Lau Bun and Choy Lay Fut

[churn-ging]

I read in an article that said when Lau Bun first came to America, he join the Hop Sing Tong and taught Choy Lay Fut to his fellow Hop Sing brothers. I have a few questions that I would like to ask:

1. Isn't the Hop Sing Tong actually an organized crime unit that is disguised as a benevolent society?

2. If Lau Bun taught Choy Lay Fut only to his Hop Sing brothers, then isn't his lineage of Choy Lay Fut associated with gangsters?

3. Do all chinese gangsters have to learn Choy Lay Fut?

Thanks.

[JAZA]

You can ask this in hungsing.com.

[CLFNole]

Yes of course it is a pre-requiste for all "hak sei woi" to learn CLF before joining any tong. If you know another style well then no gangsta for you. I am Italian and we are currently in the process of working it into La Cosa Nostra.

Peace.

P.S. Watch out for the Gambino Gwa Choy & the Salvatore Sow Choy. There is also the Pasta Pow Choy for good measure.

[alecM]

Apparently, it might me a future required for all crime gangs here in the UK and rumour has it's already compulsory for the East European gangsters like the Russian mafia.

[CLFNole]

AlecM:

Makes sense being the gansta's that we are.

Peace.

[JAZA]

Lei sa troppo, capo:cool:

[buddhapalm]

Tongs/Triads were created as Chinese societies of mutual protection. As such, martial arts were integral in that protection and also enforcement of rules within those society's.

Tongs/Triads sometimes migrated somewhat to criminal enterprises and therefore utilised the organizational resources towards other ends.

To be a member of such a society does not imply that one is a criminal. Old men go there to drink tea as likely as any possible criminal go there for another purpose. A body may have a bad hand, but it does not mean that the whole body is bad.

How many Chinese people have the Tongs/Triads saved from troubles in the past. They contain elements of both beneficial and troublesome attributes. It is easy for us to stereotype these Society's as ruthless mafia, when in fact they simply were intended to benefit the immigrants/members. Of course, power wielded in greedy hands can turn the boat in a harmful direction.

When the Chinese Society was oppressed in the USA. There was only the opportunity to work in a laundry or a restaurant. With many mouths to feed, opportunities in the underworld sometimes was the only option for survival. Hence gambling and other enterprises prospered. So while gambling is illegal in many states, it is not illegal in Nevada. So criminality is sometimes defined by location. But that is a whole new thread.

I can guarantee that all of the Chinese martial arts we know would never be passed down, if it were not for the good graces of the Tien Dey Wui, Hung Moon, Ching Bang, White Lotus, and other countless secret society's that have channelled the old Chinese martial treasures to our table. This could have been 10 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago or 500 years ago.

Instead of offering disdain to these groups, we should try to understand them and appreciate them for what they were. That is, as I said, society's of mutual protection and benefit. Not to view them with fear and misunderstanding.

For if XYZ Tong did not sponsor XYZ Sifu, he would not have been teaching. He would be too busy working to pay the bills, or he would have had no easily accessible, affordable location to teach.

Within good there is bad and bad there is good. They turn the wheel together.

So please, my friends, let us not insult those teachers associated and sponsored now or before by the Tongs. I can see many teachers or students reading this thread with rage, as their personal ethics are questioned and ridiculed. As they are labelled Gangsters. For some of these teachers who teach in the Hop Sing, Sui Sing or other Secret Society houses are the kindest men you can meet. If you know Chinese, they are "Jun hai Yi Hei", which means they truly know brotherhood virtue and take care of their people. Which is less than I can say for some others.

Chinese Kung Fu is Chinese. Understand the culture by firsthand experience, not from stereotypical magazines or Hollywood images. Please refrain from ridiculing those affiliated with Tongs and Triads, unless you know them by face personally. If we mock them, then we mock ourselves, since when we light incence to Guan Gung, we pay tribute to the "God of Brotherhood", the same God that all Southern martial artists, triad members and police lit incense for together.

Also, FYI I am not Chinese, so I am not speaking in defense of my personal culture. Just our martial culture.

Buddhapalm

[Serpent]

Great post.

Do a search for a book called "The Dragon Syndicates" (I can't remember the author off-hand) if you want to learn a lot more about the Tongs.