Choy Lee Fut

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Like other southern Chinese martial arts, Choy Lee Fut features Five Animal techniques based on the tiger, dragon, crane, leopard, and snake but is distinguished from other southern styles by long, swinging, circular movements and twisting body motions more indicative of northern styles.

As a Southern Shaolin style with Five Animal techniques, Hung Kuen is a close relative of Choy Lee Fut and is said by some Choy Lee Fut branches to be the style that Chan Yuen-Wu taught founder Chan Heung. The stances of Choy Lee Fut are as wide as those of Hung Kuen, but higher—though not as high as those of Wing Chun, another southern Chinese martial art—trading off some of the stability and root of Hung Kuen stances to allow more mobile footwork. In order to generate the characteristic whipping power of Choy Lee Fut, the hips and shoulders must be decoupled. Though Hung Kuen also features whipping power, particularly in its crane techniques, the hips and the shoulders are more frequently locked in the same plane, resulting in a "harder" form of power. Hung Gar and Wing Chun both hold the torso perpendicular to an opponent, to allow for the full use of both arms. By contrast, Choy Lee Fut holds the torso at an angle to the opponent to reduce the target area exposed to him.

Choy Lee Fut is a characterized as a "soft-hard", "external" style. The curriculum was designed so that anti-Qing rebels could quickly gain practical proficiency and also incorporates a wide range of weapons. Several common movements have specific sounds (kiai) associated with them—for example, "yik" when throwing punches and "dik" when kicking—supposedly so that friendly forces could recognize each other in battle and to force the practitioner to coordinate his breathing patterns with his movements.

Like many martial arts, Choy Lee Fut has diverged into several lineages that differ not only in terms of training and emphasis but also on what they see as the true history of the style. There are three main branches of Choy Lee Fut.

• The Hung Sing (洪聖)Template:Ref lineage of the Chan family
• The Hung Sing (鴻勝)Template:Ref lineage of Cheung Yim
• The Buk Sing (北勝)Template:Ref lineage of Tarm Sarm

The popularity of Choy Lee Fut is strong in Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, and growing elsewhere. In the late 20th century, the style was popularized in the Canada and the United States by such Grandmasters as Wong Ha, Doc Fai Wong (黄德輝) http://www.plumblossom.net, Lee Koon Hung and his younger brother, Li Siu Hung http://www.leekoonhungkungfu.com, Mak Hin Fai http://www.makskungfu.com, Tat Mau Wong http://www.tatwong.com and Paul Chan (陳郁) http://www.hongluck.org

History

Chan Heung (陳享)Template:Ref was born in Guangdong Province, China in 1805 or 1806. At the age of six or seven, he began to study Kung Fu from his uncle, Chan Yuen-Wu (陳遠護),Template:Ref a master of Southern Shaolin. So proficient as an adolescent that he could defeat any challenger from nearby villages, Chan Heung was ready to learn more. So he began training under another Southern Shaolin master, Lee Yau-San (李友山),Template:Ref founder of Lee Gar, the Lee Family style. After only four or five years of training, it became apparent that Chan Heung was ready to move on once again. So Chan Heung set out to find Choy Fook (蔡褔),Template:Ref who is said to have been a monk on Luofu Mountain. After several years of training under Choy Fook, Chan Heung returned to his home village of Ging Mui (京梅)Template:Ref in the county of Xinhui.

The history of the Cheung Yim lineage

Cheung Yim (張炎)Template:Ref was an orphan cared for by his uncle. When Cheung Yim was twelve, his uncle had obligations that meant he would no longer be able to take care of Cheung Yim.

So he took Cheung Yim to his old friend Chan Heung in the hope that Chan would be able to take the boy in as a live-in student. However, village rules forbade Chan Heung from teaching martial arts to non-family members. Unable to take care of the boy by accepting him as a student, Chan Heung instead hired Cheung Yim to do odd jobs at his martial arts school. Cheung Yim took the opportunity to observe Chan Heung’s lessons and practiced in secret what he had gleaned (cf. Yang Luchan). One night, Chan Heung came upon Cheung Yim practicing. Impressed by the boy’s motivation, Chan Heung taught him secretly for several years before the other villagers found out and expelled Cheung Yim.

