четвртак, 21. децембар 2017.

Snake Crane Wing Chun Athletic Association Central Kwoon in HK

 In the first half of January 2018  Snake Crane Wing Chun Athletic Association central Kwoon will be open.

Adress:

Room 05, 10th Floor,
New City Centre  新城工商中心
2 Lei Yue Mun Road, Yau Tong

MTR : Kwun Tong, Exit D4 (Within 5 minutes walk)

Training schedule :
Mon-Sat: 6:30pm - 8:30pm & 8:30pm - 10:30pm (two sessions)

 Google map




Contact: ccwayne@yahoo.com


субота, 16. децембар 2017.

What´s the difference between the regular students and disciples

An interesting article written by my Snake Crane Wing Chun brother Lee Ming Fung from Costa Rica










Author : Lee Ming Fung


Last year when I began my new  Snake Crane Wing Chun training group in Costa Rica I remember my first students were  a young couple and after that we became good  friends  and  they even invite to their wedding and helped me to some cultural activities.
Once the girl asked me: may I call you Sifu? I didn’t want to break  her illusion but the relationship of Sifu and disciples is much deeper than a frienship. I just could call myself as their “teacher”
There is a Chinese saying:
“The parents give us the life; but the master gives us the education and form as a productive person.”
So the discipleship is such a serious cultural and social category in Chinese culture
Relationship.
We could analyze there are different levels of the student/ disciples at one traditional Kung Fu school.
1. Regular student學生
2. Close door disciple入門弟子
3. inside room disciple入室弟子

1. Regular students: xué shēng 學生
The group of student who are interested in martial art and they are in their “prove period”, to see if they like the art, the teacher  and school  or not. They usually not  learn from Sifu directly but rather receive instruction from  advance students or disciples at the school. And their relationship with their masters is very simple , they pay monthly tuition fee for instruction like in any other sports club.
The students just address the teacher  as Lao Shi 老師 in this case.

2. Indoor disciples rùmén  dì zǐ入門弟子
After a the teacher would evaluate his students and those who show high level of certain aspects such as:
1.       High ethic and moral standards

2.       Strict following the rules of conduit


3.       Dedication

4.       Strong desire to support the style
Will be invited by a teacher to become  indoor students. To become an indoor student it is a custom in traditional school to perform  the Baisee ceremony. Sometimes need few years or depend the destiny of the Sifu and students
Each school has the rules and the Sifu would ask their students /disciples  to follow.
Obviously, the disciples get the responsibility to promote the style. They get the possible training and special attention is payed to their martial education. As the old Confucius said: “if not keeping advance, the degeneration would arrive soon.”

3. Inside room student rù shí dì zǐ 入室弟子
Those are the close disciple of a Sifu. And they would be the future successors of one style. So normally the teacher  would pay more attention to their training .
Being a disciple of a traditional style is an honor, however it require time, sacrifice, some resource and of course loyalty.
The indoor students not only learn all the secrets of the style they  also develop  family like relationship with the  master and others disciples as family. This is called  “Mun” in Chinese a martial art family.“Mun” is as place  of sharing knowledge, sincerity and tolerance” beside the real family, disciples get the martial family. And sometimes the martial family even better than the real one!
We all learn martial arts, but the disciples, they are who could real enjoy their favorite martial art.

In 2018 we are planning  the worldwide class for the regular students and the disciple worldwide ,and  the establishment of the Snake Crane Wing Chun Headquarter in Hong Kong.
Also on 25-28 of May we are planning the history investigation martial trip to Foshan. The group will be led by   Sifu Wayne  Yung and the Foshan Oral history investigator Mr. Tam. We will visit different schools of Wing Chun such as Yuen Kay San lineage and Chueng Bo lineage. Now we get a group of 15 people. If you are interesting please write me inbox
mingming1224@gmail.com

Thank you ! 

Author : Lee Ming Fung 

петак, 15. децембар 2017.

Huen sao - key to Wing Chun history

Why there are so many Huen Saos in Wing Chun empty hands forms, especially in first form? Different answers can be found to this question, from strengthening the wrist for punching through some “fighting” applications to representation of some Wing Chun principles. Were these answers right or wrong? They are both, right and wrong. What is  the true purpose of Huen Sao and why it is the most repeated technique throughout all the forms?
Over decades of my Wing Chun training I have heard many different explanations of the purpose and usage of Huen Sao, unfortunately they all failed to pass the test of critical analysis and test real combat application. 
Trying to use Huen sao in fighting is futile, at the distance and speed of fist fighting there is simply no time to go around someone’s wrist and apply anything. Huen sao principles , while excellent in theory fail the test of reality simply because there is not enough  time\space to apply them, again distance is too short and hands are too fast. Using Huen sao as an exercise to prepare wrist for punching is  a nonsense, there are literary hundreds if not thousands of martial arts and they all developed pretty much similar way of hand\wrist\arm conditioning, and there is no Huen sao in these methods , at least not as a main or significant part of that training.
Things become more interesting when we talk about Chi Sao platforms. While “rolling hands” is the most popular and best known Chi Sao platform due to popularity of Yip Man’s Wing Chun the fact is that majority of Wing Chun styles either completely missing this platform or use it as a beginner’s drill for reinforcing the structure and learn basic ways of dealing with the incoming force . Most of other style as a main Chi sao platform use Big Huen Sao and Small Huen Sao platforms.
The question is, why such an emphasis on Huen Sao when it is not practical for fist fighting? Were people who invented Wing Chun deluded or didn’t have any practical experience? Would people who created the art spend so much time practicing something without any practical value and on top of all give such an impractical thing so much importance? Of course not. To understand the significance and purpose of Huen Sao we have to go back to the time when the art was created and check the history of it’s purpose and development. When I say history, I men real history, not romantic legends and marketing that surrounds the history of the art and fill it with completely wrong information. 


For example,99,9% Wing Chun practitioners firmly believe that the art was created as an empty hand fighting system and weapons , double knives and long pole were added later. This is completely wrong assumption and it goes against what it is known about development of Kung Fu in general. Huen Sao and its place in Wing Chun training gives us a piece of the art’s history puzzle and telling us completely different story.
Wing Chun, despite the strong marketing is just one of many Kung Fu styles emerged in the second half of the 19th century. Like most of the other style, Wing Chun was invented for weapon fighting. After a while focus of training changed due to social, economical, political and technological change in Chinese society in general. Wing Chun like most of the other styles put accent on empty hands techniques. Just like in many other cases, while focus of the training shifted the core of the art stayed unchanged.

