Category Archives: History

I stated in the beginning of the article “Everything my Sifu told me was a lie” that I would put together a cleaner version of the information. I hope this one makes a little more sense. Most of the information is the same, but I have put it into a more comprehensible order, and added some new information and analysis.

Every martial artist has told and retold the well known and well worn story of Bodidharma. How he traveled to China in around 525 AD. He had a visit with the Emperor, who was shocked and amazed, mortified and stupefied to find that Bodidharma did not believe that the Emperor had gained any merit in the next life for all of his good deeds in this life. So he sent Bodidharma away. Bodidharma made his way next to the Shaolin Temple. Here he tried to teach the monks his unique take on Buddhism. But he found the monks to be in terrible physical condition. He went out and sat in a nearby cave for nine years, came out at the end of this seclusion and wrote two books, The Muscle and Tendon Change Classic, and the Marrow and Brain Washing Classic. He also created a set of exercises, the Eighteen Lohan Hands, which formed the foundation of the Chinese martial arts, and later still, all martial arts in the world.

Nearly every martial arts history one is able to find in books or online will tell this tale. But, sadly, this legend is just another lie. The legend of Bodidharma cannot be traced back further than the popular Chinese novel The Travels of Lao Can, which was written between 1904 and 1907. For reasons unknown to me, no one bothers to question the myth. In China, the myth has been examined repeatedly. Tang Fan Sheng (Tang Hao) reported in 1930 that the Bodidharma story can be traced back to a single source – the preface by Li Jing to the “Marrow Washing Classic”. Matsuda Takatomo wrote An Illustrated History of Chinese Martial Arts, which had original research, as well as revisiting work done previously by Tang Hao and Xu Jedong. He reports that the oldest available copies of the classics were written in 1827. There were books published in the time gap (525 A.D. – 1827 A.D.) which mentions Shaolin, but it seems that the Shaolin Temple gained some notoriety due to staff technique, not empty hand boxing. And even this notoriety was not highly praised by all. There are some contemporary writings which hold Shaolin staff in low regard. So, it would seem that in the world of fact, Shaolin boxing is not the origin of all martial arts. Shaolin boxing isn’t even the origin of Shaolin boxing!

Bodidharma didn’t create the Chinese martial arts. And even without trying to debunk the legend of Bodidharma, one must look at the tons of archaeological evidence which clearly show that martial arts were practiced in China long before the Shaolin temple was ever built. Even if Bodidharma did all that is said of him (he didn’t), it means a lot less if the Chinese martial arts already existed before he was ever there. One should give some thought to the exercises which are said to have been created by Bodidharma and supposedly evolved into the Chinese martial arts, and think about just exactly how much evolution we are talking about. The exercises are nothing like any martial art. The so called 18 Lohan hands are a series of basic callisthenic exercises which bear no resemblance to martial arts.  It was all researched and exposed as falsehood by martial arts historian Tang Hao. And did the world stop telling the lies when Tang Hao exposed the truth back in the 1930’s? No! That would make too much sense! Instead, the martial arts community, almost as if they had met and discussed the matter (they didn’t), ignored the research and factual presentation of Tang Hao on the history of Chinese martial arts. They all opted to perpetuate the lie of Bodidharma. Why they would have wanted to hold on to the false story is beyond me. The fact is this; the Chinese Martial Arts did not originate in the Shaolin Temple. The Chinese martial arts originated with the Militaries of the various city-states that eventually became the various dynasties which became China.

Part of the ease in believing the myth, aside from the massive amount of repetition it gets from so called authorities, is in the disconnect our modern world has between what we call “martial arts”, and military disciplines. In the modern sense, a martial art is a practice of self defense activities which are pursued for sport or health reasons. In the older sense, a martial art would be military training. Somehow this disconnect has crept into our common sense, and in our modern time, we fail to see it unless it is pointed out to us. It would be extremely absurd to assert that China had no standardized military training until however many decades or possibly centuries it took for Bodidharma’s 18 Lohan Hands to develop into Shaolin Boxing. And in China, it was common practice to conscript civilians into military service (in the modern time, it would be called the draft). People had to know how to protect themselves. And they had to have some ability, however small, in the use of weapons, for then as now; hand to hand fighting should only be seen as a last resort. All soldiers know this. The real martial arts never began as a sport no matter the country of origin. It was a serious, life-or-death training for the military.

The myths and falsehoods surrounding the Shaolin Temple are perpetuated by people who do not want to be cast out of the martial arts “in group”. Or, perhaps, it is just so much easier to carry the same old story which everyone has already heard, rather than tell the truth and have to explain it to people who already believe the lie. Add to this the fact that, just as it was in previous generations in China, people take legendary figures and weave an intricate tapestry of lies in order to connect their style or system with these figures of legend. They follow this old practice in order to legitimize their style, or perhaps to add some perceived glory to the art. This is still a common practice today. How many styles claim that some long dead founder learned the system while working as a servant in the house of someone else? Look at the following:

http://www.taichifollowme.com/article/article1.htm

An excerpt:

“Yang Lu Chan is the most important people about Tai Chi Chuan phylogeny. The story of Yang Lu Chan learning Tai Chi Chuan is very famous in China. Then, he was a counterjumper in Chen family herbal medicine shop at his hometown Yong Nian County, He Bei Province. Later, he was sent to Chen Jia Gou, Wen Xian County, Henan Province ,hometown of Chen family, for his brightness, hard working and honesty. Chen Chang Xing was teaching Tai Chi Chuan at Chen Jia Gou then, and Yang Lu Chan was very eager to learn Tai Chi Chuan from Chen Chang Xing. But he could not realize his dream because of the severe familial restrictness. So Yang Lu Chan began to learn Tai Chi Chuan in his own way by peeping and listening carefully while Chen Chang Xing was teaching his student, then he practiced and exercised alone secretly. Then by then, his skill improved to a certain extend.

