Like other southern Chinese martial arts, Choy Li Fut features Five Animal techniques based on the tiger, dragon, crane, leopard, and snake but is distinguished from other southern styles by long, swinging, circular movements and twisting body motions more indicative of northern styles. Standard Cantonese is a variant, and is generally considered the prestige dialect of Cantonese Chinese. ... The Yale romanizations are four systems created during World War II for use by United States military personnel. ... Standard Mandarin – also known as Standard Chinese or Standard spoken Chinese – is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Nánquán (Chinese: 南拳; literally southern fist) refers to those Chinese martial arts that originate south of the Yangtze River, including Hung Kuen, Choy Lee Fut, and Wing Chun. ... In the Chinese martial arts, imagery of the Five Animals (Chinese: 五形拳; pinyin: wǔxíngquán; literally Five Forms)—Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake, and Dragon—appears predominantly in Southern styles (roughly speaking, those that originate south of the Yangtze River) especially those associated with Guangdong and Fujian Provinces. ... Nánquán (Chinese: 南拳; literally southern fist) refers to those Chinese martial arts that originate south of the Yangtze River, including Hung Kuen, Choy Lee Fut, and Wing Chun. ... Chángquán (Traditional Chinese: 長拳; Simplified Chinese: 长拳; literally long fist) is a general term for external (as opposed to internal) Northern Chinese martial arts (like the term Northern Shaolin in some cases). ...

As a Southern Shaolin style with Five Animal techniques, Hung Kuen is a close relative of Choy Lee Fut and is said by some Choy Lee Fut branches to be the style that Chan Yuen-Wu taught founder Chan Heung. Hung Gar (洪家 or in Mandarin/hanyu pinyin, hong jia, lit. ...

The stances of Choy Lee Fut are as wide as those of Hung Kuen, but higher - though not as high as those of Wing Chun - trading off some of the stability and root of Hung Kuen stances to allow more mobile footwork. In order to generate the characteristic whipping power of Choy Lee Fut, the hips and shoulders must be decoupled. Though Hung Kuen also features whipping power, particularly in its crane techniques, the hips and the shoulders are more frequently locked in the same plane, resulting in a "harder" form of power. Hung Gar and Wing Chun both hold the torso perpendicular to an opponent, to allow for the full use of both arms. By contrast, Choy Lee Fut holds the torso at an angle to the opponent to reduce the target area exposed to him. Wing Chun, occasionally romanized as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun (literally spring chant and alternatively as forever spring, or substituted with the character for eternal springtime[1]) is a Chinese martial art that emphasizes short-range combat. ...

Choy Lee Fut is a characterized as a "soft-hard", "external" style. The curriculum was designed so that anti-Qing rebels could quickly gain practical proficiency and also incorporates a wide range of weapons. Several common movements have specific sounds (kiai) associated with them—for example, "sik" when throwing punches, "yik" when punching from horse riding stance, "wah" was used when using a Tiger Claw and "dik" when kicking—supposedly so that friendly forces could recognize each other in battle and to force the practitioner to coordinate his breathing patterns with his movements. Kiai is a compound of ki meaning mind, will, turn-of-mind, spirit. ...

Like many martial arts, Choy Lee Fut has diverged into several lineages that differ not only in terms of training and emphasis but also on what they see as the true history of the style.

Although a very effective style, it has not gained popularity in mainland China. By some it is still seen as merely an amalgamation of southern and northern techniques and is not really seen as a separate style. Due to the nature of the style, it is said to be preferred by traveling merchants who could easily exchange techniques with others while traveling.