So in 1831, at the age of seventeen, Cheung Yim left Ging Mui, but not before Chan Heung gave him a letter of introduction and instructions to seek out the monk Ching Cho (青草)Template:Ref at the Zhajian Temple on Mount Bapai in Guangxi Province. Absent the distractions of secular life, Cheung Yim was able to give himself over completely to the things that the monk Ching Cho had to impart: his knowledge of Fut Gar Kung Fu and traditional Chinese medicine, a commitment to the overthrow of the foreign Manchu Qing Dynasty, and a new name, Hung-Sing (鴻勝), which reflected that patriotic ideal.

Cheung, now Cheung Hung-Sing, returned to Chan Heung and shared with his first teacher the things he had learned from his second. Chan Heung hired Cheung once again, this time as a teacher rather than as a menial/clandestine student, enabling Cheung to stay for the year or two until he left to open his own school in Foshan in 1839. Because it incorporated the Choy Gar style from Choy Fook, the Lee Gar style from Lee Yau-San, and the Fut Gar style from the monk Ching Cho, their new style became known as Choy Lee Fut.

The history of the Chan Family lineage

The traditions of the Chan Family lineage maintains Chan Heung, the founder, spent 20 years learning his art from his three mentors: Chan Yeun Wu, Lee Yau Shan and monk Choy Fook, before combining his knowledge into one effective and comprehensive system. Chan Heung called it Choy Lee Fut to commemorate his teachers and the Buddhist origin of the art (Fut means Buddha in Cantonese).

The history of the Buk Sing branch

One day, the school of Cheung Yim's student Lui Charn (雷粲)Template:Ref was visited by a fifteen-year-old Hung Kuen practitioner named Tarm Sarm (譚三),Template:Ref who asked to spar with one of the students. Tarm Sarm's reaction to his defeat by Lui Charn's student was to insist on sparring with Lui Charn himself. After dealing Tarm Sarm his second defeat, Lui Charn accepted the scrappy young man as a student. Tarm Sarm dedicated himself to learning Choy Lee Fut and, after only a few short years, became of Lui Charn's assistant instructors.

Tarm Sarm remained as pugnacious as the day he first entered Lui Charn's school and, one day, got into a fight with one of his teacher's junior classmates and two of that classmate's relatives, forcing Lui Charn to expel him before his training was complete.

The expulsion did nothing to curb Tarm Sarm's aggressiveness. In challenge matches instead of a classroom, Tarm Sarm built the reputation of his Kung Fu with victory after victory. He left his home in Kaiping County and, in the neighborhood of Siu Buk (小北) in Guangzhou, opened his own school, which was known as the Buk Sing Gwoon (北勝館).

The three sources of Choy Lee Fut

Choy Fook 蔡褔

Depending on the branch of Choy Lee Fut, Choy Fook is said to have been a master either of Northern Shaolin or of Choy Gar (蔡家),Template:Ref and possibly the son of the Choy Gar founder which was created by Choy Gau-Yee and is said to have the longest range of the five major family styles of the southern Chinese martial arts.

Either way, Choy Fook is considered a source of Choy Lee Fut's long-range northern characteristics like its swift, mobile footwork.

Lee Yau-San 李友山

Said to be a student of Jee Sin, Lee Yau-San is known not only as a teacher of Chan Heung, but as the founder of Lee Gar (李家)Template:Ref which, like Choy Gar, is one of the five major family styles of the southern Chinese martial arts.

The prominence of the leopard punch hand formation within Choy Lee Fut may be the influence of Lee Gar, a middle-range style which emphasizes leopard techniques.

Fut Gar 佛家

Fut Gar (佛家),Template:Ref literally "Buddha Family," specializes in palm techniques and for this reason is also known as Buddha Family Palm, Buddhist Palm, or Buddha Palm. Both the left and right hand are used in attack and defense. Long and short-range footwork is employed.

