3 FAMILIES OF CHOY LEE FUT (SAM SING YAT GA)
蔡李佛拳
It is without a doubt that the Choy Lee Fut style-regardless of who created it first-is one of the most famous and saught after styles of Chinese martial arts taught around the world today. In the bigger scheme of things, who was first, how many forms, and other mind numbing ideas can only cause harm to our families. What should matter more is “how good is your Choy Lee Fut?” As well as what we are doing to promote our great system. Each branch has made major contributions to Choy Lee Fut, and each branch has “their” story to be told.
As it stands, there are 3 branches of the Choy Lee Fut system. Each branch-Great Sage Hung (Xiong Sing), Hung Sing Kwoon(Glorious Victory) and the Buk Sing Kwoon (Northern Victory) is linked together by Choy Lee Fut’s “Root” techniques such as Kum Na Kwa Sau Chop Biu Jong Pow Kup and Ding.
Aside from these “Root Techniques” each branch teaches different material specific to each branch which is not taught in other branches (with the exception of the first two forms of the Buk Sing Kwoon-Ping Kuen and Kau Da Kuen which are from the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon). Although each branch teaches different material is it unfair to say one or the other is not Choy Lee Fut because it’s not taught by Chan Heung.
Although the same sets are not taught in each branch, from these roots rose gung fu from such great masters as Chan Heung, Jeong Hung Sing, and Tam Sam. And that is the reason why I believe there are “3 Families of Choy Lee Fut.”
Hopefully in the future we would see Choy Lee Fut taught based off of all 3 branches with all they have to offer, which i hope will bring much unity from all our great families.—
Sifu Frank McCarthy.
蔡李佛拳
(洪圣 /鴻勝 /北勝 )
written by Sifu Frank McCarthy
Chan Heung was a native of the King Mui village in the Sun Wui Province of Kwantung. He was born in *1815 and grew up in a village where everyone shared the same last name of Chan. At the age of 7 years old he began to learn gung fu from an elder in the Chan Village by the name of Chan Yuen Wu who was at one time a shaolin monk and a master of Hung Kuen.
Under Chan Yuen Wu Chan Heung’s gung fu skills improved rather rapidly and eventually Chan Yuen Wu asked him to set up his own school. By the age of 15 Chan Heung was becoming a local champion and gaining a lot of recognition from other gung fu masters. Although he was pretty young Chan Heung was taking in many students.
One day Chan Heung got wind of a new local gung fu master which was asked to come and open a school in the area. Since he was well known in the area Chan Heung thought this would be a great opportunity to make a name for himself if he could defeat this new master.
The name of this new gung fu master was Lee Yau San, founder of the Lee Ga system and student of Li Sik Hoi-one of the Hung Mun Society founders, but Chan Heung knew nothing about him. So he came up with a plan to ambush him to see what Lee Yau San could do. Soon after he learned that Lee Yan San would be at a local restuarant and this is where he would launch his plan.
As Lee Yau San exited the restaurant Chan Heung lunged forward grabbing Lee Yau San around the waist intending to pick him up and slam him on the floor. Yet Lee Yau San reacted quickly and swept Chan Heungs legs and then kicked him as he was falling sending Chan Heung a few feet away.
Lee Yau San was sure that his kick would have totally injured his attacker, but he was amazed to see Chan Heung get up to his feet. Lee Yau San then demanded an explanation and to know whom his teacher was. But Chan Heung being defeated so easily and embarrassed refused to implement his sifu who had no knowledge of his actions.
A few days later Chan Heung received word that Lee Yau San was talking about him, saying the Chan Heung was wasting his potential with his selfish pursuit of greatness. He was 17 at the time and this somehow this touched Chan Heung who then realized what Lee Yau San meant and resigned from his post as a teacher and asked Lee Yau San to take him as a disciple.
Lee Yau San agreed to teach Chan Heung, and for the next 10 years Chan Heung reached a level it usually took 20 years to achieve. Along the course of his training, Chan Heung and Lee Yau San heard that a survivor of the Shaolin Temples destruction was on Mt. Lau Fu and the decided to go and pay him a visit to check him out.
