About Vincent Lyn
Forever winning in Chinese is Yong Sheng, Vincent Lyn’s Chinese name. He was born to a Chinese father and a British mother. His English name is Sir Vincent Raymond Percival Lyn. Vincent is the kind of individual whom you instinctively know when you meet him that he is someone worth finding out more about, and the more you peel away layers of the onion, the more impressed you’ll be. He was born in Aden, Yemen; his father, an aircraft engineer, was stationed there with the British Royal Air Force (R.A.F). At two years old, Vincent and his family moved to Ethiopia, Khartoum (Sudan), Algeria, Netherlands, then England. He emigrated to the United States at age 16 and then to Hong Kong after his university studies.
Martial Arts: He started studying martial arts at age 8. He learned Tai Chi from his uncle and later mastered his family style Ling Gar Kung Fu (or Lyn). Kung Fu looks pretty and is often thought of as a martial art that is performed for its artistry. Vincent has excelled in not just the art of Kung Fu but in its application as well. He is a 10th degree Black Sash Grandmaster who has been invited to teach martial art workshops around the world. In 2016, he taught 700 people Tai Chi and Ling Gar Kung Fu in a soccer stadium in Portugal. Jackie Chan has said that Vincent was one of the best fighters he had ever worked with. In 2007 Vincent was invited as a special guest to the first Martial Arts Olympics East- West Open in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the opening ceremony, he demonstrated his superb martial art skills in front of 20,000 spectators and also performed a piano solo, which surprised and dazzled the audience. He has been inducted into many Martial Arts Hall of Fame, including an award for Grandmaster of the Year from the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Fame. Most recently, in 2019, Vincent received a Legend Award for Who’s Who in the Martial Arts – a high-level accomplishment in the Martial Arts world.
Acting: As a young lad, Vincent studied poetry, prose, and elocution at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England. After moving to the United States, he studied acting in New York for a couple of years and, after graduating from university, moved to Hong Kong to try his hand at an acting career.
Vincent made use of his martial arts training in his transition to the movies. He landed his first movie role in Tiger Cage – made by internationally acclaimed film director Yuen Woo Ping. Ping has been involved in such movies as The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Charlie’s Angels, and Kill Bill. This movie was a big hit in the Asian market; Vincent was in high demand, which fortunately led to him playing roles in more than 25 movies, including “Blonde Fury” (with Cynthia Rothrock). His film career has included playing a lead villain fighting superstar Jackie Chan in Operation Condor. Dr. Lyn has been awarded the Fists of Legends “Hong Kong Legends Cinema Award” at the Urban Action Showcase Expo in New York, sponsored by HBO/Cinemax. He was inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as the Best Martial Arts Actor of the Year.
Music: While Vincent related to martial arts from his paternal side, he also developed an affinity for music from his maternal side – his mother being a classical pianist. He started studying piano at age 11, which is a little old for a concert pianist but not too old for Vincent.
He graduated from the prestigious Boston Conservatory of Music, majoring in piano performance and composition. Lyn wrote Canto-pop songs for recording artists with PolyGram Records, two of which became top ten hits. In 2011 Vincent gave his debut performance (the first of many) to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall in connection with the release of his CD Heaven Bound, which were up for two Grammy nominations for Best Improvisation Jazz Solo and Best Instrumental Jazz Album. The album was voted in the Top Ten Album of the Year for Unsigned Artists and Top 40 Jazz Album of the Year. Lyn released his second jazz album Wing Sing which received four nominations in the Grammy Ballot. The Wall Street Journal called him a “Master of martial and musical arts.” His CD Vincent Lyn Live in New York City (from Carnegie Hall) won 5-star reviews and was #12 for 8 weeks on the World Jazz Charts, and received 4 Grammy Nominations. In 2015 Vincent teamed up with Grammy Award-winning flutist Wouter Kellerman and other outstanding musicians to perform music from around the world at Carnegie Hall. His most recent Carnegie Hall concert was on December 2, 2022, a benefit for orphaned and displaced children in Ukraine.
Social Justice: Director of Creative Development for African Views, an NGO charitable organization with the United Nations and whose mission includes: identifying and bridging cultural gaps, facilitating improvement of social and economic ties, and promoting global partnerships for the advancement of the humanities. Focusing on cultural sustainability and cultural harmony, their projects include cultural exchange programs and panel discussions in the areas of health, education, environment, and economy. In this role, Vincent has presented his “on the ground” observations and research to African Views.
Humanitarian: On a bodyguard mission for a VIP in Ghana, Vincent visited a shelter where 20 children (ages 5 – 15) had just been rescued from slavery. He recalls seeing the fear in their eyes, how that look stayed with him and inspired him to become involved – offering help in some way. He started promoting awareness and raising money for rescue and recovery projects for these trafficked children. Contacted by many people and local CBO (community-based organizations) in Africa looking for help; one of these contacts was in Uganda. Wanting to see the situation in person (Vincent adheres to the philosophy of “being active on the ground level to get things done, not just talk about it.”) he traveled to Kampala and witnessed children starving to death and struggling to survive. He knew that helping alleviate this suffering was to become a life mission. Since that time, Vincent has become the Director of Creative Development & Board of Directors for the African Views Organization Economic & Social Council at U.N. (leading conferences at Parliament and the United Nations). He started a nonprofit organization – We Can Save Children– whose mission is to rescue & recover children in Africa and the Middle East. Whether these children are orphans, refugees, or poverty-stricken, the goal is to protect and provide aid (funds, resources, and guidance) to help these children survive. Vincent is truly making a life-saving difference in the lives of these children – not just donating money, but being there for months at a time, personally helping save children from slavery, starvation, and dying from disease. His We Can Save Children organization provides them access to an education and an opportunity for a better future and for the first time in their lives – hope!
On December 10, 2019, he was voted the ‘Top 100 Human Rights Defenders’ along with his esteemed colleagues from around the world by the IHRC International Human Rights Commission on World Human Rights Day. In 2022 he was recently appointed Deputy Ambassador of IHRC-hq.org. His recent projects involve over 1,200 orphaned children from Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda in 3 different orphanages in Uganda. Vincent’s foundation provides food, shelter, medications, clothing and education as well as important vocational skills. He has also purchased agricultural land, so they can be self-sustainable in terms of food. His newest initiative is to build a sports complex in Lebanon to help the Palestinian refugees incorporating a Chinese martial arts program as part of the curriculum. In April and July 2022 he was on a Humanitarian Aid & Rescue Mission in Ukraine partnering with two NGOs in Latvia and Ukraine to bring medical supplies and rescue families, bringing them to safety in Latvia and Poland. He spoke at the Houses of Parliament in London on the atrocities that have been committed against the civilian population of Ukraine. He partnered with a U.K.-based foundation, ‘Help Children Now’ in facilitating the logistics in the rescue & recovery of 30 members of an Afghan female cycling team from Afghanistan to Pakistan and safely resettled to England. He returned to Syria a third time in July 2023 to look at the current ongoing strife of the Syrian citizens and to interview with Syrian National TV 1. Vincent risks his life in many of the most dangerous countries on earth by taking a united stand on the issues that affect our world.
