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NOTES ON GENEALOGY

Wing Chun kuen, while a relatively young style by Chinese martial arts standards, is one which has grown much since the mid-1900s, and one which has, unfortunately, been plagued by more then its share of controversy. Thus, the history of Wing Chun’s founding (who created the style) and development (who passed the art along to whom) presented in this book is not, and cannot, be exact.

Over the generations, due to errors, omissions, mix-ups, padding, filling, and modification, many different genealogies have come to exist for the same style or individual. In addition, since some practitioners had more then one teacher, and some also studied with grand-teachers, senior classmates, friends, and so on, the lines and stories are sometimes quite muddled, with different branches recording different aspects.

For the purposes of this book and out of respect for the various branches, the following chapters present the history of the different arts as their masters orally transmit them. While some of these accounts may appear similar and in some cases repetitive, it is necessary in order to properly present the history and traditions of each branch.