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This post will further explain what I said in my last post about brand and lineage. Just to recap, due to the spread of martial arts being available to people of any race and background, there are many instructors who teach fake martial arts, or modified systems of it. The person I used as an example was Jake Mace. A Jewish person who claims to specialize in Shaolin Kung Fu(Five animal styles). He did some videos on Wing Chun which were completely wrong and no where in the videos does he state it's his own version or interpretation. The average view may think it's traditional and therefore be misinformed. One thing many people ask is who was he taught martial arts by?
NOTE: This post will be using Wing Chun to give a base understanding of lineage. Be aware that there are many other grandmasters and in some cases some styles may share one grandmaster or creator
Every style of kung fu branches from the three main groups. Tai chi(spiritual) Xing yi quan(external), and Qi Gong. The styles of Kung Fu have stories of their creation. However due to many of them not being historically recorded, there may be multiple stories, some with new characters, others with missing characters. In wing chun there are 2 stories as far as I know. One of them is the accepted story in the Ip man lineage.
Stories: Since many haven't been recorded historically they're pretty much up to debate. In WC there are 2 stories. One of a general and another of a nun. For the Ip Man lineage, the one of the nun is the accepted story. To sum it up, there was war in china. Many Kung Fu masters were killed since they would use their skills to rebel against soldiers. The nun managed to escape an attack amd fled to the temple of the monkey king. There she witnessed a fox and a white crane fight. She noticed how the crane was relaxed and used little energy but percise movements to keep the fox away. This was how wing chun was created. The next part of the story explains how it spread. Like the nun teaching her student(who was named wing chun) the style. She then named the style after her student. The story goes on to explain the many others who learned it which ultimately led to Ip man learning it along with how the weapon forms became part of the style.
Lineage: The lineage would be of what family or teacher your art comes from, was taught from, or modified from. Ip man before his passing, was a grandmaster of Wing chun. A grandmaster being the oldest master. They would be the face of the style and hold the most traditional teachings of said style. In Ip man's case, after he died, his son ip chun became the grandmaster of Wing chun.
So I am learning A style and my grandmaster is gone or I didn't learn from them personally. What would my lineage be? Ip man taught many people. When a student wishes to teach a certain lineage of kung fu, they must be certified by the teacher. Ip man allowed many of his top students to teach wing chun. For example, let's say I learned from someone who was certified to teach Ip mans wing chun system. Id be of the Ip man lineage with *name here* as my teacher. You would need to ask your instructor if you are learning a traditional system. If it's a modified system or their own brand you'd be of their lineage. A modified system or brand isn't traditional. It would have things taken away, added, mixed, etc. If you learned Wing chun from Jake Mace, you'd be of his lineage.
Ip Mans Lineage: So we covered the base already. Lineage is basically a family tree. However, Ip man when teaching the students he certified to teach his WC, taught them to do some things differently. All the students would therefore not teach the same WC. The differences are minor such as opposite hand positions. Many people ask why he did that and some think he's crazy for it. I personally think it's due to body type to an extent. Just as in the JoS page for opening chakras, the hand positions may be hard for those with bigger fingers. Maybe WC may be hard for someone bigger, or left handed,etc. The more options there are means more people are able to do the art in succession. In Wing chun, individuality is praised. Keep what is useful and forget what is useless. Simple is better. WC is meant to be effective. Even if it means changing the art to be more accostumed to ones body and natural abilities. However this had lead to people like Jake Mace making make Wing Chun videos. With constant people advertising "their Wing chun" it's hard to find the traditional system. But in the situation if Ip mans students, I believe it's to give more people access to Wing Chun.
Different Spelling of styles: Lineages tend to adopt a style/make it their own. Sometimes that means making an alternate spelling for it. Ip mans Wing Chun it's spelled Ving Tsun. For Jake Mace his WC Would be called Jake Mace Wing Chun.
Is it better to learn a traditional system or modified system? Traditional systems would resemble the original system and have more of the spiritual teachings. That doesn't mean modified systems are bad. Those systems are more combat based but could definitely be effective. Just like with muay thai. It's a modified muay boran with little to no spirituality. It's still an effective style to learn for combat and fitness. Just be careful with who you're learning from. If it's a modified system You can ask who your instructor was taught from, what the purpose of the style is(if it focuses on combat, specific areas, etc.), and if it's been tested in a real life or combat sport scenario. Ultimately people can't know if a new system works unless it's been tested. That's how there are many fake martial artists. No one tests the skills until it's too late. Be careful and keep an open mind.
