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Wong Fei Hung
 Wong Fei Hung was born(circa 1847) in the Nam hoi district of Kwungtung province into a well respected and famous family of Gung Fu practitioners. He is undautabley the most famous and extremely well known hung gar master to date whose life has been immortalized by hundreds of movies, publications, TV shows etc. Wong Fei Hung is widely considered as the father of the modern day Hung Gar due to his additions and the pivotal role on the development of Hung gar as we know today.
Wong Fei Hung started learning gung fu and traditional Chinese medicine from a very early age under the guidance of his father Wong Kei Ying. As a young boy Wong Fei Hung traveled with his father all over China which gave him the opportunity to meet and train with some of the best gung fu masters of the time. During one of these travels (as mentioned above) he met Lam Foon Sing a student of the famous Master Tid Kiu Sam. Lam Foon Sing passed all his knowledge on to Wong Fei Hung including the form Tid Sin Kuen which was created by Tid Kiu Sam.
As Wong Fei Hung grow up, he earned an excellent reputation for his gung fu as well as for his skills as a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. He also became known and respected for his strong character, honesty, righteousness and moral values. He always helped those in need without asking for anything in return. Wong Fei Hung's martial skills and the effectiveness of his style (Hung Gar) was tested and proven time and time again in many open challenge's. Many famous and skilled gung fu fighters of the time came to cross hands with Wong Fei Hung but none could defeat him. During his life Wong Fei Hung met many challengers and never lost a fight. He soon became one of the most famous masters of his time if not the most famous. His name and stories about his gung fu skills and moral values spread far and wide. Wong Fei Hung eventually inherited his fathers school and clinic "Po Chi Lum" where thousands of people came to be accepted as his disciple and study his famous gung fu Hung Gar. It must be mentioned that besides his martial and medical skills, he was well know for his excellent Lion Dance and was referred to as the "King Of Lions". Wong Fei Hung was also the head instructor of the Kwuntung army and leader of the Civilian Militia.
 As mentioned earlier, grandmaster Wong is widely known as the father of modern day Hung Gar due to the reason that using his excellent knowledge and hand on experience he further developed and modified Hung Gar.One of his greatest legacies and masterpiece is the Fu Hok Sheong Yin Kuen, or Tiger and Crane set, which he re-choreographed and further developed. Many important aspects and principles were further developed and added in , such as the unique internal training handed down by the Tid Kiu Sam, 10 special hands(sup duk sao- sup jeut sao) also known as 10 killing hands, theory of yin-yang, 5 elements, 7 stars etc. The ten special hands were the ten most favored techniques/principles of Wong Fei Hung which he used in many challenges to defeat his opponents.He is also accredited for developing and creating the Sup Ying Kuen as a bridge form between Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen and Tid Sin Kuen.
Wong Fei Hung was married four times and had many children. Three of his wifes sadly died due to illness. It is said that his first wife died not long after their wedding. Wong had no children from the first wife however his second wife bore him two boys who were named Wong Hon-Sum and Wong Hon-Lam. Sadly she also died. Grandmaster Wong's third wife did not live long either, she also bore two sons for Wong, they were named Wong Hon-Hei and Wong Hon-Hsu. It is said that Wong Fei Hung's first son Wong Hon-Sum was excellent in gung fu, however he was ambushed and shot dead by gangsters. After this tragic incident Wong Fei Hung stopped teaching gung fu to his other children only to protect them.
 He did not remarry again for many years until he met Mok Gwai Lan(see photo)through a funny but rather embarrassing indecent on Wong Fei Hungs behalf. It is said that Wong Fei Hung and his students were asked to perform lion dance and demonstrate gung fu for the anniversary of the Lam Hoi Association. After excellent Lion Dance performance and gung fu demonstration by his students, the grandmaster Wong Fei Hung stepped out to demonstrate his famous skills to the eagerly waiting crowd. During his performance, one of his shoe accidentally came of, flew into the crowd and hit a young woman in the face. Wong Fei Hung quickly approached her and apologized. However the young woman was furious and slapped Wong in the face and told him off in front of the whole crowd saying that such a famous master of gung fu had no excuse and should be more carefully. After this incident Wong Fei Hung could not forget about the young woman and later found out that her name was Mok Gwai Lan and she was not yet married. She was also from a respectable family of gung fu masters and was skilled in her family style of Mok Gar gung fu. ( Mok Gar is one of the 5 main family styles of the southern gung fu). It is sad that she learned Mok Gar under his uncle who was also a good friend of Wong Fei Hung. Despite the age difference Wong Fei Hung eventually married Mok Gwai Lan. Because of her back ground in Mok Gar gung fu and her interest, grandmaster Wong taught her the Hung Gar system. Later she became an instructor at her husbands school and was responsible for teaching a all women's class. After Wong Fei Hung passed away (circa 1924) she moved to Hong Kong with her children and lived in Wanchai where she carried on teaching gung fu until her death. She was interwieved by Hong Kong TV a few times in the late sixties, and seventies. When She was about 83, she was interviewed by the Hong Kong TV and performed the famous Tiger and Crane form .
Wong Fei Hung had many outstanding students. One of the most famous and well known of his student who carried on the legacy and teachings of his master was Lam Sai Wing. Wong Fei Hung had two other excellent students Leung Foon and Ling Wan Gai. However they both died at a young age and never had students of their own. It is said that Leung Foo was one of grandmaster Wongs top student, but sadly he got addicted to opium and soon fell ill and died.
Wong Fei Hung remains as the most famous of all Hung Gar masters to date. The story of his life has been immortalized by over hundred movies, publications, TV and radio shows. Kwan Tak Hing a well known Chinese actor rose to fame playing the character of Wong Fei Hung over 80 plus black/white and colured movies. Even today many movies and TV shows are still made about his life and his adventures by such famous actors like Jackie Chan and Jet Li. |
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