One night some years later, the secret was discovered by Chen Chang Xing when Yang Lu Chan was practicing Tai Chi Chuan. According to the tradition of Wushu circle, it is a very fearful mistake and tobu to learn kung fu of others secretly. And the learner would be abolished kung fu from his body if he is lucky, even be killed if he is unlucky. But Chen Chang Xing did not do that, because he was kindheart and inspired by Yang Lu Chan’s diligence and honesty. And so, he accepted Yang Lu Chan as his student. Since then, Yan Lu Chan followed Chen Chang Xing and learned Tai Chi Chuan seriously for 18 years , and finally he realized the soul and essence of Tai Chi Chuan.”

And this:

http://www.hskfounder.zoomshare.com/1.html from which we read:

“Upon their arrival in King Mui, the two were met by Chan Heung, the chief gung fu instructor there.  Jeong Kwan explained their situation but was faced with the unfortunate fact that those without the Chan Surname were allowed to reside in their village much less learn their gung fu.  But Jeong Kwan pleaded until Chan Heung devised a plan.  He was able to take in the young boy, but only in the capacity of a groundskeeper.  However, the young Jeong Yim wasn’t allowed to learn the gung fu from their village.   An agreement was made and in 1836, Jeong Kwan left his young nephew with Chan Heung.  

                      During his daily chores, the young Jeong Yim watched as the students practiced their gung fu.  Since he already was accomplished by the age of 12, he was able to pick up Chan Heung’s Choy Lee Fut rather quickly.  At the time, Choy Lee Fut was based off of the styles taught by Monk Choy Fook, and Lee Yau San.  Jeong Yim was already familiar with the Lee Ga system, which ironically they shared the same sifu.  So at night time  while everyone was sleeping, Jeong Yim would practice his stolen gung fu until he was caught in the act by Chan Heung.”

See any similarity? I could go on and on with just how many different styles claim this story as part of their “history, but that would take this too far off topic, I will save it for another day. For now I will just note in passing that this story is so widespread that it more than likely originated in a Wu Xiao novel in China. It is possible, I suppose, that one of the arts is telling the authentic story, and that all of the others which use the story have stolen their history, but I sincerely doubt it.

Another problem occurs when one begins to research the Southern Chinese martial arts, which is where my research naturally had to go, as I was ultimately trying to write about the history of Hung Gar.

If you travel to Fujian province in China, and visit several cities, you will find several sites which claim to be the southern Shaolin Temple. Put simply – there is not one shred of evidence that such a temple ever existed. There are claims upon claims, but the earliest references to the southern Shaolin Temple are found in 19^th century Heaven and Earth Society membership manuals. From all outward appearances, the 1915 manual called Secrets of Shaolin Boxing is the reference point for most of these myths, and people seem, for decades on decades, to treat it as fact. To this day, the claims from this one source are treated as fact! The term “according to tradition” is used to erase the need for actual research. This book was little more than an attempt by the secret societies to “weave together” the various myths surrounding Chinese martial arts. The manual made Bodidharma the founder of Chan (Zen), although the doctrine was well established by the time Bodidharma was said to have resided at the Shaolin Temple. This weaving took the groundless stories, and presented them all as fact. It also provided the opportunity for the Hung Mun society to claim being founded by some renegade monks from a temple which did not exist. This allowed them to recruit through fostering anti Qing sentiment in the country. Tang Hao and Xu Jedong exposed all of this as fantasy in the 1930’s, and Stanley Henning brought it back up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, but the mainstream martial arts community clings to the fabrication as if their entire existence depends upon it. Poor Ji Seen Sim See is said to be a survivor of the destruction of the Northern Shaolin Temple. Sometimes he is one of the five ancestors who survived the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple. To ease this discrepancy, many martial arts “historians” claim that he survived the destruction of the northern and fled to the southern, only to survive that destruction as well! Talk about a run of bad luck! And whenever you mention the Five Ancestors, you must be clear about which version of the story you are speaking of – the Hung Mun or the Hung Gar. Although both are supposed to be the same thing, the southern kung fu systems claim a different set of people than the Triads claim. If one will take a bit of time to look into what was going on in China at this time, it becomes clear that the Heaven and Earth Society was fostering the anti-Qing sentiment to recruit members. It seems that making up a history was as popular then as it is today.

There is also a long standing myth based on the Chinese saying “Bei Tui, Nan Quan”, which is, in English, “North leg, South fist”. The general line on this one goes that all of the northern areas of China are either vast open plains, or mountains. As such the people there traveled mainly on horseback, and as such would have developed strong legs. In the south, the story continues, the alleys were small, and crowded, and there was more marshland, so people traveled by boat, or foot.

A more likely idea was proposed in 1998 by Stanley Henning that military hand to hand combat would be short bridge (close in fighting), or short boxing, as opposed to the more flowery and pretty long boxing of the northern regions. Adding to this view are the facts of military recruitment in southern regions due to repeated invasions by the Japanese pirates. When this fact is taken into consideration, one is able to see clearly that the densely populated cities in the south, being harassed by Japanese pirates, and the local population being conscripted into military service = southern short bridge boxing. In actual combat, especially in the circumstances in which the military find themselves performing hand to hand combat, the fancy high kicks (which martial artists love to perform but quietly admit are useless in a fight) are not seen. One can see then how the southern styles of Chinese martial arts may have developed along a different line, and developed a different fighting mentality than the northern flowery long boxing. It is not really so complicated.

So how did these military techniques become the elaborate kung fu systems we see today? What about those techniques which clearly have no martial purpose whatsoever? Myth and idiocy creep into the mix here, and we end up with a stupid line about how we no longer know what the move is for because someone died and never told their most trusted disciple. Then we are told the line about how we need to do a ton of in depth application study. Only rarely will the truth of the matter ever come out. The simple truth is that the techniques which make no sense at all were put in there to make the forms more interesting for street performances or Chinese Opera. In earlier times in China, a martial artist had only a few choices as far as martial related employment. Basically, you could go into the military, work in private security, or work as a street performer. Only later did the public martial arts school become an option.  

Hung Gar has a fake history, and it has a real one. It is just that the real history is not as exciting as the fake one. People in the southern part of China practiced a type of short bridge boxing which came to be known as Hung Gar. It is no less a brutal martial art for the fabrication of it’s history. It seems that martial arts have a real problem with the truth anyway – look at the lies in any available history of Taekwondo! 4,000 year history my foot! So it would seem that, comfortingly, Hung Gar is not alone. All of the southern Shaolin systems face the same dilemma.

