Yip Man between myth and reality

Yip Man :葉問 is probably the most famous Chinese martial arts master after Bruce Lee , after the recent movies about his life he can easily be the most famous kung fu master today. There are several biographies written by his sons and students and all of them are pretty much the same . Yip Man was portrayed as a hero, fearless fighter who never lost the fight and a person of highest moral and ethical standards .
Yip was  born on 1 October 1893   in a wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong. He had one more brother and two sisters.
Yip started his Wing Chun  training when he was 7. His teacher was Chan Wah Shun , famous  Wing Chun master and well known fighter . Since Chan was 70 at the time, Yip was Chan's last student. Due to his teacher's age, Yip learned most of his skills and techniques from Chan's second eldest disciple, Ng Chan So. After Chan Wah Shun’s death Yip continued his training with Ng Chan So for couple more years.
At the age of 16, Yip moved to Hong Kong where he attended St. Stephen’s College .   During Yip's time at St. Stephen's he saw a foreign police officer beating a woman and intervened. The officer attempted to attack Yip, but Yip struck him down and ran to school with his classmate. Yip's classmate later told an older man who lived in his apartment block. The man met with Yip and asked what martial art Yip practiced. The man told Yip that his forms were "not too great".The man challenged Yip's Wing Chun in sticky hands practice. Yip saw this as an opportunity to prove that his abilities were good, but was defeated by the man after a few strikes. Yip's opponent revealed himself to be Leung Bik, Chan Wah Shun's senior and the son of Chan's teacher, Dr Leung Jan. After that encounter, Yip continued learning from Leung Bik.
Yip returned to Foshan when he was 24 and became a policeman. He taught Wing Chun to several of his subordinates, friends and relatives, but did not officially run a martial arts school  Yip went to live with one of his students during the war with Japan although later versions of Yip Man;s biography state that he took active role in a fight against Japanese .He returned to Foshan after the war, where he continued his career as a police officer. Yip left Foshan for Macao and soon after  Hong Kong at the end of 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party won the civil war  because he was an officer of Nationalist Party. the Communists' rival in the Civil War.

There are several stories about Yip Man’s fighting skill. At one occasion Yip Man arrested a wanted criminal who challenged him to a fight and Yip Man accepted . They fought in the police station and Yip easily defeated notorious killer and robber .
Another time a police officer argued with some civilians and Yip came to stop the argument . Not knowing that Yip was a police captain an officer pulled the gun on him. Yip grabbed the gun and got hold of the bullet-chamber of the weapon, meaning to stop the man from mis-firing. The man struggled to free his pistol from Yip Man's grip. However, Yip Man's fingers were so powerful that after a few pulls and twists the bullet-chamber of the pistol broke off to the astonishment of the on-lookers.
There are many more stories like these two ,where he risked his life on the line of duty ,accepted and won death matches ect. These stories mostly came from Yip Chun , Yip’s older son.
In Hong Kong , Yip started  teaching members of the Restaurant Workers Union with a help of his friend and first Hong Kong student Leung Sheung. At the beginning his business was not very successful but in time he built good reputation and became famous kung fu teacher in Hong Kong. From the time, Yip Man started to teach Wing Chun Kuen in Hong Kong around May 1950 until his retirement 20 years later, he attracted many students. The most famous student of his was Bruce Lee.There were many challenge fights by the Wing Chun students to the other Kung Fu styles to test their fighting abilities. These were bare-handed, no-rules fights, called either 'Kuo-Sao' or 'Beimo', and were mostly held in the back alleys of Hong Kong or on rooftops of apartment buildings. It was mostly through these matches that the fame of Wing Chun started to spread as a practical, efficient and no-nonsense martial art style which actually delivered results
Yip Man died in 1972 from throat cancer leaving the  legacy of global Wing Chun spreading and practice .
This is in short biography of Yip Man , most of the data came from his son, Yip Chun . As we can see , Yip Man was presented as the best fighter of his time ,patriot , selfless person ready to risk his life for public good , in one word a true hero .A lot of people quoting Yip Man lately ,looks like he is a kung fu hero of 21st century , just like Bruce Lee was a kung fu hero of 20st century. But if we look the real historical facts we can get a different impression about Yip Man (and some of his students).

