Small in size at age 13, Kahar sought his father’s advice on how to face the bullies. “He told me to take up a Chinese martial art,” Kahar, now 48, recalled. He then scoured the Yellow Pages in search of martial-arts associations around Kuala Lumpur.
Eventually, he chose Wing Chun and, in 1991, began training under master Yip Fook Choy in KL. That early interest became a lifelong passion and, since 2001, he has been teaching the art to Malaysians of all cultures and backgrounds.
He also learnt the Ip Man version of Wing Chun while studying in Britain in 1998.
Kahar recounted how he had told his master about how much he had learnt while sparring with martial artists who were bigger than him.
“Then my sifu challenged me. I was so surprised. He was throwing me around like a rag doll with one hand and he was about 60 years old at the time,” he said amusedly.
He promised not to rest until he and the next generation of Wing Chun disciples under him had reached his master’s level.
‘Compact, direct, simple’
Legend says the foundations of Wing Chun were established by a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui, from the Shaolin temple. Her disciple, Yim Wing Chun, then developed the martial art.
“Being a woman, she (Yim) modified it to make it simpler so that people of small stature can use it as effectively as someone bigger,” said Kahar.
Wing Chun, he explained, is carried out in close proximity with the least amount of energy possible. A later version, Yip (or Ip) Man Wing Chun, is more “compact, direct and simple”.
Ip Man Wing Chun only has three empty hand forms – prearranged sets of movements used to develop the fundamentals of a martial art – as well as one wooden dummy with a single variation, and two weapons.
The traditional version, Yip Kin, has more content and variety within the art itself, with up to 18 weapons being used. “We also have lion dance, qigong, and other forms of performance arts in the syllabus,” he said.
Kahar told FMT that learning Wing Chun has allowed him to witness Chinese culture from a different perspective. “I get to see it from the inside,” he said.
“It would be wonderful if our country acknowledges our masters [who help shape culture]. Not just masters of martial arts, but anyone who is a master of their field.”