Debunked

[Kirk]

taken from the Women's Self Defense Forum:
Aside from the Wing Chun legend, which I understand has been debunked, I can't say I know of any offhand. Does anyone know of any that exist? I know of many female leaders in the martial arts world, but I'm not sure of any arts created by women (then again, I've only barely nosed around ^_^). Input?

Debunked? This is the first I'd heard of this .. can anyone expand
on that?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

'Official history'
http://www.realwingchun.co.uk/history/history.htm

From realwingchun

The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu System, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton [Kwangtung Province] in China. She was an intelligent and athletic young girl, upstanding and forthright. Her mother died soon after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of Fukien. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime and, rather than risk jail, they slipped away and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung Mountain near the border between Yunan and Szechuan provinces. There they earned a living by running a shop that sold bean curd.

More info:
http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14212&highlight=wing+chun+history


Alternative version:
http://www.cyberkwoon.com/html/article.php?sid=24

From Cyberkqoon
Late in the 1600's, the Manchurians became concerned about the Siu Lam Temples' rebellious activities and their continual development of the fighting arts. Therefore, they sent spies (many of them Manchu military leaders) to infiltrate the rebels and learn the traditional Southern fist systems as taught secretly in the Temples. The rebel kung-fu masters, realizing this, clandestinely developed a new system that was two-fold in purpose: firstly, it had to be learned quickly and efficiently. And secondly, it had to be devastatingly effective against the existing fighting systems that the Manchus were learning and teaching to their soldiers. Thus, Wing Chun was born.