Lau-Gar Kung Fu

[DelicateSound]

Anyone here practise Lau-Gar. It's a Southern Style brought to the UK by Master Jeremy Yau. Just wondered if anyone else trains in it. Or if anyone has any opinions/info on it.

Please, no trolling, I'll just have to put you on my "Reject" list or whatever it is.

[tomcat]

Hello,Delicate sound,
We do a Lau-Gar fist ,and a Lau-gar staff set, but they are the versions adapted by many Hung-Gar schools,I don't know how similar they they would be to yours. I believe that these sets were adapted by Lam sai Wing , from student Lau Ngan . They are very similar to Hung-gar,but shorter in length , so they are generally used as beginning Hung-gar sets.
Take care,
Tomcat

[scotty1]

I've done Lau Gar. I can tell you more but we have had this conversation before on a few threads. Do a search, if that doesn't work, I'll tell you more, but the info is there already.:)

[laugarboxer]

i do laugar i train with pete bacon a student of master jeremy yau and a black sash a most excellent teacher with a good sense of humour with very down to earth ideals of what works in the street and how to use it but never losing the feeling of tradition i also occasionally train with charlie who teaches in romford and master stan brown who teaches at tottenham martial arts academy all of these ppl teach laugar and all have their own unique perspective to offer on it reply yo yhis post if u want more info on lau gar cheers ................. from a laugar boxer

[DelicateSound]

At the moment I train in S-O-T under Sifu Tony Lander. Decent bloke, knows his stuff (when I can actually get my a$$ down to class). Problem is, I'm just getting serious about my training, but I'm off to Uni next year. I'm after any recommendations from people about schools in Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. I know there are schools there, but as is sods law, some are better than others.

Thanks for the replies LauGarboxer and Scotty. BTW Do you/did you train in the KungFu side or the Kickboxing side? I try and dip into both.

[DelicateSound]

Thanks for the info, I never knew Hung Gar used some of our moves! :)

Do you know what the basic staff work is by any chance?

[Colin]

Yep I practice Lau Gar too.
I've been training for over 12 years now.
First with Neville Wray then Stan Brown & Keith Baptiste in London.
I still train with Keith every week but since Black sash I also go to Birmingham to see Master Yau & Sifu John Russell.

I think I know Tony Lander, does he go on the summer course every July with Master Yau?

As for the kick boxing thing, all i'll say is Lau Gar Kung Fu is a traditional southern chinese kung fu style.
Lau Kickboxing is just that................kick boxing!
Two separate babies!

There are a few threads about Lau Gar on here but since the changes a few weeks ago it seems harder to search for them.

:( I used to be called "Crawling Tiger" on this forum, but now i'm just Colin :( Again since the changes! If anybody can help please let me know how to get my name back!
You can't do a search for "Lau Gar" as it needs words of 4 letters long! so I used to search for my own name, but can't do that either now!!


Oh yea! LauGarBoxer,
Email me and let me know where Sifu Stan trains, if you don't mind, coz I haven't seen him since he left Acton.

Cheers
Colin..............

[Colin]

The staff work before 1st degree is a two person attack and defence routine.
It contains about 10 attack moves each side, and is trained fast!
I remember a few years ago getting hit really hard on the ankle, because my defence wasn't strong enough. ( You only let it happen once! )

Delicate sound,
Hung Gar does have forms called Lau Gar fist, Lau Gar Palm & Lau Gar Pole.
I've never seen their staff form so can't comment, but I know their Lau Gar fist form, and it's practiced using deeper stances and at a slower speed then proper Lau Gar.

Colin............

[jon]

The Lau Ga in Hung Ga is from a totaly different system to the Lau Ga of master Jeremy Yau. They share the same name but are unrelated as arts. The Hung Ga version is even changed from the orginal Lau Ga its taken from, to include deeper stances and adapted a few different techniques. Im a Hung Ga student and ive learnt the Lau Ga fist, its a very nice form and the orginal Lau Ga is still practiced in some parts of china. There is a lot of excerlent staff work in the full Lau Ga system, thats one of the things its best known for.
Just stating this so people dont confuse the two.

