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The text in Chinese was a rough draft written by the late Grandmaster Ip Man and was supposed to be the preface for the purpose of organizing the “Ving Tsun Tong Fellowship” once upon a time. However, the Ving Tsun Tong Fellowship had never been in existence. Instead, the “Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association” was finally established on 24, August 1967.

 

 

先祖嚴詠春氏，原籍廣東，少而聰穎，行動矯捷，磊落有丈夫氣，許字福建鹽商梁博儔。未幾母歿。父嚴二因事被誣，幾陷於獄，因是遠徙川滇邊區，居於大涼山下，以賣豆腐為活，此清代康熙年間事也。

The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu system, Miss Yim Wing Chun, was a native of Canton China. As a young girl, she was intelligent and athletic, upstanding and manly. She was betrothed to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of Fukien. Soon after that, her mother died. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime, and nearly went to jail. So, the family moved far away and finally settled down at the Yunnan-Szechuan border. All this happened during the reign of Emperor Kiangsi (1662 – 1722).

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其時河南省嵩山少林派，武風甚盛，招清廷

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忌，派兵圍捕，攻而不下。適有新科狀元陳文維者，邀寵獻議，設法勾通寺僧馬寧兒等，四處縱火，裡應外合，少林寺被毀，僧眾四散。由是五枚師太與至善禪師，白眉禪師，馮道德，苗顯等五人亦分途出走。

At the time, Kung Fu was becoming very strong in Shaolin Monastery of Mt. Sung, Henan. This is during the fear of the Manchu government, which sent troops to attack the monastery. They were unsuccessful. A man called Chan Man Wai was the First Placed Graduate of the Civil Service Examination that year. He was seeking favour with the government and suggested a plan. He plotted with Shaolin monk Ma Ning Yee and others. They set fire to the Monastery while soldiers attacked it from the outside. Shaolin was burnt down, and the monks scattered. Buddhist abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung To Tak and Master Miu Hin escaped and fled their separate ways.

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而五枚止於大涼山（又名棲霞山）白鶴觀。每日是如市，因與嚴二父女貿易，漸且稔熟。時先師年已及笄。有當地土霸某，延其姿色，恃勢迫婚。父女二人日有憂色，為五枚法師洞悉其由。因憐其遇，許以傳技保身，使該土霸俟能除，梁氏婚約後始賦於歸。由是即隨五枚返山，日夕勤修苦練。技成乃約土霸比武，卒將土霸擊倒。自此五枚雲游四方，頻行殷殷誡以嚴守宗風，待婚後發揚武術，同佐反清復明大業。綜合過去事跡，知詠春拳派拳術，實宗於五枚法師也。

Ng Mui took refuge in White Crane Temple on Mt. Tai Leung (also known as Mt. Chai Har). There she came to know Yim Yee and his daughter Yim Wing Chun. She bought bean curds at their store. They became friends.  Yim Wing Chun was a young woman then, and her beauty attracted the attention of a local bully.

 

He tried to force​ Yim Wing Chun to marry him. She and her father were very worried. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Yim Wing Chun. She agreed to teach her fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Then she would be able to solve the problem with the bully, and marry Leung Bok Chau, her betrothed husband. So, Yim Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains and started to learn Kung Fu. She trained night and day and mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the local bully to a fight and beat him. Ng Mui set off to travel around the country, but before she left, she told Yim Wing Chun to strictly honor the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage, and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu government and restore the Ming Dynasty. This is how Wing Chun Kung Fu was handed down by Abbess Ng Mui.

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先祖師既婚，首傳技於夫婿梁博儔，其後梁博儔傳梁蘭桂。梁蘭桂傳黃華寶。乃黃華寶為紅船中人，與梁二娣為伍。恰至善禪師混跡紅船中為“煲頭”，將絕技六點半棍法傳於梁二娣。而華寶與二娣以共事紅船之故，因得日夕觀摩互相傳習，補短截長，混成一體。從而詠春拳之有六點半棍者，蓋有由也。遂至梁二娣傳技於佛山名醫梁贊先生。梁贊深得其奧，達於化境。遠近武士慕名來請與較者輒為所敗。由是聲名藉起。後來梁贊傳於陳華順。

After the marriage, Yim Wing Chun taught her Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau, and he passed his kung fu techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai passed it on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk, known to the Chinese as the red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tei. It so happened that Abbot Chi Shin, who fled from Shaolin, had​​ disguised himself as a cook and was now working on the Red Junk. Chi Shin taught the Six-and-a half Point Long Pole Techniques to Leung Yee Tei. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tei, and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they correlated and improved their techniques, and thus the Six-and-half-point Long Pole Techniques were incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu.

 

Leung Yee Tei passed the Kung Fu on to Leung Jan, a well-known herbal doctor in Fat Shan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun and attained the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters came to challenge him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later, he passed his Kung Fu on to Chan Wah Shun, who took me as his student many decades ago.

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而問與師兄吳小魯、吳仲素、陳汝棉、雷汝齊等師事陳華順迄今已數十年。是則吾儕之於詠春派拳術一脈相承，其來有自，數典不忘乃祖，飲水應念其源，自宜有以紀念先祖孕育之恩。抑亦所以維系我同門儕輩也。爰擬發起組織詠春堂聯誼會焉。嚶其鳴矣，求其友聲，想同門師友定有同情也。我武維揚，胥焉有賴此耶。

I studied Kung Fu alongside my Kung Fu brothers such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu Jai. Wing Chun was thus passed down to us, and we are eternally grateful to our Kung Fu ancestors and teachers. We will always remember and appreciate our roots, and this shared feeling will always keep our Kung Fu brothers close together. This is why I am organizing the Ving Tsun Fellowship, and I hope my Kung Fu brothers will support me in this. This will be very important in the promotion of Kung Fu.