desired by a local ruffian who tried to force her into marriage. Using the art taught to her by Ng Mui, Wing-Chun challenged and defeated her unwelcome suitor, driving him from the area and firmly establishing her reputation as a fighter.
Yim Wing-Chun later married her betrothed; a salt merchant named Leung Bok-Chao. Yim passed the martial art of Ng Mui on to her husband, who named it Wing Chun kuen (Wing-Chuns Boxing) in her honor. From Leung Bok-Chao the style passed on to Hung Suen (Red Boat) Opera member, Leung Lan-Kwai (although some legends state that Leung was a wealthy scholar or Chinese herbalist). Leung Lan-Kwai passed the art to Wong Wah-Bo and Leung Yee-Tai, also of the Red Boat Opera.
A picture of Grandmaster Yip Man seen in many of the schools descending from his teachings.
Legends hold that Leung Yee-Tai was a poler for the Chinese Opera troop, whose job it was to steer the boat away from rocks or shallow water by pushing off with a long pole. On the boat, Leung befriended a cook who was really Jee Shim, the former abbot of the Siu Lam Temple in hiding. Jee Shim decided to teach Leung the famous six-and-a-half point pole set and its applications. Leung soon mastered the techniques and later he met another martial artist named Wong Wah-Bo, a master of Wing Chun kuen. They became close friends and discussed the principles of their martial arts. The two decided to trade and share their knowledge. After much refinement, the six-and-a-half point pole was incorporated into the Wing Chun curriculum.
The Vlng Tsun Athletic Association, the nexus for Yip Man’s art in Hong Kong.
Both Wong Wah-Bo and Leung Yee-Tai taught the notable Dr. Leung Jan of Foshan who brought fame to Wing Chun through his exploits, many of which have since been romanticized into stories and movies.
Dr. Leung Jan, a noted local herbalist, was known both as Jan Sin-Sang (Mr. Jan) for his professional and gentle nature and also as Wing Chun Wong (King of Wing Chun) for his fighting prowess and fierce reputation in challenge matches. Leung Jan taught at his store Jan Sang Tong (Mr. Jan’s Hall) on Fai Jee Street in Foshan and had a number of students, among them his own sons Leung Chun and Leung Bik, and his disciple, Chan Wah-Shun.
Chan Wah-Shun, often called Jiao-Chin Wah (Moneychanger Wah) due to his profession as a currency converter, proved himself outstanding in the practice of Wing Chun. A large and powerful man, Chan carried on his teachers reputation in challenge matches, and enhanced Wing Chuns reputation in Foshan with his victories.
Among Chan Wah-Shun’s disciples (said to have numbered sixteen in all) were his son, Chan Yiu-Min, and students Ng Siu-Lo, Ng Jung-So, Lui Yiu-Chai, Lai Hip-Chi, and Yip Man, among others.
It was Yip Man, Chan Wah-Shun’s final disciple, who went on to change the history of Wing Chun forever. Born in the mid-1890s to a wealthy family in Foshan, at roughly the age of thirteen (although some accounts suggest earlier) Yip Man approached Chan Wah-Shun, who taught on the Yip family’s property, and sought instruction. Chan, at first, thought the young Yip Man was too scholarly and gentle for the martial arts. Hoping to dissuade the young man, Chan asked Yip for a substantial tuition. Yip’s desire was so great, however, that he returned immediately with his life’s savings, intent on pursuing lessons. Yip Man’s dedication won over Chan and he accepted Yip as his last disciple. A short time later, when the old moneychanger passed away, Yip Man continued his lessons under Ng Jung-So, one of Chan’s most senior and talented disciples.
