In a follow up to the previous post, I have translated the preface written by Sifu CS Tang for my Kung Fu brother's book "The Spread and Transmission of Wing Chun - The Secret Leg Techniques of Wing Chun". This preface gives a brief flavor of the diversity in the various lineages of currently extant Wing Chun Schools and can provide some context of how the Yip Man and Hong Kong lineages fit into the Wing Chun Family as a whole. The book is currently available only in Chinese and can be found at most major Chinese bookstores in Hong Kong.
Wing Chun is a very special form of Chinese martial art. It specializes in the maintaining and using the centerline, short distance use of power, always continuing to advance and press the advantage, using stillness to overcome movement. It uses the energy of the curve to defend and the fierce power of the straight line to attack.
During my practice and research of Wing Chun, I have come into contact with many different lineages of Wing Chun boxing, and have been a part of several systems, in order to search for the original source of Wing Chun.
The main schools of Hong Kong Wing Chun are mainly comprised of the Yip Man line, Chu Chung Line 朱忠 and Pao Fa Lien Wing Chun 刨花蓮詠春. Later on I discovered Gu Lao leaning body Wing Chun 古勞側身詠春, Guangzhou Ruan Qishan (Yuen Kaysan) Wing Chun 廣州阮岐山詠春 and others. The Wing Chun Association of Guangzhou lists nine separate schools of Wing Chun. What began as a very simple school of boxing, in a short time has diverged into more branches than one could keep track of, with each having their own roots, flavor and practice forms.
According to Yip Man's hand written records, this form of boxing originated with Yim Wing Chun, who studied under Master Wumei, when one looks at its closed high stance, defense of the centerline, one can imagine it to be a style of lady's boxing, or the boxing of a cultured person. However this is but a story handed down from our ancestors, for in actuality it would be difficult to find a woman who practiced boxing during feudal times, even less the female founder of a boxing system.
Many Southern styles originate in Fujian, and Fujian is mainly known for its Crane boxing. Wing Chun's hand movements and stance do not deviate from the overall form of Fujian boxing. In the original boxing taught in Foshan, there was Butterfly Stance 蝴蝶馬, Tiger's Tail Leg 虎尾腳, Master Shum Neng 岑能 had the twelve form san shou and Master Wong Chen 黃貞 had the thirty six form san shou. The letter 2 life stealing knife 二字奪命刀 is a form derived from the Fujian double piercing knife 福建雙插刀, in addition there was the special Tang Koo Sau 藤箍手(rattan trapping hand), and the full form of the six and a half staff.
When considering the hand movements, in Hung Kuen's basic Gong Zi Tiger Quelling boxing 工字伏虎拳 (in the shape of the character "工") there is the high and low Pang Sau, which is similar to the wings of a crane, and these movements are also incorporated into the movements of Siu Lim Tao. The founding legend of Hung Kuen, which is also very beautiful, recounts that Hung Hei Goon from Fujian along with his wife Wing Chun Sam Leung, saw a snake and crane fighting and thus developed their tiger and crane boxing. The teacher of Hung Hay Goon was reputedly the Zen Master Zhishan from Shaolin, and his wife's teacher was the nun Wumei and they were both part of the 5 elders of the Jiulian Mountain Shaolin Monastery.
Nowadays we all know that be it in Jiulian Mountain, Putian or Quanzhou, we are unable to locate the Southern Shaolin monastery. [Widely considered to be a myth.] In my early years, I met Master Wang Yunzhan 王雲展大師 at the Baodao Hall 抱道堂, where he taught Fujianese Boxing, and it was rumored that he hailed from Jiulian Mountain Shaolin Monastery, and he could recite the paired couplets from the mountain gate, describe the location of the main hall, and stated that in the lower levels of the monastery there were wooden dummies for martial arts practice. When I asked its location, he stated that it was located deep in the mountains, with little trace of human activity and there was no road to speak of. If he went again he would have to search for a long time. It is really a mystery.