I had about fifty pages written on the history of the Chinese martial arts and China when I started really thinking about the Bodidharma myth, and how I had read some accounts which discredited the entire myth. I started doing some more in depth research from reliable (i.e. non martial arts) resources, and found tons of information.

Here are some references for further reading on this subject. If you feel the need to do an online slam of me for this article, please be smart enough to read the information in the references first. I am not the only one out there proclaiming the truth.

Or go to Google Scholar, or Jstor. Anytime you go to a regular martial arts school’s website, they are selling you something.

References:

• The Chinese Martial Arts in Historical Perspective, S. Henning (Dec. 1981)
• On Politically Correct Treatment of Myths in the Chinese Martial Arts, S. Henning (1995)
• Shaolin-Wudang Research, Tang Hao (1930)
• Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals A Historical Survey, B. Kennedy and E. Guo (2005)
• The Riddle of the Southern Shaolin, C. Toepker
• Damo: Conspiracyof Ignorance, C. Toepker

The title is a gross exageration…I realize that this entry is not the most organized I have ever written. However, I felt that it deals with an important topic, and I will be posting a lot more on this subject. Eventually, it will all get more organized and concise. The subject matter is what is currently hampering my long promised book on the history of Hung Gar. The more research I did into the subject, the worse the standard story looked. Then when I got into the actual beginnings of Hung Gar, things really unraveled. This is not my final position; it is simply where my thinking is at this moment. I am still processing a ton of information, and I am also trying to get it all organized and a much more detailed article will be coming soon.

Nearly every martial artist on the planet knows how the martial arts originated.

At least, they think they know.

What we know is based on what we were told. Unfortunately, what we were told, and what we usually tell our students is a lie.

As an example, we all know that Bodidharma traveled to China in around 525 AD. He had a visit with the Emperor, who was shocked and amazed, mortified and stupefied to find that Bodidharma did not believe that the Emperor had gained any merit in the next life for all of his good deeds in this life. So he sent Bodidharma away. Bodidharma made his way next to the Shaolin Temple. Here he tried to teach them his unique take on Buddhism. But he found the monks to be in terrible physical condition. He went out and sat in a nearby cave for nine years, came out at the end of this seclusion and wrote two books, The Muscle and Tendon Change Classic, and the Marrow and Brain Washing Classic. He also created a set of exercises, the Eighteen Lohan Hands, which formed the foundation of the Chinese martial arts, and all martial arts in the world.

Nearly every martial arts history one is able to find in books or online will tell this tale.

Well, it is all pure BS.

The legend of Bodidharma cannot be traced back further than the popular Chinese novel The Travels of Lao Can, which was written between 1904 and 1907.

And even without trying to debunk the legend of Bodidharma, one must look at the tons of archaeological evidence which clearly shows that martial arts were practiced in China long before the Shaolin temple was ever built. Even if Bodidharma did all that is said of him, it means a lot less if the Chinese martial arts already existed before he was ever there.

He didn’t create the Chinese martial arts. One should give some thought to the exercises which are said to have been created by Bodidharma and evolved into the Chinese martial arts, and think about just exactly how much evolution we are talking about here. The exercises are nothing like any martial art.

I feel that part of the ease in believing the myth, aside from the massive amount of repetition it gets from so called authorities, is in the disconnect our modern world has between what we call “martial arts”, and military disciplines.

In the modern sense, a martial art is a practice of self defense activities which are pursued for sport or health reasons. In the older sense, a martial art would be military training. Somehow this disconnect has crept into our common sense, and in our modern time, we fail to see it unless it is pointed out to us. It would be extremely absurd to assert that China had no standardized military training until however many decades it took for Bodidharma’s 18 Lohan Hands to develop into Shaolin Boxing.

The myths and falsehoods surrounding the Shaolin Temple are perpetuated by people who do not want to be cast out of the martial arts “in group”. Or, perhaps, it is just so much easier to carry the same old story which everyone has already heard, rather than tell the truth and have to explain it to people who already believe the lie.

It was all researched and exposed as falsehood by martial arts historian Tang Hao. And did the world stop telling the lies when Tang Hao exposed the truth back in the 1930’s?

No! That would make too much sense! No, the martial arts community, almost as if they had met and discussed the matter (they didn’t), ignored the research and factual presentation of Tang Hao on the history of Chinese martial arts. They all opted to perpetuate the lie of Bodidharma. Why they would have wanted to hold on to the false story is beyond me.

For me, I will no longer pass the myth on to any who want to find out about the truth of the history of Chinese martial arts. I will give it straight.

The facts; the Chinese Martial Arts did not originate in the Shaolin Temple. The Chinese martial arts originated with the Militaries of the various city-states that eventually became the various dynasties which became China.

The martial arts never began as a sport no matter the country of origin. It was a serious, life-or-death training for the military.

Another problem occurs when one begins to research the Southern Chinese martial arts, which is where my research naturally had to go, as I was ultimately trying to write about the history of Hung Gar.

There is a long standing myth based on the Chinese saying “Bei Tui, Nan Quan”, which is, in English, “North leg, South fist”. The general line on this one goes that all of the northern areas of China are either vast open plains, or mountains. As such the people there traveled mainly on horseback, and as such would have developed strong legs. In the south, the story continues, the alleys were small, and crowded, and there was more marshland, so people traveled by boat, or foot.

A more likely idea was proposed in 1998 by Stanley Henning that military hand to hand combat would be short bridge (close in fighting), or short boxing, as opposed to the more flowery and pretty long boxing of the northern regions. Adding to this view are the facts of military recruitment in southern regions due to repeated invasions by the Japanese pirates. All of a sudden, one is able to see clearly that the densely populated cities in the south, being harassed by Japanese pirates, and the local population being conscripted into military service – southern short bridge boxing. In actual combat, especially in the circumstances in which the military find themselves performing hand to hand combat, the fancy high kicks (which martial artists love to perform but quietly admit are useless in a fight) are not seen. One can see then how the southern styles of Chinese martial arts may have developed along a different line, and developed a different fighting mentality than the northern flowery long boxing.

