From the stories I've heard Li Wen Mao was the founder of the Hong Guan Hui, this doesn't mean it's true though. I agree with you that there were most likely splinter branches united in the same cause. I can't get in line with the idea that the forms go all the way back to the time of Tan Shou Wu, there is simply no evidence to support it, doesn't mean it's not plausible, it's just that I haven't seen anything to convince me otherwise. I think it would be really interesting to see documented proof of such a thing. I am aware of some other branches that do not associate the standard forms with Huang and Liang, stating a different route of transmission, but when looking into their lineages further the truth comes out. As far as Hendrik is concerned, he was only pushing the White Crane thing in effort to gain support of the White Crane people, his agenda has been all along the Emei Shier Zhuang Qigong, I do not support him or his "Theories". The history of White Crane, in comparison to Yong Chun, is very well documented. There is some overlap in the ancestry, Li Wen Mao being a big one along with Bai Jie. Now please don't take my statements as putting your system down, that is not the case. I know very little of your art and from what I have seen and read, conceptually and visually it looks solid to me. History wise, as with a lot of Yong Chun branches, there are things that for me just don't gel, but as I stated earlier this doesn't mean it's not a legitimate branch of the art. Sometimes when we don't have all the necessary information about our ancestry we rely on stories and fill in the rest with what makes the most sense given the circumstances. If we believed every Yong Chun origin story we would have several methods developing independently of one another yet being nearly identical in construction. We know logically that this could not be the case, so it leaves us with an older, as of yet, unidentified root source or that the art as we know it today was codified in the early to mid 1800's and the splintering occurred shortly after. Since very little can be verified beyond a shadow of a doubt, we are simply left with has been passed down within are own lineages as well as are own deductions. I apologize if I came off as off putting, it wasn't my intention just adding in my 2 cents to the discussion. Best of luck in your training.
