Branches of Wing Chun - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The different branches of the Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

martial art Wing Chun

Wing Chun

Wing Chun , also romanised as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, ; ; is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also...

can be thought of as describing both the differing traditions and interpretations of Wing Chun, and the teacher-student relationships which perpetuate them.

There is no universally recognized sanctioning body for Wing Chun that governs certification of lineage, nor an unambiguous way of defining lineage. This branch listing relies on existing published, and notable family trees. Listings of notable students within a branch are in no particular order, and not intended to state seniority or rank.

Yip Man branch

Yip Man

Yip Man , also spelled as Ip Man, and also known as Yip Kai-Man, was a Chinese martial artist. He had several students who later became martial arts teachers in their own right, including Bruce Lee.-Early life:...

was well respected by other martial arts instructors in Foshan

Foshan

Foshan is a city in central Guangdong province in southern China. The prefectural area under the city's jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km² and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper ....

and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. He was the first person to teach Wing Chun to a wider public. After his death, many of his students formed separate schools.

Yip Man was well-known for having a very quick wit and an acid tongue. His teaching style, along with the very direct nature of the art and its despising of superfluous talk, infuses the art with a certain edginess. This is probably why Wing Chun is well-known for being split into many factions.

Notable students of Yip Man include: Lun Gai, Gwok Fu, Leung Sheung

Leung Sheung

Leung Sheung was a Chinese martial artist who studied Wing Chun Kung Fu who is known as the senior-most student of Yip Man in Hong Kong...

(梁相), Lok Yiu

Lok Yiu

Lok Yiu was a disciple of Yip Man in the discipline of Wing Chun. Lok Yiu Fun was born in 1922 and died in February 2006 at the age of 83 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong after a short battle with an illness....

(駱耀), Chu Shong-tin

Chu Shong-tin

Chu Shong-tin was the third student of martial arts teacher Yip Man in the discipline of Wing Chun, and remained at Yip Man's school to become his senior instructor....

(徐尚田), Wong Shun Leung

Wong Shun Leung

Wong Shun Leung was a Chinese martial artist from Hong Kong who studied wing chun kung fu under Yip Man and is credited with training Bruce Lee. Wong reportedly won at least 60, and perhaps over 100, street fights against martial artists of various styles. Due to his reputation, he came to be...

(黃淳樑), Wang Kiu (王喬), Yip Bo Ching (葉步青), William Cheung

William Cheung

William Cheung or Cheung Cheuk Hing , born ? October, 1940, is a Chinese Wing Chun kung fu practitioner and currently the Grandmaster of his lineage of Wing Chun, entitled Traditional Wing Chun...

, Kang Sin Sin (Kong San San), Hawkins Cheung, Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...

, Lo Man Kam, Wong Long, Wong Chok, Law Bing, Lee Shing, Ho Kam-Ming, Moy Yat

Moy Yat

Moy Yat was a Chinese martial artist, painter, seal maker, teacher and author. He was a student of the legendary Ving Tsun Kung-Fu teacher Yip Man from 1957 until Yip Man’s death in 1972...

, Duncan Leung, Derek Fung (馮平波 Fung Ping Bor), Chris Chan (陳成 Chan Shing), Victor Kan Wah Chit

Victor Kan Wah Chit

Victor Kan is a student of the late Yip Man and began his Ving Tsun instruction at the age of 13 years in Hong Kong. He was with Yip Man for 7 years and in that time during which he became known as the 'King of Chi Sao' or 'The Untouchable'. By the late 1950s he assisted Yip Man until he left for...

(簡華捷), Stanley Chan, Chow Sze Chuen, Tam Lai, Ip Ching, Ip Chun

Ip Chun

Ip Chun , also spelled as Yip Chun or Yip Jun, is a Chinese Wing Chun martial artist. He is the oldest son of Yip Man .-Biography:Ip began studying Wing Chun with his father when he was seven years old...

, Lee Che Kong, and Leung Ting

Leung Ting

Leung Ting is the founder and permanent president of the International WingTsun Association.Leung chose the spelling of WingTsun to differentiate his teachings from those of other Wing Chun schools, and to keep them from passing off their style as his own...

(梁挺).

