Wing chun comes from Shaolin

[fa_jing]

Here's the proof:

[fa_jing]

He looks like he was doing one of our drills and slipped on a banana peel and fell sideways, hey it happens to the best of us.
:)

[Grendel]

Originally posted by fa_jing
Here's the proof:
Hi fa-jing,

Are you suggesting the remotest possibility that Wing Chun does NOT come from the Shaolin Temple arts?

Regards,

[fa_jing]

Hey, some say that it doesn't. From the picture, I'd say that it does. I mean obviously the pole came from shaolin. Anyway they say that alot of arts claim Shaolin descedancy, but then you have debate over whether or not the temple even existed, was used for martial training, etc. The picture just proves that WC is related to what is now considered to be Shaolin arts.

[teazer]

Of course the monk chappy could be doing all sorts of funky stuff from that position - not necessarily at all WC related.

[TenTigers]

...you're kidding, right? please tell me he's kidding

[stonecrusher69]

Hey, If that is wing chun then everyone has been practing the wrong art.

[scuba steve]

No, you've just been doing "personal expression" rather than "reality".


Originally posted by stonecrusher69
Hey, If that is wing chun then everyone has been practing the wrong art.

[teazer]

Originally posted by TenTigers
...you're kidding, right? please tell me he's kidding

Kidding? Me? Why would I do that!? Or are you referring to the original assumption?

[UltimateFighter]

The most common theory is that Wing Chun is a Buddhist art.

The first form Siu Nim tau (or similar spellings) is also commonly spelled as 'Sui Lam Tau'- Siu Lam is Shaolin in Cantonese.

[churn-ging]

UF: The first form Siu Nim tau (or similar spellings) is also commonly spelled as 'Sui Lam Tau'- Siu Lam is Shaolin in Cantonese.

The words "Nim" and "Lam" in cantonese are two different words. The words "Siu Nim" in cantonese mean "little idea" the words "Siu Lam" mean little forest. So "Nim" means "idea" while "Lam" means "forest".

The other spelling your probably thinking of is "Siu Lim Tau". In this spelling, "Siu Lim" means "little training". So "Lim" means "training".

In cantonese, NIM, LIM, LAM, are all different words with different characters.

Siu Lam = Shao Lin = Little Forest

Siu Nim = Little Idea

Siu Lim = Little Training

[yuanfen]

Sorry UF you have your terms for slt and siu lum mixed up

[reneritchie]

Er.. the spelling is irrelevant. It's just an attempt to romanize (put into the Roman alphabet of a, b, c, etc.) the Chinese characters, based on their sound. Siu Nim Tao (Xiao Nian Tou in PRC Official PinYin) is "Little Idea". Due to a dialect variance that occurs among some Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, they pronounce the characters closer to Siu Lim Tao (they do this with all initial 'n' sounds, much as they remove entirely initial 'ng' sounds). In some methods of Romanization, they use terminal 'l' instead of 'u', making Sil Lim Tao. In some, they also add a silent 'h' to show lower level tones (there are up to 9 in Cantonese, and not enough accents to go around ;), so you can end up with Shil Lim Tao. Regardless, they all refer to the same Chinese characters.

Some branches (Sum Nung, Gulao, Cho Ga, Pan Nam, etc.) use a different middle character, Lien (Lian in PinYin) which means "train", giving "little first training".

Siu Lam (Shaolin in PinYin) is, as others pointed out, completely distinct from this.

RR

[yylee]

here you go, all these Siu's.

[UltimateFighter]

Originally posted by yuanfen
Sorry UF you have your terms for slt and siu lum mixed up

Yuenfan it is you who is confused.

To quote the book 'Wing Tsun Kuen' by Leung Ting English version translated from Cantonese:

"The first Wing Tsun boxing form is also known as 'Siu Lam Tau' meaning 'Do not forget that Wing Chun originated from Shaolin'. Siu Lam is how the Cantonese spell Shaolin. But it is prefered to adopt the name given by Grandmaster Yip Man of Siu Nim Tau or 'little idea' form. "

[yuanfen]

UF= see chrn ging's post giving the different sounds and meanings. lam, lim, nim

the young forest symbolism is very old in Buddhism....in keeping with the theme of regeneration.
The song san mountain shaolin is simply the most famous.
There were all kinds of temples in China - some extant, some demolished, some rediscovered.

And temples were often destroyed or burnt and sometimes rebuilt depending on the
politics of the day.

The Shaolin myths and claims so often advanced does not always make these distinctions.

So many styles claim shaolin! Paradoxically the taiji folks reject shaolin connections but chen wanting was familar with shaolin styles when he fashioned chen taiji.

What am I saying? Leung Ting using the term siu lam tao
is neither here orthere for definite linking of wing chun with the temple(which one? Ask him))!