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CHAN YUEN WU
The
founder of Choy Lee Fut is Chan Heung. Chan
Heung was from the village King Mui, in the district of Ngi Sai, the
county of Sun Wui, in the Kwuntung province.
From
the age of seven, Chan Heung was taught martial arts by his uncle, Chan
Yuen Wu. Although
only a boy, Chan Heung was strong and quick to learn. He had a natural
ability and quickly succeeded in gaining the affection of his uncle,
who spared no effort in teaching him all that he knew.
Within a few years Chan Heung’s kung fu had made such
remarkable progress that he was invited to set up his own school for
his uncle in the town of Sun Wui. As time passed, and his reputation
began to soar, he gained many students.
LEE YAU SHAN
One
day he discovered that another instructor by the name of Lee Yau Shan
had been invited to teach in the neighbourhood. Lee was a disciple of
the Shaolin monk Jin Sin, and his skill was said to be formidable. Chan
Heung, being strong willed and a lover of a good fight, decided to test
his skills. He ambushed Lee as he was leaving a restaurant and tried to
throw him to the ground by putting both his arms around Lee’s
waist. However, Lee took the attack calmly, bent his knees slightly,
and lowered his chi and center of gravity in such a way that no matter
how hard Chan Heung tried, he could not make Lee budge. Lee then spun
around, lifted his foot to trip and kick at the same time, and threw
him yards away. Lee was rather curious about his assailant upon seeing
that Chan Heung was able to leap up uninjured after his fall. Lee
complimented Chan Heung, then demanded to know what school he belonged
to, and the reason for attacking him in such a sneaky fashion rather
than challenging him properly to a fight. Chan Heung felt ashamed, and
replied that the attack was his own idea in an attempt to test the
inadequacy of his own skill, and that he did not want to implicate his
teacher for his own defeat. Lee, amused at this reply, left Chan Heung
in his bewilderment.
Days later, Chan Heung learned that Lee had remarked that someone as
young and strong as Chan Heung, with such intelligence and ability, was
wasting his life and talent because vanity prevented him from improving
his skill. Chan Heung then realized the truth, that there was no limit
to the art of kung fu, and he immediately resigned from his post as
Chief Instructor, enrolling in Lee's school instead. Chan Heung was
Lee's disciple for five years, and took his skill to a new height. CHOY FOOK
One day, Lee Yau Shan and Chan Heung heard of a
recluse monk by the name of Choy Fook, who was living in a temple on
Mount Law Fou. This monk was renown for his skill in Chinese medicine.
Lee told Chan Heung that if the monk was so skillful in dit da
(treatment of muscular and skeletal injuries), he must also be skillful
in martial arts. Bitten by the bug of curiosity, Lee and Chan decided
to visit this monk immediately.
On
reaching the temple gate, they encountered a man, old in years, yet
tall and muscular with a penetrating gaze. He claimed that he was a
disciple of monk Choy Fook and invited the two visitors to enter the
temple and take some tea with him while waiting for his teacher's
return from his daily rounds. While the two visitors were
seated, the old man proceeded to chop the wood to boil the water, doing
so with his bare hands. Lee's curiosity was aroused. He commented to
Chan Heung that this old mans kung fu was quite good, and that if he
was showing off for their benefit it meant they must reply with some of
their own tricks. Lee got up and walked to the side of a stone rice
grinder that was lying next to the temple steps. He first loosened the
soil around the stone slabs, then stood back and kicked the rice
grinder clean off the ground. The old man watched with amusement. He
then walked up to the rice grinder and chopped off a corner of the top
slab, pulverising it with his bare hands and throwing the powder in
front of Lee, announcing that he was indeed Choy Fook and that the
powder was a memento for intruders who did not behave in proper manner.
Lee, filled with respect for Choy Fook, thanked the old man and left
immediately, leaving Chan Heung behind to deal with the situation.
Being a guileless young man devoted to martial arts, Chan Heung
realized that this was an opportunity to further his training under
another teacher of superior skill. He immediately fell on his knees in
front of the monk and begged Choy Fook to accept him as a disciple.
Choy Fook surveyed Chan Heung in silence - taking in the young man's
mannerisms - and finally concluded that the request was a genuine one.
He smiled and said to Chan Heung that if he wished to be a disciple he
must obey the following three instructions or else he must leave
immediately. These were the three instructions that Choy Fook ordered
Chan Heung to obey:
1. Chan
Heung must stay with him in the monastery for at least ten years until
the end of his apprenticeship;
2.
