Mark Wiley.

I am expecting Mark (Wiley) to visit in August; he will be in the Philippines and then Singapore where we would be spending sometime together.

I am arranging to bring my White Crane elders and Ah Teck, my Taizu teacher, to meet up and discuss some book projects.

Hopefully after that, we get to travel to Penang and have another round with masters there.

Here again I am trying to get as many masters as possible to talk about joint projects.

To say that I am energized by the prospect of this entire venture is really an understatement.

There is just so much that could come out of this conference.

Por Suk and his Cho Gar Ban Chung Wing Chun, Sifu Ong Choon Sheng/Fukien TaiZu and Sifu Chang Han Xiong/ Yue Jia or Geok Gar are some that come to mind straightaway.

In particular, Geok Gar, the scarcity of material about this brilliant style is a major injustice!

Well, all the homework that I’ve been doing is coming to fruition …

So Mark, as much as I want to take you site seeing and food tasting, it’s going to be more like “work” sessions with the various masters.

Here’s are some scans from one of my Yue Jia /Geok Gar books that I am using for background research.

Love the “one strike, 3 hits” technique ……

Grand Ancestor Red Fists.

Found this:-

Hongquan is a kind of excellent genres in between all the martial art forms of China. And there has long been the sayings about those regional martial arts forms, namely, Dong Qiang (Spears maneuvering of East China), Xi Gong ( Staff maneuvering of West China), Guanzhong Quan ( Hand forms of martial arts in Central Shaanxi Plain) as well as Dong Cha ( Chaquan Boxing) Xi Hong( Hongquan Boxing), of which Hongquan wins most of the show. By intaking the merit points of Neijia( a school of martial arts stressing the cultivation of vital energy) and Waijia ( school of martial arts stressing the utilizing of pragmatic artifice in actual combat), From the reign Emperor of Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang of Qing Dynasty onwards, Hongquan has prevailed in the 5 northwestern province of China, and thus is endowed with a strong coloring of the folks in this region. Especially during the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Daoguang, while absorbing unceasingly the formula for actual combat of other schools, Hongquan Boxing was developed to its heyday with its representative masters such as Yaozi Gao San( Snipe the Third Child of the Gao Family，who is as alert as the snipe), Heihu Xin Wu ( Black Tiger the Fifth Child of the Xin Family, who is as fierce as the tiger), E’hu Su San (Hungry Tiger the Third Child of the Su Family，who is as courageous as the tiger ), Tongbei(i.e. Tongbei Boxing, a kind of martial arts Li Si ( Fourth Child of the Li Family), etc, who had made invaluable contribution to the development and study of Hongquan.

Visit website here.

By now, it should be obvious that Tai Zu or Grand Ancestor is a very common terminology in CKF, both Northern and Shaolin.

Within the Southern context, there must be at least 8 distinct lines all calling themselves Tai Zu, in one form or another.

“Hong” or Red Fists is another you see everywhere name – from Shaolin, to Long Fist and even a stand alone style.

I got a small collection of “Red Fists” Northern Boxing books that I will try to post here ……. over time.

For now, something called “TaiZu Hong Quan” or “Grand Ancestor Red Fists”.

Can’t find any clip but “Sifuwu” got a Shanxi Red Fist Cannon Fist form over on youtube; linking it here.

Enjoy.

侠家拳 Xiajia Quan or Hap Gar Kuen.

From Chinese wikipedia :-

南拳一支，由清末民初廣東十虎之一的王隱林傳出，初時稱為鶴陽拳，即惠陽白鶴拳．由來自海豐的黃連嬌再傳給羅浮山的林合（林亞合，又稱林俠），林俠亦工於五形拳，王隱林於1928年正式定名為俠家。 侠家拳械，拳套有四套：十二支桥，小罗汉，大罗汉、虎鹤相斗，器械有单刀，左把枪，九点十二枪响棍等。

Rough translation :-

A form of Southern Boxing that came out of the end of the Qing Dynasty taught by one of the 10 Tigers of Guangdong (Canton), Wang Yinlin.

Originally known as Heyang Quan or Crane/Yang Fist; the “yang” is taken from the name of the place “HuiYang” where this system was centered.

The name was formally changed to “Xia Jia” in 1928 by Wang Yinlin.

This style has 4 empty-hand forms – 12 Bridges, Small Arhat, Big Arhat and Tiger Crane Battle.Weapons include broadsword, spear and 9 spots 12 “gunshots” sticks.

The popular CKF saying; 5 major families, 13 famous styles.

The 5 here refers to the major Cantonese CKF families, Hung, Lau, Choy, Li and Mok.

Hap Gar is one of the 13 eminent styles that came out of Canton.

I don’t really want to go into the “history” of this system, again because, depending on what you read or who you talk to, you are going to hear much varied origins.

Some say Tibetan and then there are those who subscribe to the concept that it came out of Shaolin.

Like this book that I got here:-

According to the authors, the style was first taught by Shaolin monks and then passed on to Wang Yinlin, who was at one time, a monk.

The form “Big Arhat” to the authors is also known as “Tat Mor”.

So once again, I just want to sit back, relax and enjoy the varieties of fruits that, in all likelihood, came from one same tree.

Or in the words of some of the elders around here, open your eyes and your heart.

Then the mind opens too and ………

You learn….. really.