[PlasticSquirrel]

i'm curious - what types of moves from hung gar were added into hung gar's lau gar form?

also, what types of applications does hung gar's lau gar have (assume that i'm not familiar with either style of lau gar)? what are it's strategies and characteristics? how long approximately is the form (number of movements)? why is it taught to beginners often in hung gar?

[jon]

I have a pretty good idea of the answers, Ive learnt Lau Ga Kuen but im no authority.

"what types of moves from hung gar were added into hung gar's lau gar form"

Im not sure exactly and i dont think many would know for sure outside of Lau Gar proper, which is very rare now especialy outside of china. What i do know is that the stances were adapted, the salute was changed a little and im pretty sure a couple of moves may have been actualy added to the form though exactly what i couldnt say with certainty.

"what types of applications does hung gar's lau gar have (assume that i'm not familiar with either style of lau gar)?"

Lau Ga that i have learnt is external\internal and uses a combination of plain fists, phenix eye fists and tiger claws. Its application is similar to Hung though it is a little closer to the body in some movements.

"what are it's strategies and characteristics"

Lau to my knowledge was another Shoalin rebel and so the style is similar in Hung in many ways, though due to Lau [dont know his full name] having different skills to Hung Hei Kwun, it relies on different things.
I have heard that Lau was a master of iron fist and phenix fists but was actualy best known for his pole work. The full system of Lau Ga contained more pole forms than fist forms. Hence it likes to crash though and likes to strike nerves. hehe im guessing Lau had a hatred of kickers to, theres more than enough ways to deal with kicks in that form and there all really brutal. There are also quite a few backfist techniques in the form.

"how long approximately is the form (number of movements)? "

The length is about 150 movements give or take a few depending on linage and whats done with the form. That was a bit of a guess as im to lazy to go out and check right now. My school has doubled many of the techniques in the form to be done of both sides hence for us its a bit longer than that.

"why is it taught to beginners often in hung gar?"

This is a tricky question, its a bit easyer to learn than the regular first Hung form which is Gung Gee Fuk Fu. Its also a bit shorter but the application still requires a good foundation and a lot of bravery. It is very fighting driven.

Hope that helped a bit, ive been studying Hung for a while now and most of that information is from my sifu and some is stuff ive read around other Hung sites and in books.
Ive also heard several different varients on how it got intergrated into Hung Ga. I wont go to far into that, other to say most schools including mine say it was to keep the Lau system from dying out.

[PlasticSquirrel]

thanks, jon!

[DelicateSound]

What's it like training with Master Yau?

If I go to Birmingham University I might e-mail you for some info on your class, would that be OK?

[Colin]

Delicatesound!
The Birmingham classes are well worth attending.
You're not that far from there really are you?

Every Tuesday is beginners - brown sash, amd every thursday is black sash & up. These are a believe the only public lessons Master Yau now teaches.

We normally travel up from London every 2-3 weeks on a thursday. It's excellent! Even after 12 years I still feel like a beginner in there sometimes!:p

Do you know when you just see someone thats "got it". Coz Master Yau has! Even when you just see a basic stance ie. Ma bo, it looks so right. His ankles are so flexible it makes his stances awsome.

Feel free to contact me anytime, it's good to hear from fellow Lau students.

Good luck on getting into Brmingham Uni. If you decide to study in London you could always come train with us!

Jon,
You said: "The Lau Ga in Hung Ga is from a totaly different system to the Lau Ga of master Jeremy Yau.They share the same name but are unrelated as arts."
To say they are unrelated is not strictly true. Master Yau recognises the similarities between the two styles, but as Master Yau's Lau Gar is hakka in origin there are also simularities to styles such as BakMei & SPM.

