Founder and current grandmaster of Yee’s Hung Ga, Grandmaster Yee Chee Wai (Frank Yee) started his Kung Fu training with his father at the age of six under the tutelage of Grandmaster Yuen Ling. Master Yee immersed himself in his Hung Ga training and studied intensively under the watchful eye of his Sifu. After years of dedicated studying, he was rewarded with the Bai See ceremony and became a disciple. Of all the disciples of Grandmaster Yuen Ling, only Frank Yee has dedicated himself to teaching Tang Fung Hung Ga.
Master Yee also studied Dit Da medicine under Doctor Sit Chuk Sing, famous for his medicinal skills and whose family was renowned for having been personal physicians to the Ching dynasty Emperor of China for four generations.
In 1968, Master Yee emigrated from Hong Kong to Montreal, Canada, and soon after went to Toronto to earn a Mechanical Engineering degree from George Brown University. During this period in Canada, in addition to working and going to university, he taught Hung Ga Kung Fu at George Brown University, the Jong Ting Association, and the Hung Moon Association.
In 1973, Master Yee arrived in New York City’s Chinatown and established Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu Academy, where he taught as well as at Long Island University and Columbia University. With over thirty years of teaching experience, he currently has students all over the world, with branches in China, Europe, Canada, the United States and South America. Over the decades, Yee’s Hung Ga has competed in numerous local, national, and international tournaments, winning thousands of medals including over a thousand gold medals.
Master Yee was one of the founding fathers of the Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation and has served as its President, Vice-President and Secretary. At the request of the Toisan City government in China, he is currently the President of the Toisan Kung Fu Association, overseeing martial arts activities for the city. He also serves as an advisor to the Wong Fei Hung Museum in Fatsan, as well as the coach of the museum’s Traditional Kung Fu Division.
Master Yee has spent the past several years immersed in his training and raising his consciousness of what Hung Ga Kung Fu can be. It was also during this time that he created the Toisan City Toi Sing Kung Fu Association where he teaches traditional Southern Kung Fu and Lion Dance. Master Yee accepts only those students who show a commitment to learning and who are of high moral character. He provides living quarters, equipment and training to various students free of charge. Through this school, he works to revive traditional Southern Kung Fu in China facing the increasing popularity of Wushu. It is due to his dedication that the people of Southern China are being reintroduced to and are embracing traditional Kung Fu once again.
To spread Wong Fei Hung’s Hung Ga and traditional Kung Fu, Master Yee inaugurated the Wong Fei Hung Northeastern All Kung Fu Championship tournament in 1996. It has grown each year, attracting over 500 competitors from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Asia. The tournament has over 136 divisions including traditional Kung Fu, modern Wushu, Sparring, Shuai Jiao, Ba Gua and Tai Chi.