[QUOTE=PalmStriker;1263757]One researcher seems to consider Leung Bik’s teaching role a given (fact): http://chinesemartialstudies.com/2014/03/20/conceptualizing-the-asian-martial-arts-ancient-origins-social-institutions-and-leung-jans-wing-chun/[/QUOTE]
Interesting article! Thanks for the link! Here is what the author had to say about the Ip Man/Leung Bik connection:
[B]In total, Chan Wah Shun only taught about 16 students over the course of his career. The last of these was the son of his landlord, a child named Ip Kai Man. Unfortunately Chan soon fell ill and later suffered from a stroke. Most of Ip Man’s training seems to have come from Chan’s second disciple, Ng Chung So.
The actual nature of Ip Man’s introduction to Wing Chun is somewhat hard to disentangle. As the son of a rich merchant and landlord he spent most of his days studying literature rather than Kung Fu. Then, as a teenager, he was sent to Hong Kong to attend a western high school. This might have put an end to his Wing Chun training except that by an accident of fate he was introduced to Leung Bik, Leung Jan’s remaining son.
The elderly Leung Bik had never sought to teach Kung Fu and had not been involved with the new commercial institutions that were quickly transforming the world of the southern Chinese martial arts. Instead his relationship with Ip Man seems to have reflected the older 19th century patterns. He moved in with new student, who provided him with food, clothing and housing, in exchange for tuition. In short, Leung Bik became a temporary member of the wealthy young student’s household.
This actually puts Ip Man in a very interesting position. Much has been made of the fact that he received both a Confucian and Western education. But in terms of understanding his Wing Chun, it is important to realize that he likewise received both a modern early 20th century and a more traditional 19th century introduction to the martial arts as well. Few if any of Chan Wah Shun’s other students (perhaps with the exception of some of those who had previously studied in another style) could say this.
Ip Man carefully considered what he learned from both Chan Wah Shun and Leung Bik. By his own admission he thought deeply about not just their techniques, but how they taught as well. Except for a brief episode in the 1940s, Ip Man avoided opening his own school in Guangdong during the volatile Republic of China years. Yet after fleeing to Hong Kong in 1949 he was left with little other choice.[/B]
Obviously he puts more detail into the story than most Yip Man people that retell it! Where did that extra detail come from? He talks about research and being a social scientist, but does not list references or note his sources. I think he is interjecting a lot of his own assumptions into this narrative, and isn’t that one of the huge problems in sorting out myth from fact???
) I was wondering if both of you could lay out your lineage for us and what version of WCK you have learned. What both of you have to say is very interesting, but without knowing where you are coming from makes the context of it all more difficult to place. Thanks!
) I was wondering if both of you could lay out your lineage for us and what version of WCK you have learned. What both of you have to say is very interesting, but without knowing where you are coming from makes the context of it all more difficult to place. Thanks![/QUOTE]
I would consider it much more likely that Lueng Bak (Master Leung Jan’s nephew) is one and the same Leung Bik, only one letter in the name as a discrepancy.