Hung gar
The Hung Gar (洪家), Hung Kuen (洪拳), or Hung Ga Kuen ( 洪家拳) is a kung fu system developed in the XVII century, it is considered an Nam Pai, this is from the southern Chinese systems (Hung gar, Mok Gar, Choy Gar, Lau Gar, Wing Chun, Li Gar, etc). Its translation is "boxing of the Hung family", and is based on the boxing of the tiger and the crane.
History
Hung Gar is one of the most representative boxing styles of martial arts practiced in southern China. The geographical distribution of this country has largely determined the separation of all its martial arts into two geographical blocks. Addressing the individualized study of one of the branches of this enormous tree without touching the roots is a difficult task, if not impossible.
For this reason, before deciding to deal with the set of themes that have been created, either by different schools that claim to claim the original genealogy of the style, or by informative attempts without much background documentary work; we have preferred to opt for a different viewing angle.
Contact with these topics is unavoidable, we can extract from them lights on the way that can guide us regarding the issues that by themselves generate us. However, the intention of this work is forged in other forges. We try to navigate between the existing information and discriminate the myth from the contrasted. The understood, the officially recognized. We want to investigate all those aspects that can demystify the origins to be able to look at the realities of today without falsehoods.
If we think that all Chinese martial arts have a common root, we will understand that the further we move away historically from the present moment, the more parallels we will find with other martial systems. This stumbling block appears to be surmountable by avoiding, as far as possible, dispersing the object of our article; Although, the pitfalls that cannot be overcome, we must assume as an enriching element of our general culture on Chinese martial arts and, where appropriate, assume the positive of our intention.
We have gone a long way in time to be able to answer questions that may be asked by those who try to approach the understanding of this system and its history anew. The questions follow each other in a logical order. If we intend to tell whoever requires information about the Hung Gar, that it comes, to a large extent, from the Shaolin monastery, without having previously explained what this place is and what part of its history has to do with ours, the way to assume that the information we provide you will not have the solidity of well-developed informational pillars. That is why we will not start our story from the XVII century, the date on which this style is defined as such. With this we would incur in presenting history without roots. This injustice, so often committed in the historiographical analysis of martial styles, generates significant misinformation that, in the long run, affects the meaning and practical reality of the martial art studied: appearance of unknown and indeterminate genealogical lines, modifications of techniques or of its meaning alluding to non-existent masters or with no direct relationship with the creators of the style, and a long list of nonsense that will ultimately prevent an objective vision on the part of the interested party.
The documentary sources consulted have been very varied and the elements chosen from said sources, when their reality seems duly justified, we present them without hindrance, explaining the justification on which we base ourselves to reflect them in this article. To the same extent, the information that, despite its recognition accepted by the majority, our investigations cannot justify as real or valid, we will reflect it together with the doubt that it has not created. We do not intend to rule out options that, as occurs with any historical review, can always be recovered with the contribution of new unknown evidence, but we do intend to reflect them in all their magnitude so that the reader can voluntarily decide whether to subscribe to our questions or decide to opt for the way of faith
We will try to study the common origins, the technical evolutions from other styles to this one, the technical material that currently exists, the schools, the concepts of both, and above all, the history of the people who They have allowed you to meet him. This, like all martial arts stories, is a story of people. People who have worked hard or have said they did, people who have enabled the dissemination and development of art and people who have influenced its discredit, people who have killed and people who have died on the way to the Hung Gar. We will enter, as deeply as the existing information allows us, into the hearts of these people to try through their stories to understand their influence on the Hung Gar, to understand what led them to this magnificent art and what made them change it.
To delve into the art through the hearts of those who practiced it and still practice it, we have to approach reading this article without expectations. We will have to empty the glass of what is known to accommodate, for as long as our observation requires, the information that we present. We invite everyone who reads us to empty the glass that we have filled again and to make it easier for all of us who are interested in knowing the new content that keeps its container full of new informative sap to share.
The origin of everything
Many historians cite in their works that the Shaolin Monastery was the place where the Chinese martial arts (CMA) we know today were born. Nothing is further from reality.