Everything becomes clear when we take knives in our hands. All those Huen Saos get perfect sense. Practicing Huen Sao prepares the wrist and forearm for knife fighting and all those fencing movements done with wrist. All the concepts of the art coming from  Huen Sao actually get full sense only in knife fighting. All the techniques and applications taught in empty hands forms can be successfully applied when we have knives in our hands.
Wing Chun was meant to be used in confined spaces of the boats where opera actors spent most of their time. Double knives were perfect weapon for that environment. The length of the weapon was perfectly designed to allow full range of movement and further dictated the technical development. Knives were allowing the user to develop his tactics and execute his techniques swiftly without interference form the environment, which was impossible for any other, even slightly longer weapon. The environment also dictated the footwork and body motion and that is why there are so much shifting movements and forward footwork in the forms.
In execution of the knife techniques, wrist and forearm have the crucial role and that is why empty hand forms emphases Huen Sao to such a degree.
Big and Small Huen Sao chi sao platforms also originally came from the knife fighting. In the environment where Wing Chun was invented and used, sensitivity training and maintain the contact ( bridges) with the opponent ( opponent’s weapon) were essential for survival. Big and Small Huen sao platforms are taught separately in the beginning but they later merge in one Chi Sao platform. They can be done with empty hands as well as with knives.
Huen sao Chi Sao platform is very precise tool for developing correct reflexes. It is possible to feel not only a physical movement but for advanced practitioners it is possible to feel a shift in internal energy of the opponent, an intent that wasn’t manifested in throughout actual movement yet. Of course this is possible only if Huen Sao platform is practiced as a part of Wing Chun Qigong training.
Small huen sao chi sao done with empty hands is more defensive in its nature but done with knives becomes offensive , extremely fast ,unpredictable , and with correct “flow” it is almost impossible to stop the attack because the angles of the attack are constantly changing. It is a perfect tool for quick attack or counter attack.
Big Huen sao chi sao platform is more defensive in its nature regardless whether it is done with knives or empty hands. It covers larger space and deals with much stronger incoming energies. Big Huen sao platform cannot be done separately form small huen sao if it is practiced with knives.


понедељак, 4. децембар 2017.

Exaggeration, hype and lies in Kung Fu

All Kung Fu styles share one common trait, stories about ancestors\founders. All these stories, often called histories, share same pattern. Founder of the style or some significant ancestor is positive a character in every possible way, a perfect role model for younger generations of the practitioners. Martial, moral and ethical standards in particular Kung Fu style as well as in Chinese society as well are set up by lives and deeds of the ancestors. Kung Fu ancestors, almost without exception, had hundreds sometimes even thousands of fights and they never lost any. They also had at least some skills that surpass the average human abilities and be considered as superhuman. They all fought and won numerous fights against impossible odds and they always put wellbeing of others before their own. They are also compassionate, generous, intelligent, moral, kind, modest and well respected members of the society. In short they are archetypal heroes who embody the virtues and attributes cherished by the particular society at the particular time and he provides a model for people to emulate.
Legends about heroes of the past and their struggle for justice and defense of the weak are part of every culture around the word , not only Chinese and they play same role in all societies regardless of the time, place, social and economical structure. Heroes educate about right and wrong. They set up the correct moral and ethical foundation of the society and they are protector of it.   Most fairytales and children’s stories serve this didactic purpose, showing kids the kinds of behaviors that are needed to succeed in life, to better society, and to overcome villainy. Same purpose have legends built around real or mythical characters from the past. Heroes reveal to us the kinds of qualities we need to be in communion with others. Heroes give hope when we are in trouble and they are there to protect people when they are in danger. Heroes reveal our missing qualities, people often choose a hero who has exactly those attributes they do not.
While legends about heroes are pretty much the same everywhere and have same purpose everywhere there is one significant difference between these stories on the far east , especially China and the rest of the world. On the west, these legends serve their purpose but they are not taken as a real historical facts. On the west people enjoy legend of King Arthur and the knights of the round table but no one believe magic is real or the events described in the story really happened .On the east most people really , deeply believe these legends are true historical facts. People really believe Leung Jan had 300 fights and never lost one or Yip Man broke the revolver with two fingers. While legends on the west tend to be exactly that- legends, on the east legends tend to be accepted as real history. On the west as we go far in the past we have more exaggeration involved in the story line , while newer legends , although still in the realm of exaggeration tend to be more realistic. On the east level of exaggeration is the same for people who became legends (or they present them self like that , like certain Wing Chun master who “fought 12 people with knives and of course won”) during modern times and are still alive and heroes from 2000 or 3000 years ago.
It is also interesting that these attitude toward kung fu legends was transmitted to the west without even a trace of critical analysis so common on western culture.
So, why there is a such an attitude toward the legends and ancestors? Many of the unspoken rules for navigating Chinese culture can be traced back to the teachings of Confucius.

In Chinese culture, as well as in many other Asian ones, you are defined by your relationship to the larger group. All of your actions, whether positive or negative, don’t just reflect on yourself, but on the group as a whole. This is also part of Confucian thought, to subject your own desires to the needs of the group and the good of society. This collective responsibility first extends to one’s Face represents a person’s reputation and feelings of prestige within multiple spheres, including the workplace, the family, personal friends, and society at large. The concept of Face can be understood more easily by breaking it down into three separate components: the individual view, the community view, and actions.
The “individual view” pertains to the amount of prestige individuals feel based on their accomplishments, and the amount of respect they feel they are due based on their position and status, such as in a company or the home , immediate and extended family, then community, and all the way to the entire nation.

The “community view” pertains to the amount of respect individuals feel necessary to give to someone else based upon that person’s position or status, such as in a business, the family unit or within a specific social group .

“Actions” pertain to the various activities that can cause an individual to gain or lose Face. Based upon one’s position relative to someone else, several different actions can be employed to either cause a loss or gain of Face. In some cases these actions might occur unintentionally, or instead be used as tactic to achieve a specific result. For example, giving someone Face (e.g. more than they might deserve) can be used to build relationships and influence decisions. Also, causing someone to lose Face can reinforce one’s own authority and status, or pressure someone toward a desired action.
In short ,Chinese face is other-directed and relational. In other words, it’s less about your own personal pride or ego, and more about how one is viewed by others. For 4,000 years, Chinese culture has downplayed concept of the individual , instead emphasizing the supremacy of the family and group. It was all about bringing honor to the clan, family, social group.

According to Confucius gaining honor is avoiding shame. Thousands of years ago, China developed into a shame-based culture. Generally speaking, the Chinese “behave properly” generally to avoid shame and they fear losing face, not necessarily because they might feel badly about their actions. In China, shame isn’t just personal feeling, it’s a relationship-based thing that serves as a form of social control.

As a result, Chinese “ethics” has never been based on universal principles of good and bad.  Instead, they’re more based on the circumstances of the moment—a system that the West calls “situational ethics”. Good and bad are not absolute categories as they are in the West. Same goes for the Chinese concept of the “truth”. It is not black or white, not an absolute category as in the West. Emphasis is less on telling the objective “truth,” and more about what the situation and relationship calls for. Chinese will go through great lengths to protect face. In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable to tell a lie ,even a bald-faced one ,if it serves to protect face. China’s culture of shame doesn’t think of lies in terms of “right” and “wrong.” Instead, the goal of Chinese truth is often to protect the face of an individual, group, or even nation.


As modesty and humility are also prized traits in Chinese culture, bragging or otherwise loudly touting one’s own achievements is generally looked down upon. People will praise achievements of others but never their own.


