About

Wing Chun History

Wing Chun is a method of Chinese Kung Fu, developed over hundreds of years, with its roots in the Shaolin Temple tradition. Legend has it that in 1645 a Buddhist nun by the name of Ng Moi devised the system and taught it to a young girl called Yim Wing Chun, who successfully used her newly learned skills to defend herself against a local bully who attempted to rape her.

When legendary Grandmaster Ip Man arrived in Hong Kong in the 50s, Wing Chun was taught more openly. When Ip Man passed away in the seventies, many of his students and two of his sons began teaching Wing Chun. The system has now spread across the globe and has become one of the most popular systems of Kung Fu. As a result of this proliferation, there are now many different styles of Wing Chun, each with their own flavour.

Cliff Au-Yeung began his Ving Tsun training under the late Sifu Wong Shun Leung (a student of Ip Man) in 1981. He travelled with Sifu Wong to give seminars in Europe on two occasions in 1990 and 1992, and was one of Sifu Wong’s chief interpreters in delivering his combat theory and philosophy to foreign students. Sifu Au-Yeung has been the member of the Board of directors in Ving Tsun Athletic Association from 2000 to 2002, and is currently enhancing Ving Tsun enthusiastically as the Principle of the Ving Tsun Martial Arts Institute.

The Wing Chun Federation HQ is based in Southampton in Hampshire all our coaches, lessons and classes can be found here.