History of Wing Chun Kung Fu
Source: Wikipedia
Wing Chun was originally passed down from teacher to student orally rather than through written documentation, making it difficult to confirm or clarify the differing accounts of its creation. The common legend involves the young woman Yim Wing Chun (Wing Chun literally means beautiful springtime or praising spring) at the time after the destruction of the Southern Shaolin and its associated temples by the Manchurian government over 300 years ago. The Manchurians, who made up about 10% of the population, ruled the Hans and created many restrictions to keep them dependent on the small ruling class. To repress the Hans, the Manchurians banned all weapons and martial arts training. Secretly the Hans began organizing rebel groups within the Shaolin Temple.
Because the classical styles of kung fu took 15 to 20 years to master, it was necessary to develop a new style that would enable students to become proficient fighters in a much shorter time span. As the Manchu soldiers were often trained in classical kung fu styles, it was important that this new style be designed to be effective in neutralizing the existing techniques. Five kung fu masters pooled the knowledge of their own respective styles in order to come up with a new, more economical style, utilizing only the most effective methods of combat from each. What these five kung fu masters developed would create an efficient martial artist in only 3 to 5 years.
Before they could teach anyone the new style, a traitor within the temple opened the gates for the Manchurian soldiers and the temple was burned to the ground. A few escaped the attack, and they are thought to have been Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Fung To Tak and Master Miu Hin.
Ng Mui hid on Tai Leung Mountain and it was there that she met Tofu merchant Yim Yee and his daughter Yim Wing Chun. Yim Wing Chun was a beautiful teenager who had attracted the unwanted attention of a local man. Ng Mui liked Wing Chun and agreed to teach her Kung Fu to defend herself. After training Wing Chun eventually challenged her persistent admirer and beat him in a fight.
Wing Chun carried on training in Kung Fu and taught her husband when she married - Leung Bok Chau. He named the system after his wife and passed it on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai in turn passed the Kung Fu techniques to Wong Wah Bo and Leung Yee Tai, who are performers at the Cantonese Red Boat Opera. Leung Yee Tai had already learnt a pole form from escaped Shaolin Abbot Chi Shin, and thus the Shaolin Pole Form was incorporated into the system. Leung Yee Tai passed the system to Leung Jan, an herb doctor of Quang Dong FoShan, China. Leung Jan became an absolute Master of Wing Chun and defeated many challengers from other styles of Kung Fu. He taught everything he knew to Chan Wah Shun.
Chan Wah Shun taught the system to a man named Yip Man, who attained the highest level of skill within Wing Chun and taught many people, including Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Chu Shong Tin, Wong Shun Leung and Bruce Lee during the 1950s – 1970s in Hong Kong. Yip Man simplified the system, particularly removing the long and complicated names and is mainly responsible for the Wing Chun system as we know it today. He was a superb teacher and taught according to the individual's own skill and knowledge, adapting his approach where necessary. Within the three decades of his career in Hong Kong, he established a training system for Wing Chun that eventually spread across the world.
Special Note: It should be observed that the system was developed during the Shaolin and Ming resistance movement against the Manchurians during the Qing Dynasty, and thus many legends about the creator of Wing Chun were spread to confuse the enemy, including the story of Yim Wing Chun. This perhaps explains why no one has been able to accurately determine the creator or creators of Wing Chun Kung Fu.