Having all this in mind it is easy to understand why there are so many exaggerations, hype and lies in Kung Fu. By giving the face to the ancestors kung fu practitioners actually are giving a face to them self. Having an ancestor who was undefeated fighter with hundreds of fights and was full of virtue reflects positively to all generations of his students. It is a matter of prestige to have a teacher who has all traits of a hero. It is somehow believed that all the skills and virtues from the hero ancestor will be inherited completely by his students. Chinese practitioners will never give credit to them self, no matter how their art might be god and no matter how much successes they might ( or might not) have , they will always give credit to their teacher. Every generation will give a little ( or not just a little) a more credit to their ancestor until that ancestor eventually gain superhuman powers. On the other hand Chinese kung fu practitioners will never talk about things that may lead to lose of a face for a particular ancestor, even if these things are historically known and verified truth. Exaggeration, hype and lies have also a pure marketing purpose. Unquestionably believed “histories” and ancestor’s “biographies” attract large number of students. Often this “histories” and “biographies’ contain a hints or a partial or complete fabrications that make competition to lose face and put particular lineage or ancestor on the place high above all others.
 All this is socially acceptable and expected in Chinese kung fu culture. For a serious kung fu practitioner and researcher it is really hard to separate truth from lies and exaggerations, that is why kung fu history is such a messy thing that cause so much friction between different styles and lineages.


четвртак, 30. новембар 2017.

Yip Man - the man behind the myth

 WARNING : This article may upset , or cause other pscycho-somatic probmels to people who are unable to accept differet oppinions and poits of wiev. If you are one of those people please do not read the following article. 

After Donnie Yen made one of the best Kung Fu movies ,’’ Yip Man” ,interest in Yip exploded .Then add in a sequel and no less than two other versions of essentially the same movie (such as the Grand Master and Ip Man, The Final Fight) and suddenly Yip Man's name is listed alongside of true martial art greats of the past.  WCK community had an interest in Yip Man before this , but after these movies Yip Man became the most famous WCK master of all times and even people who never had interest in Wing Chun have heard his name. While moves present Yip Man as hero, patriot, philanthropist, freedom fighter and most of the best martial master of his time who never lost a fight the truth is a bit different. So let’s answer some question about Yip Man and his style as well as his influence on martial community.
So, what is the truth about Yip Man’s fighting skills? Could he really fight? The answer is, probably not. Yip Man has no documented fights with named fighters. The only people give credence to his fighting prowess are Wing Chun people/organizations. Of course, there are stories about his exceptional fighting skills, but again, these stories come from his students and sons and there is no evidence to support these claims. No one outside Wing Chun circles, more precisely outside the circle of his students and relatives gives him any credit in any way. With true martial artists the story is quite different , Mas Oyama for example was recognized and credited as a fighter in martial circles in general , regardless of the style. In essence Yip Man didn’t do anything to deserve the place he as now besides being connected to Bruce Lee.
Is Yip Man’s Wing Chun an effective martial style? Let’s take a look closer in what Yip Man taught to their students. Here are few examples of “techniques” and “drills” from Yip Man’s linage.
"Fighting technique"




"Fighting Drill"

 There are variations to this kind of training but all Yip Man's students are doing things pretty much the same way. Applying more than one block on a punch and endless exchange of attacks and defenses where no one ever gets hit is what is a certain recipe for disaster. Let’s look how Wing Chun works in real situation against well trained sports fighter.



The truth is, no one in Yip Man’s linage since the style was invented had any fighting experience. Wong Wah Bo and Leung Yee Tai taught Leung Jan during Taiping rebellion time. They found refuge at Leung Jan’s home to avoid fighting. Despite legends Leung Jan never had any fights, his students as well. Yip Man’s teachers , Chan Wah Shun and Ng Chan So have no recorded fights against any opponent. Yip Man as well never fought. He was a member of a wealthy merchant social level and he had no reason to fight. If he had any problems his money would make that problem disappear, that much more in spirit of time and society he lived in than direct confrontation and fist fighting. Since neither Yip Man nor his teachers and Wing Chun ancestors had nay fights he simply couldn’t develop a training system concentrated on fighting. Most of his students never had a fight and the line of development of nonfighting training concept continues. Of course, all of his students claim they had some “secret , underground fights” but no one ever heard about this fights outside Yip Man’s linage circles.  There are also a stories about ‘famous” “rooftops” fights. Here is a recording of one of those fights.

                                                          rooftop fight

There is no need to analyze this , level of these ‘fighters “ is obvious. And there are stories about street fighting experience of some of Yip Man’s students. That may be true but “street fighters’ are usually thugs who prey on weak and easy targets. Here is a fight between two “masters” from Yip Man’s lineage , they both claim they had a lot of street fighting experience and one of them that he is undefeated and the best fighter on the world. What is interesting, it is impossible to see any Wing Chun in this fight.

Emin vs. William 

Besides urban legends it is impossible to find any fighting record of Yip Man and his direct students and that fact explains why Yip Man’s Wing Chun training system is like it is today.If we compare training method of Boxing, Kick Boxing , Thai Boxing , Wrestling and Yip Man’s Wing Chun we can see tremendous differences. Comparing to even light Boxing training , YMWCK is nothing more than light fitness training  system.

Is Yip Man’s “Wing Chun” really Wing Chun? This an interesting question and not easy to answer. What a system must contain to be called Wing Chun. Let’s see first how much of the system Yip Man really knew. He spent 6 or 7 months learning from Chan Wah Shun and less than two years learning from Ng Chan So. There is a claim that Yip Man completed his training under Leung Bik but neither Leung Bik’s existence can be proved nor his connection to Yip Man. So, could Yip Man learn the whole system in less than 3 years? Maybe , maybe not, we will never know the answer to that question. He certainly spent some time with Yuen Kai San and it is possible that he picked up some things from him.  If we close examine the system Yip Man taught in Hong Kong we can see few things , first his system missing several  things that can be found in other wing chun styles. Yip Man’s system doesn’t have san sik forms which are part of all other WCK lineages, also rattan rings form is missing as well soft(bamboo) dummy. Chi sao is pretty simplified in Yip Man’s system and  several Chi Sao platforms  are completely missing  . But the most important thing , the concept of body structure and power generation as well as a system of developing those are completely missing from Yip Man’s system, it is just like having a beautiful sports car but without an engine and wheels. Later , some Yip Man’s students , feeling what is missing in the system tried to fill the gap ( like Chu Song Tin) but they obviously borrowed their “internal’ concepts from Tai Chi and Bagua styles. So, the question remains, can Yip Man’s system , which is missing some key components found in other lineages , be called Wing Chun at all?  
    