Monk Choy Fook (Cai Fu) was one of the survivors of the temples destuction and escaped with his head on fire. The scar left behind earned him the nickname of “Lan Tau Fook” or scarred head Fook. It is also believed that he was master of the Choy Gah System.
Both Chan Heung and Lee Yau San went to Mt Lau Fu and came across a temple with a person sweeping the stairs. They asked about Monk Choy Fook but the person-a older, but still in great physical shape and mentally sharp-said that Choy Fook was away but would return shortly, and they were welcom to wait if they wanted.
Lee Yau San must have been a very competitive person, because after the monk offered to make some tea and chopped the firewood with his bare hands, he (Lee Yau San) took it as if this monk was bragging about his skills. So he walked over to a rice grinder and kicked it straight up and out of his hole in responce to the monks actions.
However, the monk then walked over to the rice grinder and chopped off a corner of it and pulverized it in his hands then proceeded to throw the dust at Lee Yau Sans feet as a warning to anyone wishing to cause trouble at the temple. The message was quite clear to Lee Yau San who said goodbye to Chan Heung and took his leave.
Chan Heung was undoubtedly impressed with the monks abilities and begged the monk to take him as a disciple, but the monk refused because he only wished to study Buddhism. But Chan Heung continued to plead with the monk to reconsider until he actually did.
The monk agreed to teach Chan Heung Gung Fu on one 3 conditions, and follow them completely or leave. The first was he had to stay and study Buddhism for ten years, second was he wasn’t allowed to show off, kill, or maim with the gung fu he learned. And the third was to kick the rice grinder back into its original resting place.
Chan Heung immediately kicked the rice grinder back into place and the Monk agreed to teach him. Ten years later, Chan Heung completed his training under this monk in the art of Shaolin Gung Fu. A feast had been prepared for Chan Heung by the monk who at that point revealed he was indeed Monk Choy Fook, and he wasn’t sure whose good fortune it was, but he thought he would die alone on that mountain.
*** Presently, there is question to whether Chan Heung’s actual birthdate is 1805 or 1815. Without the actual birthrecords it will be impossible to verify. However, according to the “History of Choy Lee Fut pt 1″ written by Mr. Alan Yee, a member of the Li Iu Ling Chan Family lineage Chan Heung was 48 years old in 1864. If you subtract 48 from 1864 you will get the date of 1815/16.
Still, according to the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon, and various other sources on the web, Chan Heung’s birthdate is believed to be 1815 and not 1805. With Alan Yee’s information, it seems that the 1815 date is more plausible than the earlier date.
Monk Choy Fook then said that 6 years is a great accomplishment but 10 is even better, and to really follow along the true path of Shaolin he should learn Chinese medicine, and the 6 magic spells. Chan Heung quickly decided to stay another two years and study with Monk Choy Fook who was in his late 90’s.
Upon his departure Chan Heung asked Monk Choy Fook to guide him in what to do next. Monk Choy Fook said he wasn’t made for the life of a government official, but he and his children will become leaders of men if they were to follow the Shaolin tradition. He then presented Chan Heung with a pair of couplets that read : “The dragon and tiger met in Heaven to revive our shaolin ways,” and “Teach your followers righteousness and let each generation uphold and enliven.”
Chan Heung was then escorted down Mt Lau Fu by Tung Kwan, Jeong Tin Cheung, and Chan Chung Nin who was a native of Sun Wui also. And that was the last time Chan Heung ever got to see Monk Choy Fook again who died at the age of 112.
Back in King Mui Chan Heung immediately set up a medical clinic called the Wing Sing Tong. Afterwards, the village elders of the Chan Clan asked Chan Heung to open a school in the villages ancestral temple where he could teach only Chan Family members.
According to the Chan Family Chan Heung opened his school under the name of Hung Sing (Hong Xiong) which means “Great Sage Hung” and began teaching a mixture of Monk Choy Fooks, and Lee Yau Sans gung fu. As he developed his system he figured he would honor his two sifu’s and call the style Choy Lee Fut, the “Fut” meaning buddha while representing its shaolin roots.
