   |
Saturday February 4, 2012 @ 5:47am
|
|||||
 |
|
|
|
First Day Interview in the VTM | |
|
|
|
 Luk Dim Boon Kwan - Wing Chun Long Pole by Sifu Benny Meng is available in our Gift Shop. |
 |
GM Tio Tik Kwi: I’m very happy to see the younger generation active to promote and preserve the Wing Chun family Curator Benny Meng: The VTM is glad to help promote different lineage and Wing Chun events GM Tio Tik Kwi: I leave the promotion up to the younger generation, my generation isn’t into it. I’m not young, meeting other lineages but I will give moral support to the mission of the VTM. I am interested in getting information on our system. We’re more than happy to share what limited information we have (speaking humbly). Going forward we plan to share what we found out. Suhu (instructor) Lin: The main thing is to help to understand the chronology. When I arrived in the US in 2004, I didn’t come across the VTM until 2005. It was then that I found out that there was another Wing Chun not from the mainstream but from the secret societies. My Sifu mentioned long ago about Eng Chun in several locations and after many conversations we started to gather information to build a more complete history. During class the emphasis was on practice and training rather than history. We’ve tried to gather as complete a picture as possible. Sifu is happy to see many different practitioners, not just elders or younger students – it’s very motivating I’ve been trying to teach full time since 2005. The students have been with me since I started teaching ~ 5-6 months after I started. Grand Master used to teach but is now retired; however he still works with a few select students. I’m the only student teaching in the US from the Grandmaster. There are a couple of students in the US but they are not teaching. Please feel free to ask anything. Today, we’ll go over the background and history of the system and show the concepts tomorrow. According to our lineage, there are two versions of Eng Chun: male and female. Our system is a male version. We’re not sure which character to use, Wing or Weng, as the two most often used sound the same. In the beginning, Sigung King Yang did not really talk about the history or origins of the system – or use Chinese terms. Transmission was all oral and all terms were translated to Indonesian. There were two reasons for the 'secrecy': First, Sigung took oath not to reveal the system to the public but felt that after 1970 the secrecy was not necessary anymore. The political situation was different so he started to teach more of the traditional system. Second, in the 1970s the Indonesian authorities ‘cracked down’ on Chinese culture. Under pressure from the government toward Chinese art and culture, most Chinese did not use Chinese name, terms were translated into Indonesian, and teaching was more of a family approach rather than a commercial approach. When Grandmaster started training with Sigung King Yang, Grandmaster did not talk too much about history, just the name of the system. It started to chance when a visitor demonstrated a few things that looked similar but different to the Eng Chun system. The visiting Kung Fu master also recognized similarities and differences – this was due to the differences between the male and female systems of Wing Chun. Fukien Eng Chun is based on the 18 Luohan Open Hand system. Most Shaolin systems are based on the 18 Luohan Fist systems. Sigung passed away at 97 yrs old. He was in the first generation to learn Eng Chun to Indonesia. Sigung, The King Yang, was born in 1889 and started Eng Chun in 1909 at about 20 years old. He passed away in 1986 at 97 yrs old. The system came from the Shaolin Temple in Fukien, around the 1600s. It was named for the training room, the Eng Chun Tim (Wing Chun Tong). When the Shaolin Temple in Fukien was destroyed, according to legend two swords were found sticking in the ground with inscriptions. The inscriptions were adopted by many secret societies. Among the secret societies there were many different attitudes and goals: some were anti-Qing, some were anti-imperial government, some were anti-Qing and later during the Ching Dynasty same were anti-imperial government. The Black Flag societies are the least known of the secret societies. They had two main goals: to terminate or execute corrupt Qing officials and to execute traitors to the rebellion within the secret societies. The Black Flag society members were often members of other secret societies; this required that they keep their identity secret and guarded. Only the leader of any given Black Flag society knew the names and faces of his members. Our Eng Chun ancestor, Cia Fun Tjiao moved to Indonesia in 1907. He was the chief instructor of the Black Flag society during a chaotic situation, many traitors were in the secret societies and it was hard to know who was friend and who was an enemy. He fled to Indonesia, Mala city, because he heard his Sihing had opened a martial arts school. It turned out the story wasn’t true – but they didn’t have phones back them so it was hard to verify stories. The rumor was wrong and he was homeless for a few weeks. A friend of Sigung heard about a martial arts master living on the street. The story was that the master was attacked by many with axes and he took them all down without getting scratched or hurting them. Sigung and his friend offered the master a place to stay and food. Sigung was smart and experienced with the older generation of Chinese, he took care of Cia Fun Tjiao, taking care of him and giving him opium – something reserved for rich Chinese at the time. Sigung never asked to learn martial arts. He already knew some martial arts and while taking care of Cia Fun Tjiao would practice and spar upstairs hoping the sound would carry and bother the teacher. Whenever an expert sees an amateur, it’s often very hard to keep from making corrections. It took two years for Cia Fun Tjiao to ask if they wanted to learn, but they must take an oath, blood from seven holes. The blood oath ceremony was followed until the 1970s. Philosophy The philosophy of the system is based on Chan or Mahayana Buddhism. When Sigung accepted students, he didn’t emphasize on Buddhism. There are many Christians in Indonesia and he didn’t want to tie the system to religion. However, he would explain the philosophy to Buddhist students to advise them and give them a better understanding of the system. The Saam Chian Po is a fundamental concept of Fukien Shaolin Chan; it represents the three stages of life. Another key concept is the concept of time and space, too. The Saam Chian Po (Saam Jin Bou) is taught as a form – actually preserved in variations between many karate and southern kung fu systems. Okinawa is closed to Fukien, they often trade as merchants and martial arts also made the crossing. The goal of training is to become free from the illusions of attachment. Saam Chian Po means three war steps, also referred to as three forward, three backward. This is the nucleus of the system, the three stages of life. The form deals with the microcosm, inside your body, mind, and Qi. As an example, if you don’t study any form of martial arts if you get attacked your mind will freeze, muscles tense, and Qi stops flowing because you hold your breath. This is what someone does when attached to an attack.
GM question: how Chan and HFY connect? Master Meng talk [End of notes for the first night] return to top Today | Museum Information | Galleries | Reference Library | Community | Gift Shop ©Ving Tsun Museum 1997-2012 All Rights Reserved. last updated : February 13, 2009 at 12:19pm EST |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
|||||||