There are at least eight distinct lineages of the martial art Wing Chun. These are mostly little-known outside of China, and each has its own history of origin. In the West, Wing Chun's history has become a mix of fact and fiction due to the impacts of early secrecy and modern marketing. Additionally, there are competing genealogies within the same branch or about the same individual teacher.
The different branches of the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun can be thought of as describing both the differing traditions and interpretations of Wing Chun and the teacher-student relationships which perpetuate them.
Ip Man
History
This lineage has a legend in which the nun Ng Mui saw a fight between a crane and a snake. She incorporated their fighting styles into her Shaolin Kung Fu to develop an unnamed style. She taught this to one of her students Yim Wing-chun; she taught her husband Leung Bok-chao, who named the style Wing Chun Kuen (Wing Chun boxing) in his wife's honor and who passed it to Leung Lan-kwai of the Red Boat Opera Company (although other versions of this legend state that he was a scholar and herbalist), who passed it on to Wong Wa-bo and Leung Yee-tai, both of the Red Boat Opera, and who both taught the herbalist Leung Jan.
Leung Jan passed it on to his two sons Leung Chun and Leung Bik plus other students who included Chan Wah-Shun, who taught his own students including Yip Man.
In another legend, Yip Man was attending school in Hong Kong during the 1910s, where he was invited by a friend to challenge a highly skilled old man. Yip Man did not win, and the old man was Leung Bik. Yip Man studied under Leung Bik for a few years before returning home to Foshan where he opened his own school. His students there have passed on his style, which is still taught in Foshan today.
Yip Man moved to Hong Kong in 1949; his was the first Wing Chun system to be taught publicly, and it has grown to become one of the most popular of the Chinese martial arts. A claim that his eldest son Yip Chun is the only inheritor of Yip Man's system is disputed by a number of Wing Chun schools, including those in Foshan.
Lineage Ng Mui → Yim Wing-chun → Leung Bok-chao → Leung Lan-kwai → Wong Wah-bo & Leung Yee-tai → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun & Leung Bik → Ip Man
Ip man's most notable students Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Chu Shong-tin, Ho Kam-ming, Lo Man-kam, Wong Shun-leung, William Cheung, Bruce Lee, Victor Kan, Ip Ching, Ip Chun, Hawkins Cheung, Moy Yat, and Leung Ting.
Features Per Chu, Ritchie and Wu, Yip Man Wing Chun is known for its simplicity, directness, economy of motion, and encapsulation of the essential Wing Chun principles.Chu 2015, pg.27
Yuen Kay San
History According to this lineage, the "true founders of Wing Chun remain lost in time", with lineage originating from Red Boat Opera. Yuen Kay-shan was a master in the martial art of Wing Chun, who lived from 1889 to 1956, known as an undefeated champion of 1000 death duels in Foshan during the 1920-1950s. The fifth of five brothers, he became known as "Foshan Yuen Lo Jia" (Yuen the Fifth of Foshan). Yuen Kay-shan combined the Wing Chun of both of his teachers, constable Fok Bo-chuen and bodyguard and bounty hunter Fung Siu-ching. Yuen Kay-shan's brand is one of several distinct Wing Chun systems documented in Complete Wing Chun, discusses its history, principles and training methods. Currently the Yuen Kay-san lineage is centered at Guangzhou and spearheaded by Grandmaster Sum Nung.Chu 2015, page 28
Features Additional emphasis on use of knives, six-and-a-half-point pole, and throwing darts.
Notable alumni Sum Nung ->Teddy Wong]-> R.Yap
Gu Lao Village / Forty Points Wing Chun History This branch was taught by Leung Jan when he retired back to his native village of Gu Lao in Heshan County, Guangdong province, and is typically referred to by the village name to distinguish it from the doctor's Foshan teachings. Leung Jan grew weary of inactivity while in retirement and chose to teach a small group of students in a new variation of Wing Chun that focuses on short drills.