According to available Chan family records he had an original group of 18 students all of the same last name of Chan except for one outsider. They were: Loong Gee Choy (a possible cover for Jeong Yim), Chan Din Yao, Chan Din Fune, Chan Din Bong, Chan Din Wai, Chan Dai Yup, Chan Mau Jong, Chan Din Sing, Chan Din Jen, Chan Din Duk, Chan Sun Dong, Chan Dai Wai, Chan Yin Yu, Chan Cin Hing, Chan Ding Sing, Chan Dai Sing, Chan May Wing, Chan Din Gung.
Over the years Chan Heung travelled all around China Spreading Choy Lee Fut. During his travels he managed to return to Mt. Lau Fu to visit Monk Choy Fook only to discover that in his absence his sifu passed away at 112 years old. The passing of his sifu saddened him but also inspired him to promote his gung fu even further.
Back at home in Ging Mui he established his own family, while his personal development and continual creation of new techniques
which would become exclusive to his family branch went on until his death in 1875.
Out of the original 18 students of Chan Heung, many had went on to open other Choy Lee Fut schools in the area and usually did pretty well for themselves. Yet, none had received more notoriety than Jeong Ah Yim, the founder of the Fut San Hung Sing branch of Choy Lee Fut.
Jeong Ah Yim was born in Kwantung around 1824, and was from the Sun Wui Shan Shui Dong Ling Village. It is said that his parents were killed when he was a boy, and possibly had a price on his head for avoiding conscription. According to the late Master Qian Wei Fang, (Jeong Yim’s main apprentice) Jeong Yim was a disciple of Lee Yau San prior to being taken as a student of Chan Heung, but had a strong passion for gung fu. By the time he was 12 years old his uncle Jeong Kwan was no longer able to care for him. Jeong Kwan took the young Jeong Yim to the ging Mui village with hopes that his old friend Chan Heung may help him out of this tough situation. He needed to hide the young boy from the grasp of the government. However because of village rules against outsiders Chan Heung had to turn them away.
Denying help to his old friend was the last thing Chan Heung wanted to do. But Jeong Kwan continued to plead with him to reconsider until Chan Heung had an idea. *The only way to bring in Jeong Yim was to take him in as a handyman/grounds keeper. Still, Jeong Yim would not be allowed to learn their gung fu as one of the conditions. Jeong Kwan agreed and then said his goodbyes to his little nephew.
As Chan Heung taught his daily gung fu classes Jeong Yim couldn’t resist watching them practice in secret. He possessed a strong desire to learn gung fu and eventually began to memorize the techniques so he may practice them in privacy. One night he was out practicing his stolen gung fu until he was caught in the act by Chan Heung who was quite amazed at how masterfully this outsider was performing their villages marital art.
* (It is very possible when considering the political climate of that time that chan Heung changed Jeong Yims name to Loong Gee Choy in order to hide his true identity fromChing Soldiers. It was commonplace during that era for criminals to have many alias).
Jeong Yim was clueless to Chan Heung spying on him. Suddenly Chan Heung appeared from out of the shadows. This was grounds for immediate expulsion. But Jeong Yim confessed to stealing the moves, and his honesty impressed Chan Heung, who couldn’t deny his great potential. It would be a shame to let go of such a talented student who showed more dedication than his own. Therefore he agreed to teach Jeong Yim in private during the midnight hours.
In about 5 years Jeong Yim was able to master Chan Heungs techniques. He was no doubt becoming one of Chan Heungs most accomplished and strongest students, until a few of the senior students began to pick on him. He tried so hard not to fight back but eventually they pushed the right buttons and he fought back ferociously and injured some of Chan Heungs students.
The parents of the defeated students complained to the village elders about the incident. They scolded Chan Heung for allowing an outsider into their village much less teach him gung fu. Their secret had been revealed and now chan Heung was faced with having to kick out his top disciple.
At their next private meeting Chan Heung reluctantly told jeong yim that their secret arrangement was discovered and the he must leave the Chan Village. He told Jeong Yim to travel to Kwangxi and locate an old Famous Shaolin Monk, give him this letter of recommendation and ask him to complete your training.
