Just wanted to take another look at some of WC's history (and mystery) sparked from another thread.
Originally posted on recent thread:
Thank you for sharing this information. While not everyone believes the Yim Wing Chun legend, it is clear that WC has been around before the time of Wong Wah Bo and then clearly before Yik Kam as listed in the tree above (even if WWB isn't listed in this tree). Curious if you've heard of Leung Lan Kwai learning from Leung Bak So who in turn taught Wong Wah Bo?
Anyway, the reason I bring up WWB is because of the big differences I see between just about everyone that comes down from his teachings and those few lines that come from from Yik Kam.
Why is it all the lines that come down from Wong Wah Bo's teachings have 3 hand forms while his juniors wing chun (Yik Kam) only has one long SLT?
It has been said on this forum that Yik Kam (or his teacher) is the creator of Wing Chun with it's single SLT form and mixture of Omei and White Crane, and that it is the 'original' WCK coming from Omei-Crane. It would also be believed that this one SLT was then later split into SNT/CK/BJ as we have today (in both WWB descendants and several non-WWB lineages).
Also, how can most all other lines that draw down from Yim Wing Chun, or even Wong Wah Bo (Yik Kam's senior) already have 3 hand forms and none (or very little) of the strong Omei and White Crane signatures seen only in YK's 1 SLT today if it is the original?? Also, if it is true that YK's 'original' 1 slt was split into 3 forms, why is it still 1 from in YK WCK today?
This tells me that the 1 long SLT was YK's invention after training some WC, along with the mixing in of the omei/crane information. and that is why it is still 1 long form today as opposed to the traditional 3 the rest of the WC community has that traces their lineage past YK. (except for Gulo's point system)