When I was around 14 years old, I vividly remember on an episode of the BBC series Mind, Body & Kickass Moves, a wiry-framed man in a Chinese shirt doing some esoteric looking dynamic tension movements in a tiny, cluttered “Dit Da clinic” in a Hong Kong slum. The man then allowed presenter, Chris Crudelli, to kick him repeatedly in the groin, which had no effect on him. I never imaged that almost twenty years later, I would be in that same room, watching the same demo. But back to that later….
I had come to Hong Kong to film a documentary series for my YouTube channel, Monkey Steals Peach, and wanted to explore of the styles of the Hakka people.
Many Hakka people came to Hong Kong during the early- to mid-20th century, seeking as escape from the poverty of the remote mountainous regions they traditionally inhabited in inland south-eastern China. This new environment brought its own challenges. It’s a well-known fact that migrant workers are prone to exploitation and discrimination, and the Hakka people were no different. Back home, many of their villages had already developed their own martial arts styles, which proved to be all the more important in this new and unfamiliar city.
Dragon Style, Bak Mei, and Southern Mantis are perhaps the three most prominent Hakka styles found in Hong Kong, and it is these that myself and my friends Damien Campbell-Bell and Linda Ung set out to explore.
Probably the most shrouded in mystery, is a style named after the mysterious “traitor” of Shaolin, Bak Mei, who according to the mythology of anti-Qing secret societies, conspired with the Qing authorities to have the Shaolin Temple burnt down. Whether or not this really happened is conjecture, but the Bak Mei Kuen (白眉拳) as practiced today traces back to Cheung Lai Chuen (張禮泉), a Hakka man who learnt several different styles which he combined together.
Bak Mei is a no-nonsense art, which is focused on developing short “shock” power and developing a strong body structure. We met with Master Daniel Lai, who gave us a break down of how the system works. The first thing he asked us was, “When a car hits a tree, what do you think happens to the person inside?” He was talking about whiplash. When making contact with an opponent’s arm, the Bak Mei practitioner jerks it suddenly, with the aim to break their structure, setting them up for a flurry of strikes to vital areas.
He explained that as Hakka people tended to be smaller in stature and come from tightly knit villages along small mountain paths, the style doesn’t like to move around too much. It is safer to stand with a strong root and stable base, generating power through wave-like motions from the waist and back.
Dragon Style, or Lung Ying Kuen (龙形拳), is often called the “cousin style” of Bak Mei, having a strong connection between the founders. Dragon’s founder, Lam Yiu Guai (林耀桂), began training in his own family style, called Lam Family Boxing, which he actually learnt alongside Cheung Lai Chuen. As both men went off their own ways, they then developed their own styles. In Lam’s case, he learnt something called Plum Flower Posts, and then was inspired to “soften” his art into something more flowing. The result was a form called Lung Ying Mor Kiu (Dragon Shape Touching Bridge 龙形摸桥), in which the practitioner’s movements resemble the graceful movements of a dragon swimming. If you have ever seen a Chinese Dragon Dance, you will immediately see the connection.
For Dragon Style, Linda took us to meet Cheung Kwok Tai (張國泰), one of the most senior masters in Hong Kong of the style. We met him at the original Dragon Style association headquarters, the place Lam Yiu Guai himself taught when he came to Hong Kong from China. Aside from demonstrating the main forms, Master Cheung showed us some of the fighting applications. He seamlessly flowed from intercepting, to striking, low kicks, arm locks and takedowns.
While Dragon Style and Bak Mei both looked quite similar at first glance, there was much difference in the “feel” of the styles. Bak Mei was much more staccato, and used sudden shock movements, whereas Dragon Style was more flowing, and used more redirection and momentum.
Probably the most well-known Hakka style in the west is Southern Mantis, particularly the lineage known as Chow Gar Kuen (周家拳), which descends from the Chow family and was brought to Hong Kong by Lau Soei (劉水). It was actually his top student, Ip Sui (葉瑞), who had been featured in the Mind, Body & Kickass Moves, and we met with his younger son, Ip Pak Wing.
Master Ip had prepared a demonstration for us from several of his students, much of which was devoted to their iron body skills. Damien and I were invited to punch the students in their throats, solar plexus, ribs, and of course, groin. While this was some of the most impressive iron body skills I have encountered, I also wanted to understand more of the technical side of the system.
Our final stop was to meet Master Hang Ng (吳煥亨), another long-time student of Ip Sui. Master Hang has developed his own system, called simply Hang Ng’s Combat System, for which he systematised and organised the system into what he feels is a more logical and concise manner. He broke down the importance of body connection, and how good body structure allows you to both issue and receive large amounts of force.
While each of these styles has a unique flavour to it, I found that all three of them share many similarities. They are all what we call “short bridge styles”, in that they focus on keeping the arms close to the body and maintaining close contact with the opponent. They are also quite conservative in their use of footwork. Having a strong base and solid body structure was also common between all styles. The differences arose mostly in the individual flavour of how these styles are expressed: Bak Mei tends to be explosive and staccato, Dragon is flowing and smooth, and Southern Mantis develops the hardness of the body while using minimal movement.
