DURING his childhood, he grew up idolising the legendary action star Bruce Lee, who was one of the greatest Hong Kong American martial artists and actors.
Aaron Boey could not believe that his admiration for Bruce Lee’s martial art prowess would one day lead him to pursue the Ip Man Wing Chun style of kung fu and become the Ip Man Wing Chun Penang Sifu chief instructor.
The soft-spoken Boey took up martial art decades ago, starting with taekwondo in 1993. He then went on to learn the ‘Monkey Style Kung Fu’ in 1998.
His love for martial art was so strong that it took him to Hong Kong to learn the skills from Wing Chun grandmaster Samuel Kwok.
Speaking to Buletin Mutiara during a recent interview, Boey recalled that he went through a lot of hardship while learning the martial art, pointing out that it was really an ‘uphill task’ when he got started.
“You need to have passion and perseverance to learn or else you would give up halfway! I would say that we can build our self-confidence by practising martial arts. It gives us strength and helps us to develop fearlessness, especially among the young people.
“Chinese martial arts are not only about skills and techniques but they evoke a spirit of passing the knowledge from one generation to another.
“Hence, Chinese martial art also enables us to value and appreciate the kind gesture of our tradition,” he said when interviewed at his martial art school in Jalan Kebun Nyiur, Datuk Keramat.
During the session, Boey repeatedly emphasised the importance of being equipped with basic martial art skills.
“Whichever martial art – be it boxing, taekwondo or karate – all of them have their own benefits. The purpose of us learning them is to ensure that we can at least protect ourselves when anything unexpectedly occurs. We may not be a great fighter but it may help us when in need.
“It also helps to strengthen our body,” he said.
When the ‘Ip Man’ series of movies were aired in cinemas, Wing Chun martial arts gained immense popularity.
Boey pointed out that back then, many people would visit his martial art school to enquire about Wing Chun.
“They were obsessed with the films’ main actor Donnie Yen and wanted to be like him!” he said in jest.
Sharing his journey of learning martial arts, he said that he had become a responsible person after all these years.
“When I was small and weak, I was frequently bullied by my classmates.
“However, thanks to Wing Chun martial art, I began to change a lot from being a weak personality to a better and confident person,” he added.
Besides Samuel Kwok, Boey said he had specially flown all the way to Hong Kong to seek guidance and ‘tips’ from the late Ip Ching, who is the son of Ip Man.
“When I went to Hong Kong, my intention was to have a face-to-face interaction with Ip Ching and I wanted to improve my martial art skills.
“I had spent a few thousand dollars on my flight tickets, accomodation and meals. However, I did not have any regrets as I was able to learn ‘something extra’ from my late sifu.
“The money was well spent,” he said, describing it as an opportunity that came once in a lifetime.
On the local martial arts scene, Boey expressed hopes that more young people would take up the initiative of learning martial arts for self-defence.
“Just treat it as an exercise or sport to get yourself active and moving,” he advised.
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix courtesy of Aaron Boey