SIFU GARRY’S WING CHN
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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.
