched him in the nose, knocking him to the ground. The playground teacher grabbed Fong by the neck and spanked him. Send him to the office where he had to stand in the hall for two days while other students taunted him.  Unlike his cousins who dropped out of school because of racial intimidation, Leo, choose to remain in school and fight.  As he encountered other bullies, Leo developed an affinity to fighting which landed him in the principal's office regularly. At the age of 12, he bought a boxing book, “The Fundamental Of Boxing” by former world welterweight champion Barney Ross.  Leo, read the book from cover to cover. He hung a pillow in his room as a punching bag and proceeds to follow the instructions in the book.  The instructions he practiced from the Barney Ross book help refined his punching skills and he was able to defend himself quite effectively. He learned early from the instructions in the book that the left jab and left hook were very effective punches. Bullies who came to him with racist attitude and aggressive wild swings were destined to be knocked out by jabs and hooks. He learned early that a left jab could set up for a left hook or a right cross. With those three punches Leo Fong prevailed against school ground bullies. He had his first formal boxing match at the age of l5 years old.  He lost a close decision but learned much from fighting in front of an audience.  After graduating from High School Leo enrolled in Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas to study for the ministry.  It was at Hendrix he joined the boxing team and received his first formal boxing lessons from an old professional fighter by the name of Kirby “KO” Donoho.  In his first year of competition Leo won 7 of his first 8 fights. He scored 5 first round knockouts. All with his left hook.