It is certainly evident that the Shaolin monasteries were, in their corresponding historical moments, great centers of development of different martial systems, as well as places of pilgrimage for fighters or those interested in the study of martial arts. Mystified by the stories of the exploits of the warrior monks who resided in them, many interested in the AMC came to these temples with the intention of expanding their knowledge in the art of fighting. Documentation relating to the historical periods that comprise these monasteries is scarce, if not non-existent, and in many cases the easy solution of including these places as the origin of something that had been brewing for a long time has been chosen.
We can consider a very logical reasoning to banish this myth. The relationship between the AMC and the Shaolin monastery was born with the justification of the existence and activity of a person that we will study carefully and in depth throughout this article: Bodhidharma.
It is officially recognized that, if the arrival of this monk in China is true (something that may later also be questioned), said arrival must have occurred around the century VI d. C. This would greatly distance its relationship with the origins of the AMC. On the one hand we have Sun Tzu's treatises on the art of war. This Chinese military strategist lived in the IV century BCE. C., in the state of Qi. This treatise, whose philosophy is still valid today due to the categoricalness of the concepts it contains and the quality of its philosophical and strategic statements, shows us with its content an important war activity, the germ of the development of fighting systems in all The cultures.
We find it unreasonable to think that the development of AMCs occurs from the VI century d. C., being precisely long before this century when we find ourselves with the most important war periods in the history of this country.
It is true, without a doubt, that this monastery played a determining role in the subsequent development of the martial technical material that existed before it.
We will study the history of the Shaolin monastery later and specify the seeds that justify its intervention in the creation of the Hung Gar as we know it today, but we must be very clear that many of the works that have come down to us in Today they come from very ancient times whose origins cannot be certified due to the lack of documents that accurately demonstrate their existence.
Writings relating to a military sport called Jiaoli dating back to the Zhou Dynasty (xi-221 BC) have been found. It is a very broad historical period, but it already offers us data on a martial practice itself and its relationship with the environment of war. It is interesting to analyze how these army arts transcend to reach the common people.
Some historians recreate the image of clans returning from war and keeping their fighting systems alive. Given the enormous war activity of this country in constant wars against the invading hordes from the north, as well as the civil and military wars between clans to assume the concentration of power and the unification of the country, it is not difficult to imagine the breeding ground in which the styles we know today were nurtured.
These styles, always subject to evolution and natural selection in the development of their techniques, evolved within each clan to levels that we surely cannot even imagine today. Certainly, the quality of a system, in a general environment of war, did not guarantee victory, this being more -as Sun Tzu cites in his treatises- the result of a more effective general strategy and optimal general conditions: terrain, distances traveled, weather, etc
The elements that favored the survival and natural evolution of the styles must be sought within society, specifically in civil disputes far from the elements present in the great battles. It is precisely in these environments where the local authorities of the victorious clans encountered the problem of a population with military training and that had to submit voluntarily or by force.
The tendency of the Chinese people to create secret societies and sects whose sole purpose sometimes resided in defeating the oppressor is well known. This generated, in many cases, the prohibition under penalty of death of all martial practice in the civil environment.
We have generalized greatly in these last appreciations, because this situation occurred in many places and many different times and under very similar circumstances. The reason that leads us to concentrate and generalize this information lies in the intention that we have to specify why martial arts come to monasteries, something that, in principle, can cause surprise if not the incomprehension of the logic that generated this movement..
We can understand, according to the statements made by some scholars on the subject, that the temples assumed the non-exclusive role of collecting people persecuted by law as one of their activities. If we understand in the same way that one of the most common reasons in this period to see himself in this need to escape was to be publicly recognized as a martial artist, we can understand why such different and diverse stylistic lines are manifested in such concentrated places. The monasteries were centers of refuge for the persecuted and for great teachers who were wanted by the authority that classified them as a disturbing element. This classification did not include the monasteries that, at certain moments in history, have enjoyed a certain legislative impunity due to their direct contact with the divine, something that earned them many followers, but which sowed the storms that, at specific moments of history, led them to the most absolute destruction. This was the fate and, in part, the broad history of the Shaolin Monastery.
Shaolin and Bodhidarma: Fact or Myth
All the writings that allude to the martial activity in the monasteries start from the historical moment in which the monastic activity of the northern monastery is related to the arrival there of a Hindu monk: Ta Mo.