Branches

The Chan Family branch

Chan Heung at seven years old began learning martial arts under his uncle Chan Yuen Woo. Yuen Woo was a famed master from Shaolin Temple, and taught his nephew the Buddha Style Fist or Fut Ga Kuen. After years of study with his uncle, Chan Heung had become a consummate warrior by the early age of 15. To further his skills, Chan became a student of Lee Yau San, a Shaolin practitioner of the Lee Family Fist. Yau San was Yuen Woo's sihing or elder brother at Shaolin Temple. Becoming proficient in the Lee Family style, Chan Heung was then referred to the Shaolin monk Choi Fook to further his martial arts knowledge. After years of intensive study with the Buddhist recluse, Chan Heung revised what he had learned and formed a new system. He combined his knowledge of 3 martial arts systems and called it "Choi Lee Fut" in honour of his teachers. Three styles that constitute Choi Lee Fut are as follows. Chan Yuen Woo and the Buddha Style Fist Chan Heung learned the Buddha Style Fist, or Fat Ga Kuen, from his uncle Chan Yuen Woo. Yuen Woo was a famed master of Shaolin Temple. The Fut Ga Kuen style specializes in palm techniques. Both the left and right hand are used in attack and defence. Long and short-range footwork is employed.

Chan Family Choy Lee Fut emphasizes a soft, loose, flexible waist and faces the opponent at an angle to reduce the target area exposed. It is a system of both Kung Fu and Qigong which was developed by the founder Chan Heung. Chen Yong Fa, is Chan Heung's great, great grandson and lives in Australia.

The Cheung Yim branch

Though still characterized by the whipping power indicative of Choy Lee Fut, the Cheung Yim branch maintains a closer alignment between the hips and the shoulders, imparting a "hardness" to its power, though not to the extent of Hung Kuen.

The Buk Sing branch

Because it split off from the Cheung Yim lineage before founder Tarm Sarm could complete his training, the Buk Sing lineage features a shorter syllabus comprising only a handful of routines—Sup Jee Kuen (十字拳), Ping Kuen (平拳), Kau Da (扣打), Seung Gaap Daan Gwun (雙夾單棍)—as compared to the dozens in the syllabuses of the other branches.

The incompleteness of Tarm Sarm's training did nothing to diminish his fighting prowess. As such, the emphasis of Buk Sing Choy Lee Fut on combat rather than routines reflects the proclivities and training of its founder.

One example of Tarm Sarm's approach is the "side body" (偏身) stance, which takes the idea of reducing one's exposed target area by turning the torso to its logical conclusion: turning the torso 90° away from the opponent.

Notes

External links

Lee Koon Hung 1942-1996

Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung was the founder of the Lee Koon Hung Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu Association and was recognized as throughout the world as a prominent authority of Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu and Fu’s style Tai Chi.

Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung began his training at age 12 and studied Choy Lay Fut under 5 different Choy Lay Fut Masters: Yun Yim Cho, Poon Sing, Chow Bing, Leung Sai and So Kam Fook, Grandmaster Poon Dik’s Kung Fu classmate. Later he trained under legendary Grandmaster Shek Kin from Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon”, a great honor since he was Grandmaster Shek Kin’s only student.

Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung was a champion in Full Contact fighting, weapons and forms, and was highly skilled in Chinese Martial Arts. Many of his students became recognized fighting champions and many now continue his teachings all over the world.

Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung became an instructor at an early age and opened his 1st school in Hong Kong 1968. During his 35 years of teaching, enrollment at his schools reached over 15,000 worldwide. Currently there are schools in every major continent of the world.

While teaching in Hong Kong Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung taught many TV & Movie stars at TVB, he also starred in some Kung Fu movies including "Duel of the 7 Tigers" and "Choy Lay Fut". Grandmaster Lee Koon Hung travelled a lot teaching Choy Lay Fut and was asked numerous times by many governments to come and share his Kung Fu and Lion Dance with their countries.