Conclusion: Thank you all for reading. My next post will go over Kung Fu weapon forms using Wing Chun as an example for the basic information
Hail Satan
NOTE: This post will be using Wing Chun to give a base understanding of lineage. Be aware that there are many other grandmasters and in some cases some styles may share one grandmaster or creator
Every style of kung fu branches from the three main groups. Tai chi(spiritual) Xing yi quan(external), and Qi Gong. The styles of Kung Fu have stories of their creation. However due to many of them not being historically recorded, there may be multiple stories, some with new characters, others with missing characters. In wing chun there are 2 stories as far as I know. One of them is the accepted story in the Ip man lineage.
Stories: Since many haven't been recorded historically they're pretty much up to debate. In WC there are 2 stories. One of a general and another of a nun. For the Ip Man lineage, the one of the nun is the accepted story. To sum it up, there was war in china. Many Kung Fu masters were killed since they would use their skills to rebel against soldiers. The nun managed to escape an attack amd fled to the temple of the monkey king. There she witnessed a fox and a white crane fight. She noticed how the crane was relaxed and used little energy but percise movements to keep the fox away. This was how wing chun was created. The next part of the story explains how it spread. Like the nun teaching her student(who was named wing chun) the style. She then named the style after her student. The story goes on to explain the many others who learned it which ultimately led to Ip man learning it along with how the weapon forms became part of the style.
Lineage: The lineage would be of what family or teacher your art comes from, was taught from, or modified from. Ip man before his passing, was a grandmaster of Wing chun. A grandmaster being the oldest master. They would be the face of the style and hold the most traditional teachings of said style. In Ip man's case, after he died, his son ip chun became the grandmaster of Wing chun.
So I am learning A style and my grandmaster is gone or I didn't learn from them personally. What would my lineage be? Ip man taught many people. When a student wishes to teach a certain lineage of kung fu, they must be certified by the teacher. Ip man allowed many of his top students to teach wing chun. For example, let's say I learned from someone who was certified to teach Ip mans wing chun system. Id be of the Ip man lineage with *name here* as my teacher. You would need to ask your instructor if you are learning a traditional system. If it's a modified system or their own brand you'd be of their lineage. A modified system or brand isn't traditional. It would have things taken away, added, mixed, etc. If you learned Wing chun from Jake Mace, you'd be of his lineage.
Ip Mans Lineage: So we covered the base already. Lineage is basically a family tree. However, Ip man when teaching the students he certified to teach his WC, taught them to do some things differently. All the students would therefore not teach the same WC. The differences are minor such as opposite hand positions. Many people ask why he did that and some think he's crazy for it. I personally think it's due to body type to an extent. Just as in the JoS page for opening chakras, the hand positions may be hard for those with bigger fingers. Maybe WC may be hard for someone bigger, or left handed,etc. The more options there are means more people are able to do the art in succession. In Wing chun, individuality is praised. Keep what is useful and forget what is useless. Simple is better. WC is meant to be effective. Even if it means changing the art to be more accostumed to ones body and natural abilities. However this had lead to people like Jake Mace making make Wing Chun videos. With constant people advertising "their Wing chun" it's hard to find the traditional system. But in the situation if Ip mans students, I believe it's to give more people access to Wing Chun.
Different Spelling of styles: Lineages tend to adopt a style/make it their own. Sometimes that means making an alternate spelling for it. Ip mans Wing Chun it's spelled Ving Tsun. For Jake Mace his WC Would be called Jake Mace Wing Chun.
Is it better to learn a traditional system or modified system? Traditional systems would resemble the original system and have more of the spiritual teachings. That doesn't mean modified systems are bad. Those systems are more combat based but could definitely be effective. Just like with muay thai. It's a modified muay boran with little to no spirituality. It's still an effective style to learn for combat and fitness. Just be careful with who you're learning from. If it's a modified system You can ask who your instructor was taught from, what the purpose of the style is(if it focuses on combat, specific areas, etc.), and if it's been tested in a real life or combat sport scenario. Ultimately people can't know if a new system works unless it's been tested. That's how there are many fake martial artists. No one tests the skills until it's too late. Be careful and keep an open mind.
Conclusion: Thank you all for reading. My next post will go over Kung Fu weapon forms using Wing Chun as an example for the basic information
Hail Satan