First thing that catches attention of careful researcher is time Yip spent with his first teacher . In older version of his biography it was statet that he spent two years with  Chan Wah Shun. In later version that time was a little longer until in most recent version he spend 4 years with master Chan.  Same thing goes with the age in which Yip joined Master Chan’s school . In oldest versions it was stated that he joined the school at age of 13 while in latest versions it is stated that he joined at the age of 9 or even 7 . Increasing the amount of time he spent with his first teacher has two purposes , first , to give more credibility to his knowledge and skill and second , to let others know that it is not possible to achieve high level of skill in short amount of time. In older versions of Yip ‘s biography we can find that he spent 2 years learning from Ng Chan So , Master Chan;s first disciple .So how much time Yip Man really spent learning from Chan Wah Shun? Not more than a year and if we examine evidence little further we can conclude that the real amount of time he spent with master Chan was around 6 to 7 months.
 It is also mentioned that Master Chan loved Yip Man more than all other student and on his deathbed he told his first disciple to continue his training . This is interesting little story , but besides claims came from Yip Man;s son we cannot find any other source that would verify this ever happened , so we can be pretty sure this is a lie.
One more interesting detail was dropped out of his biography . While in all version we can find that Yip was born in a wealthy merchant family there is no mention what kind of goods his Father trade with , which is common to be mentioned on this kind of biographies ,like in case of Yuen Kai San whose father was fireworks merchant. Yip Man’s father and grandfather were opium merchants , they had very successful business and they own couple of cargo ships . They were so successful that angry mob couple of times broke into their house searching for revenge . At those times Yip family found the refugee under roof of their neighbor , Yuen (Kai San’s) family . This detail will be significant later . Anyway , heroes do not come  from the family of opium merchants so that detail was carefully left out of all Yip Man’s biographies .
At the age of 16 Yip Man went to Hong Kong to continue his education and there he met Leung Bik who supposedly taught him the highest form of Wing Chun. The story how Yip Man met Leung Bik match classical plot from Wu Xia novels popular in republican China , a young hero is fighting for justice defending the innocent against foreign suppressor , an old master hears about him and decide to meet him and pass all his knowledge to him. If know just a little about traditional martial culture from that period it would be very strange for a teacher to search for a student , especially because that student beat up a foreign police officer and that could cause  great amount of trouble . Furthermore why would a teacher search for a total stranger and pass his praised art to , again , total stranger , for free !!!  Leung Bik himself is a mysterious character , there is no evidence he ever existed ,there are no pictures , documents ,tax records , birth or death certificates, no private correspondence neither is he ever  mentioned in a correspondence of the third parties. For a man who lived quite long he left no evidence of his existence ,not even one.
According to Moy Yat , Yip Man’s student and relative ‘Leung Bik “ was actually Fung Wah a student of Leung Jan. Interestingly enough , Yip Man himself never said Leung Bik was his teacher , that story was first launched by Leung Sheung and couple of other Yip’s senior students who thought that would be a good marketing move . Later , after Yip Man died , his sons and other students claimed  Yip said in several occasions Leung Bik was his teacher , but that cannot be verified .
It is mentioned before that Yip family and Yuen family were good friends . According to the sources from Yuen Kai San family , Yip’s father asked Yuen Kai San to teach Yip Man .Yuen Kai San was reluctant to do that but he couldn’t refuse .Recently that was confirmed by one of the Yuen Kai San students . If we compare Yip Man’s style with all other wing chun styles , the most resemblance it has with Yuen Kai San style , it can be said that Yip Man’s style is simplified and modified Yuen Kai San style.
Stories from the period of Yip’s police service cannot be verified . There are many stories about him using his skill in the line of duty but there are no official records to support these stories which is strange , police usually keeps detailed records of everything , especially records of criminals who resisted arrest .
There is a story about the kung fu master from the north who challenged and defeated all other masters from Foshan and eventually searched for Yip Man . The match was organized soon and Yip easily defeated the challenger . The truth is , this story appeared after the movie about Yip Man , before the movie , no one ever mentioned this story.
There are some stories that Yip Man took active role in fighting Japanese during second Sino-Japanese war ,again these stories appeared after the movie ,in reality Yip Man escaped from Foshan and spent the war in the house of one of his students.
Again , there are some stories Yip Man took active role in Chinese civil war , but that is not true , the biggest proof is that his family was not killed after the communists took over China . If there was just a hint of his involvement in Kuomintang in any way his family would be executed immediately .
Now here is the interesting part , something that people overlook but what bothers me the most . After communists take over power in China Yip Man took all his money and escaped to Macao , alone . He left his 4 children behind although it was known what communists do with people who do not support them. We don’t even know who took care of his children. Being a father I would never leave my child behind , even if that would cost me a life . That detail alone is enough to give us a pretty good picture about Yip Man;s character . Furthermore , in Macao he gambled away all his money and started to use opium , which he regularly used until he died . Opium can be a cause of his throat cancer as well . He spent all his money on gambling not even trying to save his family (which was possible with enough money and right connections , and he had both).
At the end , there are many stories about  ruthless fights on the rooftops of Hong Kong , many legendary fighters from .Yip Man’s school won countless fights against terrible fighters from other schools . Fortunately , we have a video of one of these fights , I am putting it here so everyone can see and make a conclusion for him self . What I see are some poorly trained  boys and the real and only danger is to fall of the roof .

