I had an interesting conversation couple of days ago with some wing chun practitioners . We talked about usual subjects and of course Yip Man and Bruce Lee were mentioned , and again ,I said some facts about them which were not taken well . They said I have no respect to my ancestors . I said I do , I actually have great respect to my ancestors , in my culture there are four religious holidays dedicated to ancestors and I follow them all , even more I pray for them every day . Unfortunately there is no Orthodox Church here in Tainan so I cannot go light the candle and leave their names to the priest so he can also mention them on the service but I do what I can. Like most old, traditional culutures , mine care dearly for the ancestors and we keep the memory of them alive for generations , I know my ancestors with 100 % certainty since 11th century and some records show my ancestors line as far as 8th centuy AD.
They were totally surprised with my answer , they said they were thinking about Yip Man . Well , Yip Man was not my grandfather , I have no blood connection to Yip family so why should he suppose to have special treatment ? Why should I respect him like he is my ancestor . They said I should respect him as wing chun master . I asked why? I do not practice his style . They said it is not ok to say all thous things I said about Yip Man . Again I aked why , because I said the truth , he was a racist and a drug addict .These things are commonly known and people say thous things like it was nothing , like it is ok . Some times they justify his actions and say he was a man of his time . Hitler was a man of his time , maybe we should stop talking about fascism , or teach children that is ok because Nazis were people of their time ? Then, they got really angry , how can I compare Yip Man and Hitler . I do not compare , I just say , truth must be told and what is wrong ,is wrong . Racism is wrong , period , using drugs is wrong , period . What kind of message this sends to next generation, Yip Man was racist , but that was ok, he was a man of his time ? What if that times come again ? Who will stand against it if teach others that is ok ? Being wing chun master or good at one thing does not absolve bad things he did . We have to stand on the side of truth , to say what is right and what is wrong . Yip Man may be the best wing chun master of all times (many actually believe he was ) and I do respect his skill and knowldge , but other things cannot be forgotten and we have to separate skill and knowledge from personalty and clearly stand for what is right .
At that point , conversation was over , with a remark that we “Serbian people” are impossible to talk reasonably . I said , of course ,we are impossible .Like all religious arguments this one ended with one side angry . You can continue to worship your god and I will stay on the side of truth .