Wing Chun is a Chinese martial art specializing in close-quarters combat. Wing Chun was originally passed down orally from teacher to student rather than through written documentation. As a result, it is difficult to establish precisely how it originated. Attempts have been made to trace its history by examining the specific purposes of the techniques used. The first accounts of the martial art appear in independent documentation recorded during the lifetime of Wing Chun master Leung Jan.
There is a legend about a young woman named Yim Wing Chun. After she rejects a marriage proposal from a local warlord, he tells her that he will withdraw his proposal if she can defeat him in a fight. She asks a local nun, Ng Mui, to teach her boxing, and the style they develop enables her to defeat the warlord. She then marries the man she truly loves and teaches him the style that he names after her.