As he once said, gung fu in southern China a hundred or so years ago were very wide spread, with many people teaching and learning several forms, and to say that styles such as SPM, Lau Gar Kuen, BakMei, Hung Kuen, Wing Chun etc did not borrow/crosstrain techniques from each other is a very shortsighted opinion

Merry Christmas & a peaceful New year!
Colin..........

[jon]

Perhaps you misunderstood my comment.
Im aware of the similaritys between many southern styles but my point was that the Lau Ga in Hung is NOT the Lau Ga of Jeremy Yau. Its simply not the same orginal system.
As you say his art is Hakka in orgin, ours is Shaolin.
I just dug up the name of the Shaolin monk who apparently founded the Lau Ga found in Hung: Lau Soam Ngan
Not trying to argue with you just this comment seemed a little out of place.
"to say that styles such as SPM, Lau Gar Kuen, BakMei, Hung Kuen, Wing Chun etc did not borrow/crosstrain techniques from each other is a very shortsighted opinion"
I never said that, yet you address it to me? I did say that Hung's Lau Ga and Jeremy Yau's Lau ga were not related. That doesnt mean they cant share similaritys. I also made no mention of Bak Mei, Wing Chun or Southern Mantis so im not sure why you have brought up those styles. I never tried to say they had nothing in common just there not of the same sourse material.

[DelicateSound]

Someone who's "got it": Isn't it a pain in the arse when you see that :)

I will try and get myself to B.Ham Uni, as for London, sorry mate £2.50 for a pint! Got to be kidding!!! :D

B.Ham's only about 45 mins from Stoke-on-Trent, so it isn't to far. Problem is I haven't been to class for AGES, Xmas and all, I've had so much on. I'll have to make it back and start some hardcore training, I've let it slip a bit to tell the truth. :eek:

Nice to hear from a fellow Lau-Gar student. We're just the best aren't we :D

[Colin]

"Nice to hear from a fellow Lau-Gar student. We're just the best aren't we!"

Yep! certainly are!!!!!!! We also have a special type of chi-kung for developing a "thick skin" thick shirt chi-kung!
To deal with all the envious, ignorant drivel that we have to put up with from people who know sh!te about real Lau Gar kung fu.

DS, don't worry about not being training for a while, just get to your class you'll be so glad you did. We're not back until 7th Jan, so i've got to get out in the arctic weather and get some practice in.( I can hardly hold my sword it's sooooo cold! well -8 to -10C. Cold for England.)
I was up in Birmingham for New Year, and it was bloody snowing! Brrrrrr! So Stoke must be pretty cold too.

Colin...........

[R]

So the thick (skinned) British Lau gar students have something special..... ;')

K ...now why don't you tell us something unique about what you study so you won't have to keep saying no one knows the "true" lau gar??

Give us a description of a trademark move (ya know Mantis has its mantis claw...Choy li fut has its chop choy ..etc).

Doing something positive rather than moan about how mis-understood you are.

Hey I am open to hear your story... :D


Happy New Year

R

[Colin]

I started to write a decent reply to you "R". But decided that I wouldn't waste my time as you are without doubt a total ****.

I will not be drawn into an argument with a wanker who won't even reveal who or where they are.

Give me some details as to which rock you crawled out from, and maybe we can talk further.

You call us thick yet you go by a 1 letter name!:D :D :D :D :D you ****!

[R]

Colin

Hmm.......living in the UK I would have thought that you would recognise someone taking the mickey heh heh. (notice the smiley face/wink at the end of the line?)

YOU said you had to have thick skin "To deal with all the envious, ignorant drivel that we have to put up with from people who know sh!te about real Lau Gar kung fu"

SO I thought you make a play on words....

Hey..living in the East Midlands and working with a Lau Gar sifu I have never had anything nasty to say about you guys....BUT I also don't know what is unique about what you do.

I think the name calling is a bit beneath people who are supposedly "the best". I thought there was more info posted on me than is present in this new forum. If you really want to speak privately you can reach me at crm3a@hotmail.com .

