China's Fountain of Youth
by Joseph Plante, Inside Kung Fu, August 2001
Remember when you first began your journey into the martial arts? First you learned to distinguish between the different martial arts, such as karate, tae kwon do, kung-fu and so forth. Then, after narrowing your focus to kung-fu, you found hundreds of different styles of kung-fu, such as shaolin, praying mantis, choy li fut, cha kuen, and many more too numerous to mention. Beyond that, there were even dozens of variations on each style.
Some of these variations are so drastic (as in the case of wing chun) that feuds are fought over which variation was more "traditional", "correct" or "effective". What's more, sometimes the variations are so different that it seems a mere coincidence that these two different traditions share the same name. With so many different opinions, which is the real school of kung-fu?
Hung Up On Hung Gar
Hung gar kung-fu is a excellent example of how one term can have many different meanings and how confusing this can be. The Cantonese character "hung" ("hong" in Mandarin) literally means "red". It is a common surname, hence the term "gar", which means "clan". It is also known as hung kuen (red fist). Often families had their own style named after them, sort of like Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Generally speaking, "hung gar" refers to the particular kung-fu school that descended from the southern Shaolin monk Gee Sim and his student, the layman disciple Hung Hay Kwun.
This lineage includes the legendary folk hero Wong Fei-hung. Wong's exploits have been fictionalized in over a hundred feature-length Hong Kong movies, such as Jackie Chan's Drunken Master series, Jet Li's Once Upon A Time in China series, and the world-record longest movie serial, Kwan Tak Hing's Wong Fei Hung series. Most of the great hung gar masters in the United States, such as Buck Sam Kong, Kwong Wing Lam, John Leong, Y.C. Wong, and Frank Yee, are part of this lineage. Many of them immigrated from Canton or Hong Kong, where this school is very popular, earning it the colloquial name of "Canton" hung gar. However, this is just one school of hung gar. There is much more.
First, it is important to point out some of the ambiguities of the term hung gar. There was a parallel society known as Hung Tong (Red Fraternity) that was an underground society of rebels against the Ching dynasty. They took their name from the founder of the previous Ming dynasty, Emperor Hung Wu (1368-1399 CE). Their motto was "overthrow the Ching, restore the Ming." Now many of these rebels practiced hung gar, and many hung gar masters, such a Hung Hay Kwun, were active in the rebellion, but these two groups are somewhat distinct. Not all hung gar practitioners were rebels, nor did all the rebels practice hung gar. However, there was so much overlap that this rebellion cannot be separated from the martial art. Legends and popular movies have further muddled this relationship between politics and kung-fu so this distinction is quite bewildering.
Poor translation has brought about a new problem. Hong (as in the Mandarin) is phonetically similar to Hong (as in the Cantonese) which can mean "hero". This has a different inflection pronunciation and a different Chinese character. It is an entirely different word, but in English, they sound the same so they have been mistaken for each other. There is another completely different style of kung-fu called hong kuen meaning "hero's fist".
In the Mandarin, the same character hong (red) is also frequently used in reference to Shaolin Temple kung-fu. This is because two of the primary forms of Shaolin are both called "hong", xiaohongquan (small red fist) and dahongquan (big red fist). Unlike "hero" kung-fu, both schools use the same Chinese character. Although hung gar is descended from Shaolin, xiaohongquan and dahongquan have no apparent relationship to hung gar.
Once the puzzling references to Hung Tong rebels, "Hero" kung-fu, and xiaohongquan are eliminated, still more different schools of hung gar remain. Most of these are divided by region. Apart from "Canton" hung gar, there is "Wubei" hung gar, "Szechuan" hung gar, as well as some others that are very obscure. There is also the esoteric Ha Say Fu hung gar, or four lower tigers red clan. These schools are completely different from "Canton" hung gar.
Original Style
It would be foolish to dismiss these other schools of hung gar as inauthentic or nontraditional. Even though the lineage of "Canton" hung gar can be clearly traced back to the Gee Sim, a Shaolin Monk from the Southern temple, these other schools have also stood the test of time and have a valid claim to the name hung gar. Unfortunately, none of the other styles are as popular or well-documented, so they will always be in the shadow of the "Canton" school. Who knows when or where they separated, or if they even came from the same root?