Jeong Yim set out for the Pak Pai Mountain to search for this Shaolin master called the Ching Cho Woe Serng (Green Grass Monk) a.k.a. *Cai DeZhong as well as Monk Um Ging of the Julianshan Southern Shaolin Temple which was located in the Fukien province of Putian County in Guangzhou. This monk was a feared agitator of the government, and heavliy involved with the Hung Society revolutionary movement.
After the passing of the temples Abbott Gee Simm, Monk Ching Cho Woe Serng was left in charge of 108 fighting monks. Out of that 108 only 5 survived the destruction of the temple. They were Lei Sik Hoi a.k.a. Qingsheng Hu Dedi or even Qing Fu, Wu Dak Dai, Fong Dai Hong a.k.a. Ching Fong, Ma Chow Sing a.k.a. Ching Tse, and Cai DeZhong. Later these 5 would become known as the “5 Ancestors” not to be confused with the 5 Founder of Souther Shaolin Gung Fu. According to legend it was the Green Grass Monk that killed the shaolin common disciple turned traitor known as Ma Ninger a.k.a. Ma Chut for assisting the Ching Military in the destruction of the temples and the for lives of the countless dead monks.
Meanwhile, as Jeong Yim arrived at Mt. Pak Pai he came across the Shajian Temple. He began to inquire about the whereabouts of the Green Grass Monk. No one seemed to have any answers, but he kept ups his serach for this elusive old monk.
Finally, he crossed paths with an old man and asked if he knew anything about the monk. The old man pretended not to know whom this person was but asked a question in return. “Why are you looking for him, are you the police?” But Jeong Yim explained that he was sent by someone to complete his gung fu training.
The old man wanted Jeong Yim to humor him and demonstate his abilities for him, and almost immediately he recognized the techniques as having roots to the Shaolin Temple. He then revealed his identity as the Green Grass Monk, and that he only hid it because the government has a high price on his head for attempting to overthrow it. He accepted Jeong Yim as his student and began to teach him the deadly art of Fut Gar Kuen (Buddha Palm Style) as well as herbal medicine.
It only took Jeong Yim about 5 years to master the Fut Gar Style. One of the most important hand forms that the Green Grass Monk passed on to him was called “In and Out Ba Gua Kuen” which contained a total of 1080 moves in it.
Prior to Jeong Yim returning to Ging Mui the Green Grass Monk solidified his students beliefs in supporting the revolution and changed his first name from Yim to Hung Sing which is believed to contain a secret referral to the Hung Society winning the victory in overthrowing the Ching Government. He then instructed Jeong Yim to open a Hung Sing Kwoon in Fut San.
In 1839 Jeong Hung Sing opened the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon which was just off of Yabang Street and gained instant widespread recognition. Because of his fame Jeong Hung Sing took on many challengers, but remained undefeated. Many of the ones who lost to him asked to join his school.
Word of his former disciples success got back to Chan Heung in Ging Mui. He was very proud and impressed with Jeong Yim’s acheivements and showed him the utmost respect for him by treating him like an equal. Yet, Jeong Yim attributed all of his success to the guidance and training from Chan Heung.
In return for all of Chan Heungs assistance Jeong Yim shared with Chan Heung what he learned from the Green Grass Monk. Together they closely studied the new techniques and Jeong Yim was at work redefining Chan Heungs system by adding the “Fut” in Choy Lee Fut. They created many new techniques as well including the secret call signs and the salutations.
Once Jeong Hung Sing and Chan Heung was finished adding in the new techniques, Jeong Hung Sing became known as the true founder of Choy Lee Fut. Upon returning to Fut San, Jeong Hung Sing started developing his gung fu separately from that of Chan Heung based on his personal needs, as well as his students too.
In the meantime, Jeong Hung Sing was heavily involved in supporting the revolution and training members of the Hung Mun Secret Society. At the same time he was busy defeating many more newcomers interested in challenging him to make a name for themselves.
Because of it’s effectiveness in combat Jeong Hung Sings gung fu was spreading thoughout Southern China like wildfire. It also created a few enemies amongst those who were jealous of his success. Some of the ones that were defeated by him went to the Ching Government to report the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon was a hotbed for freedom fighters.