When one considers Wong Gam Bor's Hung Kuen Wing Chun whose school is in Yuen Long 元朗黃鑑波洪拳永春, the forms are even simpler than Hung Kuen, there is only one form of leaning body, one form of wooden dummy kicking, one form of wooden dummy hand training (empty stance and burying stance 空樁及埋樁). For weapons they teach one set of 9-13 spear九點十三槍, the hand movements are small and at a close distance using the Pang Tan Fuk Scissor hands 膀攤伏較剪, for the stance one stands in a parallel inverted stance, the feet do not face in but the hips are pulled inwards to protect the crotch, and is very similar to Fujian's White Crane.
For different forms of Wing Chun, they all have a similarity in that they do not emit sounds when fighting, which is different from the Hung, Lau and Choy Lay Fut styles. But in Guangzhou there is one style called Shaolin Wing Chun, where there is only a single form, of which one third is spent standing in a stance and performing hand techniques, and after that one begins to move into bow stance, parallel stance, back weighted stance, and the latter part of the techniques has the emission of sounds, how strange!
Wing Chun is mainly done with a high stance with the weight on the back foot 高身坐後馬. Guangzhou Wing Chun has Tan Yao 攤腰, Jut Sau 窒手, Dou Dan 抖丹 and these are also performed on the back foot, and this is to facilitate the swaying of the body to avoid punches, and to lift the foot to kick the enemy. It also has half butterfly stance 半邊蝴蝶馬 or kneeling stance, which is a speciality of Fujian boxing. But for Macau Jiu Jau Style Wing Chun 招就系, it has the Sinking Bridge Biao Jee 沉橋標指, but all of this is done with the Diu Ma 吊馬(weight completely on back foot front foot lightly touching the ground).
From the analysis of the name, the source of Wing Chun is Foshan, where the old Masters Wong Wah Bao 黃華寳, Scar Faced Kam 花面錦, Fung Siu Ching 馮小青, Chan Yu Mien 陳汝棉 resided. According to the oral records, it was already called Wing Chun at that time, originating from the Wing Chun Hall 永春殿 of the Shaolin Temple; with further research it has now been established that this was actually the Wing Chun from Wing Chun County 永春縣 in Fujian which is the original derivation of the name of Yong Chun White Crane boxing 永春白鶴拳. Thus one can see that Wing Chun has an intimate relationship with Fujian county.
Now Wing Chun has developed very quickly, the many lineages have sub-divided into those of Yiu Choi, Jiu Wan, Jiu Jau, Mak Gei Wong, Red Ship, Shaolin, Pao Fa Lien, Hung Kuen, Snake Crane (She Hok), Wing Chun Crane Boxing. When practicing the power is full while sinking the weight and performed slowly, in Guanzhou and Foshan the emphasis is on softness and on the inhalation and exhalation, whereas the emphasis in Hong Kong is on speed and ferocity. The name can also be written as Wing Chun (Eternal spring)永春 which is beautified to Wing Chun 詠春 (Song of Spring), or simplified to Wing Chun (also Song of Spring)咏春 Each branch has its own emphasis, and has its own development, Wing Chun is one family, and we should let a hundred flowers bloom!
Osmund Lam has studied the art of Wing Chun for many years, and has recently written this work "The Spread and Transmission of Wing Chun" in which he has detailed research into the source lineage of Yip Man's Wing Chun, from the founding of the style into recent written history and events. In the 70s and 80s the South East Asia Martial Arts ring fighting competitions were popular for a period, and he also recounts the details of the early period of Master Yip Man's life in Hong Kong, and how he transmitted his art, and all this is related in great detail. In honesty this book is a record of the history of the Hong Kong martial community. This book is premised upon effectiveness, and does not discuss forms, and discusses certain applications that are not known to the wider public, as well as knife work, especially the kicking and leg techniques that Master Chow Tsz Chuen 鄒子傳 was famous for, the demonstration Mai Jong, practical sparring, all this is demonstrated in the pictures. By disclosing what is unknown to most people, this book is a treasure for the greater martial community.
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