But, before going into this extremely important aspect for our interest, let us know a little about some details of these monasteries.
The history of Shaolin begins with the construction of the Northern Temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, during the Northern Wei Dynasty. This dynasty is in the period called "Period of the three kingdoms" which lasted from the year 220 to 266 of our era. This is a period classified by Chinese historians as the stage that bisects the separatism promoted by the feudal system until the reunification of the country. A troubled time from which few writings relating to the details of the creation of the monastery are kept.
The temple was erected in the forests of Shao Shi Mountain in the Song Yue Shi Mountain Range, from which title it gets its name meaning "little forest". This place is located about 13 kilometers north of the city of Deng Feng. It was built in the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Xiao Wen. Its promoter was a Hindu monk named Ba Tuo and its construction lasted through different historical periods.
On one side of Song Shang mountain is the Ta Mo (Bodhidharma) cave, the Chinese name for this Hindu ascetic credited with introducing Zen Buddhism (ChŽan in Chinese or Dhyana in Sanskrit) to China. It is perhaps in this cave that our most important doubts about commonly accepted theories begin. The legend (from now on we will refer to this when we talk about Bodhidharma since there is not a single official document that certifies his existence) tells that Ta Mo stayed in this cave meditating in front of the wall for nine years. This same legend tells that he subjected the monks of the monastery to such hard meditative training that, due to their precarious health, he had to develop exercises to recover his health and improve his nature.
Just reading this last story takes us far from reality for many compelling reasons. In the first place, the meditative exercises carried out by this school are usually seated and are characterized by the practical absence of external movement. It is not ruled out that Ta Mo knew the psychophysical art of Yoga and introduced some exercises to improve elasticity and counteract the physical deterioration caused by a static practice for long periods. To imagine that the origin of Chinese martial arts is found in these exercises is to go beyond fantasy and its correspondence with the topic that interests us is far from being established. Perhaps there are scattered elements that can confirm the existence of this character, but we believe it is essential to separate it from martial arts, by virtue of the historical rigor that we must demand of any line of research to clarify the origins of the art as much as possible.
We have only found some texts that tell us about this man. One of them is Later Biographies of Eminent Monks of Tao-Hsüan, composed of 30 volumes of biographies from the VI to 645th century. The first biography of Bodhidharma, or Ta Mo, appears in its 16th volume. north and reached the kingdom of Wei.
This data does not agree very well with the commonly accepted date for its arrival in China, which would place it on dates prior to the creation of the Shaolin monastery itself. How could he imagine that he could see the poor state of health of a group of monks if the temple did not exist at that time? Once again, reality and fiction appear hand in hand to rule out the veracity of the statements made in this regard. Bodhidharma or Ta Mo may have existed, but his influence on the martial aspect of this temple must be questioned and the methods he could transmit to the bonzes for inner energetic development must also be questioned to leave the door open to other possibilities that may be more faithful to the possible reality that happened there.
As we mentioned before, the monastery was in some cases a focus of rebellion against the ruling political power and in others, it helped the government in certain struggles that, more than gratitude, generated fear for the demonstration of martial power that they exhibited. This caused the first fire and the destruction of the northern temple in the year 1570. And what may seem unfortunate, is still an eventuality that causes the migration of the teachers of this temple to the province of Fukien, to the monastery of South Shaolin. The north temple was rebuilt but never returned to its pre-fire splendor.
We have to travel a longer period to reach the time that most interests us to understand the origins of the Hung Gar. Let's focus our gaze on the last dynasty before the revolution that would bring the final fall of the empire and turn China into the country we know today. The rulers during the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) always showed a special interest in the activities carried out in the Fukien Monastery. There is evidence that many officials belonging to the government of the Ming dynasty (136-1644) sought refuge in the monastery to escape the relentless persecution to which the Manchus who made up the ruling dynasty subjected them.
This caused, on the one hand, the monastery to welcome laymen into its bosom and allow them to learn its fighting systems. This historical moment made it possible for the monastery to leave the bases of the style that we intend to reflect in these pages, hand in hand with another great man of the martial world: Hung Hei-kwun.