Now from what I can see you don't include an e-mail address on your profile. Wasn't that your complaint?

Personally I don't like the fact that so many pseudonyms/trolls are on the boards so I don't make it as easy as it might be anymore.

As I said....be constructive and don't be so thin skinned when someone takes the pi$$.

Cheers, Ross

(Want to post YOUR e-mail address Colin?)

[DelicateSound]

Children - calm it!
Jesus - this is worse than "My style is better than your style!!"

OK:

Colin - yes it is F*cking Freezing up here. And I am going back. Soon.

Ross - Who's your Sifu, and whereabouts in the W.Midlands. Just curious. BTW: I don't proclaim to be good at any Lau Gar, nevermind True Lau Gar :D

[R]

Hmmm

Tried to e-mail you and use private messenger to be discrete but none of these work. Also there isn't a name for you here either.

Well here goes...

My sifu isn't in the UK and we don't practice a mainstream style.

I have a small class here in Northamptonshire where I try to pass on a few of my sifu's teachings.

And....my sifu used to leave lots of dents all over me whenever he wanted to (He had "it" but I was the one who consistently got "it" ...usually in the side of the head ;) ).

And as I said .....I really don't know enough about your system but I thought that it was British tradition to take the **** out of people blowing their own horns in public :) .

Anyways...I am happy to hear further about Lau gar. I work 6 days a week at my office and I help out with rugger and have class on the 7th which hasn't left much time to get around to visit other clubs much.

YOU know who I am and how to e-mail me should you want.

Maybe next time you can tell me who you are as well??

Cheers for the reply.

Ross

[sanjia]

Quite right, stop that arguing now boys.
Remember thats how we started Colin !!

Where is your Sifu Ross? Has he gone back to Hong Kong?

Mark S (previously user name MarkS !!)

[Steven T. Richards]

Collin,

Read your post re Master Yau's Lau-Gar Kuen being Hakka in origin.

In suport of that point, Master Yau was invited to attend a meeting of the UK Hakka Pai's in Birmingham UK, November 1990, which was held to celibrate the anniversary of the late Jook-Lum Tong-Long Grandmaster Lee-Yin-Sing.

There were Masters from Chow-Gar (Tony Leung), Pak-Mei, Wong-Yuk-Gong Pai Jook-Lum, Lung-Ying-Kuen, Bak-Mei and Master Yau himself who performed Lau-Gar Kuen. I have the event on video.

This was very much a Hakka ocassion and only recognised Masters of Hakka arts were invited to attend and to perform.

Regards,

Steve.

[Colin]

Ah! nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't a man let of steam sometimes?
My email used to be in my profile, but since this forum upgraded to steam power it's all messed up!
Try info@laugar.org.uk
As for the name calling thats sort of traditional.
You slag me, I slag you, than your mother then we have a fight, then we go to the pub!
Well thats how it works down here.

You northern shandy swigger!
:D :D :D :D

--------------------------

Steven,
Very interesting about the hakka gathering.
It's reassuring to know that Master Yau is recognised by his peers, it's just a shame so many non-chinese don't feel the same way. Still snippets of information like that go along way to quieten the non-believers.

kindest regards
Colin................

[Steven T. Richards]

Hi Colin,

He was there, he was the real deal.

Steve.

[sanjia]

Steven : There were Masters from Chow-Gar (Tony Leung), Pak-Mei, Wong-Yuk-Gong Pai Jook-Lum, Lung-Ying-Kuen, Bak-Mei and Master Yau himself who performed Lau-Gar Kuen. I have the event on video.


Do you by any chance know who these masters were?
I don't suppose you are going to want to copy that video?

