Of the legends and stories stemming from the Wing Chun pai of Gu Lo village, there is one which states there are two main platforms of Wing Chun from the Red Boat. Research into this legend has provided many interesting possibilities to the cross-breeding that has occurred since the days when the junks were at their peak. This article is being written with the sole purpose of analyzing certain key aspects of the Wing Chun art and not to cause division among the lineages.

A Close Relationship

When Leung Bok Lau and Yim Wing Chun arrived on the Junks they found the White Crane San Sik of Lee Man Mao already being cultivated. It was Lee Man Mao, who is documented as leading the Futshan uprising, with his troupe wearing the Hun Gun (red bandana’s) around their heads. This system has its roots in the Fukien Crane mother system of Bak Hok “Weng” Chun. Due to the fact that both shared roots in the White Crane family, a close relationship was born.

In the old days, and even today, if people were from different villages (or systems) they would not associate. This sort of tribal mentality was normal for the times. If these two arts had no relations then the chance of interaction would have been next to impossible. The Soft Snake style Crane meets the San Sik style Crane family!

Legend has it that Wong Wah Bo (troupe senior), Dai Fa Min Kam and others (males playing male roles) belongs to one section of the troupe and others such as Leung Yee Tai, Yik Kam (males playing female roles) belong to another section. We cannot be sure as to exactly what each Red Boat member learned (or taught) but certain signatures makes for interesting possibilities.

Dai Fa Min Kam’s lineages, thru Fung Siu Ching, are the main schools of Weng Chun. The boxing of this lineage varies greatly but shares many similarities with its cousins. Most seem to acknowledge that there was one common set but the diversity of today’s lineages vary as much as any system. What is common among them all is their speciality, “The 6.5 Pole”. Wong Wah Bo’s lineages produced Leung Jan and Fok Bo Chuen. From this school the 3 Fist sets seem to stem. Outside this lineage, one long Siu Lin Tau set is most commonly found in the female sect of the troupe. Leung Jan also was trained by Leung Yee Tai which gave him training in both; male & female Wing Chun. Yik Kam passed his skills to the Cho family who also preserve training from the female section of the troupe.

It should be noted that the one set, three sets or loose hands platforms found in the different lineages is not of importance. These are just platforms for development. The content and conceptual design is what really matters and all Wing Chun share these concepts.

The Modern Relationship

Throughout the history of Wing Chun and Weng Chun these two systems have long interacted with each other. Most of the top players from Futshan were not only schooled in Wing Chun but would also be schooled in Weng Chun or aspects of Weng Chun. This makes for a difficult analysis due to the generations of interaction.

Wing Chun Master Yuen Kay San had influence from Weng Chun Master Fung Siu Ching. It was Fung Siu Ching who was a live in teacher of Master Yuen towards the end of his career. Wing Chun Master Yip Man had influence from the Weng Chun Sifu’s of Dai Duk Lan. It was Master Yip who would visit to brush up on his pole methods. Wing Chun Master Sum Nung began his training with Weng Chun San Sik under Cheung Bo and later trained under Master Yuen Kay San.

The result of Master Yuen and Master Sum’s Weng training would be a system that retains qualities from both male sect Wing Chun and two schools of Weng Chun. Yet, the boxing of Master Yuen & Sum are certainly being performed with Wing Chun body. It was said that Master Yuen and Sum refined the additional training to fit their Wing Chun methods.

Wing Chun Master Leung Jan has two primary schools. One stems from his Futshan teaching which is rooted in Wong Wah Bo’s teaching (mainly preserved by Chan Wah lineages) and the other which contains many of Leung Yee Tai’s concepts (mainly preserved by Wong Wah Sam lineages) yet his own organization and what we refer to in Gu Lo as; Modifications by the Master. Essentially, it is based mainly in the female teaching but retaining the crisp essence from his Wong Wah Bo method.

An interesting note is that the boxing of Yuen Chai Wan, brother and classmate of Yuen Kay San under Wing Chun Master Fok Bo Chuen, preserves a much similar conceptual quality to their boxing as the Wong Wah Bo orthodox teaching minus the crisp or sharp essence. This could show just how much influence the Weng boxing has had on his brothers Kung Fu with the foundation teaching of Sum Nung’s Sup Yi Sic being taught to all pupils.