Hung Hei-kwun. The father of a style
Hung Hei was a tea merchant who trained at the Fujian Shaolin Monastery as a lay practitioner. There were different categories of practitioners in the temple and those who were not monks were not considered in the same way when it came to teaching them the basics and the combat system that, already at this point in history, was proper and exclusive to the monastery.. The abbot of the temple at that time was Chi Zan, who is credited with personal tutelage in Hung Hei-kwun's teaching due to the talent he displayed during training. This earned him the consideration of being the best of the laymen attending Shaolin martial arts classes.
It was precisely an incident with one of these lay practitioners that caused this monastery to be destroyed by the Manchus. Wu Wai-kin decided to fight against the Manchu nobles in revenge for the death of his father. This was the trigger for this dynasty to turn its eyes towards the monastery, at the same time as its armies, and ended up destroying the temple.
Some authors cite that only thirteen people managed to escape the massacre, something we will never know for sure. The truth is that it has been possible to verify that both Hung Hei-kwun and the abbot of the temple were able to escape what happened with their lives. He was not so lucky a posteriori the abbot of the temple and died in a supposed fight with a Pak Mei fighter, a fact that we have not been able to verify historically and whose authenticity we are forced to doubt. Similarly, it is mentioned in the history of the style that Hung Hei-kwun began teaching him for the transmission of the fighting style that he had learned in the Shaolin monastery. He opened a secret school in Guangdong. Ten years later, he officially opened a school in the city of Fa which he called 'Hung Gar Boxing'. to divert the attention of the Manchus who were still persecuting everything related to the Shaolin monastery.
The name of the school, according to several authors, obeys the creator's interest in commemorating the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, Hung Mo-chu, an ideology on which many of the secret societies that wanted to overthrow the ruling dynasty operated and that they operated in secrecy. In a short time, the quality of this fighting system was recognized throughout the region as the best of the five great schools in Guangdong Province.
In addition to instructing his own son, he also took Luo Xiajouan, Zhou Renjie, and Hu Zhibiao as students. Perhaps the student that interests us the most and that we will have to analyze in more detail is Luk Ah-choy, to whom we must attribute the continuity of the genealogical line of the style.
The composition of his fighting style was derived from the system practiced by his teacher in the Fujian monastery, the Fu Hok Pai (tiger and crane style), part of the five animals he also learned in the temple.
Before continuing with the analysis of the genealogical line of this century-old style, we are going to delve a little into the work that this man did, what his transmission consisted of and how he developed the material he inherited from the roots of the temple from Shaolin.
Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen. The First Pillar
It is indisputable to attribute the authorship of this work to Hung Hei, according to all the statements of the heirs of the style who have agreed to award him its creation.
This work is the basis of the style, the oldest and most fundamental form of Hung Gar, considered one of the four pillars of the style along with the Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen, Ng Ying Ng Hang Kuen and Tit Sin Kuen forms. According to Lam Sai-wing's writings, this form compiles the work done in the temple by both Abbot Chi Zin and Hung Hei and Luk Ah-choy. Its original title was Siulam Fook Fu Kuen. The reason for changing the first part of the name is due to the need to eliminate terminology that could associate it with the monastery, the victim of relentless persecution in all sectors of Chinese society during the Manchu dynasty.
There are numerous explanations of the meaning of the terminology applied to the shape name. Fook Fu means 'taming the tiger'. The symbology of this term is somewhat hermetic as it is evident that the form does not contain techniques that allow such an action. However, we have to use a different way of thinking to understand the meaning of this phrase. Who is the tiger? The techniques contained in the form obey the nature of the tiger, the way it moves. The study of this animal becomes evident through the body expression reflected in the look, in the gestures, in the positions of both legs and arms and hands. The idea of the claw is constantly expressed through a solid structure of low positions that transmit force to the arms to end up developing the maximum possible force in that expression of the hands.
We understand that taming the tiger refers to the psychic work on the animal's spirit, something very common in most Kung Fu styles that feed on these imitations at very deep levels. Recreate the spirit of the tiger in us and at the same time control it through hard and constant work. Perhaps it is this part that intends to explain the term Gung Ji to us. Gung is the same character used for Gung Fu (we have previously used Kung Fu because this is a better known and used terminology than Gung, but it refers to the same ideogram). Its meaning encompasses the conception of "hard work". Making a simple translation of the title of the form would not be fair since we believe that its meanings can be many. The one that seems most appropriate to us is that of taming the tiger using the meaning of the ideogram Gung (hard work) and referring, in essence, to recreating the spirit of the tiger but controlled by the development of our skill or work on the techniques that represent it..
