Yes. Double-ended staff, trident (sort of), and other weapons are still used by police security, especially in metro and train stations.
Relatively recently there have been few quite horrible knife mass attacks in China, so the Chinese government has instilled strict security features – scanners, guards, and – various weapons. Continue reading
Jyu Yuk Jai’s Tiger Crane Double Form book was the first “Lam Sai Wing’s” manual ever published.
112 drawings of Grand Master Lam Sai Wing, poetical 4 character names for all of the techniques, detailed description of the set, as well as combat sequences.
For all of us Hung Ga Kyun practitioners today it is a rich source of useful and interesting information, but – we should not forget that Jyu Yu Jai was mainly novelist who helped to popularize the Wong Fei Hung’s lineage, although he did learn from Lam Sai Wing and taught the art of Hung Kyun. Not all information is 100% reliable.
During the years of research we have identified some mistakes and inaccuracies in the original Fu Hok Seung Ying manual. Continue reading
We’re very close to finishing our first long awaited online course called PHK Minimum: Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Martial Arts.
We have been working on this project very intensive for last few moths, but we are finally going to wrap it up and release it in the summer 2016.
Our first online course will be focused both on beginning students, or intermediate/advanced students, frustrated with the lack of results following their current training program.
Our PHK Minimum will present samples of the most important basic exercises, training methods and principles from our extensive PHK curriculum – those fundamental exercises that will bring the best results in the shortest time, be it good health, mobility, flexibility, strength, stamina, as well as self-defense skills.
PHK Minimum online course will include 3 main instructional videos: Fundamental Exercises, Strength & Conditioning, Application & Free Fighting, plus accompanying and detailed .pdf manuals (and couple of other bonuses). The course will also include a dozen of theoretical lessons, answering the most common questions, plus a downloadable calligraphy – traditional Chinese saying, explaining the most important principles of Chinese martial arts training. Each lesson will finish with short quiz.
However, we need your help. Before we finalize everything and launch the course, we need to make sure we covered everything.
That is where we need your help. Please take a few minutes to answer this super short survey – there is really only one thing we want to ask you…
What is your top question about Chinese martial arts training that we absolutely need to answer in our PHK Minimum online course?
Please let us know using the email form below!
Would you like to see a sneak preview of the PHK Intro Kit? Click HERE!
One of my fondest memories of my Sigung (師公), the Great-Grandmaster Lam Cho, was when he would put on his three-piece suit, pick up a newspaper, and take a brisk walk for lunch at his favorite restaurant, where he had a table reserved daily, between the hours of 1:00-2:30pm. On the occasion of one visit, in the early 1990’s, I had brought a variety of Chinese martial art books from my home in San Francisco, USA.
Arriving at Lam Kwoon (林館), Great-Grandmaster Lam Cho and my Sifu (師父), Grandmaster Lam Chunsing were ready to have lunch, and so we walked together, to Sigung’s restaurant, the old Joy Fook Lau Seafood Restaurant (彩福海鮮酒樓), on the fourth floor of the Pioneer Centre, 750 Nathan Road. On this particular day, I had brought the books with me, with the intention of discussing them with my Sifu. Continue reading
“Original”, “traditional”, “orthodox”… Those are the words how (traditional) Chinese martial arts are often described. What does it mean? Same as hundreds years ago? Dated?
The word “traditional” comes for a latin word tradere, “to hand over”, “hand down”, from the Master to the apprentice, from one generation to the other – not only the techniques and sets, but concepts, principles and training methodology, often unique to a specific system or family. Continue reading
The definitive guide to Hung Ga Kyun’s history, techniques and traditions.
What do you say?
I am recently going through my archives – old articles, rare manuscripts, translations, notes, videos, and dozen of other unfinished projects.
Lots of stuff. Lots of.
Years ago I have compiled a concise Cantonese-English Hung Kyun Vocabulary for me and our PHK students – basic terminology, techniques and other useful terms, just few pages.
The project slowly evolved to another project with a working title Concise Encyclopedy of Hung Kyun.
Enter the third stage – Complete Hung Kyun: The Definitive Guide to Hung Ga Kyun’s History, Techniques and Traditions. Continue reading
![The “Tigress” Mok Gwai Laan, Wife of Wong Fei Hung [Rare Video]](https://practicalhungkyun.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mok-gwai-laan-wong-fei-hungs-wife.jpg)
Super rare video! Mok Gwai Laan, Wong’s last wife, performs parts of Hung Ga Kyun’s “Taming of the Tiger in I pattern”, “Tiger and Crane” and Single Whip!
Apology for bad quality – we have shot this video in Fat Saan’s Wong Fei Hung museum from a TV screen. The Hong Kong Movie database says that Mok Gwai Laan starred in Story of Wong Fei-Hung, Part 3: The Battle by Lau Fa Bridge (1950), but I haven’t been able to confirm this footage comes from this movie. If true, she would be 59 or 60 years old. Continue reading
My Sifu told me that the “oldtimers” always squeezed the fists hard when training the sets for strength, slowly, each movement one by one. Think Jai Kiu, “Controlling Bridge” in “Taming the Tiger” or “Iron Thread”.
Old time Masters also used many other devices to train the grip – jars, bundle of chopsticks, stone locks, head long poles – grip strength was obviously very important to them.
To train the grip is a very demanding endeavor not only for your hands and fingers, but your CNS as well, so it is advise to have a long rest between the “sets”. Best would to train the trip throughout the day – but it is not very practical to carry a jar, a brick, not to mention a stone lock or a heavy long pole….
Grand Master Lam Sai Wing had a secret weapon against the (hand) weakness in his sleeve – literally. Continue reading
How to celebrate the Chinese New Year of Fire Monkey?
With some good Gung Fu, of course.
Grand Master Gang Dak Hoi was a sworn brother of my Si Gung, late Grand Master Lam Jou. Some of the Lam Family Hung Kyun weapons as well as sparring sets come original from Daai Sing Pek Gwa Mun, ie. the sabre and the sword. My Si Gung used to teach Hau Kyun, “Monkey set”, as you can see on the photo above, but he has stopped teaching it long time ago. He always praised Gang Dak Hoi’s Gung Fu as top notch. Continue reading
Hon Hoi belongs to the older generation of Lam Sai Wing’s Hong Kong students, together with Jyu Yu Jai (author of three so called “Lam Sai Wing’s” books), Dang Sau King, Lau Jaam,and others. He has started to learn from Grand Master Lam at his String Lane (Gung Wan Hong) gym, close to the Bamboo Hill.
The main reasons why Hon Hoi started to learn Hung Kyun under Lam Sai Wing were general fitness, strength, and health. He had a well payed job in telecommunications, but has spent too much sitting. He has heard about the famous “Iron Thread Set” (Tit Sin Kyun) and the excellent results in strengthening the body and healing diseases from other students of Lam Sai Wing, like Jyu Yu Jai and Wu Lap Fung – it was one of the main reasons why he joined Lam Sai Wing§s gym and eventually learned and mastered the set. Continue reading