In 1848 the Ching Empire sent their soldiers into Fut San to close down the Hung Sing Kwoon and arrest or even kill the rebels if necessary. The Opium wars, of 1840, the Tai Ping Rebellion in 1851, and the Red Turban Revolt in 1854 was just some of the famous revolutions the Hung Sing Kwoon was involved in.
Every time a Hung Sing Kwoon closed a new one would emerge elsewhere. The blood of the revolution ran deep into the heart of the southern Chinese who refused to submit to foreign rule. Once the situation cooled down in Fut San and the attention was taken off of the Hung Sing Kwoon, Jeong Yim would keep returning to re-open it.
His fighting method was widely chosen by most of the Southern Chinese hardcore fighters of that era. As it was being created for immediate use it was in constant evolution. According to accounts, his gung fu continued to be revised even after his death.
In 1864 once again the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon was on the Ching’s hit list. It was closed down and Jeong Hung Sing escaped to Hong Kong while his students spread throughout the countryside to hide and re-establish more Hung Sing Kwoons. Then in 1867 Jeong Hung Sing returned to Fut San again to re-open his school. Relentless in his pursuit to fight for the cause of the people, evidence of hos dedication, and commitment is found in the pair of Couplets that hang on the walls of all Hung Sing Kwoon’s.
In the southern part of China they strongly supported the Hung Mun Society. So much so that most of the men during that time changed their names to replace it with the word Hung. Jeong Yim’s original Hung in his name had to be changed to shake any ties to the secret society. Therefore he changed over to use the Hung meaning Glorious.
Also, the new Hung means Goose, but to the Chinese the goose has a special meaning. It represents longevity, and since the Chinese language is so colorful, it possible there was a hidden interpretation inferring longevity to the Hung Society.
Jeong Hung Sing had many, many students during his time. Some of the more famous ones were Yuen Hai, Lee Yan, Lui Chun, Wong Fook, Jeong Sam Bing, Wong Sei, Chun Mien, Lee So and Chan Ngau Sing..
In 1893 Jeong Hung Sing returned to Fut San after attending a social gathering. It is thought that he was poisoned and passed away leaving behind a wife named Chan Kay, and two sons who died pretty early on. His body is buried in Song Sui Jong Goon.
Tam sam was born in 1873 in a Hoi Ping suburb. He grew up in the Toi Ting Village of Canton, China. Since he was the third son to his parents they named him SAM pronounced SOM… And by nature, he was a lover of a good fight, he was strong willed as well as very intelligent. Hung Ga was his first style of gung fu he learned under master Chow Gum.
A friend of Tam Samfs practiced gung fu at a Hung Sing Kwoon under Master Lui Chun. Eventually Tam Sam gave in to his curiosity- because he passed the school everyday-and went in intending to see if their gung fu was worth its weight in salt. He had heard good things about Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut and wanted to know first hand.
Arrogantly Tasm Sam walked into Master Lui Chun’s school and asked if anyone wanted to spar a few rounds with him. Wong Sum who was a senior student stepped forward and accepted the challenge while Master Lui sat back and observed the match.
During the match Wong Sum struck Tam Sam with a powerful Sow Choy. Tam Sam managed to hit Wong Sum in the ribs. Then Wong Sum used his Hung Sing Jo Ma Kwa Sow technique which instantly ended the fight because Tam Sam was unable to continue the match.
Tam Sam was very disappointed by his own performance and was desparate to save face. Thinking that since Master Lui Chun was advanced in age Tam Sam felt the he would have a better chance at defeating him. His friend urgently tried to pursuade Tam Sam to change his mind and cautioned him that something like this was unwise. Still, Tam Sam ignored his friends warning and proceeded with the challenge.
Master Lui Chun never gave Tam Sam a chance. In a matter of seconds he floored Tam Sam who was scolded by his friend for acting so foolishly and said “see, I told you so. You are lucky my sifu controlled his punches or you would have been seriously hurt.”
