Wing Chun

[KhanomTom]

The legend relates that a girl named Yim Wing Chun desired to learn martial arts at the Shaolin temple. She caught the attention of a Shaolin nun named Ng Mui, who was an accomplished martial artist. So impressed was Ng Mui with Yim Wing Chun's ability and desire, that she offered to teach Shaolin martial arts to her. The Kung fu that Yim Wing Chun learned consisted of only three forms, instead of the ten or more taught in other Shaolin systems. Her Kung fu was also used only for self-defense and lacked the fancy sets that other styles used to entice potential martial artists into the kung fu systems.

Does anyone know any different stories of the origin of Wing Chun?

[nastyned]

Wikipedia is your friend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wing_Chun

[Lefty]

This has been done a lot. I'd search the history thread if I were you. You are citing the myth of the origin, its like saying Mas Oyama killed 50 bulls rather than a friends pet yak.

The real story is that Wing Chun probably was derived from fighting systems that people used most likely in places like the village of Yong Chun, and in places around Fashan and Gongzhou provinces, in southern China. It came about in the civil war between the Ching and Ming as an amalgamation of several martial arts and was promoted and spread by the red junk opera society.

Monks dont tolerate nuns in their monasteries.

[KhanomTom]

Enlightening. Thanks.



Btw - does your FMA stand for "Family Martial Arts"?

[cafezinho]

FMA : France Motos Assurances, le spécialiste de l'assurance moto, propose devis gratuit en ligne et souscription immédiate pour tous les deux ...

that or Filipino Martial Arts

[Tom Kagan]

Monks dont tolerate nuns in their monasteries.

They do if they are Hakka.


Also, "nun" is another term for "spinster" in Southern China.

[amichaell]

The legend relates that a girl named Yim Wing Chun desired to learn martial arts at the Shaolin temple. She caught the attention of a Shaolin nun named Ng Mui, who was an accomplished martial artist. So impressed was Ng Mui with Yim Wing Chun's ability and desire, that she offered to teach Shaolin martial arts to her. The Kung fu that Yim Wing Chun learned consisted of only three forms, instead of the ten or more taught in other Shaolin systems. Her Kung fu was also used only for self-defense and lacked the fancy sets that other styles used to entice potential martial artists into the kung fu systems.

Does anyone know any different stories of the origin of Wing Chun?

Our sigung's sifu (whatever that's called) has a theory in which kung fu was influenced by European bare knuckle boxers. If you look at the long range style you'll see interesting similarities. We were doing an exercise in class a few nights ago in which we were basically emulating Dempsey's Falling Step. It was chunned up a bit to take in to account WC concepts, such as immediately reverting our weight to the back leg after completing the punch.

[Liger]

The legend relates that a girl named Yim Wing Chun desired to learn martial arts at the Shaolin temple. She caught the attention of a Shaolin nun named Ng Mui, who was an accomplished martial artist. So impressed was Ng Mui with Yim Wing Chun's ability and desire, that she offered to teach Shaolin martial arts to her. The Kung fu that Yim Wing Chun learned consisted of only three forms, instead of the ten or more taught in other Shaolin systems. Her Kung fu was also used only for self-defense and lacked the fancy sets that other styles used to entice potential martial artists into the kung fu systems.

Does anyone know any different stories of the origin of Wing Chun?

For the most part, the Ng Mui story has been proven to be just a myth. Written records were kept the, and no evidence supporting the myth has been found.

Alternate story:

Monks from the Northern Saolin temple transferred to the Southern after the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Chu Ming, a survivor from the fall of the Ming Dynasty which took refuge as a monk in the Northern temple. Jo Si Da Jung, a former soldier of the Ming dynasty, who became a monk after the fall of the Ming Dynasty as well. 22nd generation Shaolin Grandmaster Yat Chum Dai Si transferred to the Southern Temple from the North. Yat Yi Chum Dai Si was higly skilled and recognized in typically Northern Gung Fu, both internal and external(Wing Chun is considered both by some, internal by others,external by others). He and one of his disciples, Cheung Ng, participated in developing their gung fu further and sharing Northern techniques with their brother monks. One of the issues was to decrease the amount of time needed to become competent in gung fu to fight the Ching. At the time, their was a war between the Ching and Ming. Ming supposedly supported the temple, making the temple anti-Ching/the Ching anti-temple. Any resistance could potentially take refuge there, which probably led to the burning of the temple. Chu Ming is credited with supporting resistance.

When the temple fell, some returned to the north, while the others took refuge within Guangdong, and eventually the Red Boat Opera as performers(particularly Cheung Ng).
Anyone that was tied to any sort of resistance effort would have been hunted down and killed, if possible, by the ruling government.

Futshan, a city in Guangdong, is credited with the origins of Yip Man's Wing Chun, and to this day is tied to Wing Chun.

Sources:

1)
116 Wing Chun Dummy Techniques by Yip Chun

2)
Ving Tsun Museum
5715 Brandt Pike
Dayton, Oh 45424
(937) 236-6485
website:
http://home.vtmuseum.org/index.php

3)
Sifu Garret Gee

4)
Sifu Eddie Chong

5)
Complete Wing Chun: The Definitive Guide to Wing Chun's History and Tradition
by Robert Chu,Rene Ritchie, Y. Wu

Hope this helps.

[EternalRage]

The version I learned is that an old monk named Spotted Doe studied kung fu for decades under a master who had no name with another monk named Cloven Hoof. They trained together until one day Hoof killed the master and ran away. Doe scoured the countryside for Hoof, until finding him one day cooling off under a tree. The two immediately fought and during the course of the battle, Doe uncovered the secrets of Wing Chun and defeated Hoof.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NxqY6VNdb...elated&search=

[ty5]

A lot of Kung Fu styles have fantastical histories involving Shaolin and lots of monks, part of the reason I think is that martial artists where seen as rather lower class (becuase if you are well off, you don't fight, you pay people to do it for you) and having a origin of mythic proportions gives credibility.

Good evaluation of TCMA:
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ADM/holcom.htm