Then there is the problem of the southern Shaolin Temple.

If you travel to Fujian province in China, and visit several cities, one will find several sites which claim to be the southern Shaolin Temple. Put simply – there is not one shred of evidence that such a temple ever existed. There are claims upon claims, but the earliest references to the southern Shaolin Temple are found in 19^th century Heaven and Earth Society membership manuals. From all outward appearances, the 1915 manual called Secrets of Shaolin Boxing is the reference point for most of these myths, and people seem, for decades on decades, to treat it as fact. To this day, the claims from this one source are treated as fact! This book was little more than an attempt by the secret societies to “weave together” the various myths surrounding Chinese martial arts. The manual made Bodidharma the founder of Chan (Zen), although the doctrine was well established by the time Bodidharma was said to have resided at the Shaolin Temple. This weaving took the groundless stories, and presented them all as fact. It also provided the opportunity for the Hung Mun society to claim being founded by some renegade monks from a temple which did not exist. This allowed them to recruit through fostering anti Qing sentiment in the country. Tang Hao and Xu Jedong exposed all of this as fantasy in the 1930’s, and Stanley Henning brought it back up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, but the mainstream martial arts community clings to the entire fabrication as if their entire existence depends upon it.

So, where are we?

I am training in a martial art which originated in a temple which did or didn’t exist, founded by criminal organizations that fabricated their origins and history out of thin air. The temple that didn’t exist was affiliated with one that did, but was not known for martial arts until the 1600’s.

No one ever tells you that the techniques which make no sense at all were put in there to make the forms more interesting for street performances or Chinese Opera. It is always some stupid line about how we no longer know what the move is for because someone died and never told their most trusted disciple. Then comes the line about how we need to do a ton of in depth application study.

It is enough to give me a HUGE headache.

Okay, the Bodidharma story…

For reasons unknown to me, no bothers to question it. In China, it has been examined repeatedly. Tang Fan Sheng (Tang Hao) reported in 1930 that the Bodidharma story can be traced back to a single source – the preface by Li Jing to the “Marrow Washing Classic”.

Matsuda Takatomo wrote An Illustrated History of Chinese Martial Arts, which had original research, as well as revisiting work done previously by Tang Hao and Xu Jedong. He reports that the oldest available copies of the classics were written in 1827. There were books published in the time gap which mention Shaolin, but it seems that the Shaolin Temple gained some notoriety due to staff technique, but not empty handed boxing.

So, here I am. I am supposed to be feeling nauseous, or something. My art does not have a fake history, it has a real one. It is just that the real history is not as exciting as the fake one. People in the southern part of China practiced a type of short bridge boxing which came to be known as Hung Gar. It is no less a brutal martial art for the fabrication of history. It seems that martial arts have a real problem with the truth anyway – look at the lies in any available history of Taekwondo! 4,000 year history my foot! So it would seem that, comfortingly, Hung Gar is not alone. All of the southern Shaolin systems face the same dilemma.

I had about fifty pages written on the history of the Chinese martial arts and China when I started really thinking about the Bodidharma myth, and how I had read some accounts which discredited the entire myth.

I started doing some more in depth research from reliable (i.e. non martial arts) resources, and found tons of information.

Here are some references for further reading on this subject. If you feel the need to do an online slam of me for this article, please be smart enough to read the information in the referneces first. I am not the only one out there proclaiming the truth.

Or go to Google Scholar, or Jstor. Anytime you go to a regular martial arts school’s website, they are selling you something.

References:

• The Chinese Martial Arts in Historical Perspective, S. Henning (Dec. 1981)
• On Politically Correct Treatment of Myths in the Chinese Martial Arts, S. Henning (1995)
• Shaolin-Wudang Research, Tang Hao (1930)
• Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals A Historical Survey, B. Kennedy and E. Guo (2005)
• The Riddle of the Southern Shaolin, C. Toepker
• Damo: Conspiracyof Ignorance, C. Toepker

The birth and evolution of Chinese secret societies is an often discussed, but poorly understood aspect of the history of Hung Gar. Nearly every practitioner of Hung Gar knows that the birth of Hung Gar had some connection to the secret societies, but very little more is said.

Secret societies have existed all over the world. But in China they reached a baffling level of power and influence. One reference sites the beginning of the Christian era in the west as the same time as the beginning of the secret societies in China. These were the Chih Mei (Carnation Eyebrows), so named for their rite of painting their eyebrows with vermillion. The Chih Mei were defeated during the Han era when a commander dressed his soldiers like Chih Mei, painted eyebrows and all, and ambushed the group, killing their leader.

During the time of the decline of Han dynasty, there were other secret societies which were active as well, such as the Tung Ma (Copper Horse) and the T’ieh Ching (Iron Shins).

The Yellow Turbans were a huge group who acted in rebellion in 184 A.C.E. They had a vast number of soldiers which were divided up under thirty-six generals. They swept throughout the northern regions and “subdued the whole north of China”. This was the group who played the largest roll in the downfall of the Han dynasty, and bringing about the start of the Three Kingdoms era.

The Three Kingdoms was an important era in the development of Chinese martial arts, as well as secret society activity. It was during this time when Gwan Yu, Liu Pei, and Chang Fei (who were leaders during this time of rebellion and instability) took an oath to “fight and live and die together”. Similar oaths are taken within the modern Triads.

In a historical romance titled Shi Hu Chuan, a more extensive oath was taken by the 108 rebels. According to the Shi Hu Chuan, the oath was as follows;

“We are one hundred eight persons assembled in this hall, who regard stars as our brothers, and Heaven and Earth as our Father and Mother, and though unlike in features, we are alike in stateliness. We possess one hundred eight hearts, and every heart is spotless. We bind ourselves to share each other’s happiness and bear each other’s burdens. We arrange our names before Heaven, and must not become a laughing-stock for men. The information of one day being found reliable must be acted upon with lifelong courage. Should any of us harbor unkindness in our hearts and sever ourselves from our great cause, or say one thing at home and another abroad; or begin without continuing to the end, may Heaven look down on us as devils by our sides watch us; may knives and swords cut our bodies and thunderbolts blot out every trace of us; may we everlastingly sink into hell and not be reborn as human beings for a myriad ages. May such be the retribution of those of us who break our oath. Let Heaven and all the Gods look down on us as we swear.”