Chan Heung was forbidden to use his skills to kill or to maim, and must
never be boastful of what he attained;
3.
Chan Heung must kick the rice grinder back into its original resting
place.
Much
to Chan Heung's delight the rice grinder fell back into its old hole
easily, and he became Choy Fook's disciple.
For the next ten years, Choy Fook taught Chan Heung kung fu with great
discipline and precision. Each new technique took days to learn, and
Chan Heung had to master each new movement with speed, accuracy, power
and understanding before the next could be taught. Chan Heung found his
kung fu improved remarkably, and was very different to what it had
been. The knowledge passed down by Choy Fook, whether bare fist
techniques, the staff or wooden dummy training aids etc., was endless
and full of subtle changes, like nature itself. A combination of hard
work, dedication, natural ability, and the karma of a good teacher,
enabled Chan Heung to complete his training within the ten-year
period.
Choy Fook Bids Chan Heung
Farewell
One day Choy Fook hosted
a banquet for Chan Heung and proceeded to bid him farewell. During the
festivities Choy Fook told Chan Heung of his own origin. He was
originally from Fukien Shaolin monastery, which had been destroyed by
fire. While he was in Fukien, the Ching army invited 36 monks from his
monastery to help squash the rebellion in Tibet, which had been going
on for three years. It took three months to get Tibet under control
again. Fearing the martial prowess of the Shaolin monks, the Ching
government invited the monks to join the court as monk soldiers. When
the monks refused, the Ching government, fearing future opposition,
decided to eradicate the entire Shaolin monastic order by putting the
torch to the whole temple complex on the 25th day of the 7th moon in
the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Jung Jing (approx. 1734). All
save six monks perished; Choy Fook was one of them and escaped with his
head on fire. He was nicknamed 'rotten head' because of the burn scar
on his head. Later on he made his way to Mount Law Fou in Kwangtung
province where he went into hiding.
Choy Fook admonished Chan Heung that if one truly wanted to follow the
way of the Shaolin, it was necessary to seek the way of the Buddha, as
well as learning Chinese medicine and the 'six magic spells'. Choy Fook
continued to say that Shaolin fighting arts had originated with the
founder of the monastery, Monk Dart Mor (Bodhidharma) and later on had
been improved by Monk Gok Yuen and others. Masters from outside the
monastery had also been invited to contribute their skills. These
included the famous Lee Sau and Bak Juk Fung. With time and constant
experiment Shaolin fighting arts were further refined. Six years of
Shaolin kung fu practice could be regarded as a small accomplishment;
ten years could be regarded as a qualified accomplishment. Choy Fook
said that he was not quite sure whether it was Chan Heung's good
fortune or his (meaning Shaolin martial arts) that Chan Heung had
succeeded in learning all that he could teach, since he was quite
resigned to the fact that he might die in this wilderness, taking his
art with him to the grave. Although he was quite willing to send Chan
Heung home, Choy Fook continued to say that to be a true follower of
Shaolin, one must also seek the way of the Buddha as well as learning
the 'six magic spells'. Hearing that, Chan Heung decided to stay for an
extra two years until he was ready to leave the monastery in the
twelfth year.
At the time of his farewell, Chan Heung asked his teacher to spell out
his future. Choy Fook told him that although he was not meant for the
life of a court official (by sitting the martial examination), he and
his offspring would be leaders of men as long as the Shaolin tradition
was kept alive.
Amongst other advice given, Choy Fook gave Chan Heung a double couplet
which time has proven to be authentic:
"The
dragon and the tiger met in heaven, to revive our Shaolin ways"
"Teach your followers righteousness, let each generation uphold and
enliven"
When
Chan Heung bid his final farewell, he was accompanied by three of his
brothers in learning all the way down the mountain slope. They were
Jeung Tin Cheung (nicknamed Courageous Jeung), a monk from Mount Law
Fou by the name of Tung Kwan, and a man from his own Sun Wui county
called Chan Chung Nin.
Chan
Heung Returns to the Sun Wui County
Chan Heung returned to his village and
set up a clinic to treat the sick and help the poor. Later he was
persuaded by the elders of the family to set up a school in the village
ancestral hall. He called the place Hung Sing Gwoon (Great Sage School)
and his clinic Wing Sing Tong (Hall of Eternal Victory). At the time he
reasoned that all the major branches of Chinese martial arts originated
from the Shaolin temple, such as famous styles under the family names
of Hung, Lau, Choy, Lee, and Mok. Seeing that his brand of kung fu was
also taught by the teachers with the surnames of Choy, Lee and Chan, he
thought it would be right to synthesize their teachings and give it a
name that would commemorate and honor their deeds, instead of selfishly
calling it the Chan style. He chose the name Choy Lee Fut, giving the
explanation: Choy in the honor of monk Choy Fook, who gave him much of
his knowledge; Lee, in honor of Lee Yau San, and at the same time
commemorate other pioneers such as Lee Sau, who came and expanded and
improved the range of Shaolin martial arts; and Fut, meaning Buddha, to
commemorate the Buddhist origins of the art, since all his three
mentors could trace their lineage back to the Shaolin temple.