What was Yip Man as person? In recent movies Yip Man was depicted as a true hero, a selfless man who puts wellbeing of others before his own. In movies , he was a freedom fighter and a patriot , fearless warrior and caring father and husband. Even before movies ,Yip Man was depicted by his students and sons pretty much the same way. He was idolized and worshiped like some kind of demi god. In reality , we have not much data about Yip Man but we know some key events from his life and we can draw some conclusions based on his actions. While things were good and he enjoyed his wealth without any obstacles his life was peaceful and he enjoyed careless life style spending time with other people from his social class. With Japanese invasion and later second world war he kept low profile, left his house and found a quiet place outside the city with one of his students where he could be out of sight of all sides involved in a war. He was not a hero , nor a freedom fighter, he escaped and hid himself. After communists took over China he escaped to Macao and later to Hong Kong bringing with him all his family wealth and leaving his family behind on mercy of the communist regime. In Macao he gambled away all his fortune and started to smoke opium. He was an opium user till the rest of his life. As we can see, he cared only about himself and in a moment of crisis he abandoned his family. He started to teach Wing Chun because he had no other skills , he couldn’t do anything and being a martial teacher , especially in a way he taught martial arts was actually an easy job. During his teaching career he had no significant  events , he was just one of many martial teachers of the time and during his 20 years long teaching career he had about 200 students. The only significant event is expelling young Bruce Lee from the school because he was not pure ethnic Chinese.

 What is Yip Man’s legacy? There are few significant things left by Yip Man for future generations.

Martial legacy. Yip Man has no martial legacy, he has no fighting record and his students never competed in any full contact competition. Despite all the legends and stories there is no proof that he or his students had any real fighting skills.

Moral and ethical legacy. Yip Man was the first Wing Chun practitioner who actually wrote the “history” of the style. The story was many other “histories” written at the time , historically inaccurate with the aim to give the style prestige. But in this piece of writing Yip Man started something that later grew and spread over generations of his followers and like cancer is eating a name of the style. In his “history” Yip Man lied about his teachers. In order to give himself and his newly formed style a credibility he invented story about Leung Bik. From that time all his students lied about their time spent with Yip Man and there were numerous examples of document and photography forgeries and of course unsupported stories and claims. Although laying is socially acceptable in kung fu circles to give the style or the teacher “face” since the time of Yip Man that habit grew to enormous proportions. There is one other thing Yip Man started with his “history” tale , bashing other styles and lineages. He said that his first teacher didn’t understand Wing Chun very well, that being physically stronger than average population he was also somewhat mentally deficient and couldn’t understand style well and that he (Yip Man) learnt the original ,advanced Wing Chun from Leung Bik . From that time Yip Man’s students are looking down and talking crap about other lineages and do the same among them self. Infighting and politics became integral part of the system and so important that majority of teachers explain their techniques with words: “ Some people( meaning other styles) are doing it like this and I \we are doing it correctly “. Saying lies, fabricate rumors , even physical attacks on people who cannot defend them self are real Yip Man’s legacy, his martial descendants just do what they have learned from their idol. 

Young WCK  thug molesting old and sick WCK teacher

Socio-political impact. Yip Man was racist, he expelled Bruce Lee from his school because he was not pure ethnical Chinese. Many people overlook this fact like it is not important but in fact it is extremely important. Yip Man’s direct students and some relatives also had racist remarks. Many Chinese today justify Yip Man saying that he was a man of his time. Saying that means only that they agree with what he did. Saying that he was a man of his time does not make racism justified, just like Hitler was a man of his time or slave traders were people of their time. Wrong things are wrong in any era. Even today in 21st century it is not rare to hear that non Chinese cannot learn Wing Chun. 

As we can see Yip Man was just an ordinary martial teacher form the middle of the 20th cetury whose only achievent was conncetion to Bruce Lee which made him and his style famous. If Bruce Lee practiced some other kung fu style, today we would talk about totally different people. Behind all legends and stories is just an ordinary man, no better nor worse than most of the people from his time who strugled through the life the best he could using all the means at his disposal.











уторак, 21. новембар 2017.

300 fights of Leung Jan

Leung Jan is probably the most famous Wing Chun ancestor, embodiment of all virtues and undefeated fighter, in one word a true hero. As the legend goes, Leung Jan was true philanthropist, always ready to help those in need and being a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine gave him an opportunity to help treat poor people for free. When not working at his medical shop, he spent his time fighting challengers from other styles. As the story goes he had over 300 challenge matches and he never lost a fight.  The truth is , although Leung Jan is such a famous character there are almost no real facts about his life, how he lived , what his martial style looked like , the exact year of his birth and death , number of children and number of students, all these things are uncertain and are a matter of argument among Wing Chun practitioners over last several decades. The most interesting thing of course is number of fights he supposedly had , so let’s analyze this claim from different angles.
From purely physiological point of view, number of 300 fights, won or lost is incredible. Giving the claim that those fights had no rules and no protective gear was involved the amount of physical trauma Leung Jan must had over time must be tremendous. Even today, with all the achievements of modern medicine, professional fighters tend to have shorter life expectancy than the rest of the population and they suffer from various health problems as a direct consequence of these fights. Let’s have in mind that professional fighters today use protective gear and have the best health care as well as the best coaches and training conditions and number of fights is not even close to 100 let alone 300.  In the time of the Ching dynasty average life expectancy was little over 30 years of age , giving the fact that Leung Jan lived double that time it is safe to assume that he didn’t have any serious physical or psychological trauma during his life, 300 fights , giving the living conditions at time and the level of medical care and knowledge would definitely shorten his life span, unless he was never touched during those fights (which is only possible in action movies , even the best fighters got hit tremendous amount of times during matches).  There is one other important thing we have to keep in mind. Professional fighters are exactly that, professionals. Their job is to fight and they dedicate all their time to rigorous training. Their life style, diet, seeping patterns , everything is dedicated to training. There are no professional fighters who  have day job and train in free time. Leung Jan had a good business and he had to spend a lot time maintaining it , how much time he had for hard training regime required from someone to  become the best fighter of his time is questionable. From this angle it is impossible to believe Leung Jan had 300 fights. Did he had any? It is unknown but it is obvious he was not a professional fighter, he was a medical doctor who practiced martial arts in his free time. It is hard to believe that he was challenged by the best fighters of his time (professionals who spent all their time training) and won, and not only won a few fights, but 300. It is also completely unbelievable that he never lost a fight. There is no fighter who never lost a fight, even the best of the best lose some time. If he fought 300 times he must have been lost at least few matches.

