KEEPING IT REAL. BUT THIS TIME A DIFFERENT REALITY.

Due mostly to the Cultural Revolution finding any genuine, provable connection to any “REAL” place, person or event is problematic.

Every now and again it is good to remind ourselves of Human Nature, and, for instance, of the fact that history is written by the victors.

This has been the case since ancient Rome, history is only true from one perspective, and this alone should bring anything based on history into doubt.

The first act of an occupying force is to destroy all of the previous tribe’s culture and replace it with their own version.

With regards to China, the Mongols began this in the 13th Century, the Japanese did this through the early part of the 20th Century, but the job was well and truly finished by the C.C.P’s Cultural Revolution of the 1950’s and 60’s.

Mao Zedong, didn’t formally ban Kung Fu, but he focused on dismantling what he considered “feudal” practices and relationships associated with martial arts, which were seen as traditional and potentially counter-revolutionary, and did the next best thing, he replaced Kung Fu with Wushu.

In 1979 when Deng Xiaoping re-opened China to the world, the Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong were wowing the world with their Wuxi movies, Deng saw the potential to sell Shaolin Kung Fu as a tourist adventure to bring in foreign currency and created what could only be called a Kung Fu Inspired theme park, based more on the very popular Hong Kong Movies than Chinese history.

The “IDENTITY” and “VERIFICATION” of pretty much every Chinese Martial Art is built on the foundation based on the ongoing narrative about lineage and connection to the Shaolin Monastery, in short HISTORY.

But here is the thing.

Due mostly to the Cultural Revolution finding any genuine, provable connection to any “REAL” place, person or event is problematic.

The creation story of many Kung Fu styles usually begins with the burning of the Southern Shaolin Monastery and the escape of the Five Masters, one of whom was Abess Ng Mei.

The C.C.P. realised that a second Kung Fu theme park could bring in even more foreign currency and put great effort into finding the location of this Southern Monastery,

But no proof was to be found, it turned out to be Folk Lore.

No Monastery = no Ng Mei.

Which of course leads to no meeting with and training of the dumpling seller’s daughter, Yim Wing Chun.

But that’s O.K. because we are even more connected to the rebels of the Red Boat Opera Troop.

But yet again there is no proof of this troop.

Yes, Opera Boats were travelling the Pearl River district, and yes some of these Junks were Red,  but they were not an organisation, it was not one “RED BOAT”, and during the years that the Civil War raged around the Pearl River they mostly engaged in self-preservation and sailed in the other direction.

No RED BOAT REBELS = no Dr Leung Jan that administered to them.

In appears that the IDEA of the RED BOAT REBELS didn’t begin until the mid-20th Century by way of the Shaw Brothers movies, yet some schools claim heritage to this.

There is a scholar, researcher and blogger named Ben Judkins with the blog Kung Fu Tea and the Book “The Creation of Wing Chun: A Social History of the Southern Chinese Martial Arts”, an exceptionally researched if somewhat dry read, that I never the less fully recommend, that puts forward a very convincing argument that what we call the History of Wing Chun was invented, or at least appropriated from existing WUXIA folk tales by none other than the staving Martial Artist Ip Man.

We can only verify Kung Fu since 1980, but at least we can be sure of this history, be sure of Ip Man.

The question is are we KEEPING IT REAL when we follow a teacher who tells us that Wing Chun started before Ip Man?

We all know better, the information is out there and readily available, get online, and do some research.

If our teacher is basing their information on a fairy story, what else are they making up?

What are they really selling?

CAN I INTEREST YOU IN AN OPERA HOUSE,

IT HAS HARDLY BEEN USED.