British Kung Fu Association History

The British Kung Fu Association was set up in 1973. Master Jeremy Yau being the current keeper of the Lau Gar style of Kung Fu was invited to be the chief Instructor .Subsequently Lau Gar has become Britain's most popular form of Chinese Boxing (Kung Fu), with an estimate of over 1000 Clubs covering England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Lau Gar Kung Fu

Lau Gar Kuen is derived from a form of boxing practiced at Kuei Lin Temple situated in Kong Sai Province in west China. It was learned from a monk on retreat from that temple by the master "Three Eyed Lau", a tiger hunter, whom we honour as founder of our style. The style subsequently became popular over a large part of South West China.

Towards the end of the 1800's Master Yau's Grandfather (Yau Luk Sau) conceived the desire to learn Kung Fu. At the age of 13 he left Kowloon and travelled to Kong Sai Province where he trained under the MasterTang Hoi Ching.

Nine years passed before he was given the right to teach independent of Master Tang. Master Yau's Grandfather subsequently met the Master Wan Goon Wing with whom he continued his studies for a further Six years, and whom he served as son until the latter's death.

On his return to Kowloon Master Yau Luk Sau taught only his family and close friends before opening his club to the public. During this time Master Yau commenced his training at the age of Six. His training continued 4 hours a night 364 nights a year for 15 years. Master Yau brought the style to Britian in 1961.

 

Some History of the 5 famous Southern Family Styles

Hung Gar:
The style was named after the first Ming Emperor ("Hung Wu"), in his honor. It is a style that has its original roots in the Qing Dynasty era's Fujian Shaolin temple martial arts. The movements are said to be from Fujian Shaolin Tiger, with elements from Fujian White Crane, Southern Shaolin Luohan, and other styles. Hung Gar traces its origin to Monk Chi Zin, who taught material from both Northern and Southern Shaolin to his students. Hung Gar developed almost 100 years after Yongchun White Crane in Fujian. Hung Gar was a martial art that was associated with secret societies. During the 1760s, the Heaven and Earth Society grew from Fujian and Guandong Provinces and spread all over the south, along transportation lines. Internally, the Heaven and Earth Society called themselves the Society Hung Men, the Hung Bang, or the Hung Gar (Family).

There are many different looking Hung Gar systems, although their core is still the same. Among them the Canton Hung Gar, Hung Moon, Wubei Hung Gar, Szechuan Hung Gar, and Ha Say Fu (4 lower Tigers) Hung Gar. The best known versions of this style come from "Canton". But, there are very old Hung Gar lineages from far elsewhere as well. The "Wubei" and "Szechuan" Hung Gar bear such a minimal resemblance to "Canton" hung gar that it is hard to imagine that they were once the same style (maybe). More than likely they are a different style that is slightly related historically or stylistically to Hung Gar from Guangdong province.

The Hung Gar curriculum that Wong Fei-Hung learned from his father was comprised of the Single Hard Fist, Double Hard Fist, Taming the Tiger Fist, Mother & Son Butterfly Knives, Angry Tiger Fist, Fifth Brother Eight Trigram Pole, Flying Hook, and Black Tiger Fist. Wong distilled his father's empty-hand material along with the material he learned from other masters into the "pillars" of Hung Gar, his version of the four empty-hand routines that constitute the core of Hung Gar instruction in the Wong Fei-Hung lineage. As a teenager, Wong Fei-Hung learned Iron Wire from Lam Fuk-Sing, a student of Tit Kiu Saam.

Wong Fei Hung also created or redeveloped other of his Hung Gar system's sets:
Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen. Wong Fei-Hung choreographed the version of Tiger Crane handed down in the lineages that descend from him. He is said to have added to Tiger Crane the bridge hand techniques and rooting of the master Tit Kiu Saam as well as long arm techniques, attributed variously to the Fat Ga, Lo Hon, and Lama styles. Tiger Crane Paired Form routines from outside Wong Fei-Hung Hung Gar still exist.

