Wing Chun Blog Sifu Garry - Leung Jan King of Wing Chun

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King of Wing Chun – Dr. Leung Jan

Dr. Leung Jan was born in 1836 and passed away in 1901. He is regarded as the most legendary figure in Wing Chun history. Leung Jan also operated a herbal medicine store in Foshan during his reign as the King of Wing Chun. He had many, many challenge fights with no losses.

Dr. Leung Jan had two legendary teachers, being, Leung Yi Tai and Wong Wah Bo, whom were infamous Red Boat Members. History states that Wong Wah Bo and Leung Jan were responsible for creating the 3 forms of wing chun still being taught today.

Leung Jan earned the title of “Wing Chun Kuen Wong” or "King of Wing Chun Fist" over the course of his life from winning over 300 challenges in which he remained undefeated. He was also one of the first to defeat a wide range of fighters from different martial arts styles using Wing Chun.

Dr. Leung Jan was born in Gulao Village. In 1885 (or 1898, depending on the account), at the age of 73, Leung Jan retired to his native village of Gulao, Heshan county, where he taught a synthesised 72 point Wing Chun System to a few local students, such as Wong Wah Sum, Leung Bak Cheung, and Yik Ying. Again in some accounts it is said that Yim Sei also learned. It is important to note that Fung Keung, son of Fung Chun, supports the fact that there were only three students that learned from Leung Jan during this period of teaching in Gulao village, before dying at the age of 76.

Dr. Leung Jan learnt 2 distinct expressions of Wing Chun. Leung Yi Tai and Wong Wah Bo, whom were members of the infamous and legendary Red Opera Troupe.

Leung Yi Tai taught him Yim Wing Chun's version and Wong Wah Bo taught him Leung Bok Chow's version. Leung Bok Chow was Yim Wing Chun's husband. Leung Bok Chow was also proficient in Southern Shaolin Kung Fu.

Leung Jan decided not to teach his Son, Leung Bik, Wing Chun, because he thought he was not ready or worthy to learn this Elitist Martial Arts.

It is stated that when Leung Bik was eventually taught by one of his Father’s teachers, so Leung Jan had no option but to teach him. He thought if his Sifu thought Leung Bik worthy then he was ready to be taught by the Father, Leung Jan.

During Leung Jan’s teaching he gave his Son the legendary Wing Chun Chronicles which eventually was handed down to Yip Man from Leung Bik.

Yip Man met Leung Bik, the Son of Leung Jan, in Hong Kong around 1915. Yip Man left Foshan for Hong Kong to study English. Yip Man studied a very different expression of Wing Chun from Leung Bik, for 3 years.

When Yip Man returned to Foshan and divulged his experiences in Hong Kong, he was chastised and ridiculed for not adhering to Tradition by learning another style of Wing Chun. His Teacher in Foshan was Chan Wah Shun, before he died around 1910.

Leung Bik’s wing chun system was quite superior at the time. It had different footwork, different kicks, elbows and a comprehensive Dim Mak system, which was frowned upon by his peers.

Sifu Garry is privy to this unique and exclusive wing chun system and very honoured to be able to teach this system in Melbourne Australia.

Why do people around the World, especially America state that Leung Bik never existed.

During my “roots of wing chun” research, I have collected categorical proof that Leung Bik did in fact exist.

1: Wing Chun Manuscripts handed down from Leung Jan to Leung Bik to Yip Man. Property of Yip Man Tong in Foshan.

2: Foshan Museum has newspaper extract defining the lives of Leung Jan and Leung Bik.

3: Wing Chun Matsers in Foshan talk about the Leung Bik system as the

“True attack fighting system of wing chun”

4: Yip Chun, Son of Yip Man told me personally in 2012, that his Father had 3 Teachers, one being the legendary Leung Bik.

5: In 2015, Wing Chun Grand Master, Lo Man Kam, nephew of Yip Man personally told me some stories about Leung Bik. His book also has references to Leung Bik.

The Leung Bik / Yip Man Wing Chun System is alive and flourishing today, around the World and in particular Melbourne Australia.

Leung Jan also left a famous legacy in Gulao Village in southern China. Grand Master Fung Chun and his Son Fung Keun are also spreading the teachings of Pien Sun Wing Chun from Leung Jan in Gulao Village.

I am also privy to the system of wing chun and have been sanctioned by Master Fung Keun to teach this wing chun system in Melbourne Australia.

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LEUNG BIK WING CHUN

 

In Southern China, the Leung Bik / Yip Man Wing Chun System is classified as:

“the attack fighting system” of wing chun.

All other wing chun systems are classified as:

“the self defence fighting system” of wing chun.

The Leung Bik Yip Man wing chun system is very unique. It has 4 forms, where all other wing chun styles have 3 forms. I might state, that some systems have only 1 form, which is known to include the 3 forms in one.

The Leung Bik system has the “advanced Sil Lim Tao form” unique to this wing chun style.

Chum Kiu and Biu Jee forms are totally different than the main stream wing chun.

Dragon pole and Butterfly sword forms are also very different in structure and dynamics.

Also, the wooden dummy set has more footwork, different sequences and so on.

Why is this so?

Leung Jan “king of wing chun” would not initially teach wing chun to his Son, Leung Bik. Leung Jan thought his Son would use wing chun for illegal activity. Leung Bik was always getting in trouble, mainly for fighting in the streets and accepting challenge matches.

His martial skill was very good, consisting of southern kung fu and a little bit of wing chun, from what he picked up from his friends.

Leung Bik realized that the wing chun of the day had many limitations in a fighting environment and decided to use everything that “worked”, meaning, he experimented with a variety of techniques from other systems.

Leung Bik eventually met up with one of his Father’s teachers and learnt wing chun from him for a couple of years. Eventually, his father, Leung Jan found out and decided to adopt his Son as one of his disciples.