Following the oath, they drank one another’s blood mixed in wine.

It would only be about two hundred years later that another secret society made itself known and felt throughout China, the Bai Lien, or White Lotus Society.

Kublai Kahn crushed opposition within China to establish the first foreign group to rule all of China, the Yuan Dynasty in 1280 A.C.E. By all accounts, Kublai and his successor were both powerful and wise and were able to crush both opposition and rebellion. But with the death of Wu Tsung the empire fell into the hands of much weaker stock, and left China essentially being ruled by ministers and eunuchs. The Chinese people began to stir, and rebellion was coming. One source states that children in Honan and Hubei had been singing a children’s song which had the line, “When stirs the one-eyed man of stone, the dynasty will be overthrown” (or something along these lines). Of course, the Chinese of the time believed strongly in omens and signs. In 1344, in a place called Huang Ling Kang, a stone image of a one-eyed man was found, or may only have been rumored to have been found, but word spread quickly.

The large and powerful White Lotus Society was stirred into action. The leader declared the “advent of the Mayitreya” (the Buddhist Messiah). The soldiers of the White Lotus Society wore red turbans as their distinguishing mark. The White Lotus started the rebellion in the hopes of restoring the Song Dynasty. But in the end another group established their own dynasty.

The rebellion grew, and as it did other groups sprouted. Among the groups that did were the followers of Chu Yuan Chang. Chu was recognized as being very gifted in war craft and government (much more so than any of his rivals). In the end it was Chu who ascended to the throne, and became Hung Wu, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

The intrigues and usurpations of the various dynasties are well documented in the previous section, so only a passing reference to some of the major event to tie into the Secret Societies timeline will be made.

The White Lotus Society did not really do much for quite some time after failing to achieve their goal of reaching the throne. After about 250 years of luxury, the Ming were becoming weak and lazy. Again, the country was essentially being ruled by eunuchs. Through misrule, and many natural disasters, discontent was rampant. It was in the reign of the Ming Emperor Tien Ki that one of the many rebels, Su Hung U, sought and gained the aid of the White Lotus Society. Su had actually made it so close that he had proclaimed himself Emperor when he was defeated and killed in battle. The White Lotus Society seems to have lost heart at this time and fell into the background.

Although there were other revolts and uprisings, the White Lotus Society seems to have been relatively quiet throughout most of them, until around 1761, when the Emperor Kien Lung began to issue edicts outlawing the White Lotus Society. There were edicts issued against other secret societies as well, including the Ming Tsuen (Illustrious Worthies), and the Bai Yuen (White Cloud). It was in 1775 when the leader of the White Lotus Society, Liu Sung, was banished from Anhwei after sending people to the area performing magic and “healing the sick” in an attempt to gain followers and support in the western regions of China. Many people were joining and the society was rapidly growing until 1794 when it felt the time was right for rebellion. This rebellion was a stain on the otherwise bright reign of Kien Lung.

The White Lotus Society set up a youth named Wang Fa Cheng, declaring him to be a member of the Chu family, and a descendent of the Ming Emperors. Liu Chi Hieh claimed that when Wang was but a child, he hid him outside of China to keep him safe.

This rebellion grew rapidly under the leadership of Liu Chi Hieh, among other leaders. One of these leaders was a woman of the family name Wang. Eventually there were around 100,000 armed rebels. The Imperial soldiers were equal in number, and through the vast territories of China each side was able to claim some varying degrees of success. There were points where it would look as if the rebels would win the throne, and then at some twist of fate, the imperialists would turn and crush them. The war dragged on like this for six years when Liu was captured. This should have ended the war, but as soon as one leader was captured or killed, another would rise up in his place. Too, when the Imperial troops could claim victory in one place, the rebels would rise up in another.

By the end, the war had lasted over ten years, and tens of thousands of Chinese lay dead.

Wang Fa Cheng never was the rightful heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty. He was a pretender who was little more than a puppet being used by the White Lotus Society. Nothing is known of his end. He simply and quietly disappeared.

There was another failed insurrection in 1814 which was credited to the White Lotus Society, but was probably the work of a different group (some give the credit to “The Three Incense Sticks”, “The Eight Trigrams”, or the “Rationalists Society”). Most likely would be the Eight Trigrams Society, as the person sited as the leader of this failed attempt (which actually took place within the walls of the Imperial Palace) was Lin Ching, who was a leader of the Eight Trigrams in Fukien. This insurrection was actually planned by Li Wan Cheng and Lin Ching. These two claimed to be able to read the future through astrology. Through bribery, they were able to place some of their own operative within the walls of the palace. The operatives were to allow the rebels into the walls of the palace, and the coconspirators were to identify one another by wearing a white handkerchief on their head.

However, once the attack began, it all started so easily, that once inside the palace, the rebels were at a loss as to what they should do. This allowed the Imperial Guards who had remained loyal to regroup and hold off the rebels until assistance arrived.

In all of their planning, the rebels overlooked or were unaware that the emperor would not be in the palace on the day of the attack. However, the son of the Emperor, who was to become Emperor Tao Kwang, led the charge in defeating the rebels. There is a story that he even loaded his own musket, tearing a silver button from his jacket and ramming it into the barrel in place of a bullet (there were widespread beliefs that some people were immune to bullets through the use of magic amulets, but very few people would think to keep a magic amulet against buttons).

Lin Ching was not present for the attack. He was sent a false message that the attack had been successful, and made his way to the Palace, where he found out he was tricked, and then he was promptly executed.

The coconspirator Li Wan Ching was captured, and his feet were cut off. In a violent response, nearly three thousand members of the society attacked and killed the official responsible for the act.

General Yang Yu Chun was called in, and crushed the rebellion, beheading nearly two hundred rebels. In a short time, he instilled such fear in the rebels that upon sight of him, many would drop their arms and run. In short order he reclaimed Tao Kan and burned ten thousand rebels to death.

