David Leung (Eugene), is a master of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Leung was schooled in the martial arts as a child in Hong Kong and came to Eugene in 1968 as a 19-year-old student. Known most often in the community as Master David, Leung has been a teacher of martial arts and psychology in Eugene for 40 years.
Bio
David Leung, known most often in the community as Master David, began studying tai chi as a child in Hong Kong and quickly learned to love multiple styles of martial arts, especially Kung Fu. When he came to the US as a young student of 19, he planned on going to the East Coast for school, but his sister encouraged him to try the University of Oregon. He found a home and community in Eugene and has been there ever since, marrying and raising a daughter and three sons there.
In 1970 he was asked to teach tai chi classes for Lane Community College, not long after his arrival to the area. Although, after finishing school, he worked as a teacher for LCC as a psychology instructor for the entirety of his professional career, he always taught martial arts on the side. At the Leung Martial Arts studio, which he didn’t open until later in life, he and his protégé’s, including his son, Jeffrey, teach classes in Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and Qi Gong to adults.
Leung doesn’t view his two loves of social science and martial arts as separate, but the philosophies of each affect how he teaches his students of every subject. He sees himself and his students as innovators, using the lessons of multiple disciplines to affect change in the community and the world, and most importantly, in themselves. He doesn’t measure success in awards won, but in the respect of the masters that have influenced him and through the work, growth, and love of the students that he considers his children.
