This text was written by Yip Man prior to starting the Wing Chun Fellowship, which he renamed the Wing Chun Athletic Association, which still runs in Hong Kong today.
The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu system, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton China. As a young girl she was intelligent and athletic, upstanding and manly. She was netrothed to Leung Bok Chao, a salt merchant from Fujien. Soon after that her mother died. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime, and nearly went to jail. So the family moved far away, and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung mountain at the Yunnan-Szechuan border. All this happened during the reign of Emperor K'ang-Hsi (1662-1722).
At the time Kung Fu was becoming very strong at the Siu Lam (Shaolin) monastery or Mount Sung, Henan. This aroused the fear of the Manchu government, which sent troops to attack the monastery. They were unsuccessful. A man called Chan Wan Wai was the first placed graduate of the Civil Service examination that year. He was seeking favour with the government, and suggested a plan. He plotted with Siu Lam monk Ma Ning Yee and others.They set fire to the monastery while soldiers attacke from the outside. Siu Lam was burnt down, and the monks scattered. Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Sim, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung To Tak and Master Mui Hin escaped and fled their seperate ways.
Ng Mui took refuge in White Crane Temple on Mount Tai Leung. There she came to know Yim Yee and his daughter Yim Wing Chun. She bought bean curds at their store. They became friends.
Wing Chun was a young woman then, and her beauty attracted the attention of a local bully. He tried to force Wing Chun to marry him. She and her father were very worried. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Wing Chun. She agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Then she would be able to solve the problem with the bully, and marry Leung Bok Chau, her betrothed husband. So Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains, and started to learn Kung Fu. She trained night and day and mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the local bully to a fight and beat him. Ng Mui set off to travel around the country, but before she left, she told Wing Chun to strictly honour the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage, and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu govenrment and restore the Ming Dynasty. This is how Wing Chun was handed down by Abbess Ng Mui.
After the marriage, Wing Chun taught her Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau, and he passed his Kung Fu techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai passed it on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk, known to the Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tai. It so happened that Abbot Chi Sim, who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was now working on the Red Junk. Chi Sim taught the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques to Leung Yee Tai. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tai and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they correlated and improved their techniques, and thus the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques were incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu.
Leung Yee Tai passed the Kung Fu onto Leung Jan, a well known herbal doctor from Foshan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun, and attained the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters cam to challenge him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later, he passed his Kung Fu onto Chan Wah Shun, who took me as his student many decades ago. I studied Kung Fu alongside my Kung Fu Brothers such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu Jai. Wing Chun was thus passed down to us, and we are eternally grateful to our Kung Fu ancestors and teachers. We will always remember and appreciate our roots , and this shared feeling will always keep our Kung Fu brothers close together. This is why I am organising the Wing Chun Fellowship, and I hope my Kung Fu brothers will support me in this. This will be very important in the promotion of Kung Fu.
The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu system, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton China. As a young girl she was intelligent and athletic, upstanding and manly. She was netrothed to Leung Bok Chao, a salt merchant from Fujien. Soon after that her mother died. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime, and nearly went to jail. So the family moved far away, and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung mountain at the Yunnan-Szechuan border. All this happened during the reign of Emperor K'ang-Hsi (1662-1722).
At the time Kung Fu was becoming very strong at the Siu Lam (Shaolin) monastery or Mount Sung, Henan. This aroused the fear of the Manchu government, which sent troops to attack the monastery. They were unsuccessful. A man called Chan Wan Wai was the first placed graduate of the Civil Service examination that year. He was seeking favour with the government, and suggested a plan. He plotted with Siu Lam monk Ma Ning Yee and others.They set fire to the monastery while soldiers attacke from the outside. Siu Lam was burnt down, and the monks scattered. Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Sim, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung To Tak and Master Mui Hin escaped and fled their seperate ways.
Ng Mui took refuge in White Crane Temple on Mount Tai Leung. There she came to know Yim Yee and his daughter Yim Wing Chun. She bought bean curds at their store. They became friends.
Wing Chun was a young woman then, and her beauty attracted the attention of a local bully. He tried to force Wing Chun to marry him. She and her father were very worried. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Wing Chun. She agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Then she would be able to solve the problem with the bully, and marry Leung Bok Chau, her betrothed husband. So Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains, and started to learn Kung Fu. She trained night and day and mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the local bully to a fight and beat him. Ng Mui set off to travel around the country, but before she left, she told Wing Chun to strictly honour the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage, and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu govenrment and restore the Ming Dynasty. This is how Wing Chun was handed down by Abbess Ng Mui.
After the marriage, Wing Chun taught her Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau, and he passed his Kung Fu techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai passed it on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk, known to the Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tai. It so happened that Abbot Chi Sim, who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was now working on the Red Junk. Chi Sim taught the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques to Leung Yee Tai. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tai and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they correlated and improved their techniques, and thus the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques were incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu.
Leung Yee Tai passed the Kung Fu onto Leung Jan, a well known herbal doctor from Foshan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun, and attained the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters cam to challenge him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later, he passed his Kung Fu onto Chan Wah Shun, who took me as his student many decades ago. I studied Kung Fu alongside my Kung Fu Brothers such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu Jai. Wing Chun was thus passed down to us, and we are eternally grateful to our Kung Fu ancestors and teachers. We will always remember and appreciate our roots , and this shared feeling will always keep our Kung Fu brothers close together. This is why I am organising the Wing Chun Fellowship, and I hope my Kung Fu brothers will support me in this. This will be very important in the promotion of Kung Fu.
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