The Hakka Arts

[FIRE HAWK]

How Many Hakka systems have you herd of like Chu Gar , Chow Gar, Jook Lum, Iron Ox Southern Mantis , Hakka Lee Gar , Hakka Unicorn style , Hakka Snake system , Hakka Ying Jow system , even Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist has been called a Hakka Dragon System or part Chu Gar Southern Mantis .

[Shaolin Master]

Too many

[FIRE HAWK]

I would like to here the names of them it would be very interesting ?

[Shaolin Master]

Lei Ga Gao, Lum Ga Gao, Ju Ga Gao(2 one from ShanTou and another from Meizhou regions), Ji Ga Gao, laumunPai (hakka branch), kunlunpai, ChongGaGao, ChowGaGao.........then there are the BakMei, LongYing, otherNamtonglongs, etc......

[BearBear]

Phillip Lam of New Zealand teaches Lee Ga Gao also a hakka style though he is heavily into muay thai the last 10 or so years .. "father of nz muay thai" i think he still techers some dedicated students the fighting art of lee ga gao (not related to lee ga nan tong long)

anyone else have information on lee ga gao

or any of the other styles mentioned?

[Shaolin Master]

I have information on all the arts I mentioned. What would you like to know?

[meltdawn]

Shaolin Master,

I would be interested in hearing your experiences of Lau Mun Gao.

Are you in China for an extended period?

[GeneChing]

Hakka (or karjia in pinyin) literally means "guest clan." I've heard Hakka compared to gypsies in old Europe, but I don't think that is fair since it implies nomadic behavior that is exists but is not universal amongst hakka. In Cantonese, it often refers to a select immigrant minority that spoke a specific dialect termed hakka. But in more a general sense, all immigrants are considered karjia, so this can be a real sticky question. In Taiwan for example, there were two waves of karjia - one being the classical hakka speakers that we generally think of when we use the term hakka, but then there was another one, refugees from the fallen Ming dynasty back in the 1600's. They are still consided karjia, even though they don't speak hakka (they adopted the local dialect called minnan to escape persecution.) Their dominent styles were qinxi tang and taizu changquan. This same notion can be loosley applied to all immigrants, which opens the door to stuff like Indonesian Kuntao being a hakka style (Kuntao is a derivation of the Cantonese Kuen Do "fist way" pinyin quan dao.) It's quite the pandora's box...

[FIRE HAWK]

In the Tuttle dictionary of martial arts Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist is listed as being called Jyu Ga i wonder if this Ju Ga Gao that is mentioned is the same as Chuka Shaolin ?

[Firehawk4]

This style of fighting was created early in the 18th century by Hong Jiucho a big Hakka man who had trained somewhat in a Shaolin temple but who was kicked out due to his agressive nature, and penchance for womanizing. He returned to his village in central China took a wife and returned to helping his family on the farm. He lived quietly helping his family and his wife bore a son a year after he had returned. Not until a small group of bandits came to terrorize his village soon after his son was born did he think much of his training but when he was able to kill their leader and three other of his men with their bare hands did he realize that what he had learned could be of some use. He tried to remember what he could of what he had learned at the monestary and combined it with what he knew about living with his family and in the village. He gathered a group of strong young men together and in his family's barn, taught them how to fight with their hands and with what simple weapons could be gathered from the village. When another group of bandits, much larger than the last, arrived Hong and his militia were able to defeat them without too much damage to the village, though many militia men and some villagers, most notably his wife died. Hong saw this as a success, though a poor one and further refined his teachings.

Around five years later all men in his village was trained in Hong's way of fighting. Hong deciding to learn more about fighting, passed off his instruction to his chief student Ling Xiuhua and went off to wander China in search of knowledge about fighting.

After ten years in Hong returned to his village, which had grown into a small town. Through the time he had been gone and the changes in his appearance no one recognized him. He went to his family's house and was not welcomed due to his wayward behavior. His son, Hong Xiao, however recognized him and helped Hong get his bearings around the city. Hong eventually got to a great building which had a sign outside it which declared it as "Ling's School of Fighting" He got so angry his shout scared all the birds and animals away from the school. When students came to investigate what the noise was Hong had somehow battered through the great wooden doors and stood in the courtyard yelling for Ling to show himself. Ling went down to see this man and did not recognize him. Hong declared himself but Ling still did not know who he was. Hong demanded that Ling turn the school over to him as it was rightfully his but Ling responded that he did not know who he was. Hong yelled some more before Ling directed some of his students to kick out the mad man that had come into his school. Two students grabbed his arms and started to drag Hong out but Hong threw them away as if they were children. More students moved to beat Hong but he fought them off with a ferocity unparalleled knocking students away with a sweep of his massively strong arms. Some brought staves and spears but those that struck at Hong were caught and broken. Eventually Hong's son brought his parents to the school to verify who he was but not after the battle had gone on for several minutes. Ling then apologized to Hong for his mistake and Hong after he had calmed down also apologized for being rash.