The form is made up of two different sections, just like its title. A first part, Gung Ji, which contains important work on breathing and energy control, and a second, Fook Fu, which includes the most important martial technique part of the set and which is made up of low and robust positions in which the legs play a role. fundamental role on the expression of strength of the hands. The style can represent in its execution the image of a tiger that stands on its hind legs while expressing all its strength and power in the movement of the front legs while remaining upright. Perhaps the vision of a tiger-spirited human with the human characteristic of bipedality.
There are numerous books that teach this sequence, including one written by Lam Sai-wing's student Jyu Yujaai, translated into English by Jessica Lee and published by Donald Hamby. Bucksam Kong's book translated into English is also interesting.
We can conclude that this form, one of the four pillars of the Hung Gar, is the oldest of all and that most of the further work is based on its principles.
Luk Ah-choy. A student, a brother
We know that Luk Ah was a student of Chi Zin (Gee-Shin, according to different transcripts), the abbot of the Shaolin temple. He was referred to the Hung Hei school at the express request of the abbot who, given his advanced age, could not teach him personally. This story contrasts with the idea that Chi Zin died in combat and makes us doubt both as they contradict each other. We have been able to verify that Luk Ah was truly a student of Hung Hei and also actively participated with him in his fight against the Ching dynasty. Numerous stories arise from this joint activity that, most certainly, are more the result of popular imagination than verifiable reality, taking into account that this practitioner was of Manchu origin. However, it is possible that, as a member of this ethnic group, he did not agree with the repressive methods and social policies applied during this dynasty by his peers.
He lived to the age of 68 and his story tells that he worked as a servant from the age of 12. Some authors cite a chance meeting with a monk at a religious festival of which he ended up being a disciple. They credit this meeting with initiating him into fighting styles and learning Fa Kuen, a northern style, for seven years. It was on the recommendation of this teacher that he went to study at the Fujian Monastery under Chi Zin.
Lam Jou explains in one of his writings that Luk Ah was the first student of Chi Zin and the one who received the true transmission of the Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen form. This appreciation may contradict the idea that he ended up being a student of Hung Hei. It is very likely that the relationship between the two was more along the lines of sharing knowledge or joint development of the style than that of teacher/student, something that we will hardly know based on the existing documentation up to now.
Nevertheless, his mastery appears in all the biographies and genealogies that we have analyzed and corroborate that he was one of the decisive characters in the survival and subsequent development of the Hung Gar, by transmitting the style to Wong Kai-ying, father of Wong Fei-hung (both characters will be dealt with below).
Wong Kay-ying, Wong Fei-hung. A definite breakthrough
Wong Kay-ying was born in Guangdong in the city of Xiqiao. He made a living doing stunts on the street. Luk Ah took him in as a disciple upon witnessing the young man's physical abilities. He studied for ten years with Luk Ah and learned all the skills of the style.
He later became the martial arts instructor to the general of the Guangdong Infantry Regiment. He created a herbal dispensary to somehow alleviate his meager salary as an instructor and passed the style on to his son Wong Fei-hung. He was considered at the time one of the ten Guangdong tigers, a title used to name the ten best fighters in the province.
Perhaps we don't have as much biographical data about him as about his son, who is unquestionably a legend within Chinese martial arts. Hundreds of stories are told about him, some credible and others not so much.
Wong Fei was born in the year 1847 in the town of Xiqiao, in the district of Nam Hoi, also in the province of Guangdong. He died at the age of 77 years. He learned medicine from his father with whom he shared his fame as a martial artist and as a doctor. He participated in the Guangdong Army Fifth Regiment Militia as a martial arts instructor. And he took over his father's (Po Chi Lam/Baozhilin) martial school and clinic. He was also known in the province for his ability in the Lion Dance, a skill that earned him the title of & # 34; King of the lions & # 34;.