From sociological point of view it is highly unlikely that Leung Jan had any fights. He was a member rich upper class , the highest class of Han Chinese during latest period of Ching rule. Members of rich upper social classes never participated directly in competition fighting, wars or other conflicts. In any given time and place in history upper social classes styed aside and took care of their affairs. Giving the fact that challenge fights were forbidden and Leung Jan lived in turbulent times of Taiping rebellion and survived the aftermath of that conflict says a lot about his way of life, especially having in mind he was a practitioner of martial arts and he never had trouble from Ching government.  If the government saw him not as a threat but only as a disturbing element of the society in those times he would definitely be persecuted by authorities. Win 300 (illegal) fights and become a sort of a hero for people would not be allowed , especially during Taiping rebellion times and years after that. So if not for fighting, why Leung Jan practiced martial arts? During his time martial arts changed tremendously and shifted role socially and technically.  Becoming absolute in era of fire arms, martial arts shifted from weapons training to empty hand training. Not needed by military any more, martial arts were adopted by wealthy social class as a status symbol. Only those who had a lot of money could afford to learn kung fu. Martial arts represented same thing what sports cars represent today. Leung Jan didn’t have martial arts school, not in a sense we perceive martial school today. He ran an elite social club which members were other businessman and merchants from Foshan. They practiced kung fu as a sign of their social status. Leung Jan was rich , successful businessman, he reached the top of the society and had everything life could offer at time he lived on. It is highly unlikely he would risk his life, health, freedom, wealth …just to prove someone he could fight. Aside the fact that challenge fights were forbidden and if caught he would be punished, why would he risk to be killed or crippled if he had everything he could have at the time. It is highly unlikely that he had any fights, he simply had no reason to fight unless he was incredibly stupid.
From historical point of view during Ching dynasty rule martial arts were marginal activity reserved for people who needed them for work and rich people who could afford them. Of course, civilians were not allowed to carry weapons and only people with government permission could carry and use weapons (body guards, bounty hunters …) . So were there any challenge matches or death duels? No, we have no records of such a thing. These kind of things were forbidden by law and punishments for breaking the law were extremely cruel at the time.
Before Taiping rebellion we have no records of any challenges or death duels. After Taiping rebellion when things settle down, social and political climate changed, martial arts changed and competition started. Competition started because new social establishment came to existence, for the first time in history martial arts schools, in a form we know them today started to operate and some of them gathered a lot of students. Although majority of the people still lived in a very poor condition, more people could earn enough to join martial schools and more people worked better payed and not so physically exhausting jobs. Those famous wooden platforms from Hong Kong action movies were actually competition grounds, something like octagon today. People fought for fame and money. Like every competition, these also had rules and although there were pretty brutal, they were not much different from today’s MMA competitions, even the rules were pretty much the same. Many people got seriously injured but there is no record someone was killed in any of these events.  There are no records that Leung Jan participated in any of these competitions. If he was such a famous fighter we would have at least some historical records of his fights. Even if we presume that all his fights were illegal and happened far from the eye of the public we would still have some records of those fights and what is more interesting we have not even one name of his opponents. Beating down 300 people , and not some ordinary people but more or less famous fighters and there is not even one record that nor even one name …Lack of written evidence ,first hand witnesses stories recorded at time of Leung Jan’s life or any other evidence from that time suggest that he never fought . If he was such a fighter there must be at least some trace of his fights , but we have no mention of any fights connected his name .
First mention of Leung Jan as a tremendous fighter can be found years after he died in pulp fiction novels. During republican period Leung Jan became a popular character of pulp fiction novel and that is a starting point of the legend of his extraordinary fighting skills. He became a hero of cheap entertainment magazines and people could read about his adventures for decades. This is the place where we find a starting point off Leung Jan’s legend.  What was a fiction once, when Wing Chun became popular , became history  in 70’s and 80’s .
From cultural point of view, ancestor worshiping is part of kung fu tradition. Giving the ancestor attributes (physical, moral and ethical) unreachable for ordinary man has two purposes, first to give style a “face” and second to be a role model for young students. All kung fu styles have some famous ancestor who had fighting powers never seen before (or after). Over time these powers grow and every generation add something more. At the end it is impossible to find even a shred of truth in these “histories” but that is not important , the purpose of “history” in Chinese (Japanese ,Korean) martial arts is not to present facts of the past events based on evidence but to be a cultural, ethical and moral guide and to offer a role model for future generations of practitioners. Wing Chun history need Leung Jan exactly as he is presented now, 300 , 500 or 1000 fights , it doesn’t matter. What is important is that his character is standing high above all others giving an example what a Wing Chun practitioner should be what may become. No matter if all evidence point that Leung Jan didn’t have any fight, for the purposes mentioned above, and because people like to consider them self as inheritors of such an important person, story of 300 fights will be repeated over and over again and it will be wildly believed.  

To conclude this article, there is no evidence that Leung Jan ever had any fights. Stories about his fights and fighting skills emerged for the first time years after his death in pulp fiction novels. Stories from this novels became “history” in late 70’s when Wing Chun became popular and since that time Leung Jan’s fame grew as well as stories about number of his fights.

понедељак, 13. новембар 2017.

Taiwanese "Lady Kung Fu"



China ’s been putting kung fu women heroes on screens since 1930 when the country’s first major movie star, Chin Tsi-ang, starred in a series of swordswoman flicks. Famous for doing all her own action scenes, she went on to produce Hong Kong’s first kung fu film The Adventures of” Fong Sai-yuk”. While there were several well known woman  actresses in kung fu movie history only one is known as ‘’ Lady Kung Fu”.
Angela Mao Ying was born in Taiwan in September 20, 1950, as the third of eight children to a family of entertainers for the Peking Opera House. Her father Mao Yung Kang, was  Beijing  Opera star, who escaped China to Taiwan in 1949. At the age of 5, Angela Mao was enrolled into an Opera School in Taiwan. Some of her classmates were Judy Lee, Charlie Chin and James Tien (all future actors) and she trained for the next 14 years. She was trained rigorously in both voice and martial arts, developing astonishing facility in both and had a successful career as a Chinese Opera actress, where her flexibility and martial arts first developed.

When she was 17, Huang Feng an action movie discovered her. Feng was looking for a young woman who knew martial arts to be the leading lady for his upcoming sword fight film, called "Angry River". She signed the contract for Golden Harvest movie company and made her best movies working for them. With her experience in acting and martial arts, Angela quickly began taking leading roles other action movies in Golden Harvest productions, including "Hapkido", "Lady Whirlwind", and "The Fate of Lee Khan" She was also successful in other movies such as "The Association", "The Himalayans", and a number of others.
Her career, if not long, was impressive, as she was one of the rare women to make that sort of break-through in the film industry. She played Bruce Lee's sister in Enter the Dragon (1973) which gained her planetary popularity , and she also worked with Jackie Chan several times. In 1974, she fell in love and married Kelly Lai Chen . At the peak of her fame in the 1970s, martial arts star Angela Mao was marketed as the female equivalent of Bruce Lee.

She retired from films in 1983, when her son George King was born. She moved to Queens, New York in 1993 and eventually opened several Chinese restaurants that she runs with her son and daughter-in-law: Mama King, Nan Bei Ho, New Mei Hua, Guo Ba Inc.

Unlike Bruce Lee, who actively sought and needed stardom, she was never obsessed with pursuing fame or her career. She worked to support her family, and movies were simply the best-paying assignments she could get in those days. Then, she had a baby, her husband’s job in construction took him to New York, and that was pretty much that for her movie career. She left everything behind and dedicated herself completely to her family and family business.  

четвртак, 2. новембар 2017.

