During the 18th century, a non-Chinese people known as the Manchurians ruled China. Because the Manchurian government was not popular, many Chinese people organized into secret, underground societies. These meetings were revolutionary in nature and most who attended were Kung Fu practitioners. The Manchurian government attempted to stamp these underground societies out of existence. The rebels took refuge in the famous Siu Lim Gee (Shaolin in Mandarin). This so enraged the Manchurians that they sent troops to burn down the temple and kill all those who lived there. It is at this point that the history of Ving Tsun becomes shrouded in legend. For purposes of historical accuracy, we will recount the history of Ving Tsun as told to Ip Ching by his father, Ip Man.
During the temple's destruction a master named Ng Mui escaped and fled to Guangxi. While in Guangxi, Ng Mui was taken in by a man named Yim Yee. In return for the kindness that his family had shown her by giving her a place to live, Ng Mui began teaching Yim's daughter, Yim Ving Tsun. As Ng Mui instructed the girl, Yim Ving Tsun asked Ng Mui what the name of the style was. The style had not received a name in the temple and since Ng Mui did not know where the other masters were, she decided to name the style after her pupil, Ving Tsun.
During the temple's destruction a master named Ng Mui escaped and fled to Guangxi. While in Guangxi, Ng Mui was taken in by a man named Yim Yee. In return for the kindness that his family had shown her by giving her a place to live, Ng Mui began teaching Yim's daughter, Yim Ving Tsun. As Ng Mui instructed the girl, Yim Ving Tsun asked Ng Mui what the name of the style was. The style had not received a name in the temple and since Ng Mui did not know where the other masters were, she decided to name the style after her pupil, Ving Tsun.
Yim Ving Tsun continued to learn from Ng Mui and after marrying, Yim Ving Tsun taught her husband, Leung Bok Chow. Leung Bok Chow then taught Wang Wa Po, who taught Leung Yee Tai, who then taught his nephew Leung Jan. Leung Jan was a successful and capable Chinese physician who ran an herb shop. Having mastered Ving Tsun, Leung Jan began teaching his two sons, Leung Chun and Leung Bik.
During a particularly severe rain storm all of the shops in the marketplace, including Leung Jan's herb shop, closed up early. Chan WA Shun, a fellow merchant, operated a money changing booth in front of Leung Jan's shop. During the rainstorm Chan WA Shun sought refuge under the awning of Leung Jan's shop. Safely out of the rain, Chan WA Shun noticed that light was escaping from around the cracks of Leung Jan's door. Curious, he peeked into Leung Jan's shop. He watched in fascination as Leung Jan instructed his sons in the art of Ving Tsun Kung Fu. Amazed by what he saw, Chan WA Shun secretly watched Leung Jan's instruction every opportunity he could. Eventually he implored Leung Jan to teach him Kung Fu. Because Leung Jan had known Chan WA Shun for a long time and because Leung Jan knew that Chan WA Shun was a very moral and upright man, Leung Jan accepted Chan WA Shun as his student. Chan WA Shun was Leung Jan's loyal student and the only non-family member that Leung Jan ever taught. Though many people had heard of Leung Jan's Kung Fu, only the three ever learned it.
During a particularly severe rain storm all of the shops in the marketplace, including Leung Jan's herb shop, closed up early. Chan WA Shun, a fellow merchant, operated a money changing booth in front of Leung Jan's shop. During the rainstorm Chan WA Shun sought refuge under the awning of Leung Jan's shop. Safely out of the rain, Chan WA Shun noticed that light was escaping from around the cracks of Leung Jan's door. Curious, he peeked into Leung Jan's shop. He watched in fascination as Leung Jan instructed his sons in the art of Ving Tsun Kung Fu. Amazed by what he saw, Chan WA Shun secretly watched Leung Jan's instruction every opportunity he could. Eventually he implored Leung Jan to teach him Kung Fu. Because Leung Jan had known Chan WA Shun for a long time and because Leung Jan knew that Chan WA Shun was a very moral and upright man, Leung Jan accepted Chan WA Shun as his student. Chan WA Shun was Leung Jan's loyal student and the only non-family member that Leung Jan ever taught. Though many people had heard of Leung Jan's Kung Fu, only the three ever learned it.
