<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> Martial Arts Research Institute ~ Pin Sun Wing Chun

Pin Sun Wing Chun- Kung fu

Kulo Village Pin Sun Wing Chun Kuen History

By: Jim Roselando Jr.

Sifu Jim RoselandoSifu "Henry" Mui Regarded as the Wing Chun Wong (King of Wing Chun), the great Dr. Leung Jan gained fame for his numerous fights and for his teaching ability. This article will discuss the concept and approach Dr. Leung Jan used to develop his final, personal synthesis of the Wing Chun art.

Dr. Leung Jan learned the Wing Chun art from Hung Suen members Wong Wah Bo and Leung Yee Tai. For many years he taught the original art he learned out of his pharmacy, most commonly referred to as Jan San Tong (Mr. Jan's Hall), on Fai Jee St. in Futshan. Much later in his life, when he reached the age of seventy-three, he retired and moved back to his native Koo Lo in Hok San county.

In Koo Lo, Dr. Leung Jan encountered a farmer named Wong Wah Sam. The Wong family was not large in Koo Lo, nor especially liked. In part, this was because, from time to time, Wong Wah Sam's cows escaped and caused havoc in the village. This upset the other locals and caused him to have many fights.

Dr. Leung Jan would take a daily walk around the village and every day would see Wong Wah Sam practicing his Kiu Sao (Bridge Hands) against a tree. Impressed with his diligence, Dr. Leung Jan approached him and asked why he was training so hard? Wong Wah Sam explained his problem. Dr. Leung Jan replied that his training was not very useful! Wong Wah Sam demanded to know who he was to say such a thing. When Dr. Leung Jan said his name, Wong Wah Sam recognized it instantly and asked Dr. Leung Jan to teach him. Dr. Leung Jan told him he would think about it and to come see him in a few weeks time.

Dr. Leung Jan new that, due to his already advanced age, if he took any more students, he would need a simple yet effective way to teach them. He decided on San Sik (Separate Forms), but not simply an extract from his existing art. Rich in both fighting and teaching experience, he decided to pass on a refined, personal synthesis of his Wing Chun knowledge. First, he distilled some of the core motions from his existing sets and then organized his own fighting combinations. He also changed some of the actions to the terminology so that the students would have a descriptive relationship to their practice.

What Dr. Leung Jan ended up with was not odd or against his previous Wing Chun learning. San Sik training was always a part of the Wing Chun art. Dr. Leung Jan simply understood its advantages and honed them, through his experience, into his own approach with its own principles/actions. A benefit, and goal, of this practice was that the movements was designed to be repeated over and over so that they would eventually become a natural expression of the practitioner body. This was the birth of Dr. Leung Jan's Pin Sun Wing Chun art!

The Pin Sun Wing Chun system consisted of thirty-six "core" San Sik, divided into twelve sections of fighting methods (with additional extensions, Jong Sao (Dummy Hands), Som Dim Boon Gwun (Three-and-a-half-Point Pole), and Yee Jee Yum Yeung Dit Ming Dao (Character = Yin Yang Life Taking Knives)). Each of the twelve sets contained either three actions or had three cycles, which are similar to the actions of Dr. Leung Jan's original art. These movements and combinations were very simple and direct, were both straight and circular, were primarily in keeping with the Pin Sun methods, and were some of the skills he utilized to win over three hundred fights during his career. More than that, however, while a specific progression was laid out to teach attacking and defending principles. These skills could be combined and explored in such a way the students would have a lifetime's worth of training.

"It should be noted that Dr. Leung Jan did not create this system in a two week time period! The concept for his system was developed and the basics were laid out but indeed the art was a work in progress".

Why was the system refined so much? Through experience, Dr. Leung Jan determined that not many different movements were used to win real fights yet it was also the right amount to prepare the disciples for any aspect in a real fighting situation. Why did he choose thirty-six? Thirty-six, or three times twelve, was a lucky number in Chinese culture.

With his system in development, Dr. Leung Jan took Wong Wah Sam as his first disciple. Eventually he accepted two other villagers, Yik Ying and Leung Bak Chung, as his final pupils. Of the three, Wong Wah Sam was the most well known and his teaching found a home in the Fung family of Koo Lo who have been privately preserving the art for many years.

When Dr. Leung Jan's pupils would ask what the difference was between their boxing and the boxing outside their village Dr. Leung Jan would say; The Wing Chun outside our village is the Jing Sun (Straight Body) "Facing" style, which is divided into three parts; Siu Lin Tau, Chum Kiu, Biu Jee. The Wing Chun from our village is the Pin Sun (Side Body) style, which is taught in one part but differ very little and are really from the same family! The pole method of the Facing style is the Luk Dim Boon Gwun (6.5 Pole) but in our village it is the Som Dim Boon Gwun (3.5 Pole).

Over the next three years Dr. Leung Jan taught his students all his skills but unfortunately, do to old age, passed away at the age of 76. His most senior student, Wong Wah Sam, went on to teach Fung Chun, Fung Min, Fung Lim, Koo Siu Lung, and others the Pin Sun Wing Chun art. Fung Chun, the last living grand student of Dr. Leung Jan, is now retired living back in Koo Lo village where he is the head of the Fung family Pin Sun Wing Chun clan. Some of his more noticeable pupils are Fung Chiu, Fung Keung, Fung Chu,Fung Dat, Fung Sang, Chow Sum, Ng Chun Keung and others.

We sadly would like to announce that on February 29, 2024 Sifu Henry Mui passed.