Leung Jan taught his Son everything he knew about wing chun, even passing down some traditional wing chun manuscripts which are still in circulation, today, in Foshan.

When Leung Bik decided to develop his own wing chun system, he incorporated all his martial knowledge and skill to create a very dynamic and unique form of wing chun.

Leung Bik’s wing chun system included many more kicks kicks as well as straight line wing chun attacking kicks. He also decided to develop kicks that covered all gates form high to low. Obviously, from his many street fights, Leung Bik realized the limitations of the wing chun at the time, therefore, incorporated many extra techniques not seen in wing chun styles at the time.

After Leung Jan retired from teaching in Foshan, he returned to his native village of Gulao, where he taught a synthesised version of wing chun, due to his age. He called this a 72 point system and named it Pien Sun Wing Chun. (side on wing chun).

The principles of “side on wing chun” share many core concepts and principles with his Son’s wing chun system.

Leung Bik Yip Man Wing Chun system and Leung Jan’s Gulao Pien Sun Wing Chun share many core principles and concepts, being, Central Line theory, Centre Line theory, Parallel Leg fighting, Circular footwork, Attack and defend simultaneously and the side on neutral stance.

Martial Arts circles suggest that Gulao wing chun is the purest in the World due to its isolation from the commercial world.

Considering the 2 systems share many core principles, one can assume the 2 systems have the same origins from Yim Wing Chun and her husband, Leung Bok Chao.

Today, there is much negative publicity concerning the authenticity of Leung Bik and his wing chun system. A lot of people in the wing chun fraternity state that Leung Bik never existed.

Due to my recent roots of wing chun china trips, I have come to the conclusion that he did exist and that Leung Bik did in fact create a unique wing chun system and passed it down to Yip Man, whom in turn taught it to William Cheung.

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to learn the much sought after Gulao Pien Sun Wing Chun from a leading wing chun master from Gulao village. His name is Grand Master Fung Keun, the son of the late legendary Fung Chun.

In Foshan, the wing chun Masters acknowledge Leung Bik with much respect and honour. They call his system the true attack fighting system of wing chun.

There are literal extracts of Leung Jan and Leung Bik’s existence in the Foshan Museum.

Yip Man’s son stated to me that his father had 3 teachers but only one Sifu, Leung Bik being one of the teachers. I have photos of Leung Bik’s manuscripts that were given to Yip Man.

Yip Man’s nephew, Lo Man Kam also talks about Leung Bik, during his stay with Yip Man.

Categoric proof that Leung Bik did exist! And that the Traditional concepts of wing chun are still being adhered to, today.

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Roots of Wing Chun from its Inception - part 2

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Development of Wing Chun

Red Boats Opera

1800’s onwards

Prior to the formation of the Red Boat Opera Troupe, wing chun was only a concept…………

After the Shaolin Temples were destroyed by the Manchu’s, the surviving Monks fled south, mainly to Canton and Foshan, in southern China.
During this priod of revolution, many secret society rebel groups were formed. The most notoriuos being the "Red Boats"

The Red Boat Opera Troupe was a legendary rebel group attacking and fighting the Manchu’s, so they could rid the Qing and restore the Ming.

According to wing chun martial traditions, Red Boat duo, Wong Wah Bo and Leung Yee-Ta were chosen by Yim Wing Chun and her husband, Leung Bok Chow to teach the pair concepts and principles of wing chun kung fu.

Leung Yee Tai and Wong Wah Bo had as many as 11 peers in Wing Chun among their colleagues at the Red Boat Opera Company. For example, "Dai Fa Min" Kam, who played the role of the martial painted face, is the ancestor of the Way Yan lineage. The Yuen Kay-San and Pan Nam branches descend from both Wong Wah-Bo and "Dai Fa Min" Kam. Gao Lo Chung ("Tall" Chung) and "Hung Gun" Biu, also of the Red Boat Opera Company, both passed the art on to relatives, respectively, his son-in-law Yin Lee-Chung and the Wang family. Outside the Red Boat Opera Company, a monk who had taken the name "Dai Dong Fung" is named as its ancestor by the Pao Fa Lien lineage of Wing Chun.

In this cohort of the Red Boat Opera Company, the role of the virtuous "female" was played by Leung Yee Tai and Yik Kam, better known as "Ching-Deng" Kam because of the role he played. Cho Shun, who played the "Little Martial" role, was a student of Yik Kam. By passing the art on to his son Cho Dak-Sang, Cho Shun established the Wing Chun lineage of the Cho family of Panyu village.

Leung Jan is as far back as the lineages that descend from him Yip Man, Yiu Kai, Pan Nam, Tam Yeung.

Fung Sing can reliably verify their genealogy. He was a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in the city of Foshan in the 19th century. Leung Jan is said to have learned from Wong Wah Bo and Leung Yee-Tai, respectively the male and "female" martial leads of the Red Boat Opera Troupe, each of whom is said to have been an expert on different aspects of Wing Chun.

According to legends from the Yip Man lineage, Leung Yee-Tai was a poler, that is, he used a pole to steer the Red Boat away from rocks and shoals, and was therefore chosen by the legendary Shaolin master Jee Shim himself to learn the six-and-a-half point pole.

Leung Jan's students included his sons Leung Chun and Leung Bik as well as "Wooden Man" Wah and Chan Wah-Shun nicknamed "Moneychanger Wah", from whom the Yip Man, Yiu Kai, and Pan Nam lineages descend. When Leung Jan was 70 years old, he moved back to his native village of Gulao, where he taught 3 people a synthesised version of his wing chun.

In my next Blog, I will discuss Leung Jan’s influence on wing chun and his direct descendants around China.

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