I was posting on another thread but I thought this deserved it's own topic:
What we still don't know is, is CLF, Choy Ga +Lee Ga?
As in 2 of the 5 famous Southern Kung Fu families?
I saw a demonstration of Lee Ga in New York (not sure if it was Lee Ga as in one of the 5 families). It had some of the same elements of CLF but it was also very different. Definitely much shorter and more like SPM in its expression of Jing.
I'd be very curious to see clear examples of Choy Ga and Lee Ga that represent these 2 famous kung fu styles.
If we could see them then we could compare to our CLF and know with relative certainty whether these have any relation to our style. But I'm not sure if clear examples exist. With the popularity of other Southern styles perhaps these styles are extinct or near extinction. ( BTW I recently saw a VCD for sale of Choy Ga on a website, I'll see if I can post a link.)
My inkling is that they don't have any relation.
The Choy in Choy Lee Fut most likely comes from Choy Fook who was a monk/hermit who supposedly had ties to the Northern Shaolin Temple.
This explains why CLF is so different from other Southern styles. It borrows many of the attributes of both Northern long fist and Southern short hand techniques.
But what about Lee Ga? Is this famous Lee Ga? Or is it another style altogether?