Mark S

[Steven T. Richards]

The event concerned Lee-Yin-Sing's Pai and the anniversary of the passing of the late Grandmaster Lee-Yin-Sing himself.
All present were Chinese. You are from the UK? Most I know personally were my Pai or Wong-Yuk-Gong's Pai. Apart from Jeremy Yau, a well known (publicly) Master present and performing was Tony Leung. The tape I have is in NTSC format, which I don't have copying facilities for. If you are part of a Hakka Pai, I may be able to arrange something for you, but, the event was private. Mail me off-line if I can help further.

Steve.

[Colin]

Steve,
I never doubted Master Yau, was the real deal, but it is nice to hear it from outside Lau Gar.
Cheers.
Colin..........

Hi mark,
Your right we did start off on the wrong foot too!
But I suppose it's like sizing up your apponent.
Hopefully we've both learnt a little from all this, and that's what counts!

Ross,
I had an excellent training session last night, so i'm all sorted out, and back to mister nice guy again! My apologies for the earlier comments!


regards
Colin...............

[Charp Chui]

I recognize the natural variations that do exist with styles and/or forms that have the same "name" but just inherently has a modified variance of its "routines" typically. But overall, one should expect that the root principles are still intact.

As a point of interest with Lau Gar. I have seen very little of it, but am interested in knowing more about this system. I do recognize that the Hung Gar system has a Lau Gar fist form and a staff set, but I have been intrigued to see it look "Hung Gar." I am no authority on either system, but I have seen many Hung Gar sets, and the one Lau Gar fist set I saw performed once by Hung Gar stylist, looked like a Hung Gar set. If I didn't know it was a Lau Gar form he was perfroming I would have sworn it was Hung Gar...Anyway.

In Hung Gar, they say that Lau Gar isn't taught any more and that it was essentially lost, but obviously from the posts here that doesn't seem to be the case. I was wondering why in Hung Gar, they stake that claim?

Also...This may be of interest to any lau Gar stylists here. But in my background training in the Wah Lum Northern Preying Mantis system, there is a spear form I know which is called the "Lau Gar Family Spear Form." It's a great set. But in the abscence of seeing any Lau Gar weapons sets, what weapons are known in the Lau Gar system?

Thanks...

Charp-Chui

[jon]

This whole thread is only two pages long and i made several posts concerning that on page one.
Rather than force anyone else to bother going though it all again how about simply reading through the rest of the posts on this thread?

[bean curd]

lau gar kuen in hung kuen has been adopted bringing flavour into the lau gar sets with a hung influence, although i must say if you do lau gar kuen with a hung gar ging then the point of lau gar kuen is lost or mis-directed.

lau gar ging is very different to hung kuen it is more chu ging, which hung most surley has but very prominent in lau gar, also the kiu sau follows closely to other hakka styles requirments, and on a technical perspective is differing to hung kuen.

the ma has been adjusted but this is more regarding the stable movement of the waist and the sinking of the knees, lau traditionally was higher in ma, but if you do hung correctly then the simularity is not lost all together.

regarding the opening or ging lay of lau gar , well this depends on which hung kuen lineage you follow i have seen four variations and mine then makes five. the ging lay varies only in interpretation of opening, some still, like the lau gwun do the polite opening while others follow a varing example.

what i have said is lau gar pertaining to the hung kuen influence, i do agree with jon, regarding the play of lau in hung kuen is different to the lau gar of britian, the lineage influence of the lau in the matter follows a different path

[DelicateSound]

All I can tell you is about my style. The LauGar style [common in the UK after Master Jeremy Yau brought it here] is one of the original five Southern Styles [HungGar, LauGar, MokGar, ChoyGar and LiGar]

I'm pretty sure what you're on about is something else. Not 100% though.

[Colin]

Bean Curd, you speak well!

[Serpent]

Neil has asked some good questions there. I'm also very interested in this subject, so I might add a couple of questions too.

Is Master Yau's Lau Gar taught anywhere outside the UK now?

Jorn Sau and wing chun form (chum kiu/siu lim tao... can't remember the name?) are very similar. I've seen them both. Why the similarity?

Also, what is Master Yau's lineage?