Perhaps their shared name is entirely coincidental. "Wubei" and "Szechuan" hung gar bear such a minimal resemblance to "Canton" hung gar that it is hard to imagine that they were once the same style. Ultimately, it does not matter too much. The fact that these other schools have survived for generations is some testament to their effectiveness. After so much time, it would be foolish and futile to be possessive of the name.
Fortunately, the past two centuries of "Canton" hung gar history are well-documented. Deep within its past, there is an interesting chapter of its origins that may explain at least one of these other schools. Early texts describe the original hung gar as having short-hand techniques and focusing upon close-distance fighting. Its horse stance was described as small, only the width of the hips plus a half. Furthermore, it contained no jumping movements and could be practiced in a four-tile square (which is about a square yard). The monk Gee Sim made three journeys from the Fukien Shaolin Temple to Canton. There, he observed different styles of fighting and determined his hung gar short-hand techniques were good for defense, but lacked offensive capabilities necessary for Canton's brutal city streets. So he did what any master would do. He modified the system. He added longer hand techniques and widened the horse stance. He increased the focus on offense. Eventually, this modification grew to become "Canton" hung gar.
That earlier version of hung gar may still exist. Ha Say Fu hung gar fits the description of the original hung gar. It focuses on short-hand techniques and defense, its basic stance is narrow, and it does not have any jumping or take up a lot of floor space to practice. Perhaps it is a vital clue to the roots of hung gar.
The Four Lower Tigers Meet Canton
Sifu Kwong Wing Lam of Sunnyvale, Calif., trained in both "Canton" hung gar and Ha Say Fu hung gar. He teaches both schools as complimentary parts of his hung gar curriculum. His students begin with the "Canton" hung gar, then progress to the Ha Say Fu hung gar later. This is because the Ha Say Fu is a little more sophisticated, with a much deeper emphasis upon internal power and many esoteric weapons.
Hung gar is famous for its animal sets. The Canton school is famous for a set known as "sup ying" (ten forms). These forms are the five animals (dragon, snake, tiger, panther and crane) and the five elements (gold, wood, water, fire and earth). Frequently, students neglect the elements, giving rise to the set known as five animals. The dragon form uses intense internal power exercises while the other four animals train fighting techniques that mimic the spirit of their respective beast.
In ha say hung gar, these five animals each get their own respective set. Each set has a different focus upon internal power. Each of these animal sets rely heavily upon yee gee kim yeung ma (withdrawing the gonads horse stance) instead of the sei ping ma (four corners horse stance). This stance is shorter, the width of your hips plus a half, with the toes pointing inward like the wing chun stance.
The hung gar salute has an elevated mystique. Because of its associations with Hung Tong, secret gestures were used to so underground rebels could recognize each other, like the Masonic handshake. This carried over into hung gar. The salute is a fist and a tiger claw, made with two steps forward then two steps backward. Both the salutes of Canton and Ha Say Fu hung gar fit this description, but their salutes are distinct. The Canton school steps forward to a cat stance while Ha Say Fu uses a stance with the heels together and the toes pointed outward.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Ha Say Fu is its emphasis upon unusual ancient weapons. Ha Say Fu contains many weapon sets that are seldom seen anymore, such as the thunder hoe, the double tiger-head shields, the gen (a precursor to the Okinawan sai), the nine-pointed rake, the dragon-head wooden bench and the double-headed dragon chain whip. Both schools share the same distinctive weapon, the butterfly swords. However, each school has its own individual version of this set.
Another fascinating aspect of Ha Say Fu is that it has a unique iron palm training method. Ha Say Fu hung gar favors the tiger claw to attack, just like the Canton school. So, its iron palm trains the tiger claw strike in addition to palm strikes. This iron palm method utilizes a special training table where the iron-filled striking target can move. The moving target is struck, grabbed and moved with the tiger claw within the designated sequence of palm strikes.