Hong, not being allowed back to his family's home, lived in the school and worked to repair the damage he had cause to the building and the students. Hong's son also went to the school to live with his father to learn about fighting. When the people there had learned to trust him he became very popular for his teaching and for his stories about his travels around China. He and Ling later on, wrote a book about what they had learned about fighting and Hong's travels around China. This was accomplished with the help of some of their students who could write because Hong and Ling were illiterate. Within that book the name Fei Chui was decided on by all as the name of their school's art. Titled simply "The Book of Instruction" many copies of the book were sold, more for Hong's stories than the knowledge about fighting. Hong taught at the school for twenty more years before he died. Ling died shortly after. The leadership of the school was passed onto Hong Xiao who further worked to refine what his father and Ling Xiuhua had taught.

The school did well in its area. And when Hong Xiuquan came around to preach his word of god that would later spark the Taiping (Great Peace) rebellion the students of Fei Chui were drawn the promise of greater things as were many other Hakka. Also Hong Xiuquan's anti-Qing (Manchu, Ch'ing) policies were similar to Hong Jiucho's feelings about the Qing who he blamed for not helping his village against the bandits, feelings which he instilled into the teachings of Fei Chui. Fei Chui practicioners taught some of the soldiers as best they could to better fight the Qing and Fei Chui practicioners made up the elite of Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly army but in the end the rebellion falls to British guns, madness and bad luck. The Fei Chui practicioners move quietly out from their home town, where Hong Jiucho founded Fei Chui and into obscurity passing their art from parent to child for a long time until the late 1980s where a Chinese scholar with one of the original copies of Hong's book of instruction searches for and finds practicioners of Fei Chui and brings it into the limelight.

During the modern period Fei Chui practicioners banded together into very tight knit societies with secret methods of recognizing other practicioners. In World War one and two they fought the Japanese covertly sabotaging what they could and killing soldiers when they could get away with it. When the Nationalist and Communist parties fought for control of China the majority of Fei Chui practicioners sided with the Communist party for the promise of more equality between the peoples of China. This went along until the Communists began to repress chinese culture and onwards into the contemporary period where the Chinese government tries to extinguish mystical groups like the Faloongung. Fei Chui practitioners do what they can to subvert and otherwise disturb the governments attempts to crush the people. Due to their secretive nature and generally anti-establisment tendancies many Fei Chui practicioners find themselves working with/for the Triads.

Fighting Style
The fighting style borrows much from other extremely close in fighting styles like Pheonix Fist as in that it is aggressive almost to the point of being over aggressive. The character will try to close to grappling range the overpower the enemy with superior strength and speed, mostly with upper body attacks. The form has changed somewhat from its origin to the contemporary period as in it the agressiveness has been tempered. A modern Fei Chui practicioner evaluates his opponent first before he engages and tries to negate his opponents' strengths if possible by keeping him off balance with rapid and continuous strikes. Also some grappling moves have been added to the Fei Chui abilities due to its involvement in close quarters combat.

Philosophical Notes:
Fei Chui practitioners follow a code that is a mixture of self reliance and trust between fellow practitioners and family. If a Fei Chui practitioner discovers another practitioner he must not fight him. Fei Chui practitioners can also if necessary seek shelter with another practitioner as long as the other one is satisfied that the one seeking shelter is truly a Fei Chui practitioner. Fei Chui practitioners must respect family and teachers and also must protect people against an unfair government or other external forces like the Japanese or exploitive buisnesses.

Stance: Boxer-like stance, hands extended comfortably at about shoulder level, dominant hand behind the non-dominant hand, both made into fists. Feet in a comfortable distance apart with the non dominant side leading.

Costume: Traditionally a kung fu outfit, though modern training doesn't care much for formality in this respect.

[GreenCloudCLF]

http://www.chinesearms.com/newitems1/feichui.htm

Not a style, but a weapon.....

[GeneChing]

Some styles, particularly those connected with secret societies, take their names from weapons, like say the xiaodaohui (small blade society). Particularly with the Hakka clans, this could easily mutate into a name of a particular fighting style. Just look at how muddy the Hongmen/Hung Ga terms can be.

BTW, did you catch our article, Origins of the Hakka People and Their Martial Arts By Adrian Chan-Wyles in our Mar Apr 2006 issue?

[kungfuyou]

...

BTW, did you catch our article, Origins of the Hakka People and Their Martial Arts By Adrian Chan-Wyles in our Mar Apr 2006 issue?

Just got it and reading it a bit later!!

[Fung Ngan]

What a great story. Sounds a bite like the Hakka Wanders/Beggars style. But secrecy/protection is found in all Hakka arts. Pity so little is known about this style. Some extra info can be found on this url (http://taiping.ca/art/feichui.htm). The creed of this style seems to be: 'Hit first, hit strongly and continue'.
The Hakka name for the Flying Hammer/ 飛錘 is (in most common Mexian) 'Fui Chui', in Cantonese Jyutping 'Fei Ceoi '.

____________________
http://www.pakmeipai.nl

[CFT]

What a great story. Sounds a bite like the Hakka Wanders/Beggars style. But secrecy/protection is found in all Hakka arts. Pity so little is known about this style. Some extra info can be found on this url (http://taiping.ca/art/feichui.htm). The creed of this style seems to be: 'Hit first, hit strongly and continue'.

That site is a role-playing/gaming site. All online references to Fei Chui kung fu point back to this, so we can't really tell if it is fictional or not.

Note the sections about Character Bonuses, Attacks Per Melee, Level Advancement Bonuses, etc.