Fut San
Hung Sing Kwoon
"Questions and Answers"
鴻勝 蔡 李 佛 研究
Who was Cheung Hung Sing?A: Cheung Hung Sing's original name was Cheung Ah Yim. He was one of Southern China
's Greatest fighters, heavily involved in revolutionary activities, and
defending his honor against any and all challengers.
He was the founder of the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon and the Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut fighting method which was a combination of Li Ga (from Lee Yau San) the earliest stages of Choy Lee Fut (by Chan Heung) and Fut Ga
(From the Green Grass Monk). As well as founder of one of the longest
running gung fu schools of its time (98 years 1851-1949) which later
became the largest and most structured schools back then.
He was also the most famous disciple to have come from Chan Family Choy Lee Fut founder Chan Heung. When was Cheung Yim born?
born in 1824 during the Ching Dynasty
Where was Cheung Yim from?
a native of the Dong Ling village
Was Chan Heung Cheung Yim's only teacher?
A: No. Prior to 1836 Cheung Yim was a student of Lee Ga Master Lee Yau San, Chan Heung's second sifu. Then in 1836 about the same time or early than the official establising of the system, Chan Heung took in the 12 year old Cheung Hung Sing. Then in 1841 Cheung Hung Sing took the Green Grass Monk as his final sifu. This is where Cheung Hung Sing is said to have put the "FUT" in Choy Lee Fut.
Why did Cheung Yim only study Choy Lee Fut under Chan Heung for 5 years?
A:Well, if you think about it, Cheung Yim was never really an official student of Chan Heung. why? Because Cheung Yim copied Chan Heung's techniques, but later was secretly trained by him. Because back then, only those with the surname of Chan were allowed to learn Chan Heung's gung fu....hence all of Chan Heung's original students possessed the last name of Chan.
But when Cheung Yim revealed that he was being trained by Chan Heung by injuring his teachers senior disciples, the parents of the injured individuals complained to the village elders who gave Chan Heung an ear full on the village rules. So Chan Heung was forced to ask Cheung Yim to leave the King Mui village.
So what happened to Cheung Yim then?
A: Chan Heung sent him to ShenJiang to locate the Green Grass Monk on Mount Pak Pai. Then in 1841 Cheung Yim found and became a disciple of the Green Grass Monk who taught him Chinese Medicine and the art of Fut Ga.
Who is the Green Grass Monk?
A: The Green Grass Monk was one of the alias's of the Abbott of the Shaolin Temple in Southern China. He was a high ranking disciple of the former Abbott Gee Sim, and responsible for the maintanence and developement of the Wooden Men training halls and the 36 Chambers. His comrads were Fang Dai Hung, Li Sik Hoi, Wu Dak Dai, Ma Chiu Hing, and Li Sik Hoi (Lee Yau San's Teacher). According to the legend passed down within certain lineages, the Green Grass Monk was responsible for killing the Shaolin traitor Ma Chut.
Other alias's for the Gree Grass Monk were......Monk Ng Ging, Cai DeZhong, and Xing Yin.
What did Cheung Hung Sing learn from the Green Grass Monk?
According to the elders of the Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon, the most important thing the Green Grass Monk taught Cheung Hung Sing was called In and Out Bagua. This form is said to contain some of the best fighting techniques within the system, and was is documented as being 1,080 moves long.
Later, first successor Chan Ngau Sing broke up the In and Out Bagua Kuen into 3 forms (Ping Kuen, Cheung Kuen, Kau Da Kuen).
Is Chan Heung's 3rd teacher Choy Fook really the Green Grass Monk?
NO. Not at all. In fact, up until recent times, the Chan Family steadfastly denied the existance of the Green Grass Monk stating he didn't exist because he wasn't in the Chan Family records. And many masters have gotten their hands on them, and everyone agreed.......there was no mention of the Green Grass Monk anywhere. Hell, I'm not chinese, can't really read it either, but i know the characters of the Green Grss Monk like the back of my hand, and if his name was in the Chan Family records, even I could have found it.
In fact, around 2001 or so, a heated debate erupted on a internet forum where members of all 3 branches of the Choy Lee Fut system were involved. As a result, many many students from all lineages began asking their sifu's questions about the Green Grass Monk. But members of the Chan Family have either completely dismissed the authenticity of the Green Grass Monk, even going to so far as to list reasons why they felt the Green Grass Monk was a falsehood, a fabrication coming from the Hung Sing Kwoon lineage.
Then, coming right out of left field, a certain CLF master claimed that he had discovered that the Green Grass Monk really was the alias for Choy Fook, both the Hung Sing Kwoon and the Buk Sing Kwoon's couldn't believe our ears. For decades they (the Chan Family) denied, and riduculed the Hung Sing lineage for believing in such a fictional character. But instantly, they changed their tune, as if to say "what the heck, if we can't beat them, steal from them!" And till this day, the same master continues to promote this idea, regardless if its a fabrication in itself.
The Green Grass Monk will always be the final teacher of Cheung Yim, NOT any type of teacher to CHAN HEUNG. Someone in the Chan Family altered their records to now try and show that Monk Cho Fook is Ching Cho.......but the Hung Sing and Buk Sing branches will always stand up and tell the truth. Ching Cho belongs to us, not you!!!!