Again, I'm asking these questions out of genuine curiosity, no offence intended. In my time in the UK I got to experience a fair amount of Lau Gar, but that was a long time ago.

Thanks for your answers (assuming you give any! ;) )

[NPMantis]

Hi,

a couple of you mentioned you studied it in London, I was wondering if you had any suggestions on a good school in London (preferably North).

Thanks a lot for your help!

[dbulmer]

Just thought I'd say a hello to the Lau Gar blokes.
Many, many years ago I started Lau Gar but because of work committments at the time and the fact that the training was so hard I wimped out!

I now do Wing Chun some 15 years later but I have nothing but respect for the style. Just in case you are wondering I started with Kevin Brewerton and had a couple of classes with Neville Wray. Don't get me wrong I was totally useless but you know sometimes you look back in life over mistakes - one of my mistakes was not committing myself to the hard work and sticking
with those 2 - real good guys.

NPMantis if you want to learn this style and are prepared to travel, Neville Wray teaches in Maidenhead.


Again, best wishes to you all

[AndyM]

Does anyone know what Bac Pye translates as?

I believe it is the name of a mountain Niel. The form learned for your Black Sash within Master Yau's system 'Bac Pye Juen'. is referred to in the original syllabus book as 'palm of the Bac Pye mountain'

Big place China.......lots of Mountains.

AndyM:)

[Colin]

Times lke this I wish I spoke the lingo!

Now........
Bac Pye saan could either mean:

"White peaked mountain", or maybe "Eight peaked mountain."
The latter seems possible as Guilin provence is famous for it's many "sugar loaf" shaped mountains.

Does anyone know if they are high enough for much snow to settle, coz if not then maybe it is "Eight peaked mountain."

Niel,........

Colin - Is what you are saying that Lau Gar has Shaolin roots (Ie Lau Sarm Ngau), then was taught to someone of Hakka descent - where its was adopted as a Hakka Style through to present day Master Yau - which accounts for variation sbetween UK Lau Gar and Chinese Liujaquan?

This isn't what I said, but I couldn't have said it better!
I think this seems the most realistic option.
When you think about Bak Mei. It also is a Hakka style yet Bak Mei was a Shaolin Monk.


NPMantis.
Sifu Stan Brown teaches in Tottenham.
He was one of Master Yau's first students back in the 70's, and although he is no longer politically affiliated to Master Yau, ie. not part of BKFA, they remain close.

If you are willing to travel then a trip across town to see us in S/SE London might be worth it. PM me if you want further info, or see my rather crappy little web site www.laugar.org.uk for my number.

Serpent.
Your question regarding Lau Gar being taught outside the UK is the $60,000 one!
Apparently Tony Leung (Steelwire Mantis) did alot of reserch into Lau Gar and found some people in HK that taught Lau Gar. Also I've heard (rumours) that Master Yau's Grand Father taught another student the entire system, and that there is another lineage in Kongsai.

We have to remember that the syllabus structure taught today is not quite the same as in the early 70's. The original first hand form is no longer part of the "grading" syllabus, although many still teach it, and the arm & kick blocks were extracted from the forms to teach to junior students.

I think detailed lineage will always be a problem, especially in a family style. I mean does anybody actually even know their great grand fathers name?
My surname for example is very wide spread in Scotland, but if you go back more than 3 or 4 generations, most Scots couldn't read or write, and once Gaelic was out of favor as the spoken language, the oral histroy was lost too.


Colin....................

[Fu Jau]

I learn Master Yau's Lau Gar, and in in an article written by Alex Barrowman, one of the 12 guardians of the style, it says it is a Shaolin style.
And, its my favourite thing in the world.:D

[dirty cat]

I'am not to sure,but is'nt their a chap called
mark horton form hong ying school in u.k. who
learnt lau ga in china other than the more common
lau gar from master yau

[Colin]

As everyone here knows,
I'm not the type of person to diss another in anyway!;)
But Mark Horton trained in BKFA Lau Gar up to black sash I believe, before he left to do his own thing.
I spoke to the senior guy at the clubs in Kent (they teach Choi Lee Fut now), and he also says Mark trained in UK Lau Gar. Yet the web site says that Lau Gar is a northern kick orientated style.