Chan Heung Documents His
Teachings
Three years later, at the invitation of his uncle and the local
overseas Chinese association, Chan Heung left his village for the
Northern Ocean (believed to be America). There he taught the overseas
Chinese for three years, followed by three years in Hong Kong to teach
his local country compatriots. He then travelled to the Southern Ocean
(Malaysia and Singapore) to teach in the Kwangtung Association for
several years. Upon his return to Mount Law Fou to visit Choy Fook he
discovered that the monk had died during his absence at the age of one
hundred and twelve. Interpreting that fact that he had not been able
see his teacher one more time before his death as a meaningful sign, he
chose to do penance by undertaking the task of editing all his learning
into one book in order that there would be a written record for
posterity, and thus preventing the possibility of misinterpretation and
ambiguity creeping into the art. He named the manuscript 'The Manual of
Choy Lee Fut Fighting Arts'.
Chan Heung died on August 20, 1875.
Peacefully, he was buried in King Mui Village and remembered by all of
his followers since. Chan Heung's Offspring
Chan Heung had two sons, On Pak and
Koon Pak. Chan Koon Pak also had two sons, Man Bun and Yiu Chi. Chan
Yiu Chi had two sons, Wan Hon (Master Chen Yong Fa's father), Sun Chu,
and a daughter, Kit Fong (Master Ng Fu Hang's Mother). CHAN KOON PAK - The
Successor to Chan Heung
Chan Koon Pak, the second son of Chan Heung, was a
very adept and intelligent person. At a rather young age, he had
mastered the art his father had passed onto him, but Chan Koon Pak
chose to become a merchant and settled in Kong Moon. Under persistent
persuasion, he did come out for a stint as the head instructor
of the Choy Lee Fut school in Kong Moon. Chan Koon Pak later moved to
Canton, where he opened a kung fu school as a result of popular
request. Countless number of people had come to him for instructions;
notably Ngan Yiu Ting, Wong Fook Wing, Wu Kee Biu, Lee Hin Cheung, Choy
Pak Tat, Choy Pak Hung, etc.
Chan
Koon Pak died on January 28, 1916. CHAN YIU CHI - The
Past Grandmaster
Chan
Koon Pak was a disciplinarian and the same stern attitude to learning
was also impressed onto his son Yiu Chi. Chan Yiu Chi seldom turned his
thoughts off kung fu. Even when sitting idle, his feet could be seen
practicing. This kind of incessant work made Chan Yiu Chi an
outstanding exponent of Choy Lee Fut. He represented speed, power,
agility and more. Perhaps less known to many people, Chan Yiu Chi was
also a classical scholar, and he never bragged about or showed off his
deadly kung fu skill. At the time of his staying with his father, Chan
Koon Pak in Canton, he engaged in the propagation of Choy Lee Fut to
the world at large. Requests were received regularly, asking him to
teach abroad in San Francisco, Holland, the South Pacific and other
overseas countries where there were substantial Chinese population. As
Chan Koon Pak was in an advanced age, Yiu Chi did accept, as his father
so desired, several posts as kung fu instructor in many secondary and
tertiary schools, trade unions, sports clubs, and worker's
associations. His prominence in kung fu overshadowed his other fields
of excellence - that of poetry and classics. Chan
Yiu Chi was a fair and just man. He held no secret about the kung fu he
was well known for. Any question was answered in detail and he analyzed
kung fu objectively as a scholar of his standing would. Students
showing potential were also taught Chinese medicine, as he was also a
practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. It is worth noting that
as a practitioner of medicine, he never refused consultation and only
charged what the patients could afford to pay.
Chan
Yiu Chi was responsible for officially organizing the entire system of
Choy Lee Fut. He recorded every form by carefully writing down their
movements and its applications (these forms were recorded into what is
referred to as "Kuen Po's" - Fist Manuals). These
records remain safely guarded by the Chan Family. 
Chan
Yiu Chi died on July 5, 1965. His deeds are still fondly remembered
with affection.
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