Convinced that Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut was more than effective Tam Sam asked Master Lui to accept him as a student. Since Tam Sam was already trained in the martial arts Master Lui agreed to take him in. Only a few years later Tam Sam excelled in the Hung Sing fighting art, and was eventually appointed as the assistant instructor teaching the younger students who would call him Sam Sook.
Regardless of anyonefs position in life Tam Sam wouldnft let anyone bully him. For example, one afternoon he got into an altercation with his Si-Sook (gung fu uncle) Ngan Yiu Ting and a few of his family members. The incident was later referred to as the “Kuen Da Sam Ngan” which means “fist that defeated 3 Nganfs, after he beat all of them up.
Master Lui Chun discovered what happened, however his hands were tied, there wasnft much he could do. It was against the code of Choy Lee Fut to fight another brother, but to beat up an elder left Master Lui with no other options but to ask Tam Sam to leave.
Unfortunately at this point Tam Sam had not completed his training under Master Lui. But what he didnft already he later learned it from his friend Wong To who trained with Tam Sam very hard.
To Tam Sam the only way to get better was to go out and challenge people and learn from those experiences. Often these challenges end up in bloody battles, and he began to develop a name for himself as a fighter. Yet, he realized that his reputation may begin to tarnish the of Master Lui Chun and the Hung Sing Kwoon.
Out of respect for his sifu Tam Sam moved his school north into a temple called Siu Buk Di Mew. He named his school the Siu Buk Hung Sing Kwoon. Over time students such as Chow Hing and Lai Gum pursuaded Tam Sam to shorten the schools name to Buk Sing Choy Lee Fut because it was too inconvenient to repeat over and over, and he agreed, ultimately creating the 3rd branch to the Choy Lee Fut system.
Following in the tradition of the Hung Sing Kwoon Tam Sam had a pair of double couplets made. They read: “Turn around like a tiger raising its head, and punch like a dragon raising its claws.”
The second read: “Hands are like the wind blowing out the candle, and The footwork is like walking on clouds.”
Since Tam Sam was so adept at fighting he went on to create new techinques and redefine old ones,. An “extra in means extra power” was his motto for his school. He would invite many of his gung fu brothers and elders over for intensive, in-depth studies of Choy Lee Futfs techniques. It is then that he became known for his Lin Wan Chop Choy (continuos cyclic panther punches).
He often encouraged his students to go out and challenge and would preach about how more experience you get the better your skills would be. Tam Sam loved to fight so much that he hired a biographer to record his encounters. The book was to be called “the record of 100 victorious fights” but the author passed away in Hong Kong during its early stages and was never completed.
After the formation of the Republic of China was formed in 1912 the following decades were filled with the government publicly promoting martial arts as national treasure. They held regular competitions throughout the year, and because of this the Kwantung and KwopZhou Chinese Martial Arts Associations were formed.
The government also invited many northern styles to come to the south and teach gung fu. A competition was to be held in Canton with the southern styles competing against the northern styles. Ku Yu Jeong, a well known northern stylist who was renowned for hos iron body techniques was nominated to head the northern Team.
Tam Sam was nominated to be the southern teams coach. And his reputation was so widespread that even Ku Yu Jeong heard of him and regarded him as a fellow hero and actually wanted to train with him. But Tam Sam had different intentions, he wanted to fight Ku Yu Jeong. In place of fighting an arrangement was set up between them to each exchange a group of students for cross training purposes.
In his heart Tam Sam was a die hard Hung Sing man and did not want to learn anything northern himself. Some of his favorite techniques were Kwa-Sow-Chop (Back hand, Sweeping Fist, and stabbing punch). It was techniques like these that he used to defeat many of his challengers. Although he preferred the wider horse stance and the longer ranging punches of the Hung Sing Kwoon.
Then, during World War II and the Japanese invasion Tam Sam was elected to head the “DI DO (Big Sword) training camp. Durning this time he was also a member of the Canton National Board of Martial arts, a husband and a father. Sadly, in 1942 Tam Sam passed away at the age of 69 years old.
Finally in 2002, members and elders of the Choy Lee Fut Buk Sing branch moved Tam Sams original burial site to its final rest place back in his home town of Hoi Ping, may he rest in peace.