Hung Gar Exam II Stephen Fairbanks 3/13/2013 The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of Hung Gar, also addressing the concepts and idioms behind the art.
Hung Gar Exam II The Legend of Kung Fu begins when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty built the Shaolin temple for the prominent monk, Batuo, and his two Chinese disciples in 495 A.D. Batuo came to teach Buddhism in China, but not the elements of martial arts. The temple had been built years before in the remains of a forest that had been cleared or burned down. At the time of the building of the temple, the emperor's gardeners had also planted new trees. Thus the temple was named "young (or new) forest", (Shaolin in Mandarin, Sil Lum in Cantonese). Tamo AKA: Da Mo or Bohimidara (given credit for developing kung fu), traveled to the nearby Buddhist temple to meet with the monks who were translating these Buddhist texts. When Tamo arrived at the Sil Lum temple in 497 A.D., he observed that the monks were in poor physical condition. Most of the monk s routine spent each day hunched over tables where they transcribed handwritten texts. Consequently, the Shaolin monks lacked the physical and mental stamina needed to perform even the most basic of Buddhist meditation practices. Upon finding this, Tamo spent years meditating in a near by cave where he developed 12 forms. While Tamo was meditating Hui Ke, a man who followed Tamo wanting to learn all Tamo knew, took care of Tamo during the years spent meditating in the cave. When Tamo finished meditating, Hui Ke begged to learn from Tamo, to which Tamo replied, I ll teach you when blood rains from the sky. Hui Ke then cuts off his left arm and waves it in the air till the blood rains on Tamo. Tamo taught Hui Ke, who became the abbot after Tamo, this is where the i
tradition of bowing with one hand comes from. Tamo, returned to the monks to put them back in shape. After putting the monks in shape, Tamo sent the monks to study the animals. These animal studies created the base for the movements of the 18 main animals, which became the Shaolin Kung Fu. The five animals we study are Tiger (Bones), Leopard (Power), Snake (Chi), Crain (Muscle), Dragon (Spirit). Hung Gar was named after Hung Hei-Gun, who learned martial arts from Jee Sin, a Chan master at the Southern Shaolin Temple. Jee Sin was also the master of following Four 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. Hung gar was developed as early as 528 A.D., by Jee Sin It included techniques, mimicking five animals - Tiger (Bones), Leopard (Power), Snake (Chi), Crane (Muscle), Dragon (Spirit). These were developed, in an effort to protect the Henan temple, the most splendid of all the monasteries, from bandits and invaders. However Shaolin kung fu was developed by Bodhidharma around 497 AD. Kung Fu is an adjective meaning disciplined technique, skill. A strong flexible waist is essential in all kung fu, because it gives power to your strikes and meaning to your rooting. Tiger crane and leopard are the first animals to be practiced in hung gar because they prepare the external body to train the internal. The five element practice is included in the study of hung gar kung fu to cause the internal stimulation, these elements are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, Earth. The blocking sutra has three levels. At the first level the practitioner will block the attack without counter attacking. At the second level the ii
practitioner will black the attack and immediately follow with a strike. The third level is the highest principle contained in this blocking sutra; dispense with blocking and make the block and strike one. The saying, "Southern hand, Northern foot" refers to the tendency of most Southern Chinese kung fu systems to concentrate on hand techniques, while in the North of China more kicking techniques are emphasized. This is just a general distinction and does not apply to all kung fu styles. Kung Fu means time earned proficiency. iii
Bibliography Smith, William HLAC 1450 Hung Gar Kung Fu. Shaolin Institute. http://www.shaolin.com/historycontent.aspx Book, Web. 2013 Chin, Calvin Calvin Chin s Martial Arts Accadamy http://www.calvinchin.com/hunggar.htm Book, Web. 2013. Raymond, Ian, Bentley. Shaolin, The Influence. Oracle: Think Quest. http://library.thinkquest.org/trio/ttq07031/history/temples/present.html Web. 2013. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hung_ga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shaolin_kung_fu Web. 2013. iv