侠家拳 Xiajia Quan or Hap Gar Kuen.

August 1, 2009

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.

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