Su Ying Kuen - Ten Pattern Fist:
Sup Ying Kuen literally means ten pattern or ten shape fist. Sup Ying kuen was created by Wong Fei Hung as a bridge form between Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen and Tid Sin Kuen. This advanced form of Hung Gar teaches the five animals-Ng Ying and five elements- Ng Hong (hence the name) as well as other important concepts of the style. Each one of these animals and elements with their own unique characteristics, philosophy and movements trains and teaches many important key concepts of the style.

Ng Ying Kuen - Five Shapes/Five Animals Fist:
It is said that this set was created by Wong Fei Hung. Ng Ying Kuen or the five animal form is a long set which teaches the fighting concept and techniques of the five animals; Dragon (Lung), Tiger (Fu), Crane (Hok), Leopard (Pao), Snake (Sare).

The Five Animal Fist was expanded by Lam Sai-Wing, a senior student and teaching assistant of Wong Fei-Hung, into the Five Animal Five Element Fist (also called the "Ten Form Fist"). In the Lam Sai-Wing branch of Hung Gar, the Five Animal Five Element Fist has largely, but not entirely, superseded the Five Animal Fist, which has become associated with Tang Fong and others who were no longer students when the Five Animal Five Element Fist was created.

Wong Fei-Hung was known for his Fifth Brother Eight Trigram Pole, which can be found in the teachings of both the Lam Sai-Wing and Tang Fong branches of Hung Gar, two of the major branches of the Wong Fei-Hung lineage, as are the Spring & Autumn Guandao, and the Yiu Family Tiger Fork. Both branches also train the broadsword, the butterfly knives, the spear, and even the fan, but use different routines to do so. Mother & Son Butterfly Knives can still be found in the curriculum of the Tang Fong branch.

Hung Gar sets introduced by other masters

Lau Gar Kuen - Lau Family Fist:
Lau Gar Kuen means "Lau Family Fist". The Lau Gar routines found in certain branches of Hung Gar, another of the five major family styles, which do not come from Lau Gar proper, but were originally a Mok Gar empty-hand routine (Lau Gar Kuen) introduced into the curriculum by a student of Lam Sai-Wing named Lau and a Chu/Chow Gar Mantis staff routine (Lau Gar Gwan) introduced into the curriculum by a student of the Chu/Chow Gar Mantis master Lau Shui, after whom the routine was named.

To avoid the attention of the Qing government, the Southern Shaolin Kungfu taught by many masters was not named “Shaolin Kungfu”, but named after the surnames of the masters.

The Lau Gar (Liu Jia Quan) style:
Founded by Lau Sam Ngan - Liú Sanyan, who was said to be a tiger hunter) was a Five Animals based style, with a strong emphasis on tiger forms, for strength and external power, and crane forms, for balance and agility. It was a middle range fighting style. The style was practiced at Kuei Lin Temple, situated in Kwang Sai Province in West China, where an unknown monk eventually traveled to and taught the sets. Lau Gar became popular in South West China during the later part of the Qing Dynasty. Lau Sam Ngan was actually the master's nick name, and it means Lau Three Eyes, because there was a mark on the master's forehead that resembled a third eye. He was famous for his Shaolin staff techniques.

There are very few sets in the Lau Gar system. The complete set of Lau Gar contains fist forms, palm forms, and weapon forms. There are many kicks and forceful blows in Lau Gar forms that were later included in Hung Gar. Stances are very low and very fierce. Hand techniques come in the form of punches, phoenix eye fist, and palm strikes while leg techniques include swinging kicks and thrusting front kicks. The style is well known for its staff techniques as well. Towards the end of the 1800's, Yau Luk Sau, who made the style public, traveled to the Kuei Lin Temple and learned Lau Gar from Tang Hoi Ching and later from Wan Goon Wing.

