I took this reply from another thread and started a new one with it. Hopefully it will spark some good discussion.

This quote was in regards to the bickering and in-fighting that goes on with regularity on WC forums, and in the WC 'community; in general, over who's WC is more right/wrong:

Quote Originally Posted by YouKnowWho View Post
This just doesn't happen in the discussion of other systems. I have not heard any Judo guy said that his way is right and all other ways are wrong.

Why do you think this only happen in the WC discussion?
I've wondered this myself. I have a theory, and hopefully it is accepted as just that. IMO, it stems partially from people not getting the system from their teacher in it's entirety at some point yet still trying to protect their pot of gold (and maybe not even being able to realize what they do and don't have). How I see it, the system of WC should be the same across all lineages. Of course we see similarities among all branches/lineages to various degrees - because it is all WC! But even with an important concept as centerline, there are so many variations of understanding and misunderstanding. And IMO, this stems from the personal takes, interpretations and personal styles/preferences that get passed along as 'the system' when the system itself shouldn't change at all.

Now, if we look at the most popular version of WC with the largest student base, it would clearly be that from Ip Man – who ultimately put WC on the map and caused the large popularity we see today! But, within the various Ip Man lineages, we all-to-often often see people arguing over who got the 'real stuff' from him and who didn't. Who trained with him longer and when. Who lived with him and when and for how long. What's more 'correct' - the early years of hist teaching, the mids, or the end. And that's just his direct students (first generation). Unfortunately, this isn't something hard to miss.

Now, after a few more generations, what do we see today? Even more infighting which now include arguing within the separate branches and sub-branches that stem from his students. Even his own son's students argue that those from Ip Ching have it more correct than those form Ip Chun and visa versa. And on this forum we can see guys from within the WSL sub-branch doing things differently and occasionally arguing over what's really 'WSL wing chun'. Same with LT lines and sub branches, etc. Does anyone besides IM really know the answer? Probably not - but you'll get a lot of people telling you they do

Now, I'm not saying one way or the other in regards to Ip Man having or not having a complete system, I wasn't there so I don't know and is really beside the point. What I am saying is, it's clear not everyone got the same version of the ‘system’ from him. Which tends to bring in personal interpretations, styles and flavors, prefered fighting methods & techniques, etc as a result. And these things can get passed down as 'the system' even when they're really not. Which also results in people not calling it 'ip man wing chun' anymore and having a different students/grand-student's name on it. And that's fine, but the question is about all the right/wrong arguing that goes on in WC.

In the end, I think the above example results in everyone's ego and/or insecurities driving their unwillingness to admit they still might have more to learn and approaching things with an open mind. Example: If Sifu X goes around for 15 years saying they have the goods because their Sigung spent more time with GM Z in his later years (aka better years) of his teaching than any of the other students of GM Z, why would Sifu X then be open to admitting maybe he didn't? That wouldn't make him look too good eh?

Now to the point: Without safeguards to protect the technology of the actual WC system (not just a curriculum), you're going to get what I listed above. After training in Ip Man WC for a bit and then training HFY for many years now, I have found there are actual safeguards, checks & balances built into the system that help avoid this type of thing from happening (at least in HFY lineage). And before anyone misconstrues what I'm saying, I'm not saying that HFY is any better/worse than another lineage either. My point is, it's these safeguards that help preserve the actual concepts & principles of the HFY WC system from changing thru the generations. Of course it doesn't work if a student doesn't complete their training and then goes out on his own and starts teaching. You'd have the same thing all over again that I listed above. And that's where lineage and naming of successor(s) comes into factor. Only the Buhn Jyun of the HFY system can name successors based on several levels of qualifications and the student's understanding & demonstration of the core principles of the system. And we still go by this within the our lineage as a safeguard for preserving HFY for future generations

So, it makes me wonder if it's true when people say Ip Man didn't really want to teach and only did so out of necessity. If that's so, maybe he wasn't fully interested in passing on the system in it's entirety to just one person, but more just giving people what he felt they needed at the time. Maybe he wasn't interested in preserving the system or a lineage. And probably why he never openly named a successor.... But it sure has caused a bit of a mess that we see today