Book Feature: The History of Wing Chun by Sifu Kendra Mahon

Sifu Kendra Mahon, known as Kung Fu Kendra, devotes the second book of The Way of Wing Chun to a question every practitioner eventually asks: where did this art actually come from? The History of Wing Chun: Legend, Lineage, and the Journey to the World follows the art from the burning temple of legend to the training halls of today.

Legend and Evidence Side by Side

The book does not dismiss the story of Ng Mui and Yim Wing Chun. Instead, it asks why the story took the shape it did, noting that the burning of a Southern Shaolin Temple appears in the origin legends of many southern styles, and that Wing Chun is unusual in tracing itself to two women. “When we tell the legend, we are not reporting what happened. We are telling our students what the art is for,” Sifu Kendra writes. Throughout, she marks which parts of the story are legend, which are lineage tradition and which rest on historical evidence, and she says so where sources disagree.

The Rivers of Guangdong

The historical trail begins with the Cantonese opera troupes that travelled the Pearl River Delta on the Red Boats. The book explains why historians take this connection seriously, describes the Red Turban Revolt of 1854 and the ban on opera that followed, and looks at how those events may explain why performers such as Wong Wah-bo and Leung Yee-tai came to teach the Foshan physician Leung Jan. It also untangles the popular image of the Red Boats as a secret rebel network from what the evidence supports.

A Family of Branches

One chapter steps outside the Ip Man line to sketch other branches of the family that grew up in Guangdong, keeping the descriptions brief out of respect for histories that are complex and often disputed. “Wing Chun was not one river. It was a delta,” the author concludes. Practitioners are encouraged to be loyal to their own teachers and genuinely curious about everyone else’s.

Through Foshan to the World

The final part follows Ip Man’s decision in 1950 to teach openly in Hong Kong, the rooftop challenge fights that built the art’s reputation, Bruce Lee’s role in bringing it to world attention, and the students who carried it across the oceans. It closes with the Traditional Wing Chun line reaching Canada through Master Brian Lewadny’s academy, where the author began training in 2005. “Not as an abstraction, but through people, one teacher and one student at a time,” she writes of how the art travels.

Who It Is For

The book suits practitioners of any lineage and readers interested in Chinese history and martial culture. A brief timeline and a note on sources point readers toward the scholarly literature. It is not a training manual.

About the Author

Sifu Kendra Mahon, known as Kung Fu Kendra, has trained since 2005 and holds Master level (purple sash). She teaches Traditional Wing Chun as it was passed down to her by Master Brian Lewadny, who learned it from Grandmaster William Cheung. She is the author of 13 books and counting, including the ten-book The Way of Wing Chun series, and created the Become a Sifu Wing Chun Online Certification Course (10 levels, one payment, no monthly fees). Read what her students say on the Kung Fu Kendra reviews page.

Where to Get It

The History of Wing Chun: Legend, Lineage, and the Journey to the World is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback: Kindle and paperback. It is also on Goodreads under Kung Fu Kendra and Kendra Mahon. See all of her books on kungfukendra.com.

Editor’s note: Wing Chun Magazine is published by Sifu Kendra Mahon.