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Ng Family Story
Not unlike the martial arts of various other lineages and cultures,much of Wing Chun¡¯s early history is shrouded by more myth than is documented by proven fact.Due to the inconsistencies of the stories told of Wing Chun¡¯s origins by practitioners of different lineages, debates and confusion often arise to cloud the more important technical and conceptual aspects of this fighting method.As the methods and contents of today¡¯s Wing chun must have evolved and changed from its original state, it is more important to focus upon why Wing Chun works and how to put its principles to work for today¡¯s practitioners. Even as we embark to discuss Wing chun's historical origins, it is important to keep in mind that no matter how the Wing Chun method came to be, the method as it exists today is by far more important to the practitioner than the Wing chun that had existed in the centuries pasted.
With the almost sudden popularity of Wing Chun in the 1900s,better documentation of Wing chun¡¯s progress was achieved.Many stories are told in regards to the origins of the Wing chun method,but this essay will begin by addressing the origin as allegedly described by Yip Man himself.During the Qing dynasty,the Shaolin temple offered refuge to many anti-government revolutionaries.In retaliation,the Qing troops raided the temple and burned it down.From this incident fled five survivors.Each would later be credited as an ancestor to one or more forms of various modern Chinese martial arts.Of these survivors, a nun named Ng Mui would become an important figure in the Wing Chun mythology.
Ng Mui, while on the run from the Qing troops,would meet a young woman by the name of Yim Wing Chun.?According to legend,Yim Wing Chun was a beautiful daughter of a local tofu vender who was harassed daily by a local bully and his gang.While fighting away these bullies herself would reveal her identity to the Qing troops, Ng Mui decided to teach the young Yim Wing Chun to defend herself.As the story goes, Yim Wing Chun took the skills passed on to her by the nun, Ng Mui, and defeated the bullies.Yim Wing Chun was bothered no more.Yim Wing Chun would later be married to Leung Bok Chao, whom she would pass her fighting skills to.Her husband would later name this fighting method after his wife, Wing Chun . Leung Jan was a famous local herbalist and was known both as a doctor and as a martial arts expert.Famous for his reputation as a winner of numerous challenge matches,Leung Jan received numerous students in his clinic (which served as a herbal store as well as a martial arts school).Among his students were his sons, Leung Chun and Leung Bik, and a disciple named Chan Wah Shun.Chan Wah Shun,or ¡°Money Changer Wah¡± as he was known (due to his job as a currency exchanger) would later become the teacher of Grandmaster Yip Man.
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