The popularity of Choy Lee Fut is strong in Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, and growing elsewhere. In the late 20th century, the style was popularized in the Canada and the United States. It is also one of the fighting styles used by Ermac in many of the Mortal Kombat video games

The origins of Choy Lee Fut

Chan Heung (陳享)^[1] was born in Guangdong Province, China in 1805 or 1806. At the age of six or seven, he began to study Kung Fu from his uncle, Chan Yuen-Wu (陳遠護),^[2] a master of Southern Shaolin. So proficient as an adolescent that he could defeat any challenger from nearby villages, Chan Heung was ready to learn more. So he began training under another Southern Shaolin master, Lee Yau-San (李友山),^[3] founder of Lee Gar, the Lee Family style. After only four or five years of training, it became apparent that Chan Heung was ready to move on once again. So Chan Heung set out to find Choy Fook (蔡褔),^[4] who is said to have been a monk on Luofu Mountain. After several years of training under Choy Fook, Chan Heung returned to his home village of Ging Mui (京梅)^[5] in the county of Xinhui. Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: Guǎngdōng; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Kwangtung in older transliteration; Cantonese: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... In Southern Chinese folklore, the Five Elders (Chinese: 五祖; Pinyin: ; Yale Cantonese: ng5 jou2) are survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). ... Mount Luofu (Chinese: 羅浮山; pinyin: ; Yale Cantonese: lo4 fau4 saan1) is a sacred mountain in China—though not one of the Sacred Mountains of China—situated on the north bank of the Dongjiang in the northwest of Bóluó (博羅) County in the prefecture of Huizhou in Guangdong Province that covers 250... Image:Location of Xinhui within Guangdong (China). ...

The origins of Choy Lee Fut according to the Cheung Yim branch

Cheung Yim (張炎)^[6] was an orphan cared for by his uncle. According to Huang Shenjiang, manager of the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon manager, the uncle's name was Cheung Kwan and Cheung Yim was at this time a disciple of Lee Gar master Lee Yau-San. When Cheung Yim was twelve, his uncle had obligations that meant he would no longer be able to take care of Cheung Yim.

So he took Cheung Yim to his old friend Chan Heung in the hope that Chan would be able to take the boy in as a live-in student. However, village rules forbade Chan Heung from teaching martial arts to non-family members. Unable to take care of the boy by accepting him as a student, Chan Heung instead hired Cheung Yim to do odd jobs at his martial arts school. Cheung Yim took the opportunity to observe Chan Heung’s lessons and practiced in secret what he had gleaned (cf. Yang Luchan). One night, Chan Heung came upon Cheung Yim practicing. Impressed by the boy’s motivation, Chan Heung taught him secretly for several years before the other villagers found out and expelled Cheung Yim. Yang Lu-chan 楊露禪 Yang Lu-chan or Yang Luchan, 楊露禪, also known as Yang Fu-kui 楊福魁 (1799-1872), born in Kuang-ping (Guangping), was an influential teacher of the soft style martial art known Tai Chi Chuan in China during the second half of the...

So in 1831, at the age of seventeen, Cheung Yim left Ging Mui, but not before Chan Heung gave him a letter of introduction and instructions to seek out the monk Ching Cho (青草)^[7] at the Zhajian Temple on Mount Bapai in Guangxi Province. Absent the distractions of secular life, Cheung Yim was able to give himself over completely to the things that the monk Ching Cho had to impart: his knowledge of Fut Gar Kung Fu and traditional Chinese medicine, a commitment to the overthrow of the foreign Manchu Qing Dynasty, and a new name, Hung-Sing (鴻勝), which reflected that patriotic ideal. Guangxi (Simplified Chinese: 广西; Traditional Chinese: 廣西; pinyin: Guǎngxī; Wade-Giles: Kuang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangsi) is an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Traditional Chinese medicine shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. ... The Manchu (Manchu: Manju; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: , Mongolian: Манж) are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (todays Northeast China). ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun; Mongolian: Манж Чин), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling Chinese Dynasties. ...

