Press Release
Cupertino, California August 23, 2003

Proclamation of Kenneth Chung Day, Cupertino, California

Today in Cupertino's Memorial Park, Cupertino's Mayor Michael S. Chang and the City Council honored Kenneth Chung, known worldwide as a foremost expert on the traditional Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Kung Fu, by proclaiming the day, August twenty-third as Kenneth Chung Day in honor of Kenneth Chung's service to the Cupertino and San Francisco Bay Area communities and to the thousands of Wing Chun students he has taught throughout the United States.

The occasion was the annual Bay Area Wing Chun Students Association picnic, held this year at Cupertino Memorial Park. A crowd of 70 current and former students were on hand to hear Mayor Chang make the proclamation and present Chung with a commemorative plaque containing the words of the proclamation. A smiling Chung, surrounded by his admiring friends and students, accepted the award and thanked Chang and the Cupertino City Council for the honor.

Chung (whose Chinese name is Chung Maanin) has taught Wing Chun in the Bay Area since 1968, most of those years in Cupertino, where his school is located at 10887 South Blaney Avenue.

Wing Chun is a traditional Chinese martial art invented over 300 years ago by Ng Mui, a woman nun, and taught and passed on in secret until 1949 when Grandmaster Yip Man, fleeing from the communists in mainland China, introduced it to the public in Hong Kong. One of Wing Chun's most famous proponents was the late movie star and martial arts great, Bruce Lee. Chung learned from Yip Man's first student, Leung Sheung, who taught Chung in Hong Kong in two five year periods from 1965 through 1970 and from 1973 through 1978.

The words of the proclamation follow:

Proclamation

Whereas, Grandmaster Kenneth Chung, a leading world expert in the traditional Chinese martial art of Wing Chun, is Founder of the Bay Area Wing Chun Student Association,

Whereas, Grandmaster Kenneth Chung, for over 30 years, has taught his art to thousands of Wing Chun practitioners throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the United States, including at De Anza College in Cupertino,

Whereas, Grandmaster Kenneth Chung, who was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in education from the Pacific International University is serving as the President of the Northern California Chinese Martial Arts Association.

Now, therefore, I, Mayor Michael Chang, and the Cupertino City Council, do hereby declare that Saturday, August Twenty-Third be known as,

Kenneth Chung Day

in recognition of his outstanding achievements and success, and to express our appreciation for the cultural wealth that he has shared with the people and the City of Cupertino

In witness Thereof, I have hereto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Cupertino to be affixed this Twenty-Third day of August 2003.

Dr. Michael S. Chang, Mayor
City of Cupertino

Press Contact:

John Weiland
Bay Area Wing Chun Students Association

Note: Ken Chung does not go by any titles, not even sifu. The term "Grandmaster" was in the document as written by the Mayor and City Council of Cupertino, California. He also does not use the title of doctor, except in making dinner reservations.