Wong Fei was married several times and had several children. The tragic event of the death of one of his sons at the hands of the mafia in Hong Kong led him to decide that he would not teach Hung Gar to his children, which is why the transmission of his art reaches us through different genealogical lines since the style is separated from the family branch since Wong Kai-ying.
Wong Fei is credited with creating the Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen form, which we will discuss in a later section as it is one of the pillars of the style. He is also credited with introducing the Tit Shin Kuen style of work, learned from the master Tit Kiu Saam, with clear Taoist influences that we will also detail later. At the same time, the Ng Ying Kuen form is attributed to him, which, being included after the fact in the Sap Ying Kuen form created by Lam Sai-wing, we find in some branches of the style separately.
Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen. Tiger and Crane Boxing
We omitted to refer to the legend that the initial combined tiger and crane form was first developed by Hung Hei-kwun, who combined the tiger techniques learned in Shaolin with the crane techniques his wife worked on. It is probable that some truth exists in this legend, although many other elements would have a place in this creation. It is very probable that the form derives entirely from the work of Chi Zi, abbot of the temple who taught Wong Kai-ying and whose interpretation has come down to us through the elaboration of the work by Wong Fei-hung. This was inspired by the style of the tiger and the Shaolin crane, in the positions and in the "bridge hands", work that belonged to the transmitter of Tit Shin Kuen, Tit Kiu Saam, as well as in the techniques far-reaching style of the Buddha.
This shape represents the symbology of the effectiveness of combining the relatively hard and the relatively soft. The tiger set of techniques expresses its strength, toughness and power while the crane techniques manifest the grace and subtlety of the fighting style inspired by this animal. The proportion of techniques of both animals in the form varies according to the branches or the different schools that have maintained this form to this day. We see a trend towards 60% tiger techniques and 40% crane techniques, the number of techniques usually ranging from eighteen for each animal.
Supposedly, this form contains all the basic techniques of the Hung Gar, as well as what Lam Sai-wing called the "Ten Unique Hung Gar Hand Techniques".
The long version of the form has 108 movements, although the old one is said to have only 36 movements. This is something that we cannot know exactly and we will have to draw our own conclusions during the practice of the complete style. Undoubtedly, many will be the technical incorporations that this form has assumed since its creation, although it is fair to think that the main aspects of its genesis should remain intact in it.
Beyond family. Lam Sai-wing and Tang Fong
Until the arrival of Lam Sai-wing on the scene of martial arts schools, the usual practice of most of the great masters was to reserve a part of their knowledge for themselves. Perpetuating this system caused that after every four or five generations of successions in the style, it would have changed completely since the disciple tried to fill with his own knowledge those denied or hidden by his teacher. The differences between different branches of the same style were evident and in some cases, they came to look like completely different works.
Some authors consider that it is precisely this norm that made possible the evolution of martial arts as a dynamic and living element, since it manifests in itself the need for the practitioner to be involved in contributing with his own creativity the appropriate knowledge to for art to evolve. Those who do not yet share this theory understand that, since the perpetuation of the style used to be from father to son, the son who received the partial transmission of the system from his father did not always have the capacity to add more value to the work. received. The natural selection of jobs did the rest and ended up collapsing the system.
This, without a doubt, has been the cause in many cases of the decline of a system and, at the same time, the survival of others.
Lam Sai-wing was an innovator in his time. Not only did he decide to transmit the style completely without reservations of any kind, but he also opened teaching to all the public willing to work on it, reorganized the system and published numerous books that, even today, allow us to have graphic and textual material that allows us to keep intact to a large extent, the essence of Hung Gar Kuen.
Lam Sai-wing was born in Ping Chow, a small town in the Namhoi district, Kwantung province, in the year 1860. He came into the world into a family of martial artists and learned Kung Fu from a very young age. by the hand of his father. During his youth he learned from various Kung Fu masters, constantly developing his martial arts skills. He worked for a time as a butcher, combining training with work. In his interest in martial arts, it is known that for a long time he sought the tutelage of a teacher who met the requirements that he was looking for in Kung Fu. He finally found him at Wong Fei-hung's school. Many stories are told about the first meeting of these two men, most of them tell of the young Lam Sai's supposed challenge to the teacher, who easily got rid of him, and how he later begged him to accept him as a student in his school..