To learn a single form from now-elderly Leung Jan, the villagers needed to pay a significant amount of money. Tam Yeung was one of Leung Jan's students who would learn this system in entirety.
Features The Gu Lao Wing Chun is referred to as Forty Points Wing Chun. Guo Lao Wing Chun uses 40 short drills which are a loose expression and application of Wing Chun. It functions like normal Wing Chun, only deviating in the ways it is taught in.
Notable alumni Tam Yeung, Kwan Jong-yuen, Robert Chu
Nanyang / Cao Dean History According to this lineage of Wing Chun, the art was conceived at Red Boat Opera, being based on the knowledge of both Jee Shim (presenting the "Always Spring" variation) and Ng Mui (presenting the "Praise Spring" variation).Chu, pg.54 The Wing Chun from Cho On sifu is also called Ban Chung Wing Chun / Ban Chung Cho Ga Wing Chun.https://wingchunpedia.org/pmwiki.php/WCP/KuChoiWahhttps://www.wcinewsstand.com/issue-47-april-2019/view#!page48
A Red Boat Opera performer identified as "Painted Face Kam" passed his Wing Chun knowledge to Cho Duk-sang, who came from a family known for Hung Ga Kuen. Duk-sang would be the first to venture outside the family martial art. The branch pioneer Cao Dean (Cho Dak-on, unrelated to Duk-sang) became a student of Cho Duk-sang after getting beaten in an altercation. Under elder Cho, Dean would eventually master Wing Chun as a young adult.
Cao Dean initially taught Wing Chun at Hong Kong, but unemployment forced him to move to Malaysia for the second time in his life. There, he would become a chef specializing in Cantonese cuisine. Word of Cao Dean's martial arts prowess started to spread, with locals wanting to learn Cao Dean's art. He initially began teaching smaller groups, but as willing students grew in numbers, Cao Dean would establish a dedicated Wing Chun school—the first in the Malay peninsula.
Cao Dean died in 1980s at 90 years old. Cao Dean's lineage was succeeded by S.Y. Liu and others including S.Y.Liu's nephew Ku Choi Wah,https://www.wingchunillustrated.com/issue-47-table-of-contents/ who learnt initially from S.Y.Liu and later became a direct student of Cao Dean / Cho On. However, circa 2015, S.Y. Liu is no longer involved in martial arts. Presently, the Nanyang lineage is mainly headed by Y. Wu in Singapore and Sydney, Australia. Another direct student of Cao Dean / Cho On, Ku Choi Wah continues to separately teach and propagate the Ban Chung Cho Ga Wing Chun in Malaysia, with his students running classes in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India.
Lineages
Chi Sim → Red Boat Opera & Leung Bok-chao → Red Boat Opera Red Boat Opera → Painted Face Kam → Cho Duk-sang → Cao Dean (Cho Dak-On) Cao Dean → S.Y Liu → Y. Wu (present head) Another lineage: Red Boat Opera → Painted Face Kam → Cho Duk-sang → Cao Dean (Cho Dak-On) Cao Dean → Ku Choi Wah (also studied under his own uncle S.Y Liu)
Features
Nanyang Wing Chun contains many forms and concepts. It has great amount of techniques, including strikes, joint-locks, throws, and weapon techniques.Chu 2015, pg.60, 68 A video interview and demonstration of Ban Chung Cho Ga Wing Chun by Ku Choi Wah sifu covered by an international Wing Chun research team led by Vik Hothi sifu presents some intricacies of the system.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en4BQ1BlAvI
The unique aspect of this style of Wing Chun is the single long Siu Lim Tao form.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtpY06HRXTs The fist strikes utilise the Phoenix Eye fist and the Leopard Paw fist.
The general version of the single long Siu Lim Tao form can be found here.