I know many people worship Yip Man almost like he is a deity and I people need heroes, role models to upon . On the other hand the truth must be told and there are many real heroes of that time about we don’t know nothing .
The fact is , without Bruce Lee , Wing Chun and Yip Man would stay unknown to the world outside Hong Kong . If Bruce had practiced some other style , kung fu world would look much different today . The true irony lays in the fact that Bruce Lee made Yip Man famous , same Yip Man , who was a racist and expelled Bruce from his school because he was not pure Chinese ( Bruce’s grandmother was German).

Bodhidharma - between myth and reality

The most significant figure of Chinese Ch’an Buddhism and founder of Shaolin kung fu , Bodhidharma was an Enlightened prince,28th patriarch of Buddhism  who came from India to China at the begging of the 6th century AD. Upon his arrival in a different part of China, the Emperor Wu Ti, a devout Buddhist who built great number of monasteries all over his country , requested an audience with Bodhidharma. During their initial meeting, Wu Ti asked Bodhidharma what merit he had achieved for all of his good deeds. Bodhidharma was unable to convince Wu Ti of the value of his teachings and  left the palace and continued north until he arrived at the Shaolin Temple in Ho Nan Province. It was here that Bodhidharma became famous for meditating 9 years facing a wall. Here Da Mo taught his disciple Shen Guang the most important of lessons in a mind-to-mind, heart-to-heart communication known as” action language” and is the foundation of the Chan Buddhism which Bodhidharma  began at the Shaolin Temple. There is a tradition in Shaolin Kung Fu that Bodhidharma created the exercises and moves that are foundation of this branch of Kung Fu.

Although many stores , legends, “facts”, “histories” about Bodhidharma circulate today and there are many books on the subject , there is no proof that he ever existed . Different accounts have different  information about everything regarding Bodhidharma.It is important to say that there is none archeological evidence of his existence .

Birthplace of Bodhidharma cannot be determined , there is no record of him in India , everything we know about him and his life came from Chinese sources written centuries after his supposed arrival . Different accounts put his birthplace on different places . According to some sources he was from a Brahman family in southern India and possibly of royal lineage. Some argue  that Bodhidharma's royal pedigree implies that he was of the Kshatriya warrior caste. Some argued that the Pallava dynasty was a Tamilian dynasty and Bodhidharma was born a prince of the Pallava dynasty in their capital of Kanchipuram . Some accounts put his birthplace in Pakistan or even Afghanistan .

Founder of Ch’an Buddhism . Bodhidharma is honored as the First Patriarch of Ch’an in China . The truth is , this form of Buddhism existed in China centuries before his arrival and the earliest well know preacher of Ch’an  in China was a monk named Anshigao who lived three centuries before Bodhidharma . Making Bodhidharma to be the first Ch’an  ancestor was a matter of politics in China and the politics of Ch’an , not the  historical fact.

28 Patricarch of Buddhisam .According to Ch’an lineage depicted in traditional Ch’an Lineage Charts, Bodhidharma is the 28th teacher in an unbroken lineage from Buddha himself. He is also the lineage ancestor of every Ch’an \Zen master since that time in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. D.T. Suzuki contends that Ch’an's growth in popularity during the 7th and 8th centuries attracted criticism that it had "no authorized records of its direct transmission from the founder of Buddhism" and that Ch’an historians made Bodhidharma the 28th patriarch of Buddhism in response to such attacks.

Time of arrival. Like in everything else , accounts differ on the date of his arrival, with one early account claiming that he arrived during the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liang Dynasty (502–557). Bodhidharma was primarily active in the lands of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534).