Professor Lau Bun (1891-1967)

Founder of 1st American Hung Sing Kwoon and American Gung Fu Patriarch was the most influential gung fu master to have set foot on American soil. Back in China he was the last student of Master Yuen Hai, a high ranking senior disciple of Jeong Hung Sing.

Many of todays famous gung fu masters that have made the U.S.A. their home between 1940-1967 all came to pay their respects to Professor Lau Bun. Masters such as Adrian Emperado of Kajukenbo, Shaolin Karate Master Ralph Castro, and American Karate founder Ed Parker have all publicly claimed that Professor Lau Bun had a profound affect on their owm martial arts training. Against his normal operating procedures, Lau Bun has also taught the legendary movie actor Anthony Quinn.

Since master Yuen Hai was Professor Lau Bun's only Choy Lee Fut sifu, Professor Lau Bun learned the original method of Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut as passed down by Jeong Hung Sing, and after the passing of his sifu (Yuen Hai) Professor Lau Bun set out to make America his new home where he established the first gung fu school in America during the early developmental stages of Jeong Yim's Hung Sing Kuen. While in the U.S. Professor Lau used his in-depth knowledge of Choy Lee Fut and fighting to further develop the Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut he learned-based on his own, and that of his student' survival needs, as most sifu's did in those days.

Professor Lau Bun has produced well known masters such as Jew Leong and Doc Fai Wong. Currently the Head Master of Professor Lau Bun's lineage is Grand Master Dino Salvatera. The current sifu's under Grand Master Salvatera are Sifu Hannibal Yusef (Dai SiHing-very first student) SF, Sifu Frank McCarthy-SF, Sifu Alan Clausen-Fresno, Sifu J. Mike Saxon-Florida, and Sifu John Aogishi-Japan. Sifu Frank "Jew Hung Loong" McCarthy has small clubs found in Overland Park Kansas, and Plano Texas.

Chan Family branch

• Chan Family Choy Lee Fut Schools:
  • Australia, World Headquarters
  • Argentina in (Spanish)
  • Bolivia (in Spanish)
  • Canada
  • Chile (in Spanish)
  • Finland (in Finnish)
  • Germany (in German)
  • Hawaii
  • Mexico (in Spanish)
  • Poland (in Polish)
  • Portugal (in Portuguese)
  • Romania
  • Spain (in Spanish)
  • Sweden (in Swedish)
  • United States (Choy Lee Fut Martial Arts Federation of America)
  • United States (Fresno, California)
  • United States (San Diego, California)
  • Venezuela
• Choy Lee Fut Hung Sing Ancestral School (in Chinese)
• Choy Lai Fut Martial Arts Hall
• Ng Family Chinese Martial Arts Association
• UK Wuhun School of Martial Arts
• Hong Luck Kung Fu Club, Toronto, Canada

Cheung Yim branch

• Foshan Hong Sheng Guan Hungsing Choy-Lee-Fut
• Hung-Sing Choy-Lee-Fut
• Sifu Frank McCarthy's Hung Loong Kwoon
• Sifu John Aogishi-Lau Bun Lineage-Japan
• Green Grass Monk
• Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon History
• Choy Lay Fut Chinese Martial Arts Academy South Africa - Sifu Eduann Barnard
• World Lee Koon Hung Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu Association - Master Li Siu Hung and Sifu Joe Keit
• Mak Fai Washington Kung Fu Club-Master Mak Hin Fai
• Choy Lay Fut Ireland - Master Sam Lee
• Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy - Master Tat Mau Wong
  • Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy Brazil - Sifu Marco Serra & Sifu Francisco de Paula
• Fongs Kung Fu School Germany - Sifu Michael Punschke
• Kou Shou Kan (Hung Sing Koon) of Japan - Shihan Paul Roberts
• choy lay fut ,ireland-sifu sam lee
• Choy Lay Fut, USA Sifu Frank McCarthy
• Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut, USA

Buk Sing branch

• Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu Academy
• Choy Lay Fut Buck Sing Gwoon
• Choy Lay Fut Buck Sing Gwoon, Master Dave Laceyes:Choy Li Fut

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