Wing or Weng Pole

Today’s Wing Chun community scattered around the globe has its roots mainly in the male boxing sect of Wong Wah Bo. Because of this, finding details regarding the female sects is very difficult. When researching the Wing Chun Gwun it is impossible to not research the Weng Chun Gwun. How much of a difference can there really be? You can only flick a pole so many directions!

Many stories have been told about Wing Chun having an exchange of Knives for Pole skills and this being the arrival of Pole methods in the Wing Chun art. Seeing that Wing, and Weng, are so closely tied together this story could hold some truths in it. No doubt, when we start to look deeper into the connections this seems to be the case for the male teaching.

The Pole methods of the male boxing schools can be found using the Cat like stance & Sae Ping Ma; Square Horse where as the female boxing school mainly use the Wing Chun Mah. The Pole methods of the male boxing schools maintain a Long Arm Grip rooted at the waist where the female boxing schools maintain an alternative Middle Height Grip. It was not until I watched a brief demo of the Yik Kam Pole that this Grip connection became obvious. Prior to this I thought our Pole (Wong Wah Sam system) was Leung Jan’s own synthesis as I had not witnessed the training in any other lineage until witnessing Yik Kam’s method.

In the Wing Chun community of today we find two things that people look forward to learn. One is the Dummy and the other is the Pole. Most strive to learn these aspects, especially the Pole, to strengthen the foundation but if Wing Chun is a feminine (Soft Body Cultivation) art and Weng Chun is more of a masculine (half hard/half soft) training, is this causing a different effects to the Wing Chun foundation & body? Outside the training of the gwun in the Male sect all other aspects (Solo, Dummy, Knives, etc.) are still within the realm of Orthodox Wing Chun?

Of the training, and hand relationship, it is not hard to notice two completely different concepts. Just looking at the square shaolin like horse being practiced in Wing Chun should raise some questions? Why, and where, could this foreign method have come from? They certainly do not hold much Wing signature as the rest of the system? Did the males playing males, and the lineages of Wong Wah Bo, import or eventually fuse the Weng Chun shaolin type pole methods into the Wing Chun art?

Wing Chun Master Leung Jan names his Gu Lo pole: Som Dim Boon Gwun yet there are more than 3 ½ strokes/concepts? Was Dr. Leung Jan reminding us of the importance of the pole training and its effects on the body? In the human body the Som Dim is located at the base of the spine. It’s the Sacrum. Root location for the dormant Serpent (Snake)! Are we bulking up the lower back/spine/waist with the Weng Pole when we shouldn’t?

Final Thoughts

When Dr. Leung Jan’s pupils would ask what the difference was between their boxing and the boxing outside their village Dr. Leung Jan would say;

The Wing Chun outside our village is the Jing Sun (Straight Body) “Facing” style, which is divided into three parts; Siu Lin Tau, Chum Kiu, Biu Jee. The Wing Chun from our village is the Pin Sun (Side Body) style, which, is taught in one part but differs very little and are really from the same family! The pole method of the Facing style is the Luk Dim Boon Gwun (6.5 Pole) but in our village it is the Som Dim Boon Gwun (3.5 Pole).

From the above information we can see that there was a paradigm shift in the soft style art of Leung Bok Lau and Miss Yim Wing Chun. With all fingers pointing towards Master Wong Wah Bo as being the root source for key trademarks such as the 3 Fist sets innovation Square body in application (aka San Chin body theory versus Turning body of the female lineage) and possible Pole methods we can see why its not hard to understand how easy it was for his future generations to gravitate towards their Kung Fu Brothers/Cousins in Weng Chun for further insight and development where the lineages rooted in the feminine systems have preserved a different method with the body & gwun!

Does the Legend of a Woman’s style and Man’s style of Wing Chun refer to the Soft Ging system of the males playing females which is rooted in the Wing boxing of Yim & Leung and the ¾ Soft Ging/¼ Hard system of the males playing males which is rooted in the teaching of both Yim & Leung as well as the Weng boxing clan? Was there A Sister, A Brother and A Cousin system all stemming from the Red Boat? Wing Chun Wong, Master Leung Jan, clearly stated that the two systems differ Very Little. Perhaps as more information comes to light we may be one step closer to find out!

I hope that a serious study of the Pole methods of both Wing, and Weng, will occur by today’s researchers, and hopefully help us gain a deeper insight into the teaching of our Wing Chun Kuen ancestors.