Which path he used to come to China. Some accounts state that he sailed from South India and came to Guangdong province by sea. Other said he passed Himalayas and came from the West.

Founder of kung fu. For a long time on the West , because wrong translation of Chinese sources , Bodhidharama was (and stll is) considered as founder of all Chinese martial arts. The truth is , Chinese civilization along with army and of course fighting systems existed for couple of millenniums before supposed time of Bodhidharma’s life. On the East he had a much more modest role and was considered as founder of Shaolin kung fu . Martial arts historians have shown this legend stems from a Qigong  manual known as theYijin Jing published in 1827 . It is believed that manual was first published in late 1600’s but there are no evidence to support that believe. Furthermore ,there is no evidence of Bodhidharma in Shaolin monastery , at all. First monk who ever practiced martial arts in Shaolin was ex soldier and a student of monastery’s founder Seng Chou.

Bodhidharma’s grave was found empty , no evidence was found that anyone was ever burred in that grave .

As we can see , everything about Bodhidharma just a legend . It was impossible to find any place where he lived and taught .  The logical question is ,why there was a need for such a person ?      

 Bodhidharma’s legend is central to understanding the evolution of Chinese Ch’an and subsequently Japanese Zen. The meaning that His stories hold for Ch’an Buddhists, how they did and how continue to influence Ch’an tradition today is the most important . Bodhidharma was not philosopher nor a writer like other Buddhist figures, yet the central elements of his teachings can be seen in stories of his life such as his emphasis meditation, his style of interacting with students, the lack of emphasis on scholarship and intellectual debate, and the importance of personal realization and mind-to-mind transmission from teacher to disciple. These distinctive features of Bodhidharma’s story  still define Ch’an \Zen Buddhism today.

Golden Eagle style - rare Taiwanese kung fu treasure

        Taiwan , due to specific geographical position and history is the last oasis of true traditional kung fu . Not only that ,Taiwan is repository of rare and on other places long lost kung fu styles. Many styles are still kept secret and taught only to family members while others are more open but largely unknown and remain hidden in small villages all over the island . One of these rare treasures is Golden Eagle boxing which can be found only in Taiwan . Like most of the old , southern styles practiced on Taiwan , Golden Eagle boxing is brought from Fujian province in early 1800's.
     Taiwan in the early 1800's(since Koshinga's arrival in 1660"s  ) was a frontier province , much like wild west in  North America at the same period. Many people came to this frontier land to start new life and found their fortune . Many escaped mainland to hide from government persecution whether they were political refugees or common criminals. Practically, government had a control over very small area of Taiwan around its main administrative center, Tainan, the rest of the island was totally out of their control . People who settle on the island had to take care of their own safety , surrounded by Japanese pirates , domestic bandits and aboriginal head hunter's tribes . Every settlement had its own militia trained in martial arts in order to protect them self   and maintain law and order, One of these places was Hsiulo village a famous Taiwanese kung fu place . Actually Hsiulo was a complex of 7 villages whose elders hired martial arts instructors to teach almost all male members to fight .In early 1830's village elders invited a young martial artist from Fujian to take over martial arts training in Hsiulo. Martial artist was Liu Pao also known as Ming Shan who later became one of the most important kung fu figures in history of Taiwan and known under his nickname - A Shin Shi ,
   a Shin Shi opened his school under a name  Cheng Xiang She(Restoration Society) and was responsible for martial training in all seven villages of Hsiulo. He was extraordinary martial arts master and excellent medical doctor . Having highest moral and ethical standards , well educated and honestly concerned for his students he insisted that martial a\training must start with literary studies. He had great number of excellent students and his Golden Eagle boxing became predominant martial style of Hsiulo. Dut to these facts his fame spread all over Taiwan. A Shin Shi first time retired in 1846 and passed a title of head instructor of his school to Liao Fu . Unfortunately Liao died two years later and A Shin Shi returned to the school where he stayed until 1860 when he finally retired . After A Shin Shi's death his school devied firs at two separate  sub styles and later in couple more distinct sub styles .

Golden Eagle is typical Fujianese style . On first glance resembles on old White Crane styles from Fukian and even more on Hakka styles . Style uses high stances,emphasis is put on evading and dogging rather than on direct blocking . Strikes are linear , fast and combined with footwork for reaching better angle for attack. Style has around 30 short forms and uses a wide variety of traditional weapons.

