Chinese boxing or gung fu is one of the oldest fighting arts known to the mankind. Gung fu being a part of Chinese culture has a history as long and as confusing as the Chinese history itself. Therefore it is impossible to write about the history and roots of Chinese Martial Arts in a few pages. So what you will find here is a brief history of Chinese Martial arts in general and Hung Gar in specific.

Learning about the history and origins of a style is important as it will help and improve ones understanding of the style and increase ones knowledge of technique, tradition, philosophy and principles of the style practiced. As mentioned before gung fu is a part of Chinese culture and by learning about the history of gung fu you will also learn about the Chinese Culture and traditions. The development of gung fu in general has been greatly influenced by many elements of Chinese culture such as religion, beliefs, philosophy and politics.

Buddhism and Taoism especially had strong influences and played an important role in the development of Gung Fu. For example, a fundamental teaching of Taoism, Yin Yang ; the two basic principles which govern the universe can be found in many different Chinese Martial Art styles. Yin Yang is a cosmic dualistic approach where two opposing forces flow into one another and constantly interact to create all things and all development. Yin represents the negative or passive female principle.Yang represents the positive or active male principle. According to Taoist, these two inseparable forces where one can not exist without the other are the basic principles of the universe. These principles had a strong influence on the development of Chinese martial art systems.

Like Taoism, Buddhism has also played a great role on the development of Chinese martial arts. Legendary Siu Lam - Shaolin kung fu of the Buddhist temple Shaolin(Mandarin)/Siu Lam(Cantonese) is the best example of this.