I remember Mark years back fighting in lots of semi-contact comp's under the Lau Gar banner.

Niel,
As far as i'm aware (Oh God i'm going to drop myself in it this time)
The Syllabus structure with the grades was formulated for the UK..
Obviously there was no grading system back in HK/China.
The arm & kick blocks were as stated, extracted from the forms by Master Yau and one or two of his original UK students.
Also there is a question over the first two forms. Note there is no bow to start these!
They are training forms, maybe/maybenot incorporated from else where.
The other forms are I believe the same as when they were taught to Master Yau.
There are also other forms that are not in the grading syllabus, but are taught to senior students. An example is the long Five Animals form.
If anyone was at the nationals last year they would have seen it performed by one of the guardians.



Colin...........

[dirty cat]

Niel
are their any engish names or translations for the
forms you list

[Colin]

Niel,
There is another post somewhere that lists these forms & approx translations.

Maybe you could ask you instructor about these forms.

The only one thats apparent is :
Ng Ying Kuen 5 form fist.
Could be a five elemental fist form , or a 5 animal form.

colin.........

[Colin]

I too would like to hear some further feedback, especially from any knowledgeable Hung Gar Kuen practitioners.

At the moment there seems to be a variety of stories from the various Hung Gar lineages.

So guys, does anyone actually have verifiable information about the Lau Gar in Hung Gar?

As this thread is trying to achieve positive knowledge exchange, please don't just post your personal opinion, or if you do then clarify that it is your opinion and not actual verifiable historical fact.
(did that last bit sound pompous or what?)
Sorry, I don't mean or infer any offence.
cheers
Colin..............

Oh! and.......Fu Jau, who do you train with? Just wondering............

[Colin]

Niel,
I wonder why new students no longer get the syllabus book.
Maybe they just ran out of copies! It was originally printed about 15> years ago!

If you cannot get a copy I could Photocopy it for you. I've got syllabus books 1 & 2. They never produced a third one with Lau Gar Luk Hop Kuen & Bak Pye Jurn in.

QUOTE: "These seem different from the others, but are also supposed to represent Chinese Lau Gar. All of which is interesting as Chinese Lau Gar is, historically, only supposed to have three forms: "

Niel, This statement is very interesting!
I always wonder just who's history these quotes come from.

Colin.........

[Colin]

Just to confirm. Bak Pye Jurn translates as "Eight Peaked Mountain".

Niel,
I just spoke to the guy that now runs the official BKFA web site. Apparently they are going to seriously update the information available, with a much greater input from the Guardians so it should be an interesting read.
With this being the 30th year of the BKFA and Master Yau teaching in the UK, it seems that he is now more willing to teach openly that which previously has been kept for a select few.
Perhaps with the creation of the "Guardians" the continuity of Lau Gar is more assured, and the problem of breakaway groups that plagued the late 80's/early 90's hopefully will not occur again.

regards
Colin................

[Ben Gash]

"most of the triad/revolutionary styles including Lau Gar only had 3 forms to begin with...(two unarmed and one staff) "
This doesn't make any sense. The triads were a revolutionary para-military movement. Why would they have a staff set and no bladed weapons? This is what I've never bought with the whole "lau gar has three forms" argument. I'd be expecting to see a Dao and maybe a Cheung, or even Wu Dip Dao.
Anyway, Hung Gar's Lau Gar Kuen varies wildly between lineages. The Lai Ng Sam version and the Lam Sai Wing version are hugely different (and I must say, the Lai Ng Sam one looks more like UK Lau).