   

Southern Shaolin -between myth and reality

The Southern Shaolin Monastery is t is considered a source of almost all kung fu styles form Fujian and Guandong provinces . On the other hand there are no evidence to support existence and location of the monastery. Today , there are several places in South of China that claim the location of the famous Buddhist monastery .
According to the legend Southern Shaolin was founded during the Tang dynasty in the reign of emperor Taizong  7th century .Pirate incursions in Fujian Province threatened stability and prosperity in Southern China and the new dynasty needed help. At the Emperor's request, three of the legendary Shaolin Thirteen Cudgel fighting monks, Dao Guang, Seng Man and Seng Feng, led approximately 500 warrior monks south to battle against Japanese pirates.
With the pirates suppressed the monks remained in support of the local garrison and established the Southern Shaolin Monastery.
A whole millennia later , last Chinese dynasty , Ming, fell and country was ruled by Manchurians ,  Many of the officials from the previous Ming dynasty sought refuge in the Southern Shaolin  and the monastery became a center of the rebellion . Qing government burnt the monastery to the ground with a help of the traitor who was one of the rebellion leaders. Only five monks survived the attack including the traitor . Survived monks went into hiding and taught their kung fu in secret waiting for the right moment to raise again.
Even a superficial examination of available historical and archaeological evidence will show that this complete story is nothing more than folk tale . Surviving monks never existed and their characters changed roles over time . There are no material evidence to support existing of Southern Shaolin at any point in history .
So, where did the story come ? And how it became the most famous and most significant myth of all times in China ?

Story of Southern Shaolin has its foundation in real historical events and all key elements on which the story is built actually happened . Throughout history, China was plagued by internal revolts and rebellions . One of the bloodiest and most significant was Taiping rebellion .In  the conflict, which took place mostly in south China , the Yangtze valley and in the Shanghai and Nanjing area,  from 20,000,000 to 100,000,000 people were killed.The Taiping Rebellion arose from the general discontent of the Chinese population against their Manchu conquerors, who were seen as corrupt and ineffective against the 'foreign devils' and the opium they imported into China and the growth of lawlessness and secret societies in the countryside.
For more than a decade rebells successfully fought the government and almost capture the Qing capital of Beijing in May 1853.
Red Boat opera troupe from Gunagdong province , led by Lee Man Mao ,joined the rebellion and established a headquarters  in “Fine Jade Hall” in Foshan.  Qing government ordered destruction of Fall Jade Hall as base for Anti Qing supporters and soon after Opera was prohibited in that area for more than a decade. Qing manage to do that with a help of traitors from some rebel generals who switched sides .  After rebellion was crushed, rebels who survived and who were mostly opera actors scattered all over China  . Since opera was banned and it was not safe to talk openly about these events, story about Southern Shaolin burning emerged containing all key elements of the real events. There was one more purpose of this story, to give a sense of unity and common origin for different anti Qing fractions who still operated at the time.
During the first years after rebellion was crushed story about Southern Shaolin had specific political purpose and kept a memory of thous events . In later years , people who participated in thous events died and not many people actually knew the real background and purpose of the story . Slowly the focus of the story changed and some other things became important . In republican period there were no more people who participated and knew anything about Taiping rebellion events . The story became a "history" and focus finally changed from political to historical . In thous days , heritage was one of the extremely important things in kung fu circles and Southern Shaolin was perfect to give credibility to the style's history and combat efficiency . Almost everyone connected their styles to Sotuthern Shaolin and one or more of the famous ancestors (who never existed and were at first characters in pulp fiction novels published in the latest years of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century). 

Kung fu drums

Short video recording of famous Taiwanese traditional drum performance group . They are really good and I enjoyed their performance a lot.

Tai Chi master from Tainan -Lee Chang Jen

　Tai Chi is martial art successfully used on battlefield in the past. Today Tai Chi is mostly practiced for health and sport reasons, seldom can be found a person who can even knows, not to mention use the fighting part of the art. One of these people is　Mr. Lee Jin Lin(金霖) as know as "Chang-Jen"(章仁).

