Grandmaster Abbot Venerable Chi Sim
Grandmaster Abbot Venerable Chi Sim and Sifu Lei Li (translation from Cantonese: Master of Thunder Power, name awarded by Sifu Ip Chun) was born in Germany in 1972.
He is the founder of Tao Chan Wing Chun and the only monk grandmaster worldwide to hold the 11th monk level in Wing Chun since the destruction of the Southern Shaolin monastery 350 years ago. This title was awarded to him by an international committee of ordained Buddhists and an international committee of Wing Chun Sifus in an independent democratic election.
The monk levels of Wing Chun are above all Duan/Dan grandmaster levels of all Wing Chun lineages. He is therefore the official successor and Buddhist lineage holder of the founder of Wing Chun, Shaolin Abbot Chi Sim.
He is the oldest and only German first-generation disciple of Hong Kong Grandmaster Prof. Dr. Ip Chun, son of Grandmaster Ip Man that holds a Sifu title and teachers permit. Since he already joined Sifu Ip Chun’s Wing Chun school 1996, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim is the older Kung Fu brother of famous Ip Man actor Donnie Yen, who is also a student of Sifu Ip Chun. During the planning phase of the first Ip Man movie, released 2008, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim suggested, that the movie should include a clear focus on correct and ethical behavior, which is even more important than having many fighting scenes.
Even though anyone can claim to be a grandmaster Sifu representing Ip Mans sons or high level students, and some people do, there is no other first-degree disciple of Grandmaster Ip Chun in Germany and Czechia with an official teaching permit.
Picture: Venerable Chi Sim (second from right) with Grandmaster Ip Chun (center), Ving Tsun Athletic Association in Hong Kong 1997, the only foreigner taking lessons during this time.
World-wide, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim is the only Wing Chun Grandmaster to continue the South Shaolin lineage of the legendary Shaolin Abbot Chi Sim, teacher of Buddhist nun Ng Mui. For the first time, this reintroduces the Buddhist Chan elements into Wing Chun from the time of before the South Shaolin Monastery of China was invaded and burned down.
This is possible, because Venerable Abbot Chi Sim / Hae Sun (Perfection of Virtue / Virtuous Wisdom) is an ordained monk of the Korean Chan (Zen) tradition and first-degree disciple of Zen Grandmaster, Most Venerable Prof. Dr. Park, Buddhist Grand Patriarch. He continues the tradition in the 81. Generation after the historic Buddha and in the 54. Generation of the Chan monks dating back to the founder of the Shaolin monastery, Bodhidharma. In over 350 years, he has been the first fully ordained Buddhist monk (Bhikkhu) in the main lineage of the Wing Chun Grandmaster since the destruction of the South Shaolin Monastery, who teaches Wing Chun. For the goal of restoring the initial Buddhist lineage into the martial art of Wing Chun, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim received special permission to grow his hair and to wear secular clothing outside the temples and is not subject to celibacy. He is also the European Chancellor of the Korean Buddhist Taego Order.
Picture: Venerable Chi Sim together with his direct Buddhist teacher and Dharma father, Prof. Dr. Park, Chan Patriarch in Seonamsa Temple in South Korea before his ordination as Buddhist Chan monk 2016.
For over 40 years, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim is gaining Wing Chun experience and has been a direct student of Grandmaster Ip Chun in Hong Kong for 30 years. Already at a young age, he came into contact with martial arts, with his black belt uncle obtaining the title Southern German Master in Judo.
Picture: Venerable Chi Sim with his Muay Thai teacher, Master Nan, who was Champion in Thailand and did train also Muay Thai World Champions, photo taken in 2016
This actually means, Abbot Venerable Chi Sim was a real and longtime Hong Kong student at Grandmaster Ip Chun’s Wing Chun school, living in Hong Kong and studying martial arts in-depth for decades. In the late 90s, with the consent of his Sifu Ip Chun, he occasionally took classes by Sifu Lo Man Kam, the nephew of Grandmaster Ip Man and cousin of Sifu Ip Chun in Taiwan.
