informazioni su origini wing chun

Wong Wah Bo was San Gam’s sifu [teacher in martial arts] in Weng Chun Kuen and they had their lessons on the red boat. At one time, Leung Yee Tai was the boatman on the same boat and San took the opportunity to learn the liu dian ban gun from Leung. San was eager and persistent and practised with the wooden dummy whenever he found time. He therefore got great advancement.

Having taken Fung as his student, San taught him Weng Chun Kuen on the red boat for six years. During that period, Fung was keen in his martial arts practice but he showed no interest in the performing arts of Cantonese opera. He did not succeed in singing, walking techniques, hand movements or distinctive facial expressions. He could only play some low status warrior characters and came on stage when fighting scenes were on. However, San was fond of him. KnoWeng Fung’s aspiration and interest, he and would not force him to learn opera. He continued to teach him Weng Chun Kuen and let him work as his attendant. Fung would help at the back stage folding San’s costumes and played unimportant warrior roles when required. He earned only very little. It was a rule on the red boat that students who learnt performing arts were to undertake a contract. They would learn their skills for three years and after that, their teachers would take them on stage. They would then work for three years to repay their teachers and to complete the contract. After that, they would be free to work for themselves. In Fung’s case, he achieved very little in performing arts as he spent most of his time in learning martial arts. He was devoted to San, worked diligently and carefully and had no complaint about the low wages. San nevertheless knew that Fung had little chance of developing a career in the troupe. On the other hand, Fung had achieved very high standard in martial arts and could become a master in such area. San did not want to stifle Fung’s real talents and told him what he thought and persuaded him to leave the red boat so that he could develop his career in martial arts. San also urged Fung to carry forward the Weng Chun Kuen skill. Fung agreed with his teacher and took his advice. He left the red boat and looked for chances in the field of martial arts.

Fung’s hometown was Nanhai (南海). At that time, the Qionghua Guild (瓊花會館) [the association established by Cantonese opera artists] at Foshan (佛山) was burnt down and Ba He Guild ( 八和會館) was not yet set up in Guangzhou (廣州 ). The red boats usually anchored at Foshan and Fung had been there many times. He became a friend to Tung Yu Ching (董業卿), the owner of Lian Chang Hua Hong Shop (聯昌花紅店) at Hua Hong Street (花紅街). Having left the red boat, Fung decided to pay Tung a visit. Tung had two sons, namely Tung Jik (董植) aged 18 and Tung Lun, (董倫) aged 16. The two brothers loved martial arts and their father sent them to a teacher who taught Hong Quan (洪拳) at Anning City (安寧市). They spent three years with the teacher and could master a complete set of ‘five form fist-fighting skill’ (五形拳). They told their father that they could easily fight against two to three average-looking guys on the street.

When Fung arrived at Lian Chang Hua Hong Shop, he found Tung Yu Ching and told him that he had left the red boat and his teacher wanted him to develop the Weng Chun Kuen. He therefore intended to set up a martial arts school in Foshan. When Tung Yu Ching heard this, he said, ‘You are also a Weng Chun Kuen practitioner? At present, there is a teacher of Weng Chun Kuen in Foshan and his name is Leung Jan (梁贊). He learnt his skill from his uncle Leung Guoan (梁國安) whose wife was Yan Yongchun (嚴詠春). Yan was the daughter of Yan Yee Kong of Jiangxi who was the student of Master Chi Sim. When Leung Guoan went to Jiangxi, he married into Yan Yongchun’s family and lived there and had the advantage of learning Weng Chun Kuen skill from both his father-in-law and his beloved wife. After the death of Yan Yee Kong, Leung took his wife back to Guangdong and taught Leung Jan the skill. Leung Jan is running a Chinese medicine shop called Zansheng Tang Chinese Medicine Shop (贊生堂藥材店) and he practises as a doctor. He does not teach Weng Chun Kuen openly. Apart from his two sons, he has another student called Chen Hua (陳華). Chen has a money exchange stall outside Zansheng Tang and people used to call him Money Exchanger Hua (找錢華). There is nobody teaching martial arts officially here.’

The story continues. Obviously the Master in the past were unlike those in modern days. They do not have Internet. They do not have Facebook to advertise. They are more local and hence would not have hundreds and thousands of "students". Those days Sifu and Todais are more of a life time relation and not like today that one could hop from one to other and claim that one could be expert in every area and turn their back against their teacher easily. Today Kung Fu teaching is, a lot of cases, more "Business Transaction" than "Teaching and Learning". The good tradition of Martial Art Ethnics is taken over by Entrepreneurship. Martial art teaching is a means to get good money with good advertising techniques if one can buy in a "Spokesman" to establish a "brand".


