The text in Chinese was a rough draft written by the late Grandmaster Ip Man and was supposed to be the preface for the
purpose of organizing the "Ving Tsun Fellowship" once upon a time. However, the Ving Tsun Fellowship had never been come in
existence. Instead, the "Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association" was finally established 08/24/67.
"The founder of the Ving Tsun Kung Fu System, Miss Yim Ving Tsun, was a native of Caton, China. As a young girl, she was
intelligent and athletic, upstanding and manly. She was bethroned to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of Fukien. Soon after
that, her mother died. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime, and nearly went to jail. So the family moved
far away, and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung Mountain at the Yunnan - Szechuan border. All this happened during
the reign of Emperor K'anghsi (1622 - 1722).
At the time, Kung Fu was becoming very strong in Siu Lam Monastery (Shaolin Monastery) of Mt.Sung, Honan. This aroused
the fear of the Manchu government, which sent troops to attack the monastery. They were unsuccessful. A man call Chan Man
Wai was the First Placed Graduate of the Civil Service Examination that year. He was seeking favor with the government, and
suggested a plan. He plotted with Siu Lam monk Ma Ning Yee and others. They set fire to the Monastery while soldiers attacked
it from outside. Siu Lam was burnt down, and the monks scattered. Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Master
Fung To Tak, and master Miu Hin escaped and fled their separate ways.
Ng Mui took refuge in White Crane temple on Mt.Tai Leung (also known as Mt.Chai Har). There, she came to know Yim Yee and
his daughter, Yim Ving Tsun. She bought bean curds at their store. They became friends.
Ving Tsun was a very young woman then, and her beauty attracted the attention of a local bully. He tried to force Ving
Tsun to marry him. She and her father were very worried. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Ving Tsun. She agreed to
teach Ving Tsun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Then she would be able to solve the problem with the
bully, and marry Leung Bok Chau, her betrothed husband. So Ving Tsun followed Ng Mui into the mountains and started to learn
Kung Fu. She trained night and day, and mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the local bully to a fight and beat him.
Ng Mui set off to travel around the country, but before she left she told Ving Tsun to strictly honor the Kung Fu traditions,
to develop her kung fu after her marriage and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu government and restore the
Ming Dynasty. This is how Ving Tsun Kung Fu was handed down by Abbess Ng Mui.
After the marriage, Ving Tsun taught her Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau and he passed his Kung Fu techniques on
to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai passed it on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk,
known to the Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tei. It so happened that Abbot Chi Shin,
who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was now working on the Red Junk. Chi Shin taught the Six-and-a-half
Point Long Pole techniques to Leung Yee Tei. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tei and they shared what they knew about Kung
Fu. Together they correlated and improved their techniques and thus the Six-and-a-half point Long pole Techniques were incorporated
into Ving Tsun Kung Fu.
Leung Yee Tei passed the Kung Fu on to Leung Jan a well-known herbal doctor in Fat Shan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost
secrets of Ving Tsun and attained the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters came to challenge him, but all were
defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later he passed his Kung Fu on to Chan Wah Shan, who took me as his student many decades
ago. I studied Kung Fu alongside my brothers such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min, and Lui Yu Jai. Ving Tsun was thus
passed down to us and we are eternally grateful to our Kung Fu ancestors and teachers. We will always remember and appreciate
our roots and this shared feeling will always keep our Kung Fu brothers close together. This is why I am organizing the Ving
Tsun fellowship, and I hope my Kung Fu brothers will support me in this.This will be very important in the promotion of Kung
Fu."