Wing Chun as a militay art

In Wing Chun tradition prevalent opinion is that art has military origin and was in fact made by the best military officers at the time. As the legend goes , best military leaders of the Ming dynasty , better known as Five Elders, gathered in Shaolin monastery ( either southern or northern ) and created superior martial style which supposed to make training period short and give an advantage to the rebel army which according to the Wing Chun tradition had over a million people. There are of course many variations to this story, in different traditions, different characters were credited for creation the perfect military art and sometimes these characters stay unnamed but still labeled as high ranking military officers.
From historical point of view the story is complete fabrication with no basis in real events. Let’s start with Shaolin monastery. Northern Shaolin was never a place of Kung Fu research and development. It had, like any other feudal estate, a large portions of fertile land and monks were trained in basic infantry tactics to defend the land from outlaws. Also, monks were required to participate in wars as infantry because Shaolin, as every other feudal estate had an obligation to send a certain number of soldiers to the imperial army in a time of war. Monks practiced to fight in organized units using long weapons and shields and later, when introduced to China, fire arms. There was no such a thing as “Shaolin Kung Fu”, just a classical infantry training. On top of all , Shaolin was one of the most significant religious centers in China and monks’ main focus was on religious practice , as in all other monasteries all over the world, not Kung Fu practice. More about North Shaolin temple and its true history can be found here:
Southern Shaolin never existed. There are no historical records of such a place, no written records nor physical evidence. Today,  there are  3 or 4 places under that name but no “Southern Shaolin” existed before the end of 20th century. Those places are just tourist attractions made for one purpose only, to draw Kung Fu enthusiasts from all over the world and make them spend as much money as they can. History as science is very clear about Southern Shaolin- it never existed in reality, only as legend which first appeared by the end of the 19th century.  More about Southern Shaolin can be found here:
Same goes with Five Elders. According to Wing Chun creation myth all of them were high ranking officers on Ming court, descendants of important families who served the dynasty for generations. They had best education and of course they were the best Kung Fu fighters at the time. After the fall of the Ming dynasty they found refuge in Shaolin monastery and used it as a base of rebellion. One of their priorities was to make superior fighting style which would significantly make the training time shorter and give the rebels an advantage in combat. They combined their knowledge and experience to create that art. One of them betrayed  the rebellion and the monastery was destroyed by Ching soldiers who used English artillery. Elders scattered all over China and founded their own styles. Wing Chun supposed to be the product of Five Elders’ effort or at least the closest thing to it. There are at least three out of five Elders who are in different accounts credited for founding Wing Chun. In some legends even after the destruction of the monastery two of them (Ng Mui and Miu Shin) combined their knowledge and created Wing Chun.  It is said that Wing Chun is superior to all other fighting systems because it requires short time to be mastered (3 to 5 years), it is close combat system so there is no need to waste time on learn fighting on all other distances and it uses only two weapons,  long pole and  twin knives.

For all martial styles, being included in military training, was always a sign of special status and quality. There are a lot of stories in which brave soldiers and generals are using their Kung Fu skills to defeat enemy and win great victories. But how much really Kung Fu was important in Ming dynasty army and military tactics and is possible that Wing Chun legends have at least some foundation in reality and the art has military origin?

Military system of Ming dynasty

Hongwu Emperor, the founder of Ming dynasty, organized a military system known as the Wei-suo. The goal was to have soldiers become self-reliant farmers in order to sustain themselves while not fighting or training .During the Ming Dynasty, soldiers had one of the lowest social standings .In the Ming Dynasty military was an inherited job and they came from a warrior class. They got land to use form the government in exchange for obligation to join the army when invited. They also had to buy their own military equipment and weapons. This system collapsed in 1430’s and the army was reorganized and composed from the professional soldiers who worked for salary. Ming were allowing individual generals to put together private full time professional armies, though disguised under the term "house servants", these retinue warriors were usually very well equipped and trained.  In total, the Ming army in the late 14th century numbered approximately 1.2 million hereditary soldiers, number of soldiers in the 17th century reached 3 million people. During the reign of Yongle (Zhu Di) three training camps were established, which troops were sent to in rotation. The first specialized in infantry warfare, the second in cavalry warfare and the third in artillery. While this worked very well at first, it stagnated after 1435 and had to be revived in 1464 by the Chenghua emperor.


Infantry
At first, standard company numbered 100 men. Each 100 man squad consisted of 40 shielded spearmen, 30 archers, 20 shielded swordsmen and 10 men operating firearms. Later, the army was reorganized and the standard company increased in number to 112 men, though they were likely similarly equipped. These soldiers undertook a sophisticated training program, whereby infantry were well trained for maneuvering around the battlefield and performing specific drills in the heat of combat, taking different attacking or defensing formations, changing positions and other necessary tasks.
Chinese armies of the Ming period used a wide variety of spears. All were generally quite long, from 2,5 to 3 meters or even longer. Some types were specially designed for dismounting horsemen.
                                                       Ming heavy armor 

Ming archers were armed with long composite bows and various types of arrows, including specialized designs tipped with deadly poison and rocket arrows. Crossbows were also used on large scale.
Chinese swords of the Ming period had their origins in central Asian sabres. Ming infantry swordsmen usually carried a goose-quill or willow leaf sabre. Sabres were used in combination with a shield by special fighting squads.


                                               Ming rifleman 
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Chinese firearm technology was the most advanced in the world. Ammunition came in the form of both arrows and solid balls.  In later period, number of firearms in Ming army significantly increased and brought a lot of change in tactics and military equipment.

Cavalry
Cavalry were a minority in the Ming military. However, they were still an essential component of Chinese armies.
Ming cavalry were divided into two types--lancers and mounted archers. The former were equipped with helmet, armor and sabre, as well as a long spear and round shield. The latter were also armored and carried a sabre, but the primary weapon of a horse archer was his composite bow.

Artillery
Chinese armies of the Ming period made wide use of artillery. Both on the field as well as for the siege and defense of fortifications. Almost every military expedition had a substantial artillery train. This contributed greatly to the success of early Ming armies against Mongol nomads and rivals.
                                                          
Ming era cannon


Officer core
Military officers were ranked in a hierarchic grading system and were given merit evaluations every five years. However, military officers had less prestige than officials. This was due to their hereditary service (instead of solely merit-based) and Confucian  values that dictated those who chose the profession of violence (wu) over the cultured pursuits of knowledge (wen).Military officers were not excluded from taking civil service examinations, and after 1478 the military even held their own examinations to test military skills. In the early half of the dynasty, men of noble lineage dominated the higher ranks of military office; this trend was reversed during the latter half of the dynasty as men from more humble origins eventually displaced them.