Weng Chun Kuen (永春拳) Chapter 4

Tung Yu Ching’s remarks reminded Fung about what his sifu told him, that Yan Yee Kong was a student of Master Chi Sim. He knew that Leung Jan’s martial arts skill was of the same school as his own and as nobody had yet set up a martial arts school in Foshan, it would be an opportunity for him to do so. While he was talking to Tung Yu Ching, Tung Jik and his brother came home unexpectedly. Their father introduced them to Fung and mentioned that Fung was a distinguished student of San Gam and could master Weng Chun Kuen very well. He also told them that Fung had left the red boat and intended to teach Weng Chun Kuen in Foshan.

Tung Jik was practising Hong Quen at that time and his sifu always openly criticized Weng Chun Kuen as not functional for its short bridge and narrow stance. Tung Jik therefore did not believe in Weng Chun Kuen and had been trying to find a chance to combat with someone practising Weng Chun. When he heard what his father said, he replied, ‘I heard that the Weng Chun style is handed down by Master Chi Sim to opera artists while he lived on the red boat. The aim was to facilitate their performance on stage. However, this means the skill is only good for visual delight and not functional. That’s why Leung Jan and Chen Hua who are reputable Weng Chun masters wouldn’t dare set up a martial arts school in Foshan. Even if Master Fung would like to teach Weng Chun Kuen, I’m afraid nobody would like to learn it.’

On hearing his remarks, Fung understood that Tung Jik looked down on the Weng Chun style and decided to display his skills to convince Tung Jik otherwise. So he smiled and said, ‘This could be your sifu’s perspective. In fact, the Weng Chun style, with its short bridge and narrow stance, could guard the body very well. Moreover, it’s good for both attack and defence. Your sifu is prejudiced by saying that it’s not functional. You have practised Hong Kuen for a few years and should be good at it. If you wish, we can have a contest to prove what I have said.’ Tung Jik was just too happy to hear Fung’s suggestion. His sifu always praised his achievement in Hong Quen and said that he could fight any martial arts master. He had been looking for a match for a long time and Fung’s proposal was exactly what he had been waiting for. He would also take the opportunity to show his father what he had attained. So he replied without any hesitation, ‘You are right. I’d very much like to take your suggestion and see which martial arts skill is more functional.’

The inner building of Lian Chong Hua Hong Shop was very spacious and Tung Jik and his brother always had their practice there and so it’s an ideal place for the contest. Fung posed a er zi qian yang stance and displayed the tan shou. He then said to Tung Jik, ‘You can attack me with Hong Quen at full force. Don’t hold back or we won’t be able to tell the weak from the strong.’ Tung Jik saw that Fung’s stance was just like standing and quickly dismissed it as superficial and not steady. He therefore took a step forward and applied the jin long xian zhao (金龍獻爪) [the golden dragon showed its claws] of the five form fist-fighting skill under Hong Quen. With his left hand supporting the right elbow, his right hand was in the form of claws and he adopted a feint to attack Fung’s face but in fact, he intended to change the left hand into claws and attack Fung’s body. Fung saw his real intention and used fu shou to subdue Tung Jik’s left wrist, blocked his advance and lifted his right palm with his own, so as to undermine his force. As Tung Jik’s right side of the chest was exposed, Fung applied shuang tui shou (雙推手) [push with both hands] and pushed Tung Jik at the front. Tung Jik fell back to more than seven feet away, hit the wall with a big bang and then fell to the ground. As his waist hit the wall, he slipped and fell on his buttocks, which hurt so much that he could not stand up again. At that moment, Tung Jik knew that his skill was far behind that of Fung. After all, he had hit Fung with all his might, yet with hardly any effort, Fung had overpowered him. Tung Jik was won round completely. He knelt down in front of Fung, acknowledged his far more superior skill and asked to become his student. Seeing this, Tung Yu Ching asked Fung to stay and teach his sons Weng Chun Kuen.


Segue...

As the Dongs were sincere in their request, Fung was happy to consent. Tung Yu Ching therefore took some money to install all the basic practising equipment, such as sandbags, wooden stake and wooden dummy (木樁,棍樁) Tung Jik had a friend named Tang Suen (鄧算), whose hometown was Nanhai as well. He learnt Hong Quan from the same sifu as the Tung brothers. Tang’s father was a master in fist-fighting skill and the family had a long tradition of learning martial arts. Tang learnt fist-fighting skill at a very small age and when he grew up, he married the daughter of a master in fist-fighting skill. Their happy marriage was praised far and wide. His intention of learning Hong Quan was for advanced training and he became very good friend of the Tung brothers. Tung Jik told Tang about Fung’s skill and persuaded him to learn Weng Chun Kuen from Fung and Tang agreed. At that time, Fung had a few other students, all introduced by Tung Jik. However, as the Tung brothers and Tang had solid foundations in fist-fighting skill, Fung regarded them with respect.

