Master Ku, a kung-fu practitioner famous for his remarkable "iron palm" was challenged by Tam-Sam to fight. Ku accepted, but neither tighter could best the other. They became friends, and Tam-Sam merged his Choy-Li-Fut style with Ku's Shao-lin, christening it the bak-sing Choy-Li-Fut system. Bak-sing places heavy emphasis on sparring, kicking and longarm movements. A wide horse stance is most often used and force is believed to come mostly from the waist and shoulders. Many techniques involve simultaneous blocking and punching, or blocking and kicking. Bak-sing techniques are graceful and the fluidity of the supple long-arm movements, combined with the speed and dexterity of the quick, short-hand techniques, give this style a very artistic appearance. (MICHAEL P. STAPLES) Further reading: Inside Kung Fu, May 1975. CH'A CH'UAN is an ancient Chinese martial art, considered a Northern style. Practitioners contend from long range, darting swiftly to the attack. High, long leaps are important in ch'a ch'uan to cover distances quickly. Not widely practiced in China today, il was developed in the 14th to the 17th centuries by Chinese Moslems of Sinkiang, Chinghat, and Kansu, in the west and south of China, and is primarily still practiced by them. CH'O CHIAO Northern Chinese style of kung-fu originating in the Gao-Yang county of Hopei province, where it is still practiced. Ch'o chiao contains difficult, high-kicking movements, perhaps more than any other system of kung-fu. Because of its flamboyance, the style is suited to the Chinese opera, whose members are often practitioners. Wang-Yu is a famous exponent of the style in China. CHOW-GAR Style of kung-fu from southern China. It was founded by Chow Lung, who learned hung-gar, one of the five basic southern systems originating in the Shao-lin Temple, from his uncle, who added the pa-kua (eight trigrams) staff maneuvers to his nephew's training before passing away. The Choy style was taught to him by Choy-Kau. Later, after a three-year residence in one of the Shao-lin temples, he opened his own school in Canton. In 1915 Gen. LeeFook-Lam appointed Chow-Lung an instructor in the Chinese Army. CHOY-LI-FUT Cantonese name for a popular southern Chinese kung-fu system. Choy-Li-Fut derives from the Shao-IIn Temple In Choy-Li-Fut the contenders oppose from some distance, whic:h requires of each the proficient and expert development of longhand abilities, as well as firm and solid grounding of the body, though the feet must be versatile. The arms are wielded freely and powerfully in a variety of styles: uppercut blows, backfist strikes, roundhouse blows, and overhead foreknuckle thrusts. The Baal Gaw lance, willow leaf double swords, and "18" staff may be used in this aggressive kung-fu style. See also bak-sing Choy-Li-Fut. (MICHAEL P. STAPLES) CRANE STYLE Also called hok or hork yang; form of kung-fu utilizing one-legged stance. See also white crane (Tibetan style). DRUNKEN STYLE System of Chinese fighting patterned after the conventional movements of a drunkard. The actions appear wild and illogical. The practitioner wobbles unsteadily and occasionally seems to stumble to the ground, where he will lash out with a combination of foot and leg techniques. Many styles have drunken sets, which are reserved for the highest levels of training. There is a drunken monkey set, a drunken praying mantis set, a drunken white crane set, and so on. The Eight Drunken Fairies set--extremely difficult--was developed by the famous eagle claw master Lau-Fat-Mang, who used it to win the competition at civil examinations in Peking. (MICHAEL P. STAPLES)See also t'sui-ch'uan. EAGLE CLAW SYSTEM Style of kung-fu visible in the highly acr, batic fann tzu system Teaching the style for the famous Ching Wo (jing Mo, in Cantonese) Athletic Association in Shanghai, China Grandmaster Liu Fa Mang catapulted the style to its presen popularity. FAN-TZU Northern style of kung-fu; dates at least to the Ming period. It is very simple in its approach. Also called ba-fan. FIVE ELDERS Style of kung-fu; also, the five priests who escaped the burning of the original Shao-Iin Temple, FONG NGAN Style of Chinese kung-fu, known as the Phoenix Eye, originating in China's Hopu province and developed by Kew Soong In the tong ngan system, the basic blow is delivered with the foreknuckle fist (from which the style takes its name). Palm fist, finger poke, ridge hand, and knife hand techniques also are taught. The style's only kick is the front snap kick, delivered to to the groin area. There are no formal stances in the style. Instead, practitioners learn to crowd an opponent, enticing him to make a wrong move. A tong ngan practitioner never retreats from an attack, but moves into it or, if necessary, jumps to the side while counterattacking. Fong ngan employs tripping and leg-hooking throws, techniques that are always followed up by a "killing" blow or strike. The style emphasizes kuen (forms), proper breathing, speed, and form. There are four-man and two-man exercises, the latter closely resembling sparring. FU-CHIAO PAl A tiger claw system of kung-fu; the style emulates the movement of the tiger. There is a fu-chiao federation in New York City headed by Wai Hong HOP GAR Also known as Lama kung-fu, Hop-Gar became prominent during the Ch'lng dynasty in China as the official martial system of the Manchu Emperor and his guard. It was, and still is, a style for fighting, not for exercise or dancing. More than three hundred years ago, in the Ming dynasty, a Tibetan priest named Dai-Dot laid the groundwork for the Lama kung-fu style, creating the "Lion roar" martial system. According to legend, Dai-Dot was stricken with enlightenment one day and, pointing one finger toward the sky and one toward the earth, he fell to his hands and knees and roared like a lion. Lion roar, composed of eight fists, eight steps, eight fingers, eight grips, and eight kicks, was taught in the Ting-J uck-Lui -Yam Temple by the Kay-Lam Buddha. Lama passed through many generations of Tibetan priests at the temple before reaching the hands of the Lama Jickbowloklowtow, whose Chinese name was Ng-Mui, a famous personality in Chinese kung-fu novels. He is credited with devising the mui-fa-jeong (plumflower stumps) atop which kung-fu was practiced. The Lama style is composed of four main subdivisions: white crane, ta-mo, wei-t'ol, and law-horn. Ng-Mui taught the complete Lama style to only one student, named Hing-Duk, leaving his four other disciples to make full styles of their respective subdivisions. Hing-Duk passed the Lama style to Wong-Yan-Lum, who brought it to the emperor's palace in Peking, where he was employed to instruct the Imperial guard. When the Manchu dynasty collapsed, Wong left the Forbidden City and changed the style's name to Hop-Gar. To establish a reputation in southern China, he constructed a stage in Canton, challenging all comers and besting more than 150 kung-fu masters. For this he gained the number-one seat in the |