hello! i am new to the forum hereand wanted to say hi. I have a quick quesion for you already too. well i was looking around on the net and found William Cheung’s web site. I believe i am in the Moy Yat lineage. cheung’s web site has a family tree diagram and according to that Moy Yat is modified Wing Chun. I am brand new to kung fu, and i was just wondering if there was any validity to this. According to his diagram, he teaches traditional Wing Chun, and Moy yat does not. without getting too upset, does anyone have any comments?
for now my man/woman i would just enjoy your wing chun.
it will not take long before the dark side of the force engulfs you(ie the politics)
besides that, welcome aboard & look foward to argueing soon;)
vts
G’day Sphynx
Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu (TWC) is the name now basically given to the system of wing chun kung fu that Grandmaster William Cheung Teaches. You will find that there is a history on the site http://www.cheungswingchun.com , which outlines the Cheung version of Wing Chun’s history.
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. If a comparison is to be made also, look at Wing Chun Kuen, which is not even of the Yip Man lineage. 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
P.S. I basically modified one of my other posts to save time, to answer a similar question.
thanks
thanks for the info. I look forward to arguing with you too 
All kidding aside though, i have been waiting to learn kung fu since i was 3 years old, when i saw my first Bruce Lee movie. That was 20 years ago, but even though its late in life, i am really excited to be a part of this. Lineage and whatever, arent really that important to me, since i have a knowledgable and dedicated sifu, which is lucky since this is the only Wing Chun school in my city! well its nice to meet you!
sphynx,
you want to avoid pushing too hard on this, as it has arguably been the cause of some of the worst moments in modern WC history, including at least two “challenge fights”, one or both of which were arguably ambushes.
William Cheung’s version of history is at variance with the majority. By coincidence or no, his version puts him as the sole inheritor of the “true” Wing Chun from Yip Man, and everyone else as dupes who learned a watered down version created because of strange happenings in earlier generations. It sounds like the plot of a bad KF screenplay that never made production becuase it required too much suspension of disbelief.
Few people believe William Cheung’s version of history. I don’t, and I train under one of his most senior (ex-)students.
Dont worry. I have read some of the other forum posts, thats why i said " without getting too upset". like i said…i dont have much of a choice anyhow Hope i upset noone on my first day!
Well Sphynx..welcome to one of the best Lineages under Ip Man. No offense to others.I said One of ..not The..LOL. Trust me when i say traditional. The Moy Yat Lineage is very traditional. Hope you enjoy this system. It has served me as well as others Well!!!