Taiwanese Hung Gar (Hung Chuan)

This is in response to a previous post, where the validity of my Hung Gar teacher calling himself Shr Fu was questioned. Here's the history behind it.
Wong Fei-Hong had many students. We all know Lam Sai Wing and a few others, but there were many other students, some of which relocated to Taiwan prior to the Cultural Revolution. Hung gar continued to be taught there, although the names changed since Taiwan is a Mandarin speaking country. So Hung Gar became Hung Chuan, and that is what I learned.
There's an on-going debate as to which style is closest to what Wong Fei-Hong taught. Taiwanese teachers claim that Cantonese Hung Gar is a diluted version with elements from other styles added. Cantonese teachers claim that Hung Chuan is merely a "distant cousin" of the original Hung Gar. My opinion is that neither "style" is any closer to master Hong's kung-fu. Styles change over periods of time; some things get lost in the process. A good analogy is my accounting training; I learned relatively high levels of accounting practice, but the accounting I do now is totally different form what I've learned; because I've adapted it to fit my job and my style of work.
And that is just one lifetime; we're talking about several generations here. So in my opinion, there is no "one true" Hung Gar.
:cool:

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So in my opinion, there is no "one true" Hung Gar.

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I believe each is true. Shaolin is the root, Hung is the tree and the various Pai are it's branches.

The only distance between them is the span of the branch or as an analogy, the difference between one apple from another on the same tree.

I don't believe there is significant "dilution", only addition and care for the overall stem which makes it different from when it was a mere sapling. If ya get my inference.

cheers

We ran a two-part series on Taiwan Hung Men last year in our May June and July August issues. It was received quietly by the Hung Gar community here, probably because they're so Canton-centric. Also it was a bit of a heady piece, since you had to know about the Hung Men as well as Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Anyway, our publisher Gigi Oh has just come back from Taiwan again, so there's more Taiwan Hung Gar in the queue. Watch the mag!

Jet,

Having studied with You Shao Lan in Kaohsiung for some time, I know what you mean about the debate. You seem to have a good grasp of the situation and no one should downplay the Taiwan camp. Are you there in Taiwan now?

In any case, there is no denying that the two schools are very, very different and there clearly was much change when the two seperated. Currently I am working with one of the Taiwan sifus to do a side-by-side comparison of Lam family and Taiwan sets with the same name, but which are played completely differently. (e.g. Gong Jee)



Gene,
As for Hong Men and the Three Kingdoms...huh? From the brief description it would seem that the Taiwan Hung Gar history is being linked to first the triad and then further back to the ending of the Han dynasty. How can one find this article since the link only displays headlines?

In the meantime, according to what I've read there seems to be very little relation between Hung Men (triad) and Hung Gar. Certainly the Kaohsiung folks were the first to point out that they weren't at all related to the triad. And the Three Kingdoms? It is hard enough to trace with any reliability just a couple hundred years ago, let alone the 1000+ to the falling of the Han. I'd be very interested in reading the article. Thanks in advance for any help!

Sincerely,
CT

Heh, heh. "Hung" men? Was I mentioned? :D :D :D

That's "hanged" in your case cereb. And no you weren't metioned because you are getting the gas. :D

cheers

Cool! It would be nice to read more about the Taiwan Hung Gar.

Here is some more info on Taiwanese Hung Gar Martial Arts
http://www.kungfuplano.com/Southern_Shaolin.html
There are some other Masters in the U.S.A. with English websites, most in Taiwan only have Chinese sites.

Gene,

As always..thanks for your posts andd committment to diversity within different styles of kf. If I remember correctly..isn't there a "Szechuan" and 'WuBei" family of Hung Ga as well?

Perhaps an article could be done in the future showing the side by side comparisons display of sets of these two as well compared to the Cantonese Hung Kuen?

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

LTN

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Originally Posted by ctoepker

Jet,

Keep an eye on

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O_o ..... is it just me or does go to an Online Dating site?? :confused:

the link was given in 2004.... so its probably dead

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Originally Posted by Formosa46

Here is some more info on Taiwanese Hung Gar Martial Arts
http://www.kungfuplano.com/Southern_Shaolin.html
There are some other Masters in the U.S.A. with English websites, most in Taiwan only have Chinese sites.

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My northern Mantis teacher in Taiwan, the late Peng Han-Ping, was also a practitioner of Hung Gar under Master Chang Ke-chih (Zhang Ke-zhi) mentioned and shown on that link. Although I never practiced the Hung style, I saw a lot of it, and yes, it was very different from the version seen in Hong Kong and most U.S. schools.

I would be interested in seeing some advanced adult students play those forms. What I saw was unwatchable. Generic wu-shu and some claws. Certainly did not appear to be Hung Kuen of any type, although to be diplomatic, they were kids and beginners (I hope).

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Originally Posted by HungKuenH

the link was given in 2004.... so its probably dead

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hahaha Whoops! missed that!