 Military Tactics
One of the notable features of the Ming military was its centralized planning. The entire army would be re-equipped and re-trained for a specific campaign to meet specific tactical requirements which depended of the enemy’s number , tactics, technology ,also important were geography , logistics , climate ect.
Some insight in Ming army tactics can be found in manuals written by Qi Jiguang (November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588) a military general of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the coastal regions against Wokou pirate activities in the 16th century. Qi is also known for writing the military manuals Jixiao Xinshu and Record of Military Training ,which he based on his experience as a martial educator and defensive planner in the Ming military forces. He is regarded as a hero in Chinese culture. In his own words :” Fighting in large formation, against great enemies, is different from fighting in rings or arresting few bandits. In great formation, thousands of men are advancing in order. The braves are not allowed to advance (further than the rest of the army), and the cowardly are not allowed to withdraw. (If our enemy) thrusts with a forest of spearheads, (then we can only) thrust back with a forest of spearheads. (If our enemy) slashes with a storm of blades, (then we can only) strike back to return the favor. (Everyone) can only advance together, there's hardly any room to flip one's hand, let alone dodging left and right! If even one man looks behind, everyone will be left in doubt. If even one man is distracted and missed one step, everyone will lose morale. There's no way one can advance and withdraw freely (when fighting in formation)."
Ming dynasty shield formation

The writings of general Qi Ji Guang  give us some insight into how a large formation battle would look like in Chinese warfare. Qi Ji Guang described thousands of soldiers fighting with pikes and sabres in a formation so dense that "there's hardly any room to flip one's hand", and discipline was of utmost importance. Ming Chinese placed great emphasis on the use of spear and pike. Chinese did not use their pikes to perform smashing or slashing attack in the same manner as Japanese pikemen, although some experienced Chinese pikemen could smash their pikes to the ground and use the bouncing effect to guide the pikes into the abdomens of their enemy.
Ming infantry formation


During an engagement with other pikemen, Ming shieldmen were instructed to hack off enemy pikes using their sabres. Behind the rows of shields and pikes there were rifleman and bowman who supported them with constant fire. Infantry was generally supported by artillery fire while cavalry was used for sudden attacks after artillery preparation to break enemy lines and enable infantry to enter.

Military system of the early Qing dynasty

Eight Banner System
 Before official founding of the Qing dynasty and conquest of China , Nurhaci, a chieftain of the Chien-chou Juchen  Manchurian tribe who is considered to be the founding father of the Manchu state in China, established a banner system The Banner system was developed by  Nurhachi  in 1601.He organized his warriors into four companies of 300 men each. The companies were distinguished by banners of different colors—yellow, red, white, and blue. In 1615 four more banners were added. As the Manchu increased their conquests, the size of the companies grew until each came to number 7,500 men divided into five regiments, divided, in turn, into five companies.
In 1633, during the early Qing dynasty, the Manchu rulers began to incorporate Mongols and other tribal groups, as well as Han Chinese, into the Eight Banner system. Beginning in the late 1620s, Nurhaci's successors incorporated allied and conquered Mongol tribes into the Eight Banner system. Eventually, the numbers of Chinese soldiers caused Manchu leaders to form them into the "Old Han Army" , mainly for infantry support. In 1631, a separate Chinese artillery corps was formed. In 1635, a Mongolian "Eight Banners" was created. Four Chinese banners were created in 1639 and finally the full eight were established in 1642.  . 
Among the Banners gunpowder weapons, such as muskets and artillery, were specifically wielded by the Chinese Banners who also served as infantry and were also used classic Ming dynasty infantry tactics and weapons. Manchu and Mongolians served traditionally as cavalry, mostly as bowman.

Green Standard Army
After capturing Beijing in 1644 and gained control of large of former Ming territory, Manchus accepted in their service Ming forces that surrendered to the Qing. They were integrated a new military unit called the Green Standard Army, named after the color of their battle pennants.. Green Standard armies were created in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Jiangnan in 1645, in Fujian in 1650, in Lianguang (Guangdong and Guangxi) in 1651, in Guizhou in 1658, and in Yunnan in 1659.They maintained their Ming-era ranks and were led by a mix of Banner and Green Standard officers. These Chinese troops eventually outnumbered Banner troops three to one.
Even though the Manchu banners were the most effective fighting force during the Qing conquest of China, most of the fighting was done by Chinese banners and Green Standard troops, especially in southern China where Manchu cavalry could play less of a role.The Banners and Green Standard troops were standing armies, paid for by the central government. In addition, regional governors from provincial down to village level maintained their own irregular local militias for police duties and disaster relief. These militias were usually granted small annual stipends from regional coffers for part-time service obligations.

Ming Dynasty fall and Qing occupation of China.

Reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty
One major cause of the Ming collapse was a succession of relatively weak and disconnected emperors. Early in the Ming period, the emperors were active administrators and military leaders. By the end of the Ming era, however, the emperors had retreated into the Forbidden City, never venturing out at the head of their armies, and seldom even meeting in person with their ministers.
A second reason for the collapse of the Ming was the huge expense in money and men of defending China from its northern and western neighbors. This has been a constant in Chinese history, but the Ming were particularly concerned because they had only just won China back from Mongol rule under the Yuan Dynasty.  
Next major reason of the fall was corruption of the officials. Very few government officials were not corrupt during this period. A large portion of all taxes, military wages, even disaster relief funds from the central government were pocketed by officials from all levels of government. The administration went bankrupt and couldn't even make wage payments on time. As a result, soldiers often fragged their officers to demand wages or looted civilian villages. Needless to say, most of these troops had terrible morale
Next major reason for fall of th Ming dynasty was the shifting climate, and disruptions to the monsoon cycle of rains. Heavy rains brought devastating floods, particularly of the Yellow River, which swamped farmers' land and drowned livestock and people alike. Peasants had no food, but corrupt officials pocketed disaster relief money and didn't relieve any tax burden. The masses couldn't survive like this and rebelled against the government. Weak government and low moral of the army simply couldn’t do anything to stop the uprising. Peasant rebels run rampant all over central and western China, resulting in severe damage to the Ming heartland. There were fewer and fewer generals capable of dealing with these threats. When peasant rebel leader Li Zicheng marched on Beijing, the commanders of Datong and Xuanfu (two entire military districts!) surrendered to him without a fight. This gave him a direct path to Beijing, which he conquered after only two days of siege, resulting in Emperor Chongzhen committing suicide.
Failing economy, political factions internal wars, government corruption, low moral in army, incompetent rulers, peasants rebellions , all these factors caused the fall of the Ming empire even before Manchus came to power.

Qing conquest of China
The Ming faced several famines, floods, economic chaos, and rebellions. Li Zicheng rebelled in the 1630s in Shaanxi in the north, while a mutiny led by Zhang Xianzhong broke out in Sichuan in the 1640s. Many people were killed in this self-proclaimed emperor's reign of terror.
Death of the last Ming emperor

