Legends of Wingchun: Embers of the Shaolin - Softcover

Rene Ritchie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0973880406 ISBN 13: 9780973880403

Publisher: Remnant-Hunter Media, 2005

Synopsis

Boklao, a rogue fighter, and Wingchun, a small town girl-but together they must face the Imperial Army, the Heaven & Earth Rebellion, the Bandits of the Eight Immortals, and a ruthless killer from the very edge of the world, all in a desperate quest to discover the truth behind their own pasts-a truth that threatens the lives of everyone around them-and to unravel the mystery of the Fist of the Elders-the secret martial art that caused the utter destruction of the Shaolin Temple itself... Destiny and consequence collide in the first novel from acclaimed martial arts author René Ritchie. Legends of Wingchun: Embers of the Shaolin brings the classic folk-story behind the fighting system of Bruce Lee to stunning new life in the grandest tradition of the Chinese hero epic (wuxia).

About this title

About the Author

Rene Ritchie is author of the novel Legends of Wingchun: Embers of the Shaolin, the non-fiction books Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun Kuen and Complete Wing Chun (with Robert Chu and Y. Wu), and numerous articles for Inside Kung-Fu, Martial Arts Legends, Martial Arts Masters, and Martial Arts Illustrated, and is founder of the Internet WingChunKuen.com website. Trained in Canada, the U.S., Hong Kong, and China, he lives and works in Montreal.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PROLOGUE

The boy stumbled through oily black smoke and crackling white flame. The square was just ahead And his father he had to reach his father

"The Ching have scattered the feeble remnants of your Ming dynasty to the four winds, driven your pathetic Southern rebellion all but into the sea." The words emanated from the chaos ahead, the voice a sizzle beyond the inferno. "They have annihilated everything everyone that has dared stand against them. Everyone but the Shaolin "

Constables of the Army of the Green Standard stamped around the square. Uniformed black as coal and armed with spears that glinted like polished silver, they cowered the villagers into the ground.

"The Ching have razed the temples, slaughtered the monks, and yet still the Shaolin refuse to lie down, refuse to yield "

Forbidden Bannermen tore up the road. Armored in steel plates and mounted on ebon horses, body after body tumbled in their wake all the boy's friends, everyone he'd ever known

"The Shaolin scurry like insects. They crawl into all the foul nooks and rotten crannies and they fester They fester until the fire comes at last and forces them out."

The boy tripped and fell and strained through the tears and devastation for any hint of his father. But all he saw was a defiant man crouched beneath faded rags, ready to rise up even as the arms of his closest friend of his sworn brother stopped him.

"Only then, in death, when all that remains is char and offal, when all that remains is a stinking pile of blackened bone, are the Shaolin laid down, are they yielded "

The Lama turned, his bone-white robes flared and, from the depths of his ashen face, his burning eyes blazed.

"Yield them."

Spears lashed out, the villagers erupted, the boy screamed

"NO!"

And the defiant man rose, unstoppable even by the arms of a hundred friends or a thousand brothers.

"I am Leung Hong," he said, "twenty-forth generation disciple of Shaolin!" The faded rags slipped away and his muscles flexed dark. The parallel rows of dots burned into his scalp were faint now beneath black hair grown long and full, but the dragon and tiger brands still coiled and snarled bright across his arms. "I am a patriot of the Ming dynasty that governed the Han nation through a thousand years of peace and prosperity!"

The constables crashed into Leung but he settled still as a mountain. Spears splintered against his iron skin and constables rent beneath his clawed hands.

But they had the weight of numbers behind them. They hammered and they piled until Leung was forced back.

Then his friend, his brother, rose at his side.

"I am Fong Dak!" His dark shroud fell and though no dots marked his balding pate, his tiger and dragon brands coiled and snarled every inch as bright. "I am the enemy of the Ching usurpers who have corrupted our land, of the Manchu invaders who have brought only misery and despair to our people!"

The constables split their attack but Fong flowed supple as the river. Spears slipped from his turning body and constables snapped between his twisting arms.

"We are sons of Heaven & Earth," they said together. "We are brothers of the rebellion that will overthrow the Ching and restore the Ming to the Dragon-Throne of China !"

The constables faltered and their lines collapsed. But then the earth trembled and the bannermen bore down, their thick-bladed, two-handed choppers assailing the night.

Leung roared and met their charge, exploded up into them with all his weight and rage.

Fong hissed. "Iron Tiger Cracks the Mountain!"

Two bannerman were shorn from their saddles and three more were sent reeling. Leung slammed back into the ground, his head down and his eyes fierce. "We are the karma that returns to you every ounce of pain," he said, "every measure of death, ten-thousand fold!"

Then a horse reared up, the long, sharp shadow of a banner captain fell over him, and steel fell with it.

Fong was too far away, he couldn't reach Leung, not in time ! But Fong scanned the wreckage, saw the broken tip of a spear lying in the dirt and flames at his feet, and he spun around and kicked it with all his speed and fury.

The smoldering blade hurtled past Leung and struck full in the face of the Banner Captain. It cut him down and sent his chopper twirling up through the smoke.

Leung claimed it.

"Come on," Fong said. "This is our chance, let's go!"

"You go," Leung said. "There's nothing left for me."

"I'm not going without you!"

"You have to." Leung tilted his gaze up the mountain. "You have no choice."

"What are you " Fong's eyes crinkled and then his face drained white. "Buddha's name "

"Go." Leung shoved him away and turned on the Lama the ancient enemy that stood at the edge of the square. "Go now!"

And Leung charged.

The Lama remained still.

Leung's nostrils flared, his eyes set. The chopper leapt up.

The Lama remained still.

Leung closed until nothing but an exhalation separated the tip of the chopper from the Lama's throat.

Then the Lama's bone robes parted and his falchion split the heavens.

Leung finished his charge his body first, his head a moment later. It bounced several times before rolling to a stop.

The banner captain staggered to his feet, his hand clutched to the ruin of his face. "Fetch the Emperor his trophy and then take this village apart slaughter your way to the sea if you have to but find me that other monk!"

Edition details

• Publisher: Remnant-Hunter Media
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0973880406
• ISBN 13: 9780973880403
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292