Sifu Wing Lam believes Ha Say Fu may well be Monk Gee Sim's original unmodified system, but acknowledges it is impossible to prove. It does fit the descriptions in the history books and preserves many of the characteristics of "Canton" hung gar. Furthermore, according to Wing Lam, the feel of Ha Say Fu is deeply rooted in traditional shaolin. If it is the true original, the modification was far too long ago to have been properly documented. Unlike the "Canton" school, the lineage of Ha Say Fu is murky.
A Mysterious Master
Sifu Wing Lam was introduced to his Ha Say Fu hung gar teacher, Leung Wah Chew, through a mutual friend. Sigung Leung would make house calls on their tiny apartment, always arriving by a different route. Since open floor space is scarce, they would practice on the rooftops above Hong Kong's crowded urban sprawl. They had the minimal resources for a school-just a teacher, a few students and a meeting time. Often, they fashioned the unique weapons of Ha Say Fu hung gar out of whatever they could acquire, usually substituting wood pieces for metal, just so they could transmit the teachings. Wing Lam never learned his teacher's complete martial lineage. Leung's reputation and skill were enough that he felt privileged to train under him.
Leung had connections with the "dark society" of Hong Kong, what we might call organized crime. He had a kung-fu school in Macao that he closed when he immigrated to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, he was the boss of a major underground casino (gambling casinos are legal in Macao, but not in Hong Kong). His fighting skills were sharpened constantly by this business. Wing Lam remembers when Leung brought over a friend to assist coaching fighting skills. Although this fighter was impressive, the very next day he was ambushed in the streets of Hong Kong by a rival gang, who cut him to death with long Chinese watermelon knives. Wing Lam never again heard anything else about his teacher's notorious guest.
Leung Wah Chew was a good friend of another great master, Um Yue Ming. Together these martial brothers answered the challenge of the first Asian public kung-fu tournament of this century, the famous Chinese Taiwan Kuoshu (national art) Association Invitational of 1957. Competitors from Macao, Taiwan and Hong Kong sparred against each other, comparing a wide range of styles such as shaolin, choy li fut, yau kung moon, snake, white crane, mantis, law hron moon and more. Leung represented Ha Say Fu hung gar and Um represented hop gar. They joined 30 other competitors from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, neither placed very well. Since neither had trained with sparring gloves or tournament rules, both were eliminated before the finals. This loss did little to affect their pride. Um Yue Ming's school used a black lion for two consecutive Chinese New Years to collect lucky money. The black lion symbolizes an open martial challenge to duel with any and all comers. In those days, this was no idle boast. Such challenges seldom went unanswered. Eventually, Um immigrated to San Francisco where he opened a school and clinic on Powell street. Some say he overstepped his boundaries. In the 1970s, he was gunned down at the door of his school.
Wing Lam had heard that Leung recruited his students into dark society, however he never got the chance to find out the truth. After studying with Leung for five years, Wing Lam immigrated to the United States, possibly escaping a life of crime.
By Any Other Name
It is impossible to prove which is the original school of hung gar. It also is impossible to know whether Ha Say Fu hung gar is really the original. The ancient mists of time have shrouded the truth from us forever. Ultimately, it does not really matter. While we must always honor our martial ancestors for their sacrifice, we cannot dwell so deeply in the past that we lose track of the moment. Like computer programs, it is not the first version that we need to know; it is the most up-to-date versions.
The most important issue here is actually about knowledge. We live in a time where information is abundant, only if you are willing to seek it out. So many people today are willing to accept the first easy answer and worship it as the truth. In kung-fu, this attitude is a terrible disservice. The greatest treasure of kung-fu is its long and diverse history. From a modest seedling, it has grown to a mighty tree that has born many fruits. It would be such a shame to see any of those fruits go to waste when so many people are hungry.
It is the responsibility of each earnest student to delve deeply into this wealth of knowledge. Only a fool will lean upon his own misunderstanding. While we might dedicate our lives to a particular discipline, we should not limit ourselves so much that we fail to see the forest for the trees.
by Joseph Plante, Inside Kung Fu, August 2001
|
