The Origin
of WING CHUN
by Grandmaster Yip Man
The
founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu System, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a
native of Canton [Kwangtung Province] in China. She was an intelligent
and athletic young girl, upstanding and forthright. Her mother died
soon after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of Fukien.
Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime and, rather
than risk jail, they slipped away and finally settled down at the
foot of Tai Leung Mountain near the border between Yunan and Szechuan
provinces. There they earned a living by running a shop that sold
bean curd.
During the reign of Emperor
K'anghsi of the Ching Dynasty (1662-1722) Kung Fu became very strong
in the Siu Lam [Shaolin] Monastery of Mt. Sung, in Honan Province.
This aroused the fear of the Manchu government [a non-Chinese people
from Manchuria in the North, who ruled China at that time], which
sent troops to attack the Monastery. Although they were unsuccessful,
a man named Chan Man Wai, a recently appointed civil servant seeking
favor with the government, suggested a plan.
He plotted with Siu Lam
monk Ma Ning Yee and others who were persuaded to betray their companions
by setting fire to the monastery while soldiers attacked it from the
outside. Siu Lam was burned down, and the monks and disciples scattered.
Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung
To Tak and Master Miu Hin escaped and went their separate ways.
Ng Mui took refuge in the
White Crane Temple on Mt. Tai Leung [also known as Mt. Chai Har].
It was there she met Yim Yee and his daughter Wing Chun from whom
she often bought bean curd on her way home from the market. At fifteen,
with her hair bound up in the custom of those days to show she was
of an age to marry, Wing Chun's beauty attracted the attention of
a local bully. He tried to force Wing Chun to marry him, and his continuous
threats became a source of worry to her and her father. Ng Mui learned
of this and took pity on Wing Chun. She agreed to teach Wing Chun
fighting techniques so she could protect herself. Wing Chun followed
Ng Mui into the mountains, and began to learn Kung Fu. She trained
night and day, until she mastered the techniques. Then she challenged
the bully to a fight and beat him.
Ng Mui later traveled around
the country, but before she left she told Wing Chun to strictly honor
the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage,
and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu government
and restore the Ming Dynasty.
After her marriage Wing
Chun taught Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau. He in turn passed
these techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai then passed
them on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe
on board a junk, known to Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on
the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tei. It so happened that Abbot Chi Shin,
who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was then
working on the Red Junk. Chi Shin taught the Six-and-a-half-point
Long Pole techniques to Leung Yee Tei. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung
Yee Tei, and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they
shared and improved their techniques, and thus the Six-and-a-half-point
Long Pole was incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu. Leung Yee Tei passed
his Kung Fu on to Leung Jan, a well known herbal Doctor in Fat Shan.
Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun, attaining the
highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters came to challenge
him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later he
passed his Kung Fu on to Chan Wah Shan, who took me and my elder Kung
Fu brothers, such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu
Jai, as his students many decades ago.
It can thus be said that
the Wing Chun System was passed on to us in a direct line of succession
from its origin. I write this history of the Wing Chun System in respectful
memory of my forerunners. I am eternally grateful to them for passing
to me the skills I now possess. A man should always think of the source
of the water as he drinks it; it is this shared feeling that keeps
our Kung Fu brothers together.
Is this not the way to
promote Kung Fu, and to project the image of our country?
Yip Man
Excerpts from...
Story
of My Father - Yip Man the Great Grandmaster of the Wing Chun Style
by Master Yip Chun
The Last Student
From then on, my father became Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun's youngest
disciple. He learnt techniques from Grandmaster Chan and practiced
with his fellow-students such as Ng Chung So and Lui Yu Chai. He was
in fact the last disciple admitted by Chan Wah Shun. That is why when
Yip Man grew up and had his own students, he said to them smilingly
that his students had only "Elder Kung-fu Uncles", but not
"Younger Kung-fu Uncles". From the above description, it
became clear that Chan Wah Shun did not make a mistake in accepting
my father, for the boy's success in afterwards was really due to his
master's un-reserved teaching, and the boy's dedication and effort
he put to his studies. His success in his career was not mere luck.
Grandmaster Chan died when Yip man was thirteen years old. At his
last minutes, Chan said to his disciple Ng Chung So,"Yip Man
is a clever boy, and is more gifted than others. If any of my students
is to promote and spread our Wing Chun techniques with success, Yip
Man is the one. Is is a regret that I could not stay longer. From
now on the duty of teaching him rests with you. Please take good care
of him". Ng Chung So promised to take up the responsibility seconds
before Grandmaster Chan died. So Yip Man studied under the guidance
of Ng Chung So, with the company of fellow-students such as Yuen Kay
Shan and Yiu Choi.
Blending the Techniques of Several Masters
For two years Yip Man followed Ng Chung So. After that he went to
Hong Kong to pursue academic studies at the St. Stephen's College
at Stanley in Hong Kong. On one occasion he was introduced to Mister
Lueng Bik, the first son of Grandmaster Leung Jan - the instructor
of Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun. Leung Bik was then staying as a guest
in a famous silk company in the western district of Hong Kong. He
was delighted with Yip Man's cleverness and his effort in learning,
so he tried his best to teach him all he knew. That is why my father
later said to others that he got a good foundation from Grandmaster
Chan Wah Shun, but sophisticated techniques from Mister Leung Bik.
He further said that when he was small, he paid attention to the external-form
of movements, not knowing why certain movements should be applied
in such ways, while other movements in other ways. When he grew older,
he knew that the importance of mastering Wing Chun techniques rested
on the merging of theory and practical application.
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