[Ben Gash]

I think most of this 3 forms stuff comes out of Lam Sai Wing Lineage Hung Gar. It's always the same : One fist set, one palm set (lost) and one pole set. Only now the palm set isn't lost, and in the Lai Ng Sam tradition there are two Lau Gar fist sets.
Hung Gar guys slways go on about Lau Gar and stealing forms from other styles. But when you stop and think, the "true" Hung Gar forms are: Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen, Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen, Ng Ying Kuen and Sup Ying Kuen (and as the last three are pretty much the same set in a different order from the most part...) Moi Fa Dao, Moi Fa Cheung, Mother and son Wu Dip Dao.
Yet how many forms do you see in the average Hung Gar syllabus? Lau Gar Kuen (Lau Gar) Moi Fa Kuen (Nan Sil Lum), Wu Dip Jeung (Bak Sil Lum), Heart penetrating palm (Bak Sil Lum), Tit Sin (Nan Sil Lum), Lau Gar Gwun (Lau Gar), Ng Long Bot Gwa Gwun (Nan Sil Lum) Pek Kwar Dao (Pek Kwar) etc, etc,etc

[DarthGorn]

Just out of curiosity, how many hand forms are there in Lau Gar kuen as taught by the BKFA?

[DarthGorn]

Found this on an earlier thread:

The UK Lau Gar syllabus (as laid down in the BKFA syllabus book) is based on the forms;
Kay Boon Sau Fa
Jorn Sau
Charp Choi
Far Kuin
Fai Loong Gee
Lau Gar Luk Hup Kuin
Bac Pye Jurn

Are there any sites that give details of these forms either with pictures or video (or both)?
I am interested in studying Lau Gar and want further information other than the basic stuff found on the official website.

[Ben Gash]

The funny thing about that video is that of the UK based ones, Yau is probably the second best of the lot. Several "respectable" teachers of "legitimate" styes on there absolutely suck in comparison.

[Ben Gash]

I thought George Ho's Hung Gar was excellent. However the clincher here was probably in what he shared. Yau was his usual vague self, whereas Ho showed that he knew his stuff. In the actual performence of the sets, I thought Yau's flow was fantastic.

[Ben Gash]

No, there are far more (and in many cases far better) Chinese teachers in Britain. Raymond Man teahces Hung Fut in Scotland, Lu Jun Hai teaches Mizhong in London and Essex, Ma Yue teaches Tong Bei, Taijiquan and wushu in Peterborough, Kim Han teahces Ngo Chu Kuen in London, Victor Kan, Austin Goh, Simon Lau and Kevin Chan all teach Wing Chun in London, Shi Yanzhi teaches Songshan Shaolin in London. This is just a small fraction off the top of my head!
FYI Edmund Ng teaches in Newcastle and George Ho teaches in Liverpool.

[Stryder]

http://grndragon.worldgate.ca/kwoons/daventry.shtml

[Ben Gash]

:confused: last time I checked, Ross wasn't Chinese.

[Stryder]

Was in response to Delicate sound looking for a school. I was late to the thread, what can I say?

[dirty cat]

Is the drunken style kung fu set part of the lau gar syllabus or an advanced form of lau gar

[CHAZ]

Originally posted by Ben Gash
The funny thing about that video is that of the UK based ones, Yau is probably the second best of the lot. Several "respectable" teachers of "legitimate" styes on there absolutely suck in comparison.

The video does not do these masters credit, before judging a style I would suggest you go and visit the school and see first hand what the style and masters are like before saying they suck:rolleyes:

[jbmmaster]

Would anyone happen to know of Vincent lyn grandmaster of hakka style lau gar. He had a school in Stamford Conneticut in the U.S. but closed up and i never heard of him again. Im just curious because i feel that he is a very good teacher and he has a british accent so i just figured someone hear might know of his where abouts since many of you live in the U.K. but i do know as cunfusing as it is there are other different lau gar styles that have nothing to do with the hakka family ling gar style that im talking about.

Thanks for any replies on this:)