Picture: Venerable Chi Sim with the nephew of Grandmaster Ip Man, Sifu Lo Man Kan in Taipei, Taiwan training on the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy 1999
Abbot Venerable Chi Sim also studied the Wudang Tai Chi style in Hong Kong under the world-renowned “Bodyguard of Tai Chi”, Grandmaster and founder of Wudang Tai Chi, Cheng Hung, who took part in full contact Tai Chi competitions and stayed undefeated for decades.
Grandmaster Abbot Venerable Chi Sim also speaks Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, in addition to his native language German and fluent English. He has basic knowledge in Sanskrit, Latin and Korean as well.
Abbot Venerable Chi Sim has been certified several times by the State Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China in the official state Chinese Proficiency Test HSK and achieved the highest score in the world in the 1st level with 200 out of 200 points.
He was appointed a lifelong member of the Ving Tsun Athletic Association of the Wing Chun World Federation in Hong Kong, as well as the Ip Chun Wing Chun Academy, the Yip Man Martial Arts Association and the World Wing Chun Union. He is also a member of the German Buddhist Union.
As the only representative of all Wing Chun styles in Germany, he took part in the Wing Chun Guinness World Record event in Hong Kong in 2008 and also appeared on Hong Kong television.
Picture: Abbot Chi Sim in formal academic dress receiving his Master Degree in Buddhism at the University of South Wales, UK in 2022
Abbot Venerable Chi Sim taught members of the famous Hong Kong Jockey Club, in several retirement homes, participated in numerous public appearances in Hong Kong in the Wing Chun area and helped introducing the martial art to Chinese children. Among his direct students were and still are members of the German special forces and the German and Hong Kong police, who often already were Black Belts or receivers of high Dan levels of other martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Thai Boxing, Kickboxing and Arnis (Escrima).
More of Grandmaster Abbot Venerable Chi Sim achievements and honorable efforts are:
- Being an official participant in the press conference for the 2010 Wing Chun movie Ip Man Zero, with Grandmaster Ip Man’s son Grandmaster Ip Chun starring as Grandmaster Leung Bik
- Participating in the 1st World Ving Tsun Conference in Hong Kong 1999
- Studying Chinese medicine, acupuncture and naturopathic medicine in Germany and Hong Kong for some years
- Graduating in Buddhist Studies at the World Buddhist University in Bangkok, Thailand and the Dongbang Buddhist University in Seoul, South Korea
- Before becoming a Korean Chan monk, he was an ordained Buddhist novice monk in the Theravada tradition in Thailand
- Direct disciple of the Chan Buddhist Grandpatriarch, in the tradition of Chan Buddhism, which goes back to Bodhidharma and the roots of Shaolin kung fu
- Graduating and obtaining a Master’s degree in Buddhism as well as a Pre-PhD certificate in the Pali language (Sanskrit) at the University of South Wales, UK in cooperation with the University of Oxford
- Since 2017, appointed Abbot by the Chan Patriarch with permission to manage his own Buddhist temples
- Responsible for the education of new Buddhist monks at the Institute of Buddhist Studies as Assistant professor and his own Buddhist Bodhidharma temples
- Among his achievements in his sport career, he is also completed several ultramarathons of 100 km across the Zugspitze (Germanys highest mountain), marathons in Hong Kong and Germany, head of a hiking group in Hong Kong, Thai boxer and student of one of the Thai box champions in Thailand
- He grew up with Chinese people in Germany, which helped him familiarizing their culture early on
- Studying Business Administration with a Master’s degree in International and Intercultural Management, with focus on China, management consulting as well as insurance and finance. Additional studies of German tax law and English insurance law
- CEO of a management, legal and tax consultancy for China, one of the most well-known China experts in Germany, supporting German companies and managers with China’s intercultural, legal and tax topics for more than 20 years
You can find more details about Abbot Chi Sim at the ITCWO homepage
https://www.wingchun-ipman.org/grandmaster-venerable-chi-sim