Although Yim San Soak was highly regarded throughout the countryside, his daughter's fame was far greater than his, for she was one of the most charming and beautiful girls in the province. Her name was Yim Wing Chun- Beautiful as Springtime/Perpetual Springtime.
Wing Chun's father had been training her in the traditional Shaolin style of Kung-Fu but now wanted her to begin studying from the highly respected Ng-Mui.
After watching the skill and determination of Wing Chun, Ng-Mui agreed to teach her a Kung-Fu system she had secretly devised. Though she had no name for the system, she considered it an extension of her previous teachings.
Yim Wing Chun continued training with Ng-Mui, eventually meeting her future husband, Leung-Bok-Cho, who was also skilled in the martial arts.
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An actor by trade, Chan was later credited with adding the weapons techniques to the system his wife had mastered. Chan named the martial style Wing Chun, after his wife.
Leung-Bok-Cho later taught Wing Chun to his nephew Wong-Wah-Bo and nephew Leung-Yee-Tye. Yee-Tye passed the art to his son Leung Jun who in turn taught it to Leung-Cheun, Chan-Wah-Soon & Leung-Bak.
It was Chan-Wah-Soon and Leung Bak who taught the late, modern-day Grand master, Yip-Man, who brought the Wing Chun art from behind the Bamboo Curtain. Yip Man taught a host of now famous masters including William Cheung and the not so surprisingly talented Bruce Lee who spread the name of art even more- all around the World and eventually creating his own system Jeet Kune Do. |
