According to Chinese folklore, Ng Mui was one of the legendary Five Elders to have survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple in the 15th century. Though ousted, the Shaolin nun continued teaching kung fu to subjects she deemed worthy of her art.
During her exile Mui encountered Yim Wing Chun. Mui sympathized with the young girl who was being bullied into marriage by some unsavory bandit, so she taught Wing Chun a new martial art – one which implemented the Shaolin school’s most efficient techniques, but didn’t require overwhelming strength or years of intense training.
Precisely how the ruffian lost interest in the girl is not preserved by legend, although a broken nose very likely did the trick.
The style of fighting named after Wing Chun proved effective at dealing with far greater threats than unwanted advances. Over the course of the past 500 years it has been refined into a comprehensive system of self-defense, emphasizing reflexive blocking and rapid, direct blows to a threat’s most sensitive vital areas. Without exaggeration, a practitioner of Wing Chun delivers attacks like a belt-fed weapon.
You have already witnessed Wing Chun’s surgical efficiency in action if you have ever watched a Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movie. Ip Man, Wing Chun’s most famous master, was memorialized in the fourth movie bearing his name just last year. (Though great fun, the Ip Man movies are somewhat embellished. The grandmaster did not in fact fight Mike Tyson, for instance.)
True Wing Chun kung fu grandmasters are something of a rarity in this country. Eden Prairie, as is so often the case, is exceptional, for it is here that Grandmaster Steve Lee Swift has set up shop. The silver fox has devoted the past 50 years of his life to mastering every subtle hand motion, every sweeping leg movement, and every intricacy of balance that true Wing Chun calls for. Grandmaster Swift was personally trained by Ip Man’s sons, placing him in the same martial arts lineage as Bruce Lee himself.
Grandmaster Swift possesses a burning passion for Wing Chun, yet he does not convey it with even a modicum of arrogance. It is simply the man’s great joy to pass down his ancient technique to all who have him as their teacher. Sure, some of Grandmaster Swift’s students are hardened combat veterans who could already eat a bowl of nails for breakfast before they had ever heard of Wing Chun. But he has also taught countless children, seniors, and people with disabilities how to capably defend themselves.
Go and meet with Grandmaster Swift at Grandmasters Wing Chun Kung Fu. You will appreciate that his enthusiasm is just as rare as the martial art he teaches, and you will want to train at his side.
6566 Edenvale Blvd, Eden Prairie
grandmasterswingchun.com