The name Jook-Wan-Huen means “Bamboo linked circle” where as Tin-Wan-Huen refers to an “Iron linked circle.” Both names describe the structure of a defensive weapon and training de¬vice used to refine and develop explosive Ging in the ridge arms of a Wing-Chun practitioner. It may also be used in any standard southern system of Kung-Fu including White Eye¬brow and Southern Praying Mantis.

Legend on Wing-Chun Rings

Within the first and second generations of Wing-Chun’s develop¬ment, prior to a widely standardized Mook-Yan-Jong regimen, the bamboo ring was used by members of the nineteenth-century group called the Red Junk Opera Company as a means of training their special style of Kung-Fu under the guise of a dramatic perfor¬mance implement. Brightly colored for visual appeal and wield¬ed in choreographed dramatic routines, the rings allowed the Opera members to train their art subtly and could be used defen¬sively (in the hands or by being thrown) against an armed attack¬er if the need arose. The Red Junk Opera Company disguised its members as traveling entertainers, allowing them to carry out their primary objectives of espionage and assassination. Almost all lineages of Wing-Chun, with the exception of the Pao-Fa-Lien branch, claim descent from the members the Red Junk Opera Company.