 I had an honor to practice in his school for a year. He still preserves old version of Chen Tai Chi , now , for the most part , lost everywhere else . He is polite and quiet person, he doesn't talk much but when he does he is giving a "pure gold" . Being practitioner of other martial art I touched hands with him and I can tell he has a real skill. Although I was and still am a beginner in , when I touched hands with his log time students , I actually won 50% of the time ,pretty good having in mind I just started to practice Tai Chi . On the other hand I couldn't even move master Lee .His skill is way , way beyond mine. Master  has graduated from the Chinese Culture Univesity "Zhong Guo Uen Hua Da Xuan"(中國文化大學),in Taipei,Taiwan.He was chosen out of all the university students to represent Taiwan in the United States in 1988. He also taught the Overseas Chinese Youth Language Study Tour to Taiwan and many students during his time at the university. Presently, he is Master of several university clubs of Tai-Ji around Taiwan. 

 I went to Tai Chi because I wanted to learn something soft and relaxed , to be honest, something easy that I can practice in my old age . To my surprise , practice in master Lee's club proved to be harder than anything I tried before . Furthermore , practice include realistic training of fighting techniques . To my surprise a great deal of techniques are similar Japanese Judo , but there is a difference , for some of the techniques , if done correctly it is not possible to fall safely .

 One more thing is important , people in the school are really, really nice , polite , open( which is something hard to see) , ready to help and explain things . Atmosphere on training is relaxed and although practice is hard , it is fun and interesting . Unfortunately , I had to stop my practice because of my working schedule changed but I still practice my forms and I hope in the near future I will go back to school again. 

Snake Crane Wing Chun - situational awarwness

Snake Crane Wing Chun is very specific martial system, created in specific time period with a very specific purpose. This art was first modern CQB system with all the tools and traits for successful combat in overpopulated area of Pearl river delta with narrow streets, small buildings with small rooms and boats as a main mean of transport.

After final fall of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 1864 many rebels went underground. The reason of the fall was infighting and many officers actually changed side and betrayed their compatriots for money and position. Among rebels who went underground were members of Cantonese “red boat” opera troupe. They developed their own style of fighting called “Siu Lim Tao”. Unfortunately this style of fighting was lost, but from it emerged a style now known as Snake Crane Wing Chun which is the oldest version of Wing Chun known today. Older version of WCK or SLT had only one long empty hand form and it required quite a time to be mastered.

For a necessity of quick training old form was divided into 3 empty hands forms. That was not only change made to the style. The new concept of training was to train people to be assassins , furthermore , like it was said before , to be assassins in overpopulated area Guangzhou with its specific architecture and way of life. Assassins were trained to take revenge on those who betrayed the rebellion. Style its self was made for close combat and at the beginning only weapon were short butterfly knives that can fit in the sleeves of the traditional upper clothes. Long pole was added alter and all other styles in that area have that weapon in their curriculums, which is logical because everybody used boats at that time. While all other styles have a whole specter of traditional weapons like spears , swords ect. Snake Crane Wing Chun had only knives. SCWC was made for extremely close combat fighting, traditional architecture of the area have very narrow streets where two people can hardly pass over one another. Houses were small , not very high and rooms were also small. SCWC was main purpose was fight in a confined quarters and sudden attacks in a big crowd.

Being assassin’s art SCWC in its curriculum has not only a technical training with weapons and empty hands but also some other very important things. One of these things is awareness. The simple truth is , no matter if you have the best martial arts on the world or if you are the best fighter on the world if are not able to see the danger and you are not able to react on time. To be aware of the environment , to assess the situation is actually more important than a fighting technique, especially for a person who suppose to kill a military officer surrounded with body guards . Awareness training stars with empty hand forms and later is practiced more on a higher level. System of training is pretty much the same like in all other military , police or intelligence forces with special assignments and that kind of training , with small variations is pretty much the same everywhere .

Today ,there is no need for killing Ching officers , Ching dynasty doesan”t exist any more SCWC still keeps its value in the modern world of fighting. Selfdefense in more about situational awareness than about technique its self. While good fighting technique is essential when attack actually happens,to avoid attack , to deny opportunity to an attacker not to attack you ,but to even notice you is always the best selfdefense solution .  By being aware of your surroundings, paying attention to warning signs, and noticing pre-attack indicators, you can spot a predator and deny him the close distance he needs to attack you by using space and/or objects in your environment. And even if you are approached by a predator, you can de-escalate the situation and avoid physical violence using a variety of measures.

Most traditional martial styles put all the focus on technical training . Modern selfdefense systems put focus in situational awareness development and situational training . SCWC has that since the middle of the 19^th century , which means SCWC is modern for more than 150 years.