The Mok Gar style:
The Mok Gar style was also Five Animals based, and it placed more of an emphasis on the Snake forms. It is a short range style, with heavy kicks, which is unusual for a Southern style. It originated first with Shaolin Monk Huey Jeng, who taught Mok Ta Shih (legends say he was a midget), after he moved to Hai Feng village in Guangdong. There are two branches of Mok Gar, one is from Mok Ching Giu, (also known as Mo Ta Chang), and the other is from Mak Shing Mo. Both learnt from Choi Kau Yee, who was renowned for his kicking skills, and speed. The famous Wong Fei Hung's wife was Mok Kuei Lin, a member of the Mok clan who had been studying since childhood. Sets include: Zhong Quan (Mok's basics "seed" form), Lau Gar Kuen a "borrowed" form from the Lau Family style, Lian Tui Quan (Practice Leg Form), and others. Also, the style includes various forms of weaponry, such as Kwun (long staff), Leung Gip Kwun (split staff), Siu So Gee (little sweeper, big sweeper), Sam gip Kwun (three section staff), Dip Do (butterfly swords), and Guay (tonfa / nightstick). It has been said that the style is very much like Fut Gar, with some movements being interchangeable.

Lee or Li Gar style:
The Lee or Li Gar style (developed by Li Yau San), which was a middle range fighting style, with emphasis on the Leopard forms. The style was developed later than the other Five Animals styles, which was during the early 1800s. Said to be a student of Monk Chi Zin, while others believe him to be a student of Li Sik Hoi-one of the 5 Ancestors of the Hung Mun, Lee Yau-San is known as a teacher of Chan Heung, and recently discovered of Cheung Hung Sing as well.

Choy Gar style:
Finally, there was the Choy Gar style which was a long range fighting style. Choy Ga is noted for its complex kicking, footwork and stances. It has low stances and a footwork inspired by the rat while the arms and the upper body follows the pattern of the snake. The names of three Southern Shaolin masters were connected with the founding of Choy Gar, namely Choy Pa Tat (Cai Bai Da), Choy Kow Yi (Choy Gau Lee), and Choy Fook (who taught Chan Heung, the founder of Choy Li Fut style). There is no clear cut conclusion who among these three masters was the first to teach and pass down Choy Gar to posterity. It was also likely that there were actually three versions of Choy Gar, transmitted by these three masters, and since all the three were from Southern Shaolin, the three versions of Choy Gar were similar. Choy Gar is well known for its kicks, especially its Organ-Seeking Kicks, its agility, and its phoenix-eye fist. The stances are generally short. The Four-Six Stance, usually called the Triangle Stance, is widely used. Traditional Choy Ka kungfu sets include “Sap Tze Khuen” (Cross-Road Set), “Tai Wen Thien” (Great Cosmic Circulation), “Siew Wen Thien” (Small Cosmic Circulation), “Thien Phin Ngan” (Horizon Bird), and “Lau Shuei Mui” (Willow-Miscellaneous-Plum).

Lau Gar 5 animals.

During the Qing Dynasty, various Songshan Henan Shaolin people and anti-Manchu rebels went south to Fujian and other areas and brought newer martial art styles with them to the local temples. These styles were based on an internal system that had developed at Shaolin during the late Yuan/ early Ming Dynasty times by combining Shaolin Luohan Quan with an internal nei gong from Luoyang that was eventually called the Five Animals or Elements (Wu Xing), although there was more than just five animals in actuality (besides the Dragon, Tiger, Crane, Leopard, and Snake, also included are the eagle, bear, monkey, hawk, mantis, and others). Also, people from other temples traveled to Fujian during the early Qing times to help with the rebellion. One such temple was based in Emei (Omei) Mountain, in Sichuan province.

Through all these influences, the Fujian temples became the birthplace for the Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Mok Gar, Li Gar, Choy Gar, Wing Chun, Fut Gar, Choy Li Fut, Southern Mantis, White Crane, and many other styles that are now collectively known as the Nan (southern) Quan styles. After the Fuijian temples were all closed these styles were spread throughout Southern China, especially Fujian and Guangdong provinces. The martial arts styles practiced at the Fujian temples were many and varied.

Yau Luk Sau. At the age of 13 he left Kowloon and travelled to Kong Sai Province where he trained under the MasterTang Hoi Ching. Master Jeremy Yau. The British Kung Fu Association (BKFA) was set up in 1973 and Master Jeremy Yau, being the keeper of the Lau Gar style, was invited to be its chief Instructor. . Tiger Fork and Spear Traditional chinese fighting weapons.