He was a student of Wong Fei-hung until the day he died. He was the best student of his and the best known of him. At that time, as in ancient times, challenges to martial arts school teachers were the order of the day. The usual practice was for the challenger to fight the master's best student before gaining direct access to him. Lam Sai-wing defeated many of these masters and his fame as a fighter was growing and recognized throughout Kwantung.
He was also known as a great person, honest and generous, who helped others by participating in numerous charitable events. One of them helped her receive a medal from the man who would become president of the first Chinese Republic, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was impressed by her skills in a popular Kung Fu demonstration. He was the chief martial arts instructor for the army of the newly declared Chinese Republic in 1911.
He had many students since his school was open to anyone who wanted to learn his art. He had no children of his own but adopted Lam Cho as his son, who is recognized as a recipient of his knowledge like many other teachers. He emigrated to Hong Kong, where he created the Southern Martial Physical Culture Association, where he taught until 1943, when he died at the age of 83. He wrote three books on the Hung Gar:
* Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen * Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen * Tid Sin Kuen
A schoolmate and also a brilliant student of Wong Fei-hung, Tang Fong represents the second current of the style that has survived to this day.
He was born in 1880 in Kwantung Province and is credited as having learned Hung Gar before meeting Wong Fei-hung. Some scholars of the style cite this as one of the reasons for the differences between his work and the work of Lam Sai-wing. However, we will not go into these evaluations and we will focus on the different works of one branch and another to understand, in some cases not all, the causes that explain these differences.
He maintained the martial and medical facet of his teacher. He had few students and like Lam Sai he taught Hung Gar in Hong Kong until his death in 1955.
Variants of a style
We are not going to continue listing the proper names of the style since, starting with Lam Sai-wing and Tang Fong, the number of students grows in such a way that it would be very difficult to include them all in this short article. We believe that up to these last two personalities we have uncovered part of the roots of the Hung Gar history and it will be from them when the style branches out and expands nationally and internationally.
However, we do want to collect all the forms that are worked on as Hung Gar to understand, or at least try, where these works start from and how far they can take us in a retrospective study of the style.
The following forms of empty hand are found in the branch of Lam Sai Wing:
* Mui Fa Kuen * Lau Gar Kuen * Wu Tip Jeung Kuen * Sap Pa Sau Kuen * Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen * Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen * Sap Ying Kuen * Tit Shin
On the Tang Fong branch:
* Fook Fu Kuen * Gung Ji Kuen * Wu Tip Jeung Kuen * Sap Pa Sau Kuen * Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen * Ng Ying Kuen * Fu pao Kuen * Tit Shin * Kau Chi Lin Wan Kuen/Kau Tok Kuen
We find in these lists different forms in each one of them. The first, the absence of Ng Ying Kuen in the Lam Sai-wing branch, although this form is included in Sap Ying Kuen, a form that we will discuss in the next section as it is the last pillar of the style that remains for us. enumerate. This justifies the fact that this form does not appear in the Tang Fong branch and that Ng Ying Kuen does appear, since the development of Sap Yin is attributed to Lam Sai.
The Wu Tip Jeung Kuen form, although it appears in the two branches, has different contents and is still a basic work to introduce techniques and more elaborate later works. Some documentation works attribute this form to a supposed meeting of Hung Gar masters, which took place in the year 1950, and in which they decided to create small forms that would allow the introduction of the Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen form.
Mui Fa Kuen, "the fist of the plum blossom", is a short form that, from the hand of master Chiu Wai (son of Chiu Kao, who also studied with Lam Sai-wing), comes as a long form containing bases of another form developed by Lam Sai-wing called Jin Jeung, unusual in Hung Gar schools. It is also known as Sap Ji Mui Fa Kuen. The Wu Dip form, "butterfly palms," has clear Northern influences in its leg and jumping techniques.
We also find in the branch of Tang Fong the form Fu Pao Kuen, "combined fist of the tiger and the panther", to which some attribute a more orthodox origin whose work belongs to the teachers who had Tang Fong before Wong Fei-hung, although it is information that we have not been able to corroborate.