Yiu Kai branch

Yiu Kai learned wing chun from his father as well as Chan Wah Shun disciple Ng Chun So.

Notable students: Leung Keung, Wai-Po Tang. Yiu Kai's father was Yiu Choi (spelled Yoo Choy in the 1920s',30s'40s'50s' & 60s', before the 'new' phonetics) Yoo-Choy (Yiu-Choi) branch of Wing-Chun is also called 'flowing Snake-hand' style.
Combined family styles, like what happened historically in the Ching Dynasty, are still being taught/practiced today such as the "Hong Sun Hay Ban Tong" (Red Junk/Boat Opera Society) in Girard,Ohio under the direction of Si-fu Mark Lee Pringle. Combining both Yip-Man and Yoo-Choy family styles as well as teaching "Monkey King" (Sun Wu-Kong) and "General Kwan" (Guan Yu) Chinese Opera techniques in the footsteps of GrandMaster Wong Wah-Bo, including "Lian Pu" opera face-painting.

Jiu Wan branch

Jiu Wan (招允; pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Zhāo Yǔn) first taught Wing Chun at Jing Mo Gwun, a school in Foshan, China. When the Communists took over China, he moved to Hong Kong where he continued to teach.

Jiu Wan's relationship with Yip Man is controversial among students of both branches. Some students of Jiu Wan maintain 1 he studied under his cousin and later under Yip Man. Yip Man students claim that as well. Jason Lau's branch of Jiu Wan 2 claim they were kung fu brothers directly under Chan Wah Shun.

Notable students of Jiu Wan include: Chiu Hung-Kwan (his son), Jason Lau

Jason Lau

Jason Lau is a martial arts practitioner of Wing Chun Kung Fu as the Grandmaster of the Jiu Wan branch. He worked as the "resident martial-arts master" in the Cobray International counter-terrorist training camp of Mitchell Livingston WerBell III, an "old boys club" member of the clandestine United...

, Ti Lung

Ti Lung

Tommy Tam Fu-Wing, also known as Ti Lung , or Dik Lung, is a Hong Kong actor.-Background:He studied Wing Chun under the martial arts master Chu Wan. In 1969, Ti was found by the Shaw Brothers and cast in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman opposite Jimmy Wang Yu, a role which would launch his career...

(Tam Fu-Wing), Chow Hung-Yuen, Francis Fong, and Denis Chan.

Gulao (Koo Lo) Village branch

Gulao (古劳) Wing Chun Kuen was Taught by Dr. Leung Jan when he retired back to his native village of Gulao in Heshan County, Guangdong province and is typically referred to by the village name to distinguish it from the doctor’s Foshan teachings. The Fung family variations found in Kulo Village have also come to be called Pian San (Side Body) Wing Chun Kuen.

Fung Family Koo Lo: Fung Chun, Fung Hoi, Fung Lim, Fung Kong, Fung Min, Fung Jau, Koo Lung, Fung Chiu, Fung Sang, Fung Keung

Lee Shing 12 point version: Austin Goh

Austin Goh

Austin Goh is a Wing Chun instructor, Qigong and T'ai chi practitioner, actor and fight choreographer based in London.-History:Grand Master Austin Goh originally moved from Malaysia to England in the 1960s in order to study a degree course in physical education...

, Juerg Ziegler (Switzerland), Joseph Lee

Joseph Lee

Joseph Lee may refer to:* Joe Lee, professor of Irish history* Joseph Lee , Scottish poet* Joseph Lee , father of the playground movement* J. Bracken Lee, former Governor of Utah...

, Joseph Man Nigel Fan, Eddie Yeoh, Simon Lau, Joseph Cheng, Eric Hardy, and Samuel Kwok.

Fung Lim 22 point version: Chiu Fan Kai.

Yim Sei 40 point version: Tam Yeung.

Pan Nam branch

Pan Nam cross-trained in a wide range of Wing Chun Kuen branches. He then created his own approach based on his experience.

Pan Nam studied Hung Gar from 1934 to 1947 until he met Jiu Chow (top student of Chan Yiu Men), and officially began his Wing Chun Kuen training. His classmates included Leung Lam, Jiu Wan, Lee Shing, Wong Jing and other semi famous Wing Chun masters. Jiu Chow had to relocate to Chungshan, and Pan followed him to continue training. According to Sum Nung, prior to learning from Jiu Chow, Pan briefly studied from Cheung Bo, but soon opted to train with Jiu.