Only after Leung Jan died did Chan WA Shun open his own Kung Fu school in the Ip clan family building at Fatshan. The Ip family building was a hall where plaques were hung to remember the ancestors of their family. It was in the family hall that Ip Man first saw Ving Tsun Kung Fu. When he was 12 years old, Ip Man went to Chan WA Shun and asked if Chan WA Shun would teach him Ving Tsun. Chan WA Sheun told him that people who were rich and came from comfortable surroundings made poor students of Ving Tsun. But because he was teaching at the Ip family building, Chan WA Shun could not simply refuse Ip Man's request. So he reluctantly said okay. However, he required Ip Man to pay 600 silver pieces (enough money to buy several houses) to become a student. Chan WA Shun knew that such an amount would be next to impossible for a 12 year old boy to raise and thought he had found a way to softly discourage him.
It took Ip Man 6 months to raise the money, yet he did and with money in hand Ip Man went to see Chan WA Shun. Chan WA Shun was shocked and suspected the 12 year old boy of stealing the money. Chan WA Shun immediately took Ip Man to see his father. Ip Man’s father explained that he had given Ip Man the money so he could study Ving Tsun Kung Fu. From that moment forward Ip Man became an official student of Chan WA Shun. Altogether, Chan WA Shun only taught 16 people. The Dei Si Hing (highest brother) was Ng Cheung So and Si Dei (lowest brother) was Ip Man. Ip Man learned directly from Chan WA Shun for three years before Chan passed away.
It took Ip Man 6 months to raise the money, yet he did and with money in hand Ip Man went to see Chan WA Shun. Chan WA Shun was shocked and suspected the 12 year old boy of stealing the money. Chan WA Shun immediately took Ip Man to see his father. Ip Man’s father explained that he had given Ip Man the money so he could study Ving Tsun Kung Fu. From that moment forward Ip Man became an official student of Chan WA Shun. Altogether, Chan WA Shun only taught 16 people. The Dei Si Hing (highest brother) was Ng Cheung So and Si Dei (lowest brother) was Ip Man. Ip Man learned directly from Chan WA Shun for three years before Chan passed away.
Ip Man went to Hong Kong at the age of 17 to attend High School at Saint Francis College. At the time the British, who ruled Hong Kong, were using Indian and Pakistani police officers in Hong Kong. The policemen were not very supportive of the Chinese people and were often quite cruel. One day, on the way to school, Ip Man and a classmate came across an Indian police officer who was beating a Chinese lady. Both kids told the officer that if this lady was a thief or had done something wrong, then the policeman had every right to take her into custody. But even if she was a thief, he had no right to beat her. In actuality, she had done nothing wrong, and the police officer was just being cruel. The officer, realizing that Ip Man was just a kid, took a swing at him. Unfortunately for the police officer, Ip Man had four years of Ving Tsun under his belt. His classmate watched as Ip Man responded to the police officer’s attack with what appeared to be a very simple move, yet the officer went down with blood all over his face. Ip Man and his classmate ran very quickly to school.
Later, Ip Man's classmate told an older man, who lived in the same building, about what had happened that day. The older gentleman, who was also from Fatshan, asked the young man to show him what Ip Man had done. When he saw what the young man showed him, the old man asked Ip Man's classmate to ask Ip Man to come and see him.
The next day both Ip Man and his friend went to see the older gentleman, who asked Ip Man what type of Kung Fu he had studied in Fatshan. Ip man replied that it was the best type of Kung Fu in the world and that if he told him the old man wouldn't understand. After a little coaxing, Ip Man relented and told the old man that he had studied a famous Kung Fu called Ving Tsun. The older gentleman replied that he had heard of it and that he knew of a person named Chan WA Sheun teaching there. The old gentleman asked Ip Man to show him the Siu Lim Tao form. After the demonstration the old man said, "eh, not too great." This did not make Ip Man very happy because he felt that he was doing the best Kung Fu in the world.
