Contemporary Wing Chun is a style unparalleled for its efficient fighting techniques. To fully understand the art of Wing Chun, however, a detailed description of how it developed is essential. The following is an account of how Wing Chun began; it is based on the traditional story that is told and retold in martial arts circles. A monastery at the base of Mt. Sung in the Honan province in central China had gradually gained a reputation that was bringing embarrassment to the Manchu government (Ching Dynasty), for their priests were reputed to be better fighters than the Imperial soldiers. The government, displeased by the reputation that was being earned by the monks, decided to eliminate all the members of the sect and burn the monastery. Troops were dispatched, but even after considerable fighting, the monastery remained unscathed. The Chinese government was extremely frustrated with their ineffective frontal assault strategy, and decided to resort to cunning. They need to burn the monastery to the ground before the peasants started to think of the monks as freedom fighters. After many attempts, they enlisted the aid of a traitor by the name of Ma Ning Yee, who betrayed his companions and burned the monastery. Despite the treachery, many disciples escaped capture by the Imperial forces and went into hiding. One such disciple, Buddhist Mistress Ng Mui, fled to another monastery on the slopes of Mt. Tai Leung. Each day, Ng Mui dismissed herself and traveled down to a small village at the base of the mountain to buy provisions for the monastery. After visiting the grocers and butcher shop, Ng Mui walked to the bean curd stand at the edge of the village to visit her friend, Yim Lee, and his beautiful daughter, Wing Chun.
One day she found Wing Chun alone at the stand, weeping. She rushed to the young girl’s side to comfort her and find out what was wrong. Wing Chun’s father was away on deliveries and the village bully had come by and threatened her, saying that if she did not marry him within a year, he would beat up her father and force her to marry him. Distressed by the news, Ng Mui immediately agreed to teach Wing Chun her own system of Kung Fu, which had no name. Ng Mui had designed the system many years before, imitating the movement of a fox and a crane. Wing Chun studied hard. At the end of the year’s period, she challenged the bully and defeated him. She was now free to marry. After the proper period of courting, Wing Chun married the man she loved, Leung Bok Chau. One day after they had been married for a few years, Leung was play-fighting with his wife when he discovered she was a very proficient fighter (she had been studying with Ng Mul for about three years at this point). After challenging and engaging her in several play fights, a deep respect grew in him for his wife’s fighting abilities, and he asked her to teach him. Wing Chun discussed his request with Ng Mui, and then agreed to teach her husband. Later on, after her death, Leung Bok Chau agreed to teach Leung Lan Kwai, a herbal physician, this style of Kung Fu, which was now known as Wing Chun. In turn, Leung Lan Kwai taught Wong Wah Bo, a famous actor in an opera troop called the Red Junk. By chance, many of the disciples who had escaped when the monastery was burned had joined the opera company. Thus many others who were followers of the Red Junk were also skilled in the art of fighting. Master Chi Shin, the cook, was one such man. It was very difficult for Master Chi Shin to conceal his real identity from the others. Although few knew who he was, those few were already too great in number. Eventually, all the troupe learned his real identity, but no one betrayed him to the Manchu government. Realizing that someone would eventually mention their thoughts on his real identity to the wrong people, Master Chi Shin approached Wong Wah Bo and proposed they join forces to preserve their mutual arts. They agreed to teach willing members of the Red Junk a combined form of Kung Fu, incorporating the Wing Chun techniques along with two weapons that would be included in the teachings of Wing Chun from that time forward: the “Six-and-a-half Point Long Pole” techniques and the “Eight Cutting Broadswords”. Leung Yee Tei was a member of the followers of the Red Junk at that time, and learned and mastered the art with the aid of both instructors. Later on, he passed the art on to an already famous fighter, Leung Jan, a physician who practiced in the city of Fatshan in southern China, not far from Canton. Having studied other styles of Kung Fu, Leung Jan learned his lessons quickly. Before long, he was renowned for his undefeatable fighting techniques. Leung Jan was challenged by many worthy opponents, but he had no difficulty in penetrating their bridge and defeating them. After many years, he decided that he was getting too old to be brawling in the streets so he took on Chin Wah Shun as a student. He would be Yip Man’s teacher in later years.