Why do you feel Monk Choy Fook and Ching Cho Wo Serng are two different people?
A: For one, no one has ever known how old Monk Ching Cho was, just that he was an old man, but Chan Heung says Choy Fook died at 112 years old.
Two, Monk Choy Fook lived in seclusion and died on Mount Lau Fu, while the Green Grass Monk lived in a temple on Mt Pak Pai in ShenJiang.
Third, Chan Heung felt it was worth mentioning that Monk Choy Fook was a scarred head received as a result from it being on fire during the destruction of the Shaolin Temple.
Yet, this vital piece of information was never once mentioned within our history what so ever.
Fourth, its up in the air right now about what style Monk Choy Fook really taught, but the Green Grass Monk was a master of the Fut Ga system.
Too many inconsistencies within the Chan Family account of CLF history. Especially when the Chan Famil is now claiming that OUR Green Grass Monk is THEIR Monk CHoy Fook.
Rediculous!!!!!
why is there a Chan family, Hung Sing, and Buk Sing branches of CLF?
Because Chan Heung developed his Choy Lee Fut and passed on the true art through his bloodline. Only they were allowed to carry on the family tradition. It took most of Chan Heung's life to develop his Choy Lee Fut, which was based off of teaching from Chan Yuen Wu, Lee Yau San, and Choy Fook. The word Fut at the end is to represent their Shaolin and buddhist roots.
The Further development and evolution of Chan Family Choy Lee Fut was left up to Chan Heung's Son, Grand Son, and today his Great Great Grand Son. They started out with a limited number of form within that specific branch, but today there is about 200 forms both modern and traditional that has been developed by them for them.
Remember, Cheung Yim only learned the earliest stages of Chan Heung's Choy Lee Fut, so when he was accepted by the Green Grass Monk and was taught Fut Ga, Cheung Yim was put in a unique situation where he would take the Lee Ga he learned from Lee Yau San, the little Chan family Choy Lee Fut he learned from Chan Heung, and the Fut Ga from the Green Grass Monk.....Cheung Yim was on a quest to further develop his gung fu. Another thing was, Cheung Yim didn't have a need for a large number of forms to teach since their main focus and needs were effective combative training for real life situations.
Yet, the gung fu of Cheung Yim's Fut San Hung Sing Kwoon was based off of teaching from Lee Yau San, Chan Heung and Monk Ching Cho. Eventually being described as the Hung Sing method of Choy Lee Fut. Since Cheung Yim only learned the earliest stages of Chan Heung's Choy Lee Fut, no forms from the Chan Family are practiced within the Hung Sing Kwoon lineage.
Now, Buk Sing Choy Lee Fut is basically the Hung Sing Kwoon, but with a little different flavor since its founder Tam Sam was always striving to better his gung fu. But the Buk Sing name came about because Tam Sam moved to the northern side of town, where they called themselves Siu Buk Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut style. But that was just too long to say to people everyday, so eventually Tam Sam, who was a die hard Hung Sing Man, was talked into calling his school the Buk Sing or Northern Victory Choy Lee Fut. Within Tam Sam's Choy Lee Fut he developed things not taught in other branches. He was a very forward thinking man and evolutionary, makin major contributions to the Choy Lee Fut system.
Who was the first to use Hung Victory Hung Sing洪 勝?
It was Cheung Hung Sing's name given to him from the Green Grass Monk and used as his schools first name before having to change it to Glorious Victory used by all of Cheung Hung Sing's disciples.
ALL of Chan Heung's disciples used 洪聖 (Xiong Sing or Great Sage Hung) And Cheung Hung Sing and his disciples used 洪 勝/鴻勝 (Hung Mun Victory/Glorious Victory) and followers of Chan Heung's son Chan Koon Pak first used 鴻勝 but later changed it to 雄勝 (meaning Strong or Heroic Victory) to separate themselves from the Jeong Hung Sing school. Why did Koon Pak chose to use a name different than his fathers school and use that of his father's student is anybody's guess.
The following is an excerpt from something written by one of Chan Yong Fa's top students.........
CHOY
LEE FUT WOODEN DUMMIES
By Howard Choy
Choy Lee Fut kung-fu has always been
taught openly, since its conception in the 1830’s. The passage of
time has resulted in many derivative new techniques being added
onto the original as passed down by Chan Heung, the founder. It
is now difficult to differentiate the techniques that were devised
by Chan Heung and those that were created by teachers of later generations.
The three main branches of the system,
namely, Hung Sing (Originally known as Great Sage Hung Sing, later
changed to Heroic Victory Hung Sing), Hong Sing (Great Victory),
and Buk Sing (Northern Victory, whose lineage can be traced to Tam
Salm), feature slight variations in their techniques. The above, coming from a very close source to the bloodline of the Chan Family proves that Chan Heung and his followers used Xiong Sing, and Jeong Hung Sing used Hung Victory. So it is a false claim when someone says Hung Victory was used by the Great Sage Hung branch. The very author of this article above is who told me that the Green Grass Monk didn't exist in Chan Family records.
|
