Description: The true lineage of Wing Chun is an issue for which the answer is only recently beginning to emerge, but legend has it that its origins are rooted in the history of the Shaolin Temple.

One story takes place in a Shaolin Temple where a nun by the name of Ng Mui resided. At the time, a band of Qing dynasty soldiers attacked the Temple and Ng Mui was forced to flee to the province of Guang Sai in order to escape the burning and destruction. There she met a man called Yim Yee who had a daughter named Yim Wing Chun. Yim Yee offered the nun shelter, and in return for their kindness, Ng Mui taught the girl martial arts. The style that Ng Mui taught to the girl had not yet received a name at the temple, and so when asked to give it one, Ng Mui named it after the girl Wing Chun. Yim Wing Chun soon became a master of this style and later married Leung Bok Chow, and from them it was passed down from generation to generation, eventually becoming quite popular throughout southern China.

Another version of history tells a different story entirely, one which involved a Buddhist monk called Chiu Yuen, and Da Jung, a Ming Dynasty military officer who later became a monk at the southern Shaolin Temple of Fukien. In this version Chiu Yuen and Da Jung were given credit for having brought Wing Chun to the South, where it was said to have played a profound role in the secret societies involved in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. This competing legend states that the style was named after Wing Chun Tong (Everlasting Spring Hall) in the Shaolin Temple.

Whichever legend is actually true, the art of Wing Chun was passed on through the centuries and eventually reached the 20th century disciple Yip Man in Fatshan. Yip Man would in turn teach many famous disciples including one of the worlds most widely known stars, Bruce Lee. As a teenager, Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun with Yip Man. He later brought the style with him to the United States where he eventually founded a school and taught it to American students. When Bruce Lee became an international movie star in the 1970's, Wing Chun was once again in the spotlight and has since then grown into one of the most popular styles in both Asia and the West.