"BORN IN SHAOLIN TO BEAT SHAOLIN"

This is the motto of the followers of this style.

The Wing-Chun, a style wich has its roots in the south of China, may appear a little ugly and limitated compared to other traditional Kung Fu styles; this is because it operates in the short distance, and the movements are not so circular and harmonius.

The known founder of this style is a female monk named Wu-Mei, and the legend tell she
was blind.

Other tales tell that Wu-Mei escaped the famous fire of the Shaolin monastery, togheter with the
four most expert monk fighters, to subdue the Manciù government wich began the defeat.

Despite being a woman, Wu-Mei was equal in level to the others, in some case even better, and
skilled in the style of the white heron of Shaolin (Bak-Hok-Pai).

She found shelter in the munt Tau-Leng, in the Fukien monastery, where she improved and
renewed the style with more close combat techniques, making it more essential and concrete in
real fighting situations.

These modifications led to the creation of a new method wich, in the beginning, shouldn't even have a name, in order to keep it secret.
The monk often went to the shop of Yim-Yao-Chun, who was the father of Wing-Chun (Beatiful as the spring). Her name truly expressed her beauty, so much that everyone in the village wanted her as a wife.

But one day, a local rich man, threatened Yim-Yao-Chun and his family if he wouldn't give him his daughter.

Wu-Mei, beign a good friend of the family, decided to help them takin' Wing-Chun with her to the monastery for three years, hiding her from anyone.

During this time, the girl learned the fight technique of the monk becoming highly skilled in the "nameless style".

Once back in his village she decided to marry the man able to defeat her in a match.

She became unbeaten, so much that anyone who approached near to attack her, even by surprise, couldn't succeed; so everybody started to call the "nameless style" as "The Kung Fu
of Wing-Chun".

The legend says that the girl fell in love with a nomad actor called Leung-Bok-Cho, also an expert in Kung Fu (supposed to be a Hung-Gar practicer), and that she let him defeat her in
order to marry him.

Only after some time she revealed the truth to him, beating
him sonorously.

Their love union become also a mix of the two styles, exchanging their characteristics and skills and bringing it to a higher level.

The style was handed down in a direct line only in the family,until Leung-Jong, also known in Fat-San as the
"King of Kung-Fu".

Leung-Jong tought his two sons Leung-Jun and
Leung-Bik, and only one pupil: Chan-Wah-Soon.

He was really strong, so, afraid of him surpassing his sons,
Leung-Jong tought him a modified version of Whing-Chun.

Chan-Wah-Soon had a pupil named Yip-Man, who, one
day, was easily beaten by an old man and by a style similar
to his one: he was Leung-Bik, and after that fight he tought
Yip-Man everything that his feather omitted to his first
master.

So Yip-Man became the last great Master of the style, and, moving to Hong-Khong, had many
pupils that transmitted Wing-Chun all over the world.

"Features of the style"

As we already said, the Wing-Chun is a style considered "graceless" but effective, this also thanks to the interesting theories about defense and using the arms.

The basic characteristics can be described in some points:

-Still elbow (Bot-Wan-Jong)
-Cover the four gates
-Cover the central line (Joan-Xian)
-Moving administration
-Seek the contact
-Rectangle of space

The style originally incorporated 4 forms wich meant all the principles and the technics of the style, with a particular study of the inner energy (C'hi).

Later, many contact and manipulation excercises were added in order to create new fighting skills.

Yip-Man