In February 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng had founded the Shun Dynasty in Xi'an and proclaimed himself king. In March his armies had captured the important city of Taiyuan in Shanxi. Seeing the progress of the rebels, on 5 April the Ming Chongzhen Emperor requested the urgent help of any military commandant in the Empire. But it was too late: on 24 April Li Zicheng breached the walls of Beijing, and the Emperor hanged himself the next day on a hill behind the Forbidden City. He was the last Ming emperor to reign in Beijing.
Soon after the emperor had called for help,  Ming general Wu Sangui who was guarding the Great Wall rushed with his army to Beijing .Wu Sangui and his Ming army were on their way to Beijing, marching through the Shanhai Pass at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China.  Wu received word that he was too late, and the capital had already fallen. He retreated to Shanhai.  Li Zicheng sent his armies to confront Wu, who defeated them in two battles. Frustrated, Li marched out in person at the head of a 60,000 men-strong force to take on Wu. It was at this point that Wu appealed to the closest large army nearby - the Qing leader Dorgon and his Manchus. He agreed to attack Li's army, but only if Wu and the Ming army would serve under him instead. On May 27, Wu agreed. Dorgon sent him and his troops to attack Li's rebel army repeatedly; once both sides in this Han Chinese civil battle were worn out, Dorgon sent his riders around the flank of Wu's army. The Manchu set upon the rebels, quickly overcoming them and sending them flying back toward Beijing.Li Zicheng himself returned to the Forbidden City and grabbed all the valuables he could carry.
The newly allied armies captured Beijing on June 6. On October 30, 1644, about 5 months after the Qing army occupied the capital, Hong Taiji's son Fulin became the Emperor Shunzhi, and he announced the new dynasty was founded.The Manchus, who had positioned themselves as political heir to the Ming emperor by defeating the rebel Li Zicheng. Soon after Manchus  wiped out the last remnants of rival regimes established by Li Zicheng (killed in 1645) and Zhang Xianzhong (Chengdu taken in early 1647). Finally, they managed to kill claimants to the throne of the Southern Ming in Nanjing (1645) and Fuzhou (1646) and chased Zhu Youlang, the last Southern Ming emperor, out of Guangzhou (1647) and into the far southwestern reaches of China.
Qing conquest of entre territory of Chine took a while, last Ming loyalist stronghold , Taiwan, surrendered in1683. While the entire country was in chaos new established  Qing government accepted all the generals from the Ming dynasty into their ranks and allowed them to keep their positions. It was actually the Green Standing Army who did most of the fighting against Ming loyalist led by Han Chinese Banners. Chinese were fighting against Chinese for the Manchu’s benefit.
After gaining control of the Chinese empire the Manchus quickly absorbed much of Han high culture. They also kept much of Ming dynasty government organizations system with few differences. Military personal and intellectuals were highly valued by new dynasty. Manchus need capable people to establish and strengthen their rule over China so they change their policy toward these two groups which were discriminated during Ming rule. Towards the end of the Ming dynasty, from the late sixteenth century on, intellectuals had become increasingly disaffected with the Ming and had tacitly withdrawn their support. Many scholars had spent most of their lives preparing to hold an official post, only to end up with nothing. The new dynasty needed men of talent, and shrewdly made a show of respecting scholars. Same thing was happening with military officers.

Analysis

Ming dynasty haven’t lost the war with Manchus because Manchus had stronger force or had better technology or better strategy. In fact, Ming dynasty fell apart before Manchus even engaged in the events. Manchus simply seized the opportunity and took the place of the already fallen dynasty. Ming dynasty caused its own demise creating political and economical chaos. When Manchus came there was no one to fight against them. Ming generals massively betrayed former rulers and sided with conquerors in order to keep their positions , titles and property. The truth is most of the fighting against pockets of the resistance were done by former Ming army who turned against few loyalists. There was between 250 and 350 thousands Manchus ( actually only 120 000 Manchus , the rest were Mongolian and Han banners) who conquered Ming China who nominally had over 3 000 000 soldiers. 
Knowing all these facts was there a need for inventing new fighting style that rebels could use in order to restore Ming dynasty? The answer is no. There are two main reasons why there was no need for inventing any new style of fighting, not only Wing Chun, against Qing dynasty.
-       First, Ming dynasty already had superior strategy and tactics to fight Manchus and they fought them successfully for centuries. From the very beginning of Ming rule they had to fight with Mongolian tribes on the northern borders of the empire and they developed effective tactics to keep them outside their borders. As long as the empire was politically and economically stabile Mongolians had no chance against Ming army. Simply there was no need to invent any new way to fight the Qing, it was already developed and successfully used for centuries.
-       Second reason is that people of China were not eager to fight against Qing. It was in fact common people of China who rebelled and took down the Ming dynasty. At the beginning of its rule Qing dynasty brought social and economical order and growth. The most significant fact of early and mid-Qing social history was population growth. The population doubled during the 18th century. Such a population growth is not possible without stable economy ,strong and competent  government , social and political order. People simply weren’t interested in rebellion and Qing dynasty included Han people in every aspect and level of the government .
In terms of historical development of Chinese martial arts, styles like Wing Chun and other southern (and northern) styles as we know them today developed in second half of 19th century. Martial styles are invention of the modern times, something that first appeared in 19th century. Although many “histories” and “traditions” are pushing back their origins far back in the past the truth is no style today is older than 150 -180 years. During Ming and most of the Qing dynasty rule martial arts were concentrated strictly on military use and put accent on weapons techniques. Only high ranking officers learned how to fight “one on one” and had full systems of fighting with preferred weapon, the rest of the soldiers practiced to fight in formation. Styles in today’s sense of meaning didn’t exist. There were prominent teachers and someone traced his lineage through the line of teachers but there defined styles didn’t exist, same teacher would teach completely different things to different students. Wing Chun simply couldn’t exist before 19th century because martial styles didn’t exist before that time.
From tactical point of view, story that Wing Chun is invented to fight Qing army is complete nonsense. Qing dynasty with Ming army adopted their way of fighting and military technology. Let’s think for a moment could be Wing Chun used against Qing army?
-       First, no martial style as we know them today could be used against any army from 17th or 18th century. Modern styles are focused on individual fighting and empty hand techniques with rudimentary weapons training. Armies of the past fought in organized groups and put all their time in weapons training , various maneuvers used in a battlefield . No matter how good someone’s skill can be a group of single fighters stand no chance against a group well trained army unit. Wing Chun has no trace of any training for organized group fighting. Even if all participants in some imaginary conflict use same weapons , let’s say long poles, a group of fighters which fight in a formation will simply run over any group of a group of fighters without any formation. Individual skill was never a determining factor in any army, in any war at any point of history.
-       Second, Wing Chun uses two weapons, Long Pole and Double Knives. It is obvious that Wing Chun is a style invented to be used without armor nor shields. Wing Chun is almost impossible to use if a fighter is wearing an armor and usage of shield is also impossible. Even if opponents use same weapon but one has protection of the armor and shield it is obvious who will win.
-       Third, Qing army had cavalry, infantry and artillery. Imagine fighters without armor, armed with long poles without any formation fighting against cavalry. There are enough examples in history of exactly the same encounters and all finished exactly the same, cavalry slaughtered the opponents.
Wing Chun against artillery? I think the answer is pretty obvious, The artillery was the main reason why Ming dynasty manage to fight off Mongolian tribes for such a long time.
Wing Chun against infantry? On one side there are people without any protection, no formation and armed with short knives and long poles. On the other side there is a wall of shields and a forest of pikes, longer than WCK poles with long steel points. They move as one and simply cut to pieces everything and anything on their way. Behind countless rows of pikeman there is a great number of archers who support advancing of front rows and among them there are a significant number of rifleman who either supported pikeman from the flanks or shoot before close quarter engagement. We have many examples in history how similar encounters ended.

From this reasons, story that Wing Chun is invented as some miracle solution for restoring the fallen Ming dynasty is pure nonsense. It is nothing more than a marketing that aims at the particular emotional and psychological points in practitioners. Wing Chun is invented in particular moment of history for particular reason and it is a perfect solution for the problem and the environment which it was invented for and there is no need to give it credit and attributes that art does not have.