Wing Chun Kung Fu is believed to have been created by a Buddhist Nun named Ng Mui from the Shaolin Temple in southern China over 300 years ago. She formulated the style after observing a crane fighting a snake. The crane effortlessly fought off the snake using skillful methods, by staying relaxed and using minimal energy. Seeing this, she developed a new fighting system using the same principles.

She met a girl named Yim Wing Chun who was being harassed by the local gang leader who was a bully and wanted to marry her, but she was already engaged to another man. She told the gang leader that she needed a year to prepare for the wedding, during which time Ng Mui taught Yim Wing Chun her new fighting system. After a year of hard work and study she was ready to confront the gang leader. Yim Wing Chun would only marry him if he could beat her in a fight. He lost the fight, during which her hands seemed to ‘stick’ to those of her opponent. The gang fled and Yim Wing Chun was free to marry the man she loved. Ng Mui named her new fighting system Wing Chun after Yim Wing Chun.