Yim Wing-chun

Background

Different accounts of Yim's legend exist, but the central sequence of events remains largely the same, beginning with the origin of her teacher. During the Qing dynasty, a Shaolin Buddhist nun and abbess, Ng Mui (五枚師太), reportedly fled the destruction of the Shaolin temple at the hands of the government; the temple was believed to be harbouring revolutionaries. According to one legend, after being inspired by witnessing a crane and a snake fighting, Ng Mui incorporated their movements into her style of Chinese kung fu to form a new, yet-unnamed martial art system.

Ng Mui later took on a disciple, Yim Wing-chun, and passed the art on to her. Yim Wing-chun was well known for her beauty and sold tofu for a living. A local bully tried to force her to marry him, but she used the art to defeat him. Some accounts claim that Ng Mui taught Yim the art specifically for the purpose of defending herself against the man's unwanted advances.

Yim later married Leung Bok-chau, a salt merchant, who named the art "Wing Chun Kuen" (Wing Chun Fist) after her. James Yimm Lee (1972) attributes significant development of the art to Yim Wing-chun, crediting her with the invention of the Chi Sao (sticking hands) exercise. From there, the art passed through several men's hands before coming to Ip Man.