Master Chau Wing-tak cites in an interview the work of the Kau Chi Lin Wan Kuen form, "circular fist of nine fingers together," as one of Tang Fong transmissions. This form was developed by Tang Fong under the original name of Kau Tok-kuen, "form of the nine poisoned fists".
The Lau Gar Kuen form is the second form of the Lau Gar style. We do not know why it was included as part of the Hung Gar by Lam Jou.
We have not wanted to discuss the works on weapons since those of both branches are completely different and we understand that they are later elaborations added to what, originally and sticking to the information that has come down to us, could have belonged to the work imported from the monastery. However, it is highly probable that, originally, the weapons works carried out in both schools also derive from one of the many styles practiced in Shaolin, something that will have to be studied in another, much more specific analysis.
Tit Shin Kuen and Sap Ying Kuen. The final two pillars
Tit Shin Kuen is the most advanced and difficult form of Hung Gar. It represents the interior work of the style. It was created around 1850 by Tit Kiu-saam, who learned different styles of Kung Fu from his youth and focused on the study of Shaolin styles and internal styles of Taoist origin. He combined Hung Gar techniques with Taoist Chi Kung to create the form at hand. The purpose of this work is to promote health and make the forearms as hard as iron. This form was included in the Hung Gar by Wong Fei-hung
We know that Wong Fei-hung, at the age of 13, met Lam Fuk-sing, a student of the creator of this form. Wong Fei-hung studied it under this teacher for two years. It has long been considered the secret form of the style as it was only passed down to the best students and was taught at the end of learning the full style.
The internal work is characterized by the unification of movement, consciousness and breathing, manifesting, through different sounds, the balancing energy of the emotions that affect the human being according to Chinese medicine.
These movements correspond to the movements of the dragon. The shape name is "Iron Wire" since it represents the hardness of the metal and the subtlety and malleability that it acquires in the form of a wire. This introduces us once again to Yin and Yang in a metaphorical way. The sounds must be correctly executed to avoid possible physical damage, since the alteration of the energy associated with each emotion affects the organ associated with said emotion in the same way. We attach a table in which we relate the sound to the organ and the emotion associated with it.
|| SOUND || EMOTION || ORGANS || ELEMENT || || NG-HAI-HEI || CHOLERA || LIVER / GALLBLADDER || WOOD || || A-A/E-E-HO-WA || JOY || HEART / SMALL INTESTINE || FIRE || || AI-M || CONCERN || SPLEEN / STOMACH || EARTH || || HA-HO || SUFFERING || LUNGS/LARGE INTESTINE || METAL || || E-TIK || FEAR || KIDNEYS/BLADDER || WATER ||
We also find differences between the sounds used in this work depending on one branch or another of the style, but we will not extend this section and we recommend that the practice of the sounds is always carried out under the tutelage of a recognized teacher to avoid possible health damage.
In the use of the forearms, different energy concepts are worked on that some works call the "twelve principles" or "twelve bridge hands", which appear in different forms of the system, but which are concentrated in this form. It is a long form that uses very short offsets.
Sap Yin Kuen, "fist of the ten forms", also known as "form of the five animals and five elements". The animals are dragon, snake, tiger, crane and panther. The dragon represents the inner work of this part of the form and the serpent and the panther group the set of fighting techniques; finish the form with the tiger and crane part of the Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen form
The five elements are metal, wood, fire, water and earth.
Created by Lam Sai-wing, it was born from the Ng Ying Kuen form (created in turn by Wong Fei-hung) to which, in the last years of his life, Lam Sai added work on the elements.
Genealogy of a southern style
|| Fukien Shaolin Monastery || || Abbot of the temple Chi Zin (Gee Shin) || || Hung Hei-kwun || || Luk Ah-choy || || Wong Kai-ying || || Wong Fei-hung || || Lam Sai-wing - Tang Fong ||
System
The Hung Gar bases its training on low and strong positions, stable movements and direct penetrations; emphasizing the development of synchrony and resistance to effort. He focuses on developing strong arms and legs, building on his horse stances (Sei Ping Ma), and the three-star strike (Da Sam Sing). His ability is acquired through the development of Forms (Kuen) four of which are considered the pillars of Hung Gar, these are: Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen, Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen, Tit Sin Kuen and Ng Ying Kuen.