The general curriculum followed under Ku Choi Wah in the Ban Chung Cho Ga Wing Chun is:
Unarmed patterns (空手套路): Thirteen Hands (Sup Sam Sao/十三手), Little Idea (Siu Lim Tao/小念頭), Sticking Hands Cavity (Mor Kiu), Smashing into Pieces (Sui Da/碎打), Flower Fist (Fa Kuen/花拳) and Wooden Dummy Set (Muk Yan Jong/木人桩) https://wingchunpedia.org/pmwiki.php/WCP/KuChoiWahBranch
Weapons Patterns (武器套路): Six and Half Points Thirteen Spear (Luk Dim Pun Gwan Sap Sam Cheong/六点半棍十三枪) and Man Character Knives (Yan Jee Dao /人字刀)
Drills /Exercises (训练演习/演练): Eight Sticking Points (Chi Bat Dim /持八点), Empty Dummy (Hong Jong//空桩) and Staff Dummy (Gwan Jong/棍桩 ).
Training Tools (训练器材): Chopstick (筷子), Swallow Plaque (Yin Jee Pai /燕子牌), Rattan Rings (藤环), Iron Rings (铁环) and Pull Horse Rope (拉马绳)
Pan Nam
History According to this lineage, Wing Chun was a yet-unnamed martial art that was conceived by the anti-Qing-Empire Tiandihui, being combination of various Shaolin martial arts, such as Taijiquan, Ying Jow Pai, Tong Long Quan, gum gang jeung, Chin Na, and other martial arts.
A Siu Lam nun known as Yat Chum Um-jee (in Mandarin Chinese Yi Chen Anzhu) (Speck of Dust, Founder of Convent) would establish a convent in Hengshan, where she taught the nameless style to select students. Among these students was a man nicknamed "Tan Sao-ng", who handled costumes of the Hunanese Opera Company. Subsequently, he fled Hunan to Foshan. There, Tan Sao-ng's students would train Wong Wah-bo, Leung Yee-tai, Dai Fan Min-kam, and Lai Fook-shun. In this lineage, the "Wing" in Wing Chun comes from Chan Wing-wah, one of the founders of Hongmen.
Branch founder Pan Nam initially studied Hung Gar from 1934 to 1947 until he met Jiu Chow, a student of Chan Yiu-men, son of Chan Wah-shun. From there, he 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 Zhongshan, and Pan followed him to continue training.
In 1949 Pan Nam moved back to Fatshan and started teaching at the "Union of Cake Industry Workers of Fatshan". In either 1956 or 1957, Pan Nam attended Guangdong Provincial martial arts competitions, where 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.
Lai Hip-chai died in 1970. Pan Nam continued teaching Wing Chun in Foshan until his death in December 1995. Grandmaster Eddie Chong was Nam's final student, and he brought Nam's system to the United States in the early 1990s, where Chong is based in Sacramento, California. Chong has been vital in helping preserve the Pan Nam style of Wing Chun, which Chong has taught for many decades.Chu 2015, Page 69
Lineage Yat Chum Um-jee (Yi Chen Anzhu) → Cheung Ng / Tan Sao-ng
Jiu Chow Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Wong Wah-bo & Leung Yee-tai → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun → Chan Yiu-men → Jiu Chow → Pan Nam
Lai Hip-chi (Li Xiechi) Lineage A: Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Wong Wah-bo & Leung Yee-tai → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun → Lui Yiu-chai → Lai Hip-chi
Lineage B: Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Dai Fa Min-kam → Lok Lan-gong & Lok's nephew → Lai Hip-chi Lai Hip-chi → Pan Nam
Features Pam Nam lineages have significant differences to the likes of the Ip Man and Yuen Kay-shan lineages. It is also uncertain if this lineage refers the style as Wing Chun or Weng Chun.Leung Ting
The Pan Nam lineage emphasizes more realistic, chaotic, and less-refined aspects of Wing Chun and features additional self-defense techniques based on ripping, tearing, and use of fingers.Chu 2015, pg.77
Pan Nam has a set named "Five Petal Plum Flower", a classic five-part exercise set for tendon strength. It incorporates a partner practice known as Waist Pressing, a Push-Hands-like exercise where the partners try to unbalance one another.
Pao Fa Lien
History