Frank Yee (Yee Chi Wai)

Frank Yee (Yee Chi Wai)

Master Frank Yee 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. Master 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. Master 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
Kong Wing Kao

Of all the disciples of Master Yuen Ling, only Frank Yee has dedicated himself to teaching Tang Fong Hung Ga.
Master 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.

In 1968, Master 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, Master 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, Master 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 Unites 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 medals.

Master 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.

In 1997, Master 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 elevated his skill level 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. Master 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. Through 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.

To spread Wong Fei Hung’s Hung Ga and traditional kung fu, Master 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 Unites 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.