Complete Wing Chun:
Forward by Mark V. Wiley
 I
began the study of Wing Chun kung-fu at the age of sixteen in Philadelphia.
I was already a black belt in taekwondo at the time, and involved in the
study of escrima and arnis, but felt an inexplicable attraction to the art
by the legacy left behind by the late Bruce Lee. The first book I ever read
on the martial arts was Dan Inosanto's Jeet Kune Do: The Art and Philosophy
of Bruce Lee. After reading this book and about the training methods
and fighting art of Lee, I knew that if I wanted to become as good as Bruce
Lee I would have to study the arts he did. As I read on, I discovered that
Wing Chun was the nucleus of Lee's new style.
Nearly fifteen years later I am still interested and intrigued
by this compact martial art system. I never actually perfected or completed
the system as a result of poor scheduling (spreading myself too thin among
different arts), and moving from place to place. However, over the years
I was exposed to the Yip Man system as taught by William Cheung and Moy
Yat, and the Jun Fan (Bruce Lee) Wing Chun system as taught by Dan Inosanto
and his students.
Over the years I have read several articles about Wing
Chun systems not associated with the art's legendary master, Yip Man.
To my surprise, I discovered that there are actually several lineages
of this economical art form, with variations among the forms and in their
respective training methods. After reading these articles, my interest
again peaked, but, sadly, there was no substantial information on the
topic available to the uninitiated-until now.
While working as the martial arts editor for Tuttle in
Tokyo in 1996, I received a package from our United States office in Boston.
It was a manuscript on the art of Wing Chun by Robert Chu, Rene Ritchie,
and Y. Wu, with a big rejection notice on it. Since we already had three
books on the subject, and there are dozens of Wing Chun books on the market,
the company didn't think there was a need for the book. I, too, didn't
think this would be much different than a brief history of Yip Man and
an overview of the three base forms. To my surprise after scanning the
table of contents, however, I discovered that there was much more to this
book-and art-than I had initially assumed or ever expected. I immediately
contacted the authors and signed on their book.
The authors have successfully traced the lineages and history
of seven Wing Chun styles and present them here as the masters of the
respective arts have passed them down through oral traditions. This is
particularly insightful as it not only presents many points of view on
a variety of topics-such as the real meaning of the term Wing Chun-but
stays true to the teachings and traditions of each system by the authors
not adding in their own thoughts. All of this information is then presented
side-by-side for the interested reader to cross check and make his own
decision as to what he chooses to believe and how he then interprets the
art form. Given their in-depth research into the many Wing Chun systems,
the authors then draw together the various oral histories with fact and
construct, in the Conclusion, what they believe to be the actual history
and development of the art and its many collateral systems. A series of
Appendixes and a detailed Glossary are also presented, with the corresponding
Chinese characters, for further reference and interpretation.
Complete Wing Chun is perhaps the best book written
on the various schools comprising a single martial art form. The authors
have done an excellent job in their tireless research and presentation
of material into this comprehensive treatise on one of the most controversial
and misunderstood arts of this century. This book is destined to become
the classic reference on the subject, and has set a standard by which
other researchers and practitioners wishing to uncover their art should
follow. I highly recommend this book to all Wing Chun stylists and martial
arts researchers alike without hesitation. If ever you were to buy one
book on the art, this should be it.
- Mark V. Wiley
Executive Editor, Tuttle Martial Arts Library
Associate Editor, Journal of Asian Martial Arts
Acknowledgements
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