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Between the 9th and 11th of October, Wing Tsun London had the honour of hosting a seminar led by 10th Level Grandmaster SiKung Norbert Máday — for the second time this year. Just like the first seminar, which coincided with the London school’s 10-year anniversary, this one was again paired with a special event: a book launch.

The Book of Ancestors is extraordinary in many ways. It combines carefully considered, AI-assisted imagery that brings the legendary figures of Wing Tsun history to life, blending them with real photographs and historical illustrations. It is both an imaginative work of art and a remarkable summary of the Grandmaster’s 40 years of research and experience in martial arts.

Having attended many seminars and camps led by SiKung Máday, I can say with confidence that I’ve never experienced anything quite like this most recent one. Neither has our school leader, SiFu Ferenc Kovács, who has been practising for over 25 years.

One of the greatest joys of these events is listening to SiKung Máday speak. This time, he talked about Ng Mui, the Shaolin nun who created Wing Tsun, describing her as an architect. I also remember him once calling her “the Leonardo da Vinci of the East.” He spoke about the connection between the forms, numbers, and logic — about the brilliance of the founding masters, whose ingenuity we can barely grasp. Yet through the faithful practice of Wing Tsun, we can, in a sense, converse with them through our hands and movements. He likened performing the forms to drawing mysterious symbols — a kind of martial calligraphy. According to tradition, truly great masters of the art do not die; they merely leave their bodies.

To the masters’ group, he spoke in depth about Biu Jee — which, as we know, “does not leave the house,” so I can’t comment further.

Lately, I’ve been feeling more and more that practising Wing Tsun is not only a physical discipline but also a spiritual journey. This recent seminar has certainly reinforced that feeling in me. SiKung’s words have really hit home this time