All that has been stated above is indicative of the typical behavior of the Chinese secret societies. It was this type of activity which prompted such harsh reactions from the Chinese dynastic governments.

The story goes as follows; the monks from the Shaolin monastery had done some service for the Emperor Kanghi. There had been an invasion from the state of Silu. The Imperial troops had been unsuccessful, but the monks from the southern Shaolin were successful. The monks were rewarded for their aid, but as is a running theme in Chinese history, the Emperor became fearful of such powerful fighters in one place. He had his troops surround and burn the monastery at night. Only five escaped, and within the Chinese secret societies, these five are known as the Five Ancestors. Eventually, the five who escaped met Chen Chin Nan, a former minister who had been dismissed. It was Chen who proposed the formation of the Tien Ti Hui, the Heaven and Earth Association. The Heaven and Earth Association were also called Hung Family. The character used by this Hung Family is the same as the one used in Hung Gar kung fu (洪). There are those who state that the Hung Family was not established until 1749. Regardless, all agree that the beginning was caused by the atrocity of destroying the southern Shaolin Temple. That the origin of the Hung Family Triad and the origin of the Hung Fighting system are the same incident give one pause.

It is said that the founder of the Ming Dynasty was raised in a monastery, and the monks there foretold his greatness. So, with this as a traditional belief, it is no wonder that the five monks who escaped the destruction of the temple would work now to overthrow the usurper and restore the dynasty predicted within the walls of the monastery.

It is also said that when escaping from the monastery, the five monks stopped to drink from a stream. There they are said to have found a bowl floating in the stream with the words “overthrow the Qing, Restore the Ming” written on it. They eventually made their way to Guangdong and made their oath in the Red Flower Pavilion. While they were making their oath they felt that because the sky was red (Hung), and because the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was named “Hung”, that the heavens were on their side. They then named their society “Hung Mun” (Hung Society).

The rituals which are used by the triads are adapted from various Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies. The ceremonies are commonly used by the Chinese in connection with celebrations, blessings, remembrance, forging allegiance, etc. Modern initiation and promotion ceremonies are less elaborate and very simplified (even makeshift altars are used). Ceremonies, which took days to complete, are now over in less than an hour. Triad poems, once used to identify one’s affiliation and rank, have been simplified and modernized when they are passed through word of mouth from generation to generation. Tony Lee, a retired police agent who spent a career investigating triads was quoted as saying “Generally, a ‘triad expert’ knows more of the history and practices than an active triad member.”  

Hung Gar translated into English, means Hung Family. Hung is a family name, like Smith or Jones in America. The word ‘hung’ (洪) is often confused with the words for ‘red’ (紅)or ‘hero’ (雄), which are pronounced the same, but are written with different characters. There are two common uses for this character. The first and most common is an adjective used to describe things that are big, vast or overwhelming, but also used to describe a flood. The second use is as a surname. Gar is a Cantonese word which means “family” or “clan”. The Mandarin pronunciation is Hong Jia.

Hung Gar is known by its practitioners, as well as practitioners of other systems, as a complete martial art. Like many of the Southern Shaolin systems, it does not contain the fluff which is so common is many other systems of martial art. The fighting is real world fighting, and the health promoting benefits are readily seen in the many practitioners who live beyond age 90. The traditional training is very difficult. I underwent nearly traditional training, with my first six month spent solely on stance training. I was rehabbing from a severe knee injury, and would not have been able to train at all without the solid stance training which made my knee strong enough to handle the rest of the art.

Stance Training

Properly trained, Hung Gar should start with a heavy emphasis on building a stable foundation for your further training. Beginners should focus on the stance training and the practice of the fundamentals. Without this discipline in the initial stages of training, the student will never progress.

It should be clear that stance training is THE Fundamental of the system. Without this foundation, you will have no power. While stance training is boring, if the student overlooks this importance, the will be little real progress. There is no way to overstate the importance of this training.

In the times now past, it was easy for the traditionalist to force the student to train their stances for hours on end. But in the modern world, with the need to make a living paramount, the instructor must be realistic. Most people do not live for their training, and if they do live for kung fu, they are probably mentally unstable, and will not last in their training. In spite of the importance of stance training, and the large number of people who want to classify themselves as “old school”, most martial artists do not spend one minute each day on stance training.

There is no one reason which can stand alone as the reason that stance training is important. Of course, at the top of the list is to strengthen the leg muscles. But there is more than muscular strength. The tendon and ligament strength is also important. This training was also used to determine the dedication and discipline of the beginner student. Often overlooked is the strengthening of other parts of the body through stance training, such as the abdomen and spine. Traditional stance training will increase the student’s overall physical power to truly incredible levels. Perhaps the single factor missing most from the modern martial arts is the lack of true mental discipline. This is an area which stance training could correct, as easily testified by anyone who has ever attempted to hold Horse stance for five minutes. The oral tradition holds that the ancient practitioners were forced to hold Horse for three hours! If this is only partially true, the old masters were still much more disciplined than even the best of our current generation. Of course, in order to correct the problem and not drive our own schools out of business, a unified front would need to be presented, and this is not feasible with the massive egos and petty banter over the smallest details which is a constant in the Hung “Family”.

Since stances are an identifying characteristic of true Hung Gar, here we shall make a quick introduction of the basic stances. While to a Korean or Japanese stylist some of the stances may be strange, these stances are pretty common in the Chinese martial arts.

Sei Ping Ma: The most common translation I have for this is Horse stance. Literally it is “Four Level Horse”, which has to do with four check points to see if the stance is being performed correctly. Every style of martial art uses this stance in one form or another. This should be the first stance which is introduced to the beginner. Some factors which the beginner should keep in mind when training this stance are; the toes should point forward and not out, the knees should be pushed outward and not allowed to sink to the center (ride a fat horse and not a skinny horse), the ideal bend of the knee should have the thigh parallel to the floor, the back should be vertical (sink in the stance, do not hunch your back to fake the appearance of being lower – you will look like you are constipated if you hunch the back!), and keep the neck straight up. No other stance will challenge your leg strength to the degree that Sei Ping Ma will!

