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Hung Gar Kung-Fu
Hung Gar Kung-fu is a form of self-defense
originating from the Fukien Shaolin Temple hundreds of years ago. The Shaolin
Temple was founded in 300 B.C., yet systematic martial arts were not taught
at the temple until the time that the Buddhist monk Tatmor came to the Honan
Shaolin Temple, at around 500 A.D.
Upon his arrival, Tatmor founded the Chan sect of Buddhism, which taught that
enlightenment cannot be attained from merely reading a book, but must be
gained through meditation and action. The previously weak monks at the
Shaolin Temple were put on a training system of exercises developed by Tatmor
to increase their health and strengthen their bodies. The exercises also
contained elements of self-defense to enable the monks with the ability to
defend the temple if necessary. The monks trained diligently, and added to
Tatmor's methods the knowledge of the finest martial artists in China. By the
fifteenth century, the five methods taught by Tatmor had grown to 108 systems
of self-defense, and the reputation of the fighting ability of the Shaolin
Monks had grown so great, that the temple won the title "Sacred land of
Chinese Kung-fu."
The Fukien Temple began as a branch of the
first Shaolin Temple in Honan province, yet when the Honan Temple was
destroyed by fire in 1570, the most skillful monks traveled to the Fukien
temple to stay. With them, they brought the precious martial art books of
Shaolin, and the status of the Fukien temple grew greatly as a result.
The Honan Temple was later rebuilt, but never regained its former prestige.
When the Ching Dynasty seized power in the mid-seventeenth century, the role
of the Shaolin Temple was changed evermore. Previously, the Shaolin Temple
maintained neutrality in most affairs, occasionally helping the government or
nearby villages to defend against criminals yet the martial arts of the
Shaolin Temple were only known to insiders of the temple and not taught to
laymen. The cruel policies of the Ching Dynasty, however, caused the monks to
reconsider their neutral policies and allowed escaping Ming government
officials to take refuge in the temple, protecting them from the Ching
government. The monks trained the most worthy of these officials in the
Shaolin martial arts, for the first time accepting layman-followers into the
Shaolin Temple.
Hung Hei-kwun, a tea merchant, became a layman-follower at the Fukien Shaolin
Temple after the abandoning of his business due to a dispute with Ching
nobles in Kwantung Province. The head of the temple at that time, the abbot Chi
Zin, was so impressed with Hung Hei-kwun's talent and hard work that he even
taught him personally. Hung Hei-kwun was eventually ranked as the best of all
the layman-followers of the temple at that time.
The Ching Dynasty had always been suspicious of the activities of the Fukien
Shaolin Temple, but when one of the layman-followers, Wu Wai-kin, returned to
his hometown and fought the Ching nobles in revenge for his father's death,
the Ching Government finally had the excuse they needed to take direct action.
Bringing cannons, guns and arrows, the massive Ching troops set fire to the
temple and began bombarding the monks within with the deadly cannon, gun, and
arrow fire. The monks fought hard to protect their temple, but in the end,
the firepower of the Ching troops overwhelmed them and those surviving were
forced to flee the burning temple.
Only about thirty people escaped the temple, scattering southward. Among
these were Hung Hei-kwun, and his teachers from the temple, monk Sam Tak and
abbot Chi Zin. After fleeing to Kwantung Province, Hung Hei-kwun opened a
secret martial arts school in Big Buddha Temple to fulfill his responsibility
to pass on and spread the Shaolin Teachings. Ten years later, he opened a
formal school in Fa City, naming it "Hung Gar Boxing" in order to
conceal its Shaolin origins from the Ching Government, and in order to
memorialize the first emperor of the the Ming Dynasty, Hung-mo Chu, whose
line was ended when the Ching government took power.
Hung Hei-kwun's school of Hung Gar Kung-fu became widely known and very
famous, and soon the art spread throughout southern China, being ranked as
the best of the five big schools of martial arts in Kwantung Province. Hung
Hei-kwun's former teacher, the abbot Chi Zin, had also fled to Kwantung
Province, and when he found out that Hung Hei-kwun had started a school in Fa
City, he sent his own follower, Luk Ah-choy, to Hung's school to further his
knowledge. Luk Ah-Choy soon became an expert in the art, and Hung Hei-kwun
sent him to Canton to spread Hung Gar Kung-fu.
Wong Tai was Luk Ah-Choy's most talented follower, and his son, Wong
Kay-ying, also mastered Hung Gar Kung-fu under Luk Ah-Choy as his father did.
Wong Kay-ying, however, was not content and searched for other followers of
Hung Hei-kwun to deepen his understanding of the art. Wong Kay-ying's skill
grew so great that he was regarded as one of the "Ten Tigers of
Kwantung", the ten best martial artists in Kwantung Province.
Wong Fei-hung was Wong Kay-ying's son, and his martial art talent equaled his
father's. Wong Fei-hung became so popular in southern China that his life
story has since become the subject of over a hundred movies, television
programs, radio shows and publications.
Wong Fei-hung's top student was Lam Sai-wing, who took an important role in
spreading the art of Hung Gar Kung-fu, and in popularizing kung-fu among the
general public as well. Lam Sai-wing abandoned the practice of past masters
of reserving part of their knowledge as their own special skill, and taught
all his knowledge to his followers. Thus he provided an example for other
masters of his time to follow. Lam Sai-wing also published many books on
kung-fu, and spent much time reorganizing and developing the Hung Gar style
to suit the changing times. Because of Master Lam's dedication, Hung Gar
Kung-fu enjoys great popularity in Southern China and Hong Kong to this day.
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