Many stories and interpretations have been given to describe the origins and founders of the Ving Tsun method.  A popular story deals with the figures of Ng Mui and her disciple, Yim Wing Chun.  Ng Mui was allegedly a nun who had escaped from the raid and burning of the Shaolin temple by the Qing government troops.  While on the run she had met a young daughter of the a local tofu vender.  The legend relates that this tofu vender’s daughter, Yim Wing Chun, was harassed daily by the village bullies for her hand in marriage.  Ng Mui did not want to reveal her identity by fighting off these bullies herself, so she had secretly taught Yim Wing Chun fighting techniques that Yim Wing Chun would later use to defeat her tormentors.  Yim Wing Chun later taught this method of fighting to her husband, Leung Bok Chao.  Yim’s husband named this method of combat Wing Chun after his wife, then proceeded to pass on this method to members of the Red Boat Opera.  Of these members, Leung Lan Kwai would pass on this method to fellow members Leung Yee Tai and Wong Wah Bo.  Both would go on to teach Yip Man’s grandmaster, Leung Jan.

Some have debated that Ving Tsun was developed in secret within the halls of the Shaolin temple as a means of training soldiers to overthrow the (then current) Qing dynasty.  These historians also claim that the Yim Wing Chun story is told as a cover to protect the true identities of the revolutionaries involved in the plot to overthrow the government.

Please see the Ving Tsun history section for more details. 

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