Ji Ng Ma: This stance is also called the Bow and Arrow stance. Most people say this term is from “front leg bent like a bow, back leg straight like an arrow”. When attacking or defending the front, this is the stance to use. Push the front knee out beyond your toes. In many styles it is said to not allow the knee to push beyond the toes, but this is part of the defensive posture. With the knee past the toes, an attack to the front knee can be absorbed without much damage other than bruising. To truly understand any stance, one must keep in mind that you cannot understand the behavior of a river by scooping out a bucket of its water. But when this stance is used in fighting, this pushing of the knee aids in the forward momentum of the attacking technique. A more shallow stance here would check that momentum and weaken the attack.

Dui Ma: This stance is literally the “hanging horse”, but is commonly referred to as the Cat Stance. All of your body weight should be on the back leg. Your body should be centered on its vertical axis, and the weight should sink straight down. Keep the spine straight; again do not allow yourself to hunch the spine to feel that you are lower. This stance is perfect for allowing a quick snap kick with the front leg at the opponent’s knee or groin. This stance also allows for a retreat without it turning into a steady retreat (back step after back step).

Gam Gai Duk Laap Ma:  Literally translated, this one is “The Golden Cock Stands on one leg”. Some styles call the stance “cold chicken stance”; based on how a chicken will stand on one leg when it is cold. I was taught that this is a Crane Stance. You will have 100% of your weight on one leg. Obviously, one should not assume this position for a long period of time, unless you enjoy being knocked down. The lifted knee should be held as high as possible.

Kei Lun Bo: This is commonly referred to as the Unicorn Step, the stance itself is Quai Ma. For many years I looked at this as something unique to Hung Gar, but over the years I have seen it turn up in other systems. I cannot say if they got it from Hung or the other way around. Done properly, the performer will take a step forward and across the other leg. The body turns and sinks. The front foot should end flat, and the rear heel will be raised off of the floor.

Nau Ma: This is a much lower version of the stance used in Kei Lun Bo. This stance has many uses in both offensive and defensive situations. It can be used as a false retreat, and converted quickly in to an attacking posture. One example of this would be in sinking underneath an attempted high kick (a very common attack in many styles), and attacking the exposed groin area.

Tau Ma: Tau Ma (Stealing Horse) looks a lot like Quai Ma, but the difference is in usage. Tau Ma is used exclusively as a retreat step. In using this as your retreat step, you create distance (read opportunities). Your vital areas are well protected, and you afford yourself the time and space needed to turn and attack without any loss of balance.  The retreating step is commonly taken whit Tiger or Dragon claws for protection, and followed with a twisting or unwinding movement which facilitates the follow up attack. In Hung, we are taught to protect and clear as we come out of the unwinding motion.

Lok Quei Ma: Lok Quei Ma means kneeling horse. This stance increases power through sinking, and with proper training, it is easy to rise out of this stance to continue the fight. The entire body is well protected when sinking into this posture, as typically you will be dragging your opponent down with you. It is also used against attacks to the lower gates.

Yi Ji Kim Yeung Ma: Literally “Yi Character Catch the Goat Stance”. Yi is the character for the number two (which is pronounced Yi in Cantonese and Er in Mandarin).

In my school, the knees are pushed inward, creating something of an hourglass shape with the lower half of the body. This stance creates tremendous stress on the ligaments in the knees, and produces incredible strength if trained regularly and properly.

It is never too late for a martial artist to begin including regular stance training in their daily schedule. All practitioners of Hung Gar should train their stances every day if we are ever to regain our notoriety. True Hung devotees should be hard to knock down. Sadly, this is not so in our modern world. Even people who have been training in Hung Gar for years can be seen in improper stance, and with poor balance.

The People

Hung Gar is a system of Chinese Kung Fu which was developed prior to the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple. As a system, it can be said to have been founded by Hung Hei Guen. Hung’s real family name is said to be Zhu. Tradition states that Hung made his living as a Tea Merchant. Hung trained under the legendary Gee Sin Sim See. Gee Sin’s main area of study was the Tiger System. Unlike modern martial arts practice, it was common then for the devoted student to specialize in one form, not in collecting and amassing more and more forms. Hung was trained by Gee Sin for quite some time, and helped Hung to earn a real depth of knowledge about the Tiger System. There are those who believe that Gee Sin was the creator of Hung Gar. However, there were many changes prior to the actual birth of Hung Gar.

Hung trained hard in order to better himself. He trained at the southern Shaolin temple until it was attacked by the Qing Imperial forces. Gee Sin and Hung Hei Guen were among those who managed to escape (there are conflicting reports from other sources which state that Gee Sin was killed in the destruction of the southern temple). It was after the destruction of the temple that Zhu changed his name to Hung. The family name Hung means “to stand tall, with integrity”. Hung then dedicated his life and work to the overthrow of the Qing, and to restore the Ming.

Some sources point to the selection of the name Hung being based on the first Ming Emperor. Remember, the Ming dynasty was looked upon as a real “Golden Age” in China. The country was prosperous for most of the Ming era.

Hung worked for a living as a traveling tea merchant. It must be assumed that in addition to earning a living this way, he was also able to be on the move so much that it would be difficult for the Qing to track him down. At some point, he met and married Fong Wing Chun, who was either the daughter or niece of Fong Sai Yuk (there are differing accounts on this point). In most accounts, Fong Wing Chun learned the Crane system from Fong Sai Yuk. Fong was busy trying to avenge the loss of her family to Bak Mei and his group. Hung Hei Guen was involved in her revenge mission. Fong Sai Yuk was not only a fellow rebel, he was a fellow Shaolin.

After marriage to Fong, Hung continued to fine tune his system. He combined his wife’s White Crane system with his Tiger system. Later still, Hung added movements from the Dragon, Snake, and Leopard to bring his system into a “five animals” category. However, many modern practitioners believe Hung Gar is truly a “two animals” system.

