History of Wing Chun
Wing
Chun is the oldest, the most complete, and the most advanced
fighting system in China. Having been developed in antiquity
and refined over hundreds of years, the classical Wing Chun
system contains the wisdom, labour and dedication of many people. The
sophistication of the system can be seen in its ability to
defeat a far stronger opponent through applying an absolute
minimum of force; turning an apparent disadvantage into an
advantage and thereby transforming the opponent’s strength
into a weakness, Wing Chun wins by virtue of its focus on method,
softness, skilful technique and theory.
Forms
The
original five animal forms of Kung Fu were as follows:
Dragon
Snake
Tiger
Monkey
Crane
The
theory and technique of these five forms were concentrated
into a top secret martial art, used in the SIU LAM MONASTERY
for its own internal security. Only one or two disciples
from each generation of students were allowed to learn it,
and it was never revealed to outsiders.
The reign
of Emperor K’anghsi (1662 – 1722) constituted the
end of the MING dynasty and the start of its CHING successor. At
this time, the descendents of the MING dynasty used the SIU
LAM MONASTERY as a base for rebellion – and
when the CHING government became aware of this, troops were
sent to attack and destroy the temple. Only five elders
and a handful of monks escaped the attack, and in their flight
were dispersed across China. Amongst
those that escaped was a nun named NG MUI, who took refuge
in the White Crane Temple on Mount Tai Leung. NG MUI
was one of the few who had been taught this highly secret,
highly developed style, and passed on her knowledge to a young
girl named WING CHUN, whose name became that of the style itself.
Several
generations later a famous Chinese doctor named LEUNG JAN learnt
and refined Wing Chun, and he passed on his knowledge to his
sons LEUNG CHUN and LEUNG BIK, as well as to an additional
student named CHAN WAH SUNG (nicknamed CHAU CHING WAH). CHAN
WAH SHUNG went on to instruct YIP MAN, who later deepened his
knowledge of the style through studying under LEUNG BIK. In
the 1950’s YIP MAN taught Wing Chun in Hong Kong, and
thereby brought this previously highly secret style to public
attention. The
result of this – due in no small part to the popularity
of BRUCE LEE, who studied under YIP MAN – was that Wing
Chun spread all over the world. Such prominence, however,
has since proved to be detrimental to the style itself, which
has frequently suffered from poor interpretations that cloud
and obscure the sophistication of the original system. GRAND-MASTER
KEVIN LIU’s project is to return the style, through a
study of its theory, to a level that is as close to its original
purity as is possible.
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