Grandmaster Abbot Chi Sim, 10th Grandmaster level TWCO, founder of Tao Chan Wing Chun

Grandmaster Abbot Venerable Chi Sim, also Sifu Lei Li, (Cantonese meaning: Master of Thunder power, name given by Sifu Ip Chun), born 1972, was the oldest and ONLY direct German student of Grandmaster Prof. Dr. Ip Chun in Hong Kong, son of Old Master Ip Man with a Sifu title and teaching license for over 25 years and the older Kung Fu Brother (Si-Hing) of the Hong Kong actor, Donnie Yen, who played Grandmaster Ip Man in the famous movies, who is also a disciple of Sifu Ip Chun. As the first Ip Man movie was in discussion he was also the one who made the suggestion to include ethical behaviour in the Ip Man movies and not only fighting.

We point out once again that in German-speaking countries there is NOT a single other direct student of Sifu Ip Chun, who has been granted teaching permission in the Ip Chun lineage in the recent 10 years. This also applies especially to certain people, who claim to be representatives of both sons of Ip Man. Likewise, there is no Sifu representative for Germany and Sifu Ip Chun, since Venerable Chi Sim operates his own organization independent of instructions from Hong Kong. As a monk he only underly the rules of his Buddhist order and even not Sifu Ip Chun anymore since his ordination in 2016.

Venerable Chi Sim / Hae Sun (Perfection of Virtue / Virtuous Wisdom) is an ordained Buddhist monk of the Korean Chan / Zen tradition and direct disciple of Grandmaster Venerable Master Prof. Dr. Park, a Buddhist patriarch, belongs to the 81st generation dating back to the historic Buddha and the 54th  generation of Chan monks, dating back to the founder of the Shaolin monastery, Bodhidharma and has been the first ordained Buddhist Chian monk in the main Wing Chun lineage of the Wing Chun Grandmaster since the destruction of the South Shaolin Monastery, who teaches Wing Chun. In order to restore the correct Buddhist lineage in Wing Chun, he received special permission to grow his hair and to wear secular clothing outside the temples and is not subject to celibacy.

He is the founder of the International Tao Chan Wing Chun Organization (TCWCO) and holder of the 10th Duan / Dan Grandmaster level of the TCWCO, Tao Chan Warrior Monk in the tradition of South Shaolin.

Venerable Chi Sim has experience in Wing Chun for 40 years and has been a direct student of Grandmaster Ip Chun in Hong Kong for over 25 years. Even at a young age, he came into contact with the martial arts in particular judo, as his uncle got the title as Southern German master in Judo, who did held a black belt.

Unlike most other Western Wing Chun teachers, Venerable Chi Sim has spent the past 25 years in Hong Kong with Sifu Ip Chun, where he has a second home, not just for a few weeks, but for many years. Further instruction took place with the consent of Sifu Ip Chun in the late 90s, occasionally by Sifu Lo Man Kam, the nephew of Grandmaster Ip Man and cousin of Sifu Ip Chun in Taiwan. 

Besides Ven. Chi Sim studied also the Wu Tan Tai Chi style in Hong Kong under the world-renowned "Bodyguard of Tai Chi" and grandmaster and founder of Wu Tan Tai Chi, who had used Tai Chi in full contact competition undefeated for decades.

Grand Master Ven. Chi Sim also speaks Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, in addition to German and fluent English. He has basic knowledge in Sanskrit as well.

Abbot Chi Sim has been certified several times by the State Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China in Chinese in the official state Chinese language examinations HSK and achieved the highest score in the world on the 1st stude with 200 out of 200 points.

As only representative of all Wing Chun styles for Germany, he successfully participated in the Guinness World Record at Wing Chun in Hong Kong in 2008 and also appeared on Hong Kong television.

Venerable Chi Sim taught members of the famous Hong Kong Jockey Club, in several retirement homes and Chinese children, and participated in numerous public appearances in Hong Kong in the Wing Chun area. Among his direct students are members of the German special forces, the German police, who often held already black belts or high Dan levels of other martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Thai Boxing, Kickboxing Arnis / Escrima.

He was also an official participant in the press conference for the film Ip Man Zero and he also participated in the 1st World Ving Tsun Conference in 1999 in Hong Kong.

In addition, Venerable Chi Sim also studied Chinese medicine, acupuncture and natural healing in Germany and Hong Kong over some years.

Venerable Chi Sim graduated in Buddhist Studies at the Institute for Buddhist Studies, World Buddhist University, Bangkok and Dong Bang Buddhist Monk University in South Korea and was for some time an ordained Buddhist novice monk in the Theravada tradition in Thailand, before he became a Korean Chan monk. He is also a direct disciple of the Chan Buddhist patriarch in the teaching tradition of Chan Buddhism dating back to Bodhidharma in the same tradition as Shaolin. 

Further he holds a Master of Arts in Buddhism of the University of South Wales, UK as well as a Pre-PhD Certificate in Pali language of the University of South Wales, UK.

Cooperation with the Christian churches, the Jewish and Muslim religious communities within the framework of interreligious dialogue. In this framework, participation in the interreligious project of selected communities of the city of Munich with funding under the patronage of the mayor and city councillors of the city of Munich, Germany since 2022.

He is at the Institute of Buddhist Studies and his temples responsible for the education of new Buddhist monks. In 2017 he was appointed an abbot by the Chan Patriarch and now leads his own Buddhist temples. In his sport career, Venerable Chi Sim is also a finisher of several ultramarathons of 100 km across the Zugspitze (Germanys highest snow 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 Thailand, certified Survival Expert in Level 3 (Advanced Survival) of the father of modern survival, who is a member of the special forces of the British military. Venerable Chi Sim also made several parachute jumps. In his normal professional and private life, Venerable Chi Sim grew up with Chinese people in Germany and was able to internalize Chinese culture early on. 

He graduated from university in 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. 

He is the CEO of a management consulting, legal and tax consultancy for China, one of the most well-known China experts in Germany, supporting German companies and managers in China's intercultural, legal and tax topics for more than 15 years with and also appeared in interviews in newspapers and in the radio. In addition, he was a friend of the last descendant of Confucius Prof. Dr. Kong Teh-Chen in Taiwan (+2008), head of the Confucius family, who was also an adviser to the President of the Republic of China. 

In 2017, after participating in the 1st World Guinness Record in Hong Kong in 2009, he broke other historic records such as the 1st parachute jump 6000 m altitude from a plane performing a Buddhist Zen meditation in free fall with medical proof of the state of meditation and a pulse on meditation level during the free fall. Followed by the 1st world-wide implementation of the 1st form of Wing Chun during a parachute jump and in autumn 2017. He also climbed the summit of the Zugspitze, Germanys highest snow mountain over a period of 2 days off-season with overnight stay by zero degrees temperature without any tent and raised the Tao Chan Wing Chun flag on the summit as 1st Wing Chun Organization worldwide.

The Tao Chan Wing Chun Organization is also the first Wing Chun organisation worldwide, which has its own anthem written by Venerable Chi Sim and supported by a famous Buddhist professor from Malaysia.