Hung Gar Kuen 洪家拳

2012-01-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

Hung Ga, also known as Hung Kuen, is a southern Chinese martial art associated with the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, who was a master of Hung Ga. According to legend, Hung Ga was named after Hung Hei-Gun, who learned martial arts from Jee Sin, a Chan (Zen) master at the Southern Shaolin Temple.

The temple had become a refuge for opponents of the Qing Dynasty, who used it as a base for their activities, and was soon destroyed by Qing forces. Hung, a tea merchant by trade, eventually left his home in Fujian for Guangdong, bringing the art with him.

Even though Hung Ga is supposedly named after Hung Hei-Gun, the predominant Wong Fei-Hung lineage of Hung Ga claims descent not from him but from his classmate Luk Ah-Choi (陸阿采), who taught Wong Fei-Hung’s father Wong Kei-Ying and, by some accounts, Wong Taai (黃泰), who is variously said to be Wong Kei-Ying’s father or his uncle.

The hallmarks of the Wong Fei-Hung lineage of Hung Ga are deep low stances, notably its “sei ping ma” horse stance, and strong hand techniques, notably the bridge hand and the versatile tiger claw. The student traditionally spends anywhere from months to three years in stance training, often sitting only in horse stance between a half-hour to several hours at one time, before learning any forms. Each form then might take a year or so to learn, with weapons learned last.

However, in modernity, this mode of instruction is deemed economically unfeasible and impractical for students, who have other concerns beyond practicing kung fu. Hung Ga is sometimes mischaracterized as solely external—that is, reliant on brute physical force rather than the cultivation of qi—even though the student advances progressively towards an internal focus.

The Hung Gar Kung Fu system was founded by a Fukien tea merchant named Hung Hei Kung in 1734 AD, during the Ching Dynasty (Manchu’s). He was the disciple of Shaolin abbot Gee Sin, expert in the tiger style, and husband to Fong Wing Chun, expert in the crane style. He combined the fierce strong techniques of the tiger, with the swift, evasive techniques of the crane, creating this unique system known by many as “hard as iron, soft as a thread”.

Hung Gar is a long and short range fighting system allowing a wide variety of hand techniques like punching, clawing, slapping, pushing, pulling, thrusting, etc. There are many joint breaking and locking techniques (chin na) and it also has a strong foundation with powerful effective kicks that are delivered to the mid and lower section, all at close range, and without exposing oneself. This gives the practitioner a better sence of control as techniques are used to defend and attack at the same time. In Hung Gar there are no flowery techniques, every technique is simple but effective. It is a traditional system with self defence techniques that are very up to date and effective on the street.

( info source from Martial Arts Database.com and from senior Tang Yi Chuan )

Wushu Club USMKK

Hung Gar Kuen 洪家拳