Cheung, now Cheung Hung-Sing, returned to Chan Heung and shared with his first teacher the things he had learned from his second. Chan Heung hired Cheung once again, this time as a teacher rather than as a menial/clandestine student, enabling Cheung to stay for the year or two until he left to open his own school in Foshan in 1839. Because it incorporated the Choy Gar style from Choy Fook, the Lee Gar style from Lee Yau-San, and the Fut Gar style from the monk Ching Cho, their new style became known as Choy Lee Fut. Foshan (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

The origins of Choy Lee Fut according to the Chan Family branch

At seven years old, Chan Heung began learning martial arts under his uncle Chan Yuen Woo. Yuen Woo was a famed master from Shaolin Temple, and taught his nephew the Buddha Style Fist or Fut Ga Kuen.

After years of study with his uncle, Chan Heung had become a consummate warrior by the early age of 15. To further his skills, Chan became a student of Lee Yau San, a Shaolin practitioner of the Lee Family Fist. Yau San was Yuen Woo's sihing or elder brother at Shaolin Temple.

Becoming proficient in the Lee Family style, Chan Heung was then referred to the Shaolin monk Choi Fook to further his martial arts knowledge. After years of intensive study with the Buddhist recluse, Chan Heung revised what he had learned and formed a new system. He combined his knowledge of 3 martial arts systems and called it "Choi Lee Fut" in honour of his teachers.[8]

Three styles that constitute Choi Lee Fut are as follows.

Chan Yuen Woo and the Buddha Style Fist Chan Heung learned the Buddha Style Fist, or Fat Ga Kuen, from his uncle Chan Yuen Woo. Yuen Woo was a famed master of Shaolin Temple.

The three sources of Choy Lee Fut

Choy Fook 蔡褔

Depending on the branch of Choy Lee Fut, Choy Fook is said to have been a master either of Northern Shaolin or of Choy Gar (蔡家),^[9] which was created by Choy Gau-Yee and is said to have the longest range of the five major family styles of the southern Chinese martial arts. In its broadest sense, Northern Shaolin (Chinese: 北少林; Pinyin: ) refers to the external (as opposed to internal) martial arts of Northern China in general—becoming synonymous with Changquan—instead of only those styles from the Northern Shaolin Monastery in Henan. ... In Southern Chinese folklore, the Five Elders (Chinese: 五祖; Pinyin: ; Yale Cantonese: ng5 jou2) are survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). ...

Either way, Choy Fook is considered a source of Choy Lee Fut's long-range northern characteristics like its swift, mobile footwork. Chángquán (Traditional Chinese: 長拳; Simplified Chinese: 长拳; literally long fist) is a general term for external (as opposed to internal) Northern Chinese martial arts (like the term Northern Shaolin in some cases). ...

Choy Fook is said to have been a descendant of Choy Gar founder Choy Gau-Yee, possibly his son.

Lee Yau-San 李友山

Said to be a student of Jee Sin 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 not only as a teacher of Chan Heung, and recently discovered of Cheung Hung Sing as well, but as the founder of Lee Gar (李家)^[10] which, like Choy Gar, is one of the five major family styles of the southern Chinese martial arts. Jee Sin Sim See (Chinese: 至善禪師; pinyin: Zhì Shàn Chán ShÄ«; Yale Cantonese: Ji3 Sin6 Sim3 Si1; literally Jee Sin, Chan teacher) is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders—in Chinese folklore, the five survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing... In Southern Chinese folklore, the Five Elders (Chinese: 五祖; Pinyin: ; Yale Cantonese: ng5 jou2) are survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). ...

The prominence of the leopard punch hand formation within Choy Lee Fut may be the influence of Lee Gar, a middle-range style which emphasizes leopard techniques. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Fut Gar 佛家

Fut Gar (佛家),^[11] literally "Buddha Family," specializes in palm techniques and for this reason is also known as Buddha Family Palm, Buddhist Palm, or Buddha Palm. Monk Ching Cho Woe Serng was responsible for spreading the Fut Gar system throughout Guandong. Both the left and right hand are used in attack and defense. Long and short-range footwork is employed.

Technical characteristics of different branches

Chan Family branch

Chan Family Choy Lee Fut emphasizes a soft, loose, flexible waist and faces the opponent at an angle to reduce the target area exposed.