In 1949 Pan Nam moved back to Fatshan and started teaching at the “Union of cake industry workers of Fatshan”. In 1956 he was introduced to Lai Hip Chai a classmate of Ng Chun So, Yip Man and Chan Yiu Men, who was the second to last student accepted by Chan Wah Shun (Yip Man being the last). Lai Hip Chai had not only learned from Chan, but also from Lok Lan Goon's nephew.

Notable students of Pan Nam include: Pan Siu-Cho, Pan Siu-Lam, Lee Dak-Sang, Wong Jee-Keung, Lun Fao, Leung Chong-Ting, Eddie Chong

Eddie Chong

Eddie Chong is an internationally recognized kung fu martial artist and instructor. Chong operates from his Sacramento, California-based school. He has nine affiliated schools and a school in Mexico...

, Leong Cheok Son (Felix Leong).

Yuen Kay-San branch

Yuen Kay-San was a master in the martial art of Wing Chun, who lived from 1889 to 1956. The fifth of five brothers, he became known as "Foshan Yuen Lo Jia (Yuen the Fifth of Foshan)" Yuen combined the Wing Chun of both of his teachers, constable Fok Bo Chuen, and Body guard and Bounty Hunter Fung Siu Ching.

Notable students: Sum Nung

Nguyễn Tế-Công branch (Vietnam WingChun 永春)

Nguyễn Tế-Công (阮濟云; Yale Cantonese: yun5 jai2 wan4; Yuen Chai-Wan) Older brother of Yuen Kay-San, Yuen first learned Wing Chun Kuen under Fok Bo-Chuen and later continued his studies with Fung Siu-Ching. In 1936 he was invited to teach Wing Chun in Vietnam at the Nanhai and Shunde Expatriates Associations and moved to Hanoi, where he was known by the Vietnamese pronunciation of his name, Nguyen Te-Cong. In 1954 he relocated to Saigon (Now, Ho Chi Minh City) where he established a second school.

Notable students: Yiu Choi, Cam Tuc Cuong, Nguyen Duy-Hai, Luc Vien Khai, Tran Van Phung, Vu Ba Quy, Ngo Si Quy, Tran Thuc Tien, Viet Huong.

Cho family branch

The Cho family of Poon Yu Village (near Shunde and Foshan) have been practitioners of southern fist systems, such as Choy Lai Fut, Hung Gar, Mok Gar, and White Crane, for many years. Cho Shun joined the King Fa Wui Goon and became an Operatic performer/actor. He became the first known disciple of Wing Chun practitoner Yik Kam.

Notable students include: Cho Chuen(曹全), Cho Man(曹文), and Cho On(曹安).

(Hung Fa Yi/Hung Suen Wing Chun Kuen)

Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen (Honghua Yi Yongchunquan, Red Flower Righteous), previously referred to as Hung Suen (Red Boat) Wing Chun Kuen, was introduced by Garrett Gee of San Francisco (although it is said to come from Xiguan, Guangzhou, China.)

Pao Fa Lien branch

Founded by Dai Dong Fung (Great East Wind) and his students Gwok Leung and Gwok Cheung, the branch received its name via Lao Dat Sang, who had the nickname Pao Fa Lien, or "Wood Planer

Planer

The term planer may refer to several types of carpentry tools, woodworking machines or metalworking machine tools.*Plane : a hand tool used to produce flat surfaces by shaving the surface of the wood...

Lien". Notable students: Mok Poi-On.

Fut Sao (Buddha Hand) branch

Fut Sao Wing Chun Kuen (Fo Shou Yongchunquan), meaning “Buddha Hand”, was introduced by Leung Chi-Man (Leung Hung-Lay, Henry Leung) in New York City back in the Late 60's. Different students of Leung Chi-Man report different origins for the system, including it descending from Fung Siu Ching, Leung Bik, Chan Wah Shun, Xu Yun, and Leung Chan Sang.

Notable students: Santos Barbalace, James Cama, Joe Ng

External links

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