Tung Yu Ching was a wealthy businessman in Foshan and loved to make friends with people practising martial arts. He was an acquaintance of Leung Jan. Since Fung took up the teaching role at Lian Chong Hua Hong Shop, Tung had talked to Leung and told him about Fung’s background. Leung Jan knew that Fung’s skill and his own were of the same origin and was happy to make friends with him. Tung therefore introduced them and they had a good talk on fist-fighting skills. Leung told Fung that his skills was learnt from his uncle Leung Guoan. His aunt Yan Yongchun had also coached him. Leung Guoan taught him three sets of fist-fighting skill and each set was practised in a different way. The first set was called xiao nian tou (小念頭), and practised with the face looking to the front. One should pose the er zi qian yang stance and stand still. The feet only move twice in the course of practising the full set of xiao nian tou. For the hands, they got tan shou, fu shou and bang shou (榜手). It’s very good for defence and the body was well protected. The second set was xun qiao (尋橋) and practised with the body turned half sideways, i.e. about 45 degrees. To practise this set of skill, the stance would have to shift from the horse style to bow style. The bow style would centre on the foot behind which will be assisted by the foot in front, another saying being ‘arrow in front of the bow’ (前箭後弓) which was its main difference from bow style stance in other schools of martial arts which adopted ‘bow in front of the arrow’ (前弓後箭). For the hands, emphasis was on bang shou and lan shou. Bang shou was further classified as shang bang (上榜), zhong bang (中榜) and xia bang (下榜). Other hand movements were similar to that of xiao nian tou. The third set was biao Chi (標指) which was the foundation for practising with the wooden dummy. The stance would be turning from sideway to the front. As both the hands and feet would be used simultaneously, the full set of biao Chi would adopt la jiao and geng shou. The fist would be assisted by the heel, and the palm would be used when turning sideways. The flow of the movement was to prepare for practising with the wooden dummy. The wonder of these three sets of skills was that it was all embracing.

In exchange, Fung expounded on what he knew about Weng Chun Kuen. The fist-fighting skill that San Gam taught him included ‘Weng Chun Kuen’, ‘Shaolin Quan’ (少林拳), Fo Quan (佛拳) and Zhuang Quan (樁拳). Weng Chun Kuen was the foundation of the Weng Chun style. Shaolin Quan was also known as Chi Sim Quan (至善拳) to honour Master Chi Sim. Fo Quan was so called because it originated from the Shalin Monastry. As for Zhuang Quan, it was mainly for practising with the wooden dummy. Wooden dummies for the Weng Chun style were classified as tian pan zhuang (天盤樁) and di pan zhuang (地盤樁). Though the name of the set of skills differ, the stances were the same. When one was facing the front, the er zi qian yang stance was adopted. The bow style was ‘arrow in front of the bow’. Practice for the hands included tan shou, fu shou, bang shou, ze shou, shi shou, geng shou and lan shou. For the palm, zheng zhiang, heng zhiang and di zhiang were the same. Both schools emphasized practising with the wooden dummy. Having practised fist-fighting, they would practise chi shou. The movement and functions were all the same. Although the order for the practise differ, when it came to chi shou, the methods were compatible thus making it possible for them to practise chi shou with one another.


So che é poco "Usufruibile", ma é comunque curioso, e per certi versi prezioso. Qui abbiamo il racconto delle relazioni fra due differenti branche di questo stile, "Wing e Weng", relazioni che trovarono gli  ultimi contatti nella Hong Kong degli anni '50 \ '60,  come testimoniato da Sifu Siu, all'inizio di questi post...Signatamente, questi contatti vi furono fra Ip Man e Chu Chong Man.

Nuovamente, come potrete notare dalla lettura di questi ultimi documenti, nel momento in cui Il Wing\Weng Chun comincia ad essere insegnato ai "Civili", vale a dire a persone che difficoltosamente si sarebbero mai trovate a farne un reale uso, esso viene codificato, l'insegnamento viene impartito a fronte di scambio di denaro. E codificato in forme diverse, a seconda delle famiglie.
Come dicevo, é da questo momento in poi, circa il 1870\1.890 che diventa un qualcosa di completamente diverso da ciò che era originalmente...

M.

Grazie a tutti per l'apprezzamento! Veramente, mi fa molto piacere!

Per il momento seguo, poi leggo con calma.