changer). Chen learned elements of the art by peeping through a crack in
the pharmacy door and, after repeated appeals, eventually obtained for-
mal instruction.
Chen gained a national reputation and passed along the art to sixteen
disciples. The sixteenth was Yip Man, the son of a prominent Fuzhou
landowner. Yip Man, at the age of 16, after he had studied for three years
with Chen, was sent to Hong Kong to continue his formal academic edu-
cation. Soon after his arrival, he challenged and was soundly defeated by
an elderly man whom he later discovered to be Liang Bi. Thereafter, he was
taught by Liang until Yip returned home to Fuzhou at the age of 24. There
he remained until the end of World War II.
The Japanese conquest of southeastern China left Yip Man in finan-
cial difficulty. With the takeover of the country by the Chinese Communist
Party in 1949, his fortunes degenerated further, compelling Yip to move his
family to Hong Kong. During this unsettled period, he turned for the first
time to teaching yongchun for his livelihood, initially as instructor for the
Association of Restaurant Workers and later opening a series of his own
schools and privately instructing scores of students. As the result of these
actions, Yip is credited with removing the veil of secrecy from the art and
making yongchun available for public instruction. Since the 1970s,
yongchun has grown to become one of the most popular of the Chinese
boxing arts.
The style of yongchun introduced by Yip Man and popularized by his
students consists of three principal unarmed sets (sequences of martial arts
movements): Sil Lim Tao(Cantonese, Little Idea; Mandarin xiaoniantou),
Chum Kil(Cantonese, Seeking the Bridge; Mandarin xunqiao), and Bil Jee
(Cantonese, Flying/Thrusting Fingers; Mandarin biaozhi). In addition,
there are two weapon sets: one that utilizes a long staff and one that uti-
lizes a pair of broad-bladed, single-edged swords, approximately 20 inches
long. Chi shou (sticky hands) techniques are the cornerstone of yongchun.
These techniques, which teach students to come into contact with and ad-
here to opponents in combat, are practiced with partners and in a form
using a wooden dummy, mok yan jong (Cantonese, also muk yan jong;
Mandarin mu ren zhuang). The sticking concept is extended to legs and to
movements of the staff set, also.
Following Grand Master Yip’s teachings, contemporary yongchun
principles call for closing with an opponent and utilizing the ability to stick
to and trap limbs. The centerline theory posits a vertical line drawn down
the center of the body, intersected by three horizontal lines dividing the
body into six gates. One defends this centerline and gates while attempting
to launch an attack by “entering” an opponent’s gates. The ability to
“stick” and launch centerline attacks is augmented by the basic yongchun784 Yongchun/Wing Chun