The older gentleman Then asked Ip Man to perform his Chum Kiu form. (One must remember that at this time the respect between young people and older people was greater than it is now.) Ip Man was obviously unhappy with the old gentleman's request, but he complied anyway. During his demonstration, the old man kept shaking his head and saying, "not very good." This made Ip Man very, very unhappy. At this point the old man asked Ip Man to demonstrate the Biu Gee form. Not wanting the old man to know he didn't know the Biu Gee form, Ip Man said, "I really don't feel like showing you the form." Then the old man asked if Ip Man would chi sau with him. Ip Man happily complied, thinking that he could finally teach the old man a lesson. Ip Man threw a punch. The old man simply blocked it and threw him to the side. Ip Man got up and attempted to heal his wounded pride with another punch. Once again the old man just countered him and threw him aside. Ip Man got up and stormed out.
The next day both Ip Man and his friend went to see the older gentleman, who asked Ip Man what type of Kung Fu he had studied in Fatshan. Ip man replied that it was the best type of Kung Fu in the world and that if he told him the old man wouldn't understand. After a little coaxing, Ip Man relented and told the old man that he had studied a famous Kung Fu called Ving Tsun. The older gentleman replied that he had heard of it and that he knew of a person named Chan WA Sheun teaching there. The old gentleman asked Ip Man to show him the Siu Lim Tao form. After the demonstration the old man said, "eh, not too great." This did not make Ip Man very happy because he felt that he was doing the best Kung Fu in the world.
The older gentleman Then asked Ip Man to perform his Chum Kiu form. (One must remember that at this time the respect between young people and older people was greater than it is now.) Ip Man was obviously unhappy with the old gentleman's request, but he complied anyway. During his demonstration, the old man kept shaking his head and saying, "not very good." This made Ip Man very, very unhappy. At this point the old man asked Ip Man to demonstrate the Biu Gee form. Not wanting the old man to know he didn't know the Biu Gee form, Ip Man said, "I really don't feel like showing you the form." Then the old man asked if Ip Man would chi sau with him. Ip Man happily complied, thinking that he could finally teach the old man a lesson. Ip Man threw a punch. The old man simply blocked it and threw him to the side. Ip Man got up and attempted to heal his wounded pride with another punch. Once again the old man just countered him and threw him aside. Ip Man got up and stormed out.
The next day Ip Man's friend told him that the older gentleman wanted to see him again, but Ip Man didn't want anything to do with him and told his friend no. The friend reported Ip Man's response to the older gentleman. The older gentleman told the teenage boy to let Ip Man know that he was Leung Bik. The next day in class Ip Man's friend told him that the older gentleman was Leung Bik. Right there, before class was over, Ip Man jumped up and went straight to Leung Bik's home. Ip Man was so excited because Leung Bik was Ip Man's Si Pak (older uncle). The youngest son of Leung Jan, his teacher's teacher.
Ip Man lived with Leung Bik for five years and learned the entire system of Ving Tsun. Throughout his life, Ip Man referred to Leung Bik as Si Pak. Even though both of his Kung Fu teachers had the same Kung Fu, they both had different teaching styles. Chan WA Shun was a relatively uneducated man whose metaphors and understanding were more grounded in the earth, in the common man's language. On the other hand, Leung Bik was very educated and his metaphors and understanding were shaped by philosophy. His understanding of the principles of Ving Tsun were deeper and more refined than his younger Kung Fu brother, Chan WA Shun. When Leung Bik died, Ip Man returned to Fatshan to help his Kung Fu brothers with the knowledge he had gained, until moving back to Hong Kong in 1942 to avoid the communist rule in the mainland.
Ip Man lived with Leung Bik for five years and learned the entire system of Ving Tsun. Throughout his life, Ip Man referred to Leung Bik as Si Pak. Even though both of his Kung Fu teachers had the same Kung Fu, they both had different teaching styles. Chan WA Shun was a relatively uneducated man whose metaphors and understanding were more grounded in the earth, in the common man's language. On the other hand, Leung Bik was very educated and his metaphors and understanding were shaped by philosophy. His understanding of the principles of Ving Tsun were deeper and more refined than his younger Kung Fu brother, Chan WA Shun. When Leung Bik died, Ip Man returned to Fatshan to help his Kung Fu brothers with the knowledge he had gained, until moving back to Hong Kong in 1942 to avoid the communist rule in the mainland.