Wing Chun Was a Girl!

A story of a girl who whooped her suitor's undesirable butt

Perhaps you knew it all along, but before I stumbled upon my school (Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy) I had not heard much about Kung Fu or the style of Wing Chun, which turns out was named after a woman.

Let us first map the story and find some common terms to anchor it. Kung Fu comes from China, where it was encountered by Japanese during their occupation of China. Japanese adopted some of Kung Fu (a/k/a Gung Fu) and named it Karate (empty hand.) In Southern China, at the famous Shaolin Temple, the Kung Fu arts were practiced for protection as well as cultivation of the body, mind and spirit.

The legend has it that one of the survivors of the last burning of the Shaolin Temple was a nun (yes, women were included!) Her name was Ng Mui and she lived in hiding in a village where a young lady called Wing Chun was pursued to be married by a man who held a position of power. One version of the legend speaks of a gang leader and another tale talks of a village chief. Either way, she must have not liked him. Her father consulted the nun, who told him to tell the suitor that he could marry Wing Chun if he waits a year until she comes of age, and only if he beats her in combat.

The guy agreed. The nun trained the girl in secret in the woods every day for a year. The guy lost the battle. The nun instructed Wing Chun to marry a good man, teach him the arts, name it after her, and have him teach it to others.

Somewhere down the road a man called Ip Man learned and taught the art. My teacher’s teacher, Grandmaster William Cheung, at a young age, became a student of Ip Man. He brought his training buddy, Bruce Lee, to train with Ip Man. Many years later, my teacher – Master Keith Mazza encountered Grandmaster Cheung in New York City at a school where he trained under different masters. He studied with Grandmaster Cheung for many years and opened the school I am enrolled in.

So that’s the story of a girl that literally kicked someone’s a$$ in the spirit of freedom and made Kung Fu accessible to me.

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