I was browseing around the internet and noticed that there are several spellings of Wing Chun. I have also noticed on another Wing Chin forum that there was an arguement between WSL(Wong Shun Leung?) and TWC(traditional wing chun?).
My question is do the different spellings have any significence? What are the differences between the different groups? How many “camps” of verying degree are there?
The different spellings are just different romanisations of the chinese characters which represent Wing Chun (or Wing Tsun, Ving Tsun, Wing Tchun, etc.)
There are many “camps”. I’m not aware of any particular animosity between Wong Shun Leung and William Cheung/TWC, indeed WSL got on better with William Cheung than most by all accounts.
There have been regrettable incidents between varying camps in the past which have been discussed in many flame wars across various forums, but I’d advise you not to fish for info on them as some may wonder if you’re trying to stir up trouble.
anerlich
let me say this, i truely believe you can disagree with someone as long as you can explain why, that is still only a conversation or even a debate over a topic.
when i disagree with someone on here i will atleast offer a reason for it(in this case my reason is if your sifu can not logically show & explain to you how & why a technique should work by all means then disagree but by the same token if can’t show & explain then why is he teaching) & if that or the reson upsets them then i am sorry, if they then want to argue then i am sorry too.
but there is a big difference when people openly come out & put
sh!t on your sifu without one hint of a reason as to why they dislike or disaegree with someone that they have never met.
if someone comes out & is openly slanderous towards you or your sifu without offering even a hint of a reason as to why, there posts should be deleted but they are not, so is it really wrong to feel the need to defend yourself.
‘‘Peter, vts, you ain’t making any friends with this idiocy.’’
if i was so easily offended i could really start on you for calling me an idiot:eek: 
vts
It’s not my intention to stir up trouble. I don’t really care about scandel and politics. It was just that some of the arguements between different schools made it seem like there where major technical differences in in the art. I just wanted to clear it up for me.
ShaolinDynasty
There certainly are technical differences between various branches. This is indisputable.
These most probably came about through different preferences, builds, etc. of the various practitioners and teachers. Two good WC variants will have coherent and internally consistent approaches, even if they sometimes disagree on certain aspects, methods or details.
Most “disputes” in WC have arisen because certain high-profile individuals have claimed that only they learned the “real” “original” or “authentic” WC, and all the others were duped by their instructors or have falsified their credentials.
I apologise for assuming you were trying to cause trouble. I can see I was incorrect.
vts
I agree that these guys jumping on you because you quoted WSL calling Barry Lee “The Machine” was out of order.
As for Empty Cup’s Sifu, his explanations may not have satisfied Empty Cup. Surely that’s between his Sifu and him. I’m from William Cheung’s lineage, but I can’t accept his stories about TWC’s origins and I cringe whenver the Cologne or NY incidents are mentioned. Does that make me or my teacher a bad student or mean I should change teachers or lineages? I’m not going to.
To quote an old adage, “Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and then beat you silly with experience.” Not saying that you’re the idiot …
funny
When I´m having a discussion with one of you guys on this forum about some interpretation of a technique. And to support my arguments I would calling my sifu for example “the man with the most understanding of Wing Chun” , I could sit down and wait for you guys to respond to this “sifu-matter” in not even the most discrete manner. In fact, you would make fun out of it, wouldn´t you! So lighten up, this is no argument for getting personal, cause afterall, it would be my own fault.
Read the book…
If you really wan to get some detailed information on this topic, I would recommend Rene Ritchie’s (with Robert Chu and Y.Wu) book “Complete Wing Chun”.
Matrix
One more thing…
This problem is not limited to Wing Chun. Most martial arts have similar issues with lineage and politics. Unfortunately, it seems to be human nature to quarrel over these types of issues. It really detracts energy from the art in general, IMHO.
Matrix
If you want to read a really good book about the several lineages and braches of wing chun, I can recommend you the book:“ROOTS & BRANCHES OF WING TSUN” by prof. Leung Ting.
roots and branches of wing tsun: quite a good book. i enjoy reading it time and time again. however, even as a student of gm leung ting’s (well, grandson student – i’m a student of one of his students), i don’t think he did all that much justice to other branches. he brought several of them up – some i had never heard of, but i wish he could have given more on their background. i don’t think i liked the “taken with a grain of salt” attitude other branches were introduced with. oh well. i still love the book and fully support my sigung.
admittedly, i don’t care much for or know much about the politics, but i would really love a compilation book about as many branches as possible, with a good bio on when that student studied with yip man or yuen kay san (or the other swanky late grandmasters), where they were at, etc. something a bit more scholarly and history-based, and hopefully less biased.
i’m wagering that rene’s book is closer to what i’m looking for, but i haven’t seen it yet. of all the wing chun people i’ve encountered, he’s the only person i know smart enough to do the job and unbiased enough to not try and sales pitch it..
speaking of Rene
Complete Wing Chun is cool and all but why’d it have to cost $30 for a softcover of that size??? 
There are most certainly different variations of the Wing Chun system. Some Wing Chun systems do not even derive from the Yip Man lineage such as Wing Chun Kuen for instance. As with all martial arts, the systems change over time and they are taught as of how the student learnt the system. In the case of Wing Chun it seems that Yip Man taught differently to suite the student he was teaching, this of course was also based on how dedicated the student was and so on and so forth. Therefore variations of teaching varied, and each one is believed to be the authentic version, which of course is true to some extent. It is not so much who is telling lies on the matter, moreso it is about how each instructor percieved their teachings to be truth. Of course if you have been training many years under a instructor and you where always told it was the “full” system or the “real” version, you would believe it, especially if there is no reason for you to doubt it. Therefore disputes between systems, in actual fact may be simple disputes of what a student believes as truth. Politics aside, the Wing Chun systen has evolved into several routes as mentioned, each one in itself is a terrific art. Martial arts shouldn’t be about politics, if you are learning the art and you are finding that it makes you the person that you set out to be, then it is good for you, if not then move on. Some people spend their lives wasted in martial politics and it leads nowhere, better spent time is spent on training.
Peace
-Bernard
Bernard, yes I agree with U.If U don’t like a style move on.As far as orginal style goes or authenic,it really is a myth.Gong- fu every generation changes somes things about the system because just like art people personalize it even if it is only a little.No style can can say for sure that it has remained in tact since it’s founder,and even if that where so I think this type of gong-fu would not be highly developed. Personally,I like all the diff styles of wing chun Althought some things I don’t like but becase it just shows you that wing chun can be practiced and developed in many diff ways.
have fun!
stasis is death
Stop moving or adopt predictable movements and you shall be destroyed! Same holds true for a martial art, IMHO