Hung Suen Wing Chun Kung Fu

A style of Wing Chun Kung Fu which literally means "Red Boat" Wing Chun, in reference to the Red Boat Opera Troop.
History
Hung Suen Wing Chun Kung Fu was founded by Rick Spain in Sydney, Australia, in the 1980s. It is derived from Grandmaster William Cheung's Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu.
The Hung Suen Wing Chun Kung Fu system dates back over two hundred years to the Siu Lam Temple. As a result of the political atmosphere of the times, this branch of Hung Suen Wing Chun has never been made public or taught outside its direct lineage. Instead, it was handed down in secrecy from family member to family member.
From 1644 to 1911, the Manchurians ruled China in a period known as the Qing Dynasty. Early in the 18th century, the Manchurians became concerned about the Siu Lam Temples' rebellious activities and their continued development of the fighting arts. Under the decision to eliminate the threat of these rebels and their leaders, the Manchurians attempted to exterminate the Siu Lam monks to prevent them from spreading their martial skills and knowledge. Eventually, both Siu Lam Temples were burnt and destroyed.
According to Hung Suen Wing Chun tradition, prior to the destruction of the temples, a comprehensive advanced martial art system known as Hung Suen Wing Chun was developed. Hung Suen Wing Chun was formulated through generations of Siu Lam knowledge and experience. As with all advanced Siu Lam knowledge, Hung Suen Wing Chun was conducted under a 'silent code'. This meant that in order to prevent abuse, it was passed down to only a few chosen disciples and was never documented.
With such a hidden past, we now rely heavily on the direct teachings of the elders for historical material. As told by teacher to student, two Siu Lam monks escaped the Manchurians' massacres and were able to keep the Hung Suen Wing Chun system alive. One of these monks was the twenty-second generation Siu Lam grandmaster, Yat Chum Dai Si. The other monk was named Cheung Ng. Before his death, grandmaster Yat Chum Dai Si passed on his high level Hung Suen Wing Chun knowledge to Cheung Ng.
In order to keep his identity and Siu Lam background fom the Manchurian government, Cheung Ng joined the Red Boat Opera Troupe. The name was given to this organisation of talented stage performers who travelled in red boats. Accomplished in Kung Fu and gymnastics, they formed their own organisation and stage names: the Red Boat Opera was Cheung Ng's safest refuge.
Cheung Ng became known in the opera troupe as Tan Sao Ng (Spread-Out Arm Ng) from his skilful use of the Hung Suen Wing Chun manoeuvre tan sao to subdue others during challenges. His level of skill allowed him to use one tan sao to represent over one thousand moves. He demonstrated that a basic technique such as tan sao must be fully understood, in concept and application, prior to the next thousand techniques. After learning the next thousand techniques, then they all become one again.
Harsh Manchurian actions created such distrust among the people that they resulted in the formation of underground organisations or secret societies such as the Heaven and Earth Society and the White Lotus Society. Within a secret society, the identity of the leaders, members, and their activities were known only to a few within the society itself.
One of the Red Boat Opera Troupe actors by the name of Hung Gun Biu (Red Bandana Biu), was a secret society leader and brought Tan Sao Ng into the organisation. The safety of the opera troupe combined with the security of the secret society allowed Ng to spread his Hung Suen Wing Chun knowledge in confidence.
As a trusted leader, Hung Gun Biu became one of Ng's closest disciples. However, in order to protect the system's origins and the identities of Yat Chum Dai Si and Tan Sao Ng, a story was created. It was said that a Siu Lam nun named Ng Mui taught the martial arts to a young woman named Yim Wing-Chun. As Yim Wing-Chum taught it to others, the system became known as Wing Chun kung fu. Many versions of the story exist around the world today. However, the name of 'Yim Wing Chun' also has a different and special meaning. 'Yim' can be translated to mean 'protect', 'prohibit' or 'secret'. The term 'Wing Chun' referred to the Siu Lam Wing Chun Tong (Always Spring Hall). Thus, 'Yim Wing Chun' was actually a code, meaning the secret art of the Siu Lam Wing Chun Hall.
Hung Gun Biu became one of the first generation disciples to learn Hung Suen Wing Chun, outside the Siu Lam Temple. The other opera troupe members who learned Hung Suen Wing Chun from 'Tan Sao' Ng also had the obligation to protect the origin of the system. These other first generation disciples included Wong Wah-Bo, Leung Yee-Tai, Dai Fa Min Kam (Painted Face Kam), Lo Man-Gong, Siu-Sang Hung Fook, and Gao Lo Chung (Tall Man Chung). Based on their individual understanding and degree of training in Wing Chun, these disciples, all previously trained in other martial art styles, may have passed along their skills with inherently different emphases.
Hung Gun Biu's lineage became known as Hung Suen Wing Chun (Red Boat) and followed a tradition to pass down the full system only to family members who took the traditional and ceremonial Siu Lam vow of secrecy. The system's lineage shows that Hung Gun Biu taught his relative, Cheung Gung who passed it down to his great nephew, Wang Ting. Wang Ting taught his son, Dr Wang Ming, of Saiquan, China. Dr Wang Ming taught the entire system with its original concepts to only four disciples. (Extract from Complete Wing Chun Robert Chu, Rene Ritchie and Y. Wu 1998).
In 1950, Yip Man started to teach Wing Chun in Hong Kong. One of his first students was chosen to be the sole inheritor of the traditional teachings of Wing Chun, William Cheung Cheuk Hing. In 1982, two of his students won both the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions of the World Invitation Full Contact Kung Fu Championships in Hong Kong.
The Wing Chun curriculum that you will see taught here will be different to any other Wing Chun curriculum. Our Wing Chun is primarily Hung Suen Wing Chun lineage whereas most other Wing Chun schools can be traced back to Hong Kong, and have varying degrees of purity.
If you would like to do further reading on different Wing Chun lineages taught today, we recommend Complete Wing Chun by R. Chu, R. Ritchie and Y. Wu, Tutle publications. We trust you will enjoy your experience of the true teachings of Wing Chun.
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