There are some sources which state the Hung lived well into his 90’s. Other sources claim he was killed by Bak Mei at a much younger age. This is where some feel that the Hong Kong movies have done a disservice to Hung Gar. The author disagrees. The Hong Kong movies are entertainment, not history. Those who do the disservice to Hung Gar are those who learn form a book or video, and make up a lineage and history based on what they saw in a movie. One example of this is the claimed son of Hung Hei Guen, Hung Man Ting. He didn’t exist. This was a character created by the Hong Kong movie industry. And yet, there are Hung Gar schools which include his name on their lineage. The most reliable source I have found states that Hung was killed young, by Bak Mei. And this source also credits Luk Ah Choi as the real creator of Hung Gar.

In the southern Chinese kung fu systems, it is commonly stated that there are five “fighting family styles”; Hung, Lau, Choy, Li and Mok.

The next person of interest in the History of Hung Gar will be Luk Ah Choy. Luk was reportedly a Manchurian, whose father had been sent to Guangdong. Reportedly orphaned while still very young, and mistreated throughout his childhood, he left home at age twelve. At some point he met a Shaolin student who brought him to his instructor (some accounts say this instructor was Gee Sin Sim See, other sources state Luk’s first instructor was Li Baifu, and later Gee Sin). His only known student was Wong Kei Ying.

While little reliable information is available on Wong Kei Ying, there is some that is known, and most of the further “information” can be traced directly to movies. He was reportedly born in Xiqiao, Nahai, Guangdong. Some resources state that he worked from a young age as a street performer. The stories state that he was noticed by Luk Ah Choy, who took him in and began teaching him kung fu. He is said to have trained with Luk for as much as ten years, and reportedly gained tremendous skill levels. It is reported from some sources that he also opened an herbal medicine shop to support his family. Wong Kei Ying was the father of one of the most famous martial artists in history, Wong Fei Hung.

Wong Fei Hung was born in 1847, in Guangdong. He died in 1924, aged 77 years. In his lifetime (and much more so after his death) he became one of the most famous martial artists in history. It is a common popularly held misconception that Wong Fei Hung was one of the famous “Ten Tigers of Canton”, but that was his father in that illustrious group. Much of what people think they know about Wong Fei Hung is false. After his death, many books were published telling fantastic tales of his skills, and the movie industry took things even further. While there is a wealth of written information on his life, none of it is reliable. Often, it is reported that one of his sons dies when shot by gangsters, but the more reliable sources state that his son was hit by a car. There is the much disputed report that he was the head of, or taught martial arts to, the Guangdong army, but more reliable accounts suggest that he taught to a civilian militia, and other reports that he did neither. Wong Fei Hung was married more than once. Some accounts say three times, and others suggest five or more.

Wong had a martial arts school called Po Chi Lum. He is reported to have had a huge following of students, but the two most famous are Lam Sai Wing and Tang Fong.

Lam Sai Wing was born in Guangdong in 1860. He is reported to have been an exceptionally bright child. He died in 1943. No records indicate exactly when he began his study of the martial arts. He is, however, said to have been an accomplished martial artists prior to meeting Wong Fei Hung. Even though the stories about Wong Fei Hung are mostly fiction, he must have been incredible in the flesh for the legends to have any point of departure. Lam Sai Wing studied under him, and worked hard to try to comprehend the essence of the martial arts.

This was the time when the Qing was collapsing, and the People’s Republic was rising. As stated in the previous section, this was a very chaotic time. Being a time of transition, there were crimes of many natures, and danger to one’s personal well being were everywhere.

While there are stories floating around about martial arts teachers in China of this time needing to seek out students, these stories are false. The people who promote such fiction are falsely basing their ideas on how martial arts school operate in the modern time in the U.S. Traditionally, martial arts instructors did not seek students, as they do now. For a start, the training of martial skills was secondary to making a living. A master of martial arts usually had another job which provided his living. When someone wanted instruction in kung fu, they first had to be accepted. In and of itself, this was a tedious process. The prospective student had to first prove their sincerity. This process could take anywhere from weeks to years. If accepted, the next stage was to be handed to a very junior instructor. If the student was persistent, and stayed with the training long enough, he may end up receiving instruction from the head instructor.

This gives lie to the many stories floating around that Lam Sai wing wandered throughout the country looking for martial arts students. Most reports state that his students numbered around 10,000. Master Lam also was known to be kind hearted. In 1921 there was a collection for the Guangzhou Orphanage.
Lam Sai Wing demonstrated his skills and got the attention of president Sun Yat Sen, who praised his martial prowess. Sun Yat Sen handed Lam a medal for his good work for the society.

Many Hung Gar practitioners, especially those of the Lam Sai Wing lineage, feel that Master Lam is one of, if not the most important people in the history of Hung Gar. Some factors pointed out are Master Lam’s membership in both the Southern Kuoshu (National Arts) Institute, and his association with the Jingwu martial club. There are three books printed with line drawings of Lam Sai Wing performing Gung Ki Fuk Fu, Fu Hok Syong Ying, and Tit Sin Kuen. People tend to view these books as Lam breaking the silence of the martial arts. Others state that the books were published after Lam’s death. However, with a little research, one will find that one book was published while Master Lam was alive, and the rest were published well after his death. Regardless, the books have had a powerful influence on modern Hung Gar within the Lam Sai Wing lineage. The author has witnessed people argue hand position based on the Lam line drawings from the books, and has personally witnessed some schools following the books so closely that in one position (which is shown in the books in a reversed image) is done backwards, exactly as pictured in the books! Among Master Lam’s many students were Lau Jaam, Chiu Kao, and his own nephew, Lam Jo. These three men were to hold a heavy influence on Hung Gar for many years to come.

It should be known that prior to Wong Fei Hung and Lam Sai Wing, Hung Gar looked very different from what is commonly seen today. In the current world, there is a wide range of Hung Gar practiced. The Wong Fei Hung lineage is not the only one out there, in spite of being the most widely practiced. Even within the Wong Fei Hung lineage, there are multiple branches. The lineage tracing through Lam Sai Wing is only one of many. There are many non-Lam Sai Wing Lineages. Tang Fung is one of the more famous of these. There is also Ha Say Fu (Four Lower Tigers), and other village Hung systems.