Bruce Lee and the Unique Kung Fu of Wing Chun

I think most of us have heard about Chinese Kung Fu, maybe from a movie or a TV drama. And if we talk about kung Fu The first name came into our mind is Bruce lee. Here we share some thoughts and history about Bruce Lee and the Kung Fu of Wing Chun,

Some of us are even interested in learning it! It is not uncommon to be intrigued and lured by the traditional culture, which is not their own.

Today, we are going to know about Wing Chun, a style of Chinese Kung Fu.

Wing chun

Wing Chun quietly spread throughout southern China, especially Hong Kong. The first name foreigners probably mention of Kung Fu is Bruce Lee if not Jackie Chan nor Donnie Yen for millennial.

Even if you are not a fanatical fan or martial arts practitioner, everyone knows Bruce Lee for his perfect masculinity and impeccable fighting skills. His philosophy and work have left a phenomenal impact not merely within martial arts communities but also beyond cultures and industries. 

Who is Bruce Lee ?

Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong and American Martial artist, hand to hand martial art fighting instructor fighting educator, entertainer, director, screenwriter, maker, and philosopher.

Bruce was born in San Francisco, California, in 1940 as the second son of a famous Chinese opera star and a beautiful mother of Euro-Asian origin. After returning to Hong Kong, the young man often labeled as “cocky” was involved in several street fights with local triad members.

Worried father brought his son to the renowned martial arts master Ip Man to study a style called “Wing Chun” for self-defense. Bruce was 16 years old and trained under Ip Man in the late 1950s before his parents finally decided to send him to America. Starting over a new life there would be a better option to avoid trouble, his parents thought.

At the same time, with respect to balance, Lee maintained that mental and spiritual preparation are fundamental to the success of physical training in martial arts skills.

Lee Wrotes

Training is one of the most neglected phases of athletics. Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation. … JKD, ultimately is not a matter of petty techniques but of highly developed spirituality and physique.

 
After a year into his training, many of his classmates at Ip’s kung fu studio became reluctant to train with Bruce. He had a mixed non-Chinese ancestry, and that made other students think Bruce is not qualified. Back in those days, most martial arts schools and masters were exclusive to teach only people of Chinese descent. 

He was the founder behind Jeet Kune Do a mixture combative techniques reasoning drawing from various battle trains that is frequently credited with preparing for current blended hand to hand fighting (MMA). Lee is considered by pundits, media, and other military specialists to be the most powerful military craftsman ever and a mainstream society symbol of the twentieth 100 years,

who overcame any barrier among East and West. He is credited with advancing Hong Kong activity film and assisting with significantly having an impact on how Asians were introduced in American movies.

Since his passing, Lee has kept on being a conspicuous impact on present day battle sports including judo, karate blended hand to hand fighting, and boxing, as well as current mainstream society, including film, TV, comics, liveliness and computer games. Time named Lee one of the 100 most notable individuals of the twentieth 100 years.

The style of martial arts Bruce lee vs Wing chun

The style of martial arts Bruce studied was a unique woman style of kung fu, which originates in Southern Shaolin Temple in Fujian province. Wing Chun means “beautiful spring,” which is, in fact, the name of the female founder Yim Wing-Chun.

 The style focuses on defeating enemies as quickly and as efficiently as possible by attacking the centerline of the opponent’s body. In the recent popular movie series “Ip Man 4,” starring Donnie Yen, you can witness how the successor of Hong Kong martial arts hero defeats the American soldiers with the chain punches of economic movement. 

It is interesting to see how Wing Chun was popularized by Bruce Lee and the movie industry. Only a handful of people had known the style before Bruce Lee appeared on the screen. Now because of Donnie Yen and Ip Man series, a great many know or heard of Wing Chun. 

Legend has it that Wing Chun was passed on from Fujian to Guangdong province by members of Canton opera actors on the so-called “red ship”. Then, it was exported further South when Chinese mainlanders fled to Hong Kong to seek better lives during the cultural revolution between the 1950s to 1970s. 

“Wing Chun is an internal soft kung fu, and anyone can learn it” – Lam Shu-Shing

“Wing Chun is a soft internal style of kung fu. It doesn’t count on power generated by muscles, so it’s suitable for women. In fact, Wing Chun was invented by a lady”, explains Lam Shu Shing, Vice-president of Leung Sheung Lineage Wing Chun International Fellow Confederation.

Lam started learning Wing Chun at the age of 18 under late Leung Sheung, one of the four significant students of Ip Man. 
Master Lam, who is turning 70 this year, teaches the art to a small number of students he carefully chose. He is strictly following the lineage of his teacher.

“Wing Chun should be passed down to determined, hardworking students. Because my goal is not only to inherit the skills but also its spirit to next generations”, he says. 
Ip Man as well learned Wing Chun from his teacher on a one-on-one basis at his residence. Now a popular martial art style once was extraordinarily exclusive and hidden from the ordinary public.

Tourists taking photos posing like an action star in front of the statue of Bruce Lee is what you often see at the avenue of stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. A significant number of movie fans from all over the world visit Hong Kong every year, as movie tourism becoming increasingly more popular in recent years.

Fans visit shooting sites of their favorite movies and idols and post pictures instantly on social media. 
If you want to do a little bit more than taking photos, you can visit Hong Kong Cultural Heritage Museum in Shatin.

At the exhibition dedicated to the life of Bruce Lee, visitors can observe his rare personal items such as outfits, training equipment, writings, short movies, etc. You can definitely feel as if you are stepping in time when Bruce Lee was alive.