Cheung Yim branch

Though still characterized by the whipping power indicative of Choy Lee Fut, the Cheung Yim branch maintains a closer alignment between the hips and the shoulders, imparting a "hardness" to its power, though not to the extent of Hung Kuen. Hung Gar (洪家 or in Mandarin/hanyu pinyin, hong jia, lit. ...

Buk Sing branch

Founded by Master Tarm Sarm and Northern Shaolin Master Ku Ji Jeung, Buk Sing Choy Lee Fut focused on direct combat rather than forms and weapon routines.

The Buk Sing lineage features a shorter syllabus comprising only a handful of routines—Sup Jee Kuen (十字拳), Ping Kuen (平拳), Kau Da (扣打), Seung Gaap Daan Gwun (雙夾單棍)—as compared to the dozens in the syllabuses of the other branches. Gun event at the 10th All China Games The Chinese word Gun (Chinese: ; pinyin: gùn) refers to a long Chinese staff weapon used in Chinese martial arts. ...

Buk Sing techniques are generally 'rawer' and more aggressive than their equivalents in other branches of Choy Lee Fut. In fighting the focus is on blitzing the opponent with rapid, advancing movements rather than engaging with him.

One example of Tarm Sarm's approach is the "side body" (偏身) stance, which takes the idea of reducing one's exposed target area by to its logical conclusion: turning the torso 90° away from the opponent.

Notes

Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... The Yale romanizations are four systems created during World War II for use by United States military personnel. ...

Masters of Choy Lee Fut

Chan Family masters:

• Chan Heung (1806-1875)
• Chan On Pak (1845-1901)
• Chan Koon Pak (1857-1916)
• Chan Yiu Chi (1892-1965)
• Chan Wan Hon (1929-1979)
• Chan Yong-Fa (1951-Present)

Cheung Yim masters: Chan Heung (1806 - 1875) was a Chinese martial artist. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

• Cheung Yim (1815-1893)
• Samuel Siu Ming Lee (1950-Present)

Buk Sing masters: The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

• Tarm Sarm (1873-1942)
• Chan On (1917-2005)
• Vince Lacey (Lay Wing Sung) (?-Present)
• Shane Lacey (Lay Shun Lay) (?-Present)
• Dave Lacey (Lay Dai Wai) (?-Present)

Masters of other branches:

• Chan Cheong Mo (1862-1953)
• Chan Ngau Sing (1864-1926)
• Wu Qin (1895-1942)
• Hu Yuen Chou (1906-1997)
• Lee Koon Hung(1942-1996)
• Li Siu Hung (1956-Present)
• Chan Yen (1918-1993)
• Jew Leong (1926-present)
• Wong Gong (1928-)
• Lau Bun (1871-1967)
• Paul Chan (1932-present)
• Doc-Fai Wong (1948-)
• Larry Johnson (1943-)
• Tat-Mau Wong (?-present)
• Daniel Tomizaki (?-present)
• Michael Tompkins (1960-present)

The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... There are three professional athletes, a political commentator, an education technology administrator, a blues musician and a anti-cryonics activist named Larry Johnson: Larry Johnson (baseball) Larry Johnson (basketball) Larry Johnson (football) Larry C. Johnson - political commentator Laurence F. Johnson - CEO, NMC.org Larry Johnson (blues musician) Larry Johnson (anti... Michael Tompkins (born in 1960 in Iowa) is a Chinese martial arts expert. ...

References

External links

• Hung Sing Choy Lay Fut - Europe
• Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut - Italy
• Chan Family Choy Lee Fut World Headquarters
• Foshan Hong Sheng Guan Hungsing Choy-Lee-Fut World Headquarters
• Plum Blossom International Federation Doc-Fai Wong Martial Arts Centers World Headquarters
• Centrum Choy Li Fut & Tai Chi Chuan
• Lee Koon Hung Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu Association
• Choy Lay Fut Buck Sing Gwoon
• Choy Lay Fut History and Masters
• Hong Luck Kung Fu Association
• The History of Choy Lee Fut