The Buddhist nun and Kung Fu expert NgMui was the only woman in the monastery at Shaolin and the eldest among the so-called five elders. Her attitude towards the Manchu government was not quite so disapproving as that of her Kung Fu brothers and their hotheaded students, although she did not completely hold back from bodily violence if it was a question of standing up for justice. The history of Yip Man Style. (part 2) After the destruction of the monastery Ng Mui wandered through the country determined never again to worry about worldly things. Eventually she settled in the White Crane Temple on the Tai Leung mountain (also called Chai Ha mountain) a sparsely inhabited mountain between the provinces of Szechwan and Yunnan.There she was able to concentrate undisturbed on martial arts and Zen, a Buddhist movement which arose during the northern and southern dynasties through Bodhidharma. Ng Mui was, no less than her Kung Fu brothers from whom she was now separated, unable to forget the bad experience of the burning down of the monastery and of the deception of the treacherous monks. In any case she had yet a further worry, how to protect herself in the future from the likewise in Shaolin Kung Fu style trained traitors and the Manchus?It would be difficult to defeat the traitors who had in years-long training mastered most of the techniques of the Shaolin. She was still superior to them in her ability, in the theory however she was no longer ahead of them so she had to fear the day on which she would be too old to be able to resist the strength of the younger traitors. She saw only one way out, she had to develop a new method of fighting which could defeat the existing Shaolin techniques. But what kind of system could that be? And how could she devise such a superior system? The opportunity came when she was witness to a fight between a fox and a large white crane. The fox ran a circle around the crane in the hope that he would be able to mount an attack on its undefended flank. The crane however remained in the middle of the circle and always turned itself so that its breast side was steadfastly facing the fox. Each time the fox came too near the crane and was probably intending to attack it with a paw, the crane fended off with a wing and at the same time led a counter attack with its beak. So whilst the crane fended off with its swinging and countering with its beak, the cunning fox relied on the speed of its running and surprise attacks. Ng Mui observed the struggle which lasted very long with great interest. Who eventually won was not of great significance. The struggle however gave Ng Mui the decisive inspiration to create a new fighting system with completely different techniques. The new system however got the name Fox Kung Fu or Crane Kung Fu which is in no way usual elsewhere in Kung Fu. In fact Ng Mui took over only the concept of these animals and had to work hard in changing the techniques and adapting them to the human body. In Ng Mui's opinion the Shaolin Kung Fu with its laid down (dead) movements was too mcumbersome and impracticable. Her own newly developed system differed considerably because its movements were extremely simple and adaptable. The usual ten forms of the Shaolin Kung Fu (Siulam Kung Fu) were only a little different and above all in the sequence of the movements offered only stereotypical and unimaginative practice exercises. The new system of Ng Mui managed to do with only three boxing forms (Japanese Kata) and a wooden marionette form. Also the Shaolin Kung Fu arose from a great number of movements, which although they seemed impressive and had attractive names (i.e. dragon and phoenix dance, wand of the Taoist master, lion stepping from the heights, was in reality practically unusable. The new system of NgMui, on the other hand, was not suitable for performances and demonstrations, for it did not have a single movement which only had to look good and give pleasure. All the movements which Ng Mui developed were directly connected to the practice of fighting. As a result there was no longer any imaginative, decorative naming of movements. The names for the movements now described functionally the reason for or the carrying out of each movement. So, for example, in Ng Mui's system there was a so-called hand palm upward arm movement, which described precisely and simply the exact way in which the hands and arm should be held. 
A further difference between the Shaolin Kung Fu and Ng Mui's new system lay in the over-emphasis on the strength aspect which was particularly cultivated in the Shaolin. Thus, a Shaolin student hat to practise from two to three years exclusively the deep standing position typical for this style before he was allowed to learn the first movement sequences. Ng Mui's system aimed at defeating the stronger opponent with method rather than strength. Without doubt there was also in her method a place for a specific strength training, it was for her essentially a question of making the opponent harmless through cunning by making his measures and reactions fit as if tailor-made the action of the other. For this purpose the user of this new Kung Fu system brings into play adaptable hand techniques, a flexible standing position as well as free and fast strides, while the Shaolin stylist relied on his strong arm bridge, his firm stance and heavy paces. That means that the Shaolin Kung Fu used long bridges and deep stances in the fight whilst the new system with short pursuit steps and close to the body fighting techniques was able to ruin these long arm bridges and deep stances. In the Shaolin style the most frequently taken-up fighting position was front bow and back arrow (2), which was called in English Short Front Stance in the Karate Zenkutsu-Dachi (position with main weight on the front foot). In the new fighting system on the other hand the Front Arrow and Back Bow (in English named Short Back Stance - position with the weight on the back foot) predominated. Front however does not correspond to the Japanese Kokotsu-Dachi which leaves the genitals uncovered. The Wing Tsun Back Stance allowed the user to kick against the kneecap of the opponent standing in the front stance without a telltale transference of weight of for example to bring his front leg (without any weight on it) into safety if it was attacked. Excerpt from the book "The History of Yip Man Style. K.R. Kernspecht, published by Wushu Press. Burg Fehmarn. © WingTsun Australia | 
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