Shaolin Abbot Chi Sin Sim Si:  Treachery led to the Southern Shaolin temple being destroyed in the 18th century by the ruling powers. The Southern Shaolin abbot Chi Sin Sim Si was able to flee with some other monks and got himself hired as a cook on the “Red Boat” under a false name. The “Red Boat” was a ship of a Chinese opera troupe, which travelled from town to town to entertain the people.  After a fight that lead to his identity being discovered Chi Sim ended up teaching a few of the opera boat members the weng chun system.  Wong Wah Bo in turn taught Sun Gam, Leung Yee Tai and Leung Lan Kwai.

 

The Five Dragons: Sometime in the mid 1900's, the current Grandmaster, Wai Yan, converted one of his trading houses into a Weng Chun research academy. He did not want to enrole any pupils in this “research academy”, but rather bring together and unite the best Weng Chun (Grand-) masters of his day.  These were then to try and perfect the efficiency of Weng Chun with no need for secrecy between them in “Dai Duk Lan”.  They were: Sifu Wai Yan, Sifu Lo Chiu Woon, Sifu Chu Chung Man (The “Unbeatable”), Sifu Tam Kong (The Weng Chun Grappler) and Sifu Tang Yick (King of the Lonepole). The Weng Chun masters fought, discussed and lived together every day. They also invited Kung Fu masters from other styles to share and exchange their experiences.  The project was carried out by Wai Yan, Chu Chung Man and Tang Yick for twenty years. In this time, they tried again and again to put their gained knowledge to the test and to discover all the secrets of the art of one-to-one fighting. Their result was the evolution of a Weng Chun, that enabled the pupil to practice his self-defence with even more safety and ease.

 

Andreas Hoffman is the current Grand Master of Chi Sim Weng Chun Kuen.  (Weng Chun = Eternal Spring, Wing Chun = Praise Spring).  In 1986, Sifu Cheng Kwong introduced the German Andreas Hoffmann to the last dragon, Wai Yan. Andreas learnt the brilliant Weng Chun of the Five Dragons directly from Grandmaster Wai Yan until 1996. He accepted the inheritance passed on to him and today represents Weng Chun Kuen world-wide.

 

Lineage:  Complex.  See here.  Here is a good start point for more info on Chi Sim Weng Chun at the Wing Chun Archive.