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Hung Gar
From MartialWiki English
| Hung Gar | |
| 洪家 | |
| Also known as | Hung Ga; Hung Kuen (洪拳); Hung Ga Kuen (洪家拳洪拳) |
| Origin |  China
|
| Founded by | Hung Hei-Gun |
| Primary focus | Strong hand techniques, deep low stances |
| Classification | Southern; external; Buddhist |
Perhaps most famously known through the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, Hung Gar (Chinese: 洪家) is one of the five family styles of southern kung fu. Hung Gar features a very heavy emphasis on stance training (students often sit in horse stance from anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours) and slow form study, with up to a year between new forms being taught (however in modern times this has been reduced as it's unlikely that students are able to devote their time soley to training).
Contents |
[edit] Concept
Hung Gar is adapted to close quarter fighting in small, crowded alleyways or in wet, slippery rice fields. Hung Gar training emphasizes strong stances, iron-hard blocks, low snapping kicks, ambidexterity, deceptive hand techniques and power, all geared for close-range techniques. The low, strong stances conform well to encounters on barges and rafts. Low snapping kicks are well suited to wet and slippery ground. Hung Gar hand techniques stress ambidexterity and use simultaneous blocking and striking.
[edit] Philosophy
Hung Gar tenents stress honesty, directness, iron will-power and righteousness.
[edit] Etymology
- 洪家 - Hung Ga - Literally "Hung family" figuratively speaking "Hung" means to "stand tall with integrity."
[edit] Technique
Hung Ga is formed around a Shaolin tiger system that has been modified to be better balanced in long and short range applications. Additionaly it incorporates elements from the white crane system, movements from the Dragon, Snake, and Leopard forms and techniques from the five element fist.
[edit] History
Hung Gar was named after Hung Hei-Gun, who learned martial arts from Jee Sin, a Chan (Zen) master at the Southern Shaolin Temple. Jee Sin (ak Gee Sum Sim See) was also the master of following 4 students, namely Choy Gau Lee, Mok Da Si, Lau Sam-Ngan and Li Yao San. These five students later became the famous founders of five of the southern shaolin styles (Hung Ga, Choy Gar, Mok Gar, Li Gar and Lau Gar).
The temple where they trained had become a refuge for opponents of the Qing Dynasty, who used it as a base for their activities, and was soon destroyed by Qing forces. Hung, a tea merchant by trade, eventually left his home in Fujian for Guangdong, bringing the art with him.
Even though Hung Ga is supposedly named after Hung Hei Gun, the predominant Wong Fei Hung lineage of Hung Ga claims descent not from him but from his classmate Luk Ah Choi (陸阿采), who taught Wong Fei Hung's father Wong Kei-Ying and, by some accounts, Wong Taai (黃泰), who is variously said to be Wong Kei Ying's father or his uncle. Because the history of the Chinese martial arts was historically transmitted orally rather than by text, much of the early history of Hung Ga will probably never be either clarified or corroborated by written documentation.
Because the character "hung" (洪) was used in the reign name of the emperor who overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty to establish the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty, opponents of the Manchu Qing Dynasty made frequent use of the character in their imagery. (Ironically, Luk Ah-Choi was the son of a Manchu stationed in Guangdong.) Hung Hei-Gun is itself an assumed name intended to honor that first Ming Emperor. Anti-Qing rebels named the most far reaching of the secret societies they formed the "Hung Mun" (洪門).
The Hung Mun claimed to be founded by survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple, and the martial arts its members practiced came to be called "Hung Ga" and "Hung Kuen."
[edit] Culture
In modern days the teaching of Hung Ga has become more popular and a lot of the secrecy surrounding the art has been stripped away. Unlike other martial arts, Hung Ga does not feature a belt or sash system to indicate advancement.
[edit] Genealogy
[edit] Schools/Styles/Variants/Disciplines
[edit] Notable practitioners
- Wong Fei Hung - Chinese folk hero.
[edit] In fiction
- Lei Wulong - from the fighting video game series Tekken
- Baraka from the later Mortal Kombat titles, along with his Pencak Silat skills
- Master Tigress from the film Kung Fu Panda
[edit] Get involved
- http://www.hungkuen.com/ - Lam Chun Fai Hung Gar School / Hong Kong
[edit] Links
- Sifu At Large - a blog with writings from a Hung Ga sifu.
[edit] Footnotes & references
<references/>
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