Interesting

[Tames D]

I think appointing or electing any one person as a figure head for Wing Chun would never work. There wouldn't be any unity regardless of who the person was. Same thing with Kenpo. Just becomes a power struggle for a title that would never be respected by everyone.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Interesting but not surprising!

Yup, pretty much.

Problem is Wing Chun is not a family style so I don't see how there can be one head honcho of Wing Chun. And who (other than Ip Man) has the authorioty to officially sanction a head of Ip Man Wing Chun. And if you are looking at this from a TCMA POV these things tend go along family lines which would mean Ip Chun followed by Ip Ching. But again that would have been something Ip Man would have had to "sanction"

It is all just silly CMA politics and I am thinking a grab for the gold ring due to the popularity of the Ip Man Movie franchise. There is money to be made here off of all those foreigners heading to China to learn Wing Chun after seeing the movie... and if your the undisputed lord high grand imperial poo-bah of Wing Chun... they will FLOCK to you in droves...$$$$$$$$$

 

[almost a ghost]

People are getting too worked up over a list no one seems to care about.

 

[Punchy]

I'm starting a campaign to name myself the spokesperson and head of all wing chun here on Martial Talk.

Please send money to help with my campaign...I'm sure it's tax deductible.

 

[Xue Sheng]

All bow down to lord Yak Sao

I'm starting a campaign to name myself the spokesperson and head of all wing chun here on Martial Talk.

Please send money to help with my campaign...I'm sure it's tax deductible.

Works for me...

 

[Tames D]

I'm starting a campaign to name myself the spokesperson and head of all wing chun here on Martial Talk.

Please send money to help with my campaign...I'm sure it's tax deductible.

Check is in the mail. When will my membership card arrive?

 

[Punchy]

All bow down to lord Yak Sao

Now see, when you say it like that it just sounds silly.....we need a better title.

 

[Punchy]

Check is in the mail. When will my membership card arrive?

Your fists are your membership card. We are a secret society...no one must know of us.

P.S. I prefer cash

 

[Jake104]

I speculate it doesn't matter at this point. No one was or is the so called successor. Was there ever a single successor?
Wing Chun is now larger than any one person or family and I don't believe there should be a single person. Stay true to the principles, train smartly, train for practicality, pressure test, and be honest in what you learn. Form, Drill, Apply. Wing Chun will be alive.

I believe no one was named successor then cause, it was a fighting art not a business like today. The last part of your post is all that should matter to us as martial artist. I think some are too focused on the map and totally miss the destination.

 

[Jake104]

Your fists are your membership card. We are a secret society...no one must know of us.

P.S. I prefer cash

LMK if you need a treasurer? I have sticky hands training!

 

[Punchy]

From what I understand, the Chinese government is in the process of codifying their marital arts and developing a standard ranking system of something like 10 levels and a standardized curriculum for each of them.
In this list are the 6 tai chi families(Chen, Yang, Wu, Wuu, Sun, Hu), Long fist, Ba chi, Hsing I, pa kwa, Wing Chun (they refer to it in the Mandarin, as Yong Chun) and several others.

I'm wondering if naming a head of the WC system is part of that process?

 

[Punchy]

LMK if you need a treasurer? I have sticky hands training!

I like your initiative young man...you'll go far in my new regime.

 

[Highlander]

There are many reasons why this idea would most likely never work. But lets put that aside for now.
What if Yip Man didnt pick a predecessor on purpose? Maybe it was a final hidden lesson of sorts. After all, The Chinese love those hidden symbolic messages. Yip Man understood that Wing Tsun isnt a bunch of systematic techniques, but rather a system of principles. And as long as one ahears to said principles any movement could be considered Wing Tsun. So as a person starts to master wing tsun it becomes as unqiue as the individual who is practicing it. My WT will look different from lord yak sao's and everyone else's, because my body, mind, and personality are different. Maybe Yip Man never picked a predecessor because he believed was meant to be different from the other martial art systems, it is meant to change and adapt with the world around it.


Or maybe he didnt care for the politics of it all

 

[Tames D]

Your fists are your membership card. We are a secret society...no one must know of us.

P.S. I prefer cash

My fists are already registered with local law enforcement. Will that give away my identity and be a problem for our secret society?

 

[Danny T]

Why did Yip Man not pick a predecessor? Who would he have chosen and why?

First off he taught almost everyone a bit differently than the others. Why? Some rear foot weighted 100%, some 70/30, others 60/40. Some to shift on their heels, others to shift on the balls of feet, the ball of the big toe, the center of the foot. Some he taught the forms a bit different than others. Why? So many different ways and they are all correct.

I believe the answer is in the fact he taught so many different people different ways and that is why there was no one person selected as the one single person to carry wing chun forward.

There is no one all encompassing way. What is best for you.

I asked my sifu many years ago about the many different ways to shift and the different weight distributions. His answer, “ why are you so concerned with what is the best. It all depends on the individual and what is happening at the time. Practice and feel, what feels best for you? Now do it in a different situation, what feels best? Sometimes one is better than the other, other times it is just the opposite that is best.” Some people want something that is the best or that is better than what the other person has. Ok do it this way, this way is the best. Now how do you feel? You feel better? Ok this is the best.

So who would he have named when he trained everyone differently.

 

[Punchy]

My fists are already registered with local law enforcement. Will that give away my identity and be a problem for our secret society?

Pay double and you can join

 

[Xue Sheng]

Now see, when you say it like that it just sounds silly.....we need a better title.

All bow to his high and mighty lord of all Wing Chun Coolness and number one top guy Yak Sao..... how's that

 

[Steve]

Can I be one of your minions?

 

[Vajramusti]

All bow down to lord Yak Sao


Works for me...

My ming men resists when I bow!!!

 

[wtxs]

Now see, when you say it like that it just sounds silly.....we need a better title.

All bow to his high and mighty lord of all Wing Chun Coolness and number one top guy Yak Sao..... how's that

Personally I like the title of "Mr. Me-Yucky son" ... close enough sounding to Yak Sao.