History

History of Wing Tsun Kung Fu

The common legend as told by Ip Man involves the young woman Yim Wing Chun (Wing Chun literally means forever springtime or praising spring) at the time after the destruction of the Southern Shaolin and its associated temples by the Qing government. After Wing Chun rebuffs the local warlord's marriage offer, he says he'll rescind his proposal if she can beat him in a martial art match. She asks a Buddhist nun- Ng Mui, who was one of the Shaolin Sect survivors, to teach her boxing; this still nameless style enables Yim Wing Chun to defeat the warlord. She thereafter marries Leung Bac-Chou and teaches him the style, which he names after her.

Since the system was developed during the Shaolin and Ming resistance to the Qing Dynasty many legends about the creator of Wing Chun were spread to confuse the enemy, including the story of Yim Wing Chun. This perhaps explains why no one has been able to accurately determine the creator or creators of Wing Chun.

Yip Man was well respected by other martial arts instructors in Foshan and Hong Kong. He was the first person to teach Wing Chun to a wider public. The style he taught was renamed Ving Tsun based on the sound in Chinese. After his death, many of his students formed separate schools.

Yip Man was well-known for having a very quick wit and an acid tongue. His teaching style, along with the very direct nature of the art and its despising of superfluous talk, infuses the art with a certain edginess. This is probably why Ving Tsun is well-known for being split into many factions.

A notable student of Yip Man was Leung Ting. Leung Ting formed the IWTA or International Wing Tsun Association and taught an American student named Jeff Webb. Sifu Jeff Webb earned the rank of 5th degree level Master under Leung Ting and was the Head Instructor for IWTA North America for many years. Master Sifu Jeff Webb left the IWTA to formulate his own theories and innovations on the style and started the NVTO National Ving Tsun Organization which has had great success. Sifu Scott Tarbell earned the rank of 4th degree Instructor in the NVTO under his former teacher, Sifu Jeff Webb.  In 2023 Sifu Scott Tarbell broke ties with the NVTO and Sifu Jeff Webb in order to formulate Wuxia Ving Tsun Kung Fu, which integrates concepts from Sifu Scott's understanding of many martial arts and adds a practical sparring element.  Sifu Scott now trains with his long time friend and Wing Tsun mentor, Sifu Alex Richter of City Wing Tsun in the Hong Kong style Wing Tsun and to deepen his understanding of Wing Tsun in the WIng Tsun Knives and Long Pole.

 History of Modern Arnis (FIlipino Martial Arts)

Arnis, also known as kali or eskrima/escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines.^[3] These three terms are, sometimes, interchangeable in referring to traditional martial arts of the Philippines ("Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives, bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons, as well as "open hand" techniques without weapons.

Arnis comes from arnés,^[5] the Old Spanish for "armour" (harness is an archaic English term from same root). It is said to derive from the armour costumes used in traditional Moro-moro stage plays, where actors fought mock battles with wooden swords. Arnes is also an archaic Spanish term for weapon, used as early as 1712.

When the Spaniards first arrived in the Philippines, they already observed weapons-based martial arts practiced by the natives, which may or may not be related to present-day Arnis. The earliest written records of Filipino culture and life, including martial arts, come from the first Spanish explorers. Some early expeditions fought native tribesmen armed with sticks and knives.^[31] In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was killed in Cebu at the Battle of Mactan by the forces of Datu Lapulapu, the chief of Mactan. Some Arnisadors hold that Lapulapu's men killed Magellan in a sword-fight.

Opinions differ on the degree to which Spanish rule in the Philippines affected Arnis. The fact that a large number of techniques and the names of the arts themselves (arnis/arnes, eskrima/esgrima, garrote, estoque, etc.) have Spanish names suggest an influence. Some argue though that Spanish names in the martial art simply reflect the fact that Spanish was the lingua franca of the Philippines until the early 20th century, and that actual Spanish martial influence was limited.

What is certain is that the Spaniards brought with them and used their bladed weapon arts (including the system of Destreza developed by Carranza) when they started colonizing the archipelago in the 16th century. What is also known is that the Spaniards recruited soldiers from Mexico^[40] and Peru^[41] and sent them to fortify the Philippines and they had also trained mercenaries and warriors from local people like the Pangasinenses, Kapampangans, Tagalogs, Ilonggos, Cebuanos and Warays to pacify regions and put down revolts, thereby positing the possible cross-training between Arnis de Mano

Remy Presas studied his family's system from an early age. He went on to study the Japanese systems of Shotokan Karate and Judo, achieving high rank in each; but he simultaneously studied a variety of other Filipino systems, most notably Venancio Bacon's Balintawak. Beginning with a small gymnasium in Bacolod in the 1950s, he attempted to spread the art to the local youth as both a cultural legacy and a form of physical development or sport. He taught the art at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos. His desire to reinvigorate interest in his country's traditional martial art grew over time, and he began making modifications and improvements to what he had learned. In 1969 he moved to Manila at the request of a government official, and formed the Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines. He was assisted by individuals such as those who now are on the Modern Arnis Senior Masters Council: Rodel Dagooc, Jerry dela Cruz, Roland Dantes, Vicente Sanchez, Rene Tongson, and Cristino Vasquez. He continued to develop and spread his art, including via books, until political considerations forced him to relocate to North America. 

There he met Wally Jay, George Dillman, and other artists who influenced his development of the art of Modern Arnis. In particular, many locks from Small Circle Jujitsu were added to Modern Arnis. The art continued to grow and change, in technique and in emphasis, though it always retained a focus on the single stick and on general self-defense. Those who trained with Remy Presas in the