One account holds that Yip Man came to learn Wing Chun again while in Hong Kong attending school at St. Stephen’s college during the 1910s. Through a classmate, Yip was introduced to an old man who was said to be skilled in the martial arts. Yip, known for his brash and feisty character, challenged the old timer. According to some accounts, Yip charged at the old man, missed, and fell into the water at the pier where the match was taking place. Yip Man later found out the old man was, in fact, Leung Bik, the son of Leung Jan and his own sibak (martial arts uncle). Suitably impressed, Yip followed Leung Bik for the next few years, polishing his Wing Chun before making his way back to Foshan.
In those days, it was not uncommon for practitioners of Wing Chun to keep their knowledge secret, and simply not teach at all. So it was that, at first, Yip Man himself did not teach and practiced only with his good friends and martial arts peers. During the Japanese occupation, conditions changed. Life grew more difficult and Yip saw his wealth and prosperity dwindle. In 1941, to repay the kindness of Chow Chen-Chung, Yip Man taught some students in the nearby village of Yongan. These pupils included Chow’s son Kwong-Yiu, as well as Kwok Fu, Chan Chi-Sun, Lun Kai, and Chow Sai. As of this writing, most of Yip Man’s early 1940s students have passed away. Kwok Fu and Lun Gai, however, still preserve his art in Foshan.
If nothing had changed, Yip Man probably would have remained in Foshan and Wing Chun would likely never have attained the fame it currently enjoys around the world.
The winds of change, however, soon swept over China in the form of Mao Zedong’s Communist Party seizing power in 1949, after the defeat of the Nationalists and their retreat to Taiwan. Under Communist rule, Yip Man lost his wealth and property and had no choice but to flee his homeland.
In late 1949, fate brought Yip Man once again to Hong Kong. No longer young or wealthy, Yip took shelter at the Restaurant Workers Association in Kowloon, to which he was introduced by his good friend Lee Man. Teaching at the association at the time was a man named Leung Sheung. Although Leung Sheung taught Choy Lay Fut, he had also been exposed to lung ying mor kiu (dragon-shape rubbing bridges style), Bak Mei pai, and the Jee Shim Wing Chun of Dong Suen. Age had not dampened Yip Mans feistiness and, according to one account, he critiqued Leungs performance rather sarcastically in front of his class. Yip’s slight build emboldened the larger Leung Sheung. Leung threw down his challenge, the end result of which saw Leung asking to become Yip Mans disciple and Yip starting his career as a professional Wing Chun teacher in Hong Kong.
Masters Wong Shun-Leung and Hawkins Cheung, two of Yip Man’s students who helped forge Wing Chun’s reputation in challenge fights.
In the spring of 1950, Yip began with just over a dozen students. A short time later another class commenced with well over two dozen students. By 1951, a third class had begun with over forty people. Wing Chun proliferated among the restaurant workers and its reputation had spread, attracting people from outside the association as well. Wing Chun was finally taught publicly after decades of secrecy.
The early years saw the rise of Yip Mans reputation as a teacher and that of Wing Chun as a fighting art. Yips students issued and accepted many challenges. Yip Man taught literally thousands of students over the years hailing from varying social classes. Among his followers were his senior disciples who helped him instruct, a group of high school students, professionals, Restaurant and Bus Driver Association members, and more affluent private pupils.
Master William Cheung is based in Australia and teaches internationally.
Some of Yip Mans early disciples included Leung Sheung (famous for his biu jee set), Lok Yiu (famous for his Wing Chun pole), Tsui Seung-Tin (famous for his siu nim tao set), and Wong Shun-Leung (famous for his application of Wing Chun in challenge matches and street fights).
Through their victories in challenge matches, Wong Shun-Leung, Cheung Chuk-Hing (William Cheung, now in Australia and teaching internationally through his World Wing Chun Kung Fu Association), Lee Siu-Lung (Bruce Lee, who more than anyone else helped popularize and spread Wing Chun and kung-fu in general around the world through his movies and teachings), Cheung HokKin (Hawkins Cheung, now teaching in Los Angeles, California), and others firmly established Wing Chun’s reputation as a fighting art in Hong Kong.
Master Hawkins Cheung shows an example of simultaneous