Our History

Tradition Keeps Us Strong

In order to preserve the quality of the Kung Fu, it is very important that the system continue to be handed down without modification, unchanged by our own ideas. If even the smallest of changes are introduced into the system, the Kung Fu will become diluted over time. It is in this way that a true and effective martial arts system can be washed away and lost forever. The quality of Wing Chun taught by Sifu James is very high due to the fact that he has left the system unchanged and teaches it just as it was taught to him by his Sifu, Grandmaster Julian Cordero ( Moy Yee Hop ). Grandmaster Moy Yee Hop is a direct student of the late Grandmaster Moy Yat, who taught the system as it was taught to him by Yip Man. It is in this manner that Ving Tsun can withstand the test of time...what a great way to honor the founders of the system!

A Moy Yat Kung Fu Family Lineage

We our a proud direct lineage of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu family. Our Si-gung Grandmaster Moy Yee Hop is one of the first senior students (First Generation in America) to learn Wing Chun from the late Great Grandmaster Moy Yat. He is one of the first students that was not of Chinese descent to open a Ving Tsun Mo-gwoon (school) in America.

Ng Mui & Yim Wing Chun

The earliest known mentions of Ving Tsun date to the period of Red Boat Opera.

The common legend as told by Yip Man involves the young woman Yim Wing-chun, during the period after the destruction by the Qing government of the Southern Shaolin temples.

Having rebuffed the local warlord’s marriage offer, Yim Wing-Chun said she’d reconsider the proposal if he could beat her in a fight. She soon crossed paths with a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui, who was one of the Shaolin Sect survivors, and asked the nun to teach her to fight. According to legend Ng Mui taught Yim Wing-Chun a new system of martial art that had been inspired by the nun’s observations of a confrontation between a Snake and a Crane.

This then-still nameless style enabled Yim Wing-Chun to beat the warlord in a one-on-one fight. Yim Wing-Chun thereafter married Leung Bac-Chou and taught him the style, which was later named after her.

It is believed that because the system was developed during the Shaolin and Ming resistance to the Qing Dynasty, many legends, were spread regarding the creation of Ving Tsun in order to confuse enemies. This is often given as a reason to explain the difficulty in accurately determining the creator or creators of Ving Tsun.

Patriarch Moy Yat

Grand Master Moy Yat was a Chinese Martial Artist, painter, teacher and author. He was a student of the legendary Wing Chun Kung Fu teacher Yip Man from 1957 until Yip Man's death in 1972. He began teaching in Hong Kong in 1962 under the direction of his Sifu, Yip Man. After Yip Man's death, Moy Yat moved to New York City and began teaching there until he retired from teaching at the age of 60. According to Inside Kung Fu Magazine, he was "....considered among the greatest martial arts teachers of all time."

Sifu James Hindman

James Hindman is the Sifu (instructor) of the Jupiter Branch of Palm Beach Wing Chun and a dedicated special student of his sifu, Grandmaster Moy Yee Hop of Palm Beach Wing Chun. James has taught classes at the Lake Worth location for several years under the guidance of his Sifu and as a special student has made the commitment to live the "Kung Fu Life" by continued learning and spreading of the wonderful art of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Sifu James opened the Jupiter Branch of Palm Beach Wing Chun in January 2016 under the guidance of his Sifu and has been spreading the art of Authentic, Traditional, and Classical Wing Chun Kung Fu in the city of Jupiter, Fl.