History of Choy Li Fut

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Chan Heung 陳享, also known as Din Ying 典英 or Daht Ting 逹庭, founded Choy Li Fut in 1836. He was born on August 23,1806 (7th moon, 10th day of the lunar calendar) in King Mui (Jing Mei) a village in the San Woi (Xin Hui) district of Guangdong province. Seven years after his birth, Chan Heung had his first real contact with Kung Fu through his uncle, Chan Yuen Woo 陳遠護 who was trained in the Fut Gar style from the Southern Temple. Chan Heung trained with his uncle until the age of 17. At this time his uncle recommended he continue his training under Li Yau San 李友山. Li Yau San, the Kung Fu brother of Chan Yuen Woo, was trained in the Li Gar style from the Southern Temple. After four years of training, Li Yau San recommended that Chan Heung once more continue his training with Choy Fook 蔡褔, who was trained in the Choy Gar style from the Northern Temple. However, when Chan Heung finally found Choy Fook, also known as “the monk with the wounded head”, he discovered Choy Fook was no longer teaching Kung Fu. Instead, he was living on Lau Fu mountain as a recluse with the purpose to only cultivate buddhism. It was at this point Chan Heung started to learn buddhism. The story of this part of his journey follows:

“Early one morning, Chan Heung was practicing his Kung Fu, leg sweeping heavy bamboo trees, and kicking up stones into the air, then smashing them before they hit the ground. Suddenly, the monk appeared and asked him if that was the best that he could do. Chan Heung was shocked when Choy Fook pointed to a large rock, weighing about eighty pounds, and told him to kick it twelve feet. Bracing himself, Chan Heung exerted all of his strength as his foot crashed against the rock, sending it barely twelve feet away. Instead of giving the expected compliment, Choy Fook placed his foot under the heavy rock and effortlessly propelled it through the air. Chan Heung was awestruck by this demonstration of superpower”. After this Choy Fook continued to teach Chan Heung Buddhism as well as Kung Fu.

When he was 29, Chan Heung left Choy Fook and went back to King Mui village. There he spent the next 2 years revising and refining all that he had learned from all of his teachers, thus creating a new system of Kung Fu.

In 1835 Choy Fook sent Chan Heung advice in a the form a special poem:

龍虎風雲會,
徒兒好自爲,
重光少林術,
世代毋相遺.

“The dragon and tiger met as the wind and the cloud.
My disciple, you must take good care of your future.
To revive the arts of Shaolin,
Don't let the future generations forget about this teaching.”

In 1836, Chan Heung formally established the Choy Li Fut system, named to honor his 3 teachers: Choy Fook, who taught him Choy Gar style, and Li Yau San who taught him Li Gar style, and his uncle Chan Yuen Woo, who taught him Fut Gar style, and developed to honor the Buddha and the Shaolin Kung Fu roots of the system.

After creating a new system, Chan Heung soon set up the first Choy Li Fut school in the local family temple. As his reputation spread, people from nearby villages came to learn this new style of kung fu Choy Li Fut

In 1848 Chan Heung sent his 18 original disciples, known as the eighteen Lohan 十八羅漢, through China to teach and open Choy Li Fut schools. Since that time, there are 4 different main Choy Li Fut lineages which can be traced all the way back from Chan Heung's first 18 disciples. These lineages are

King Mui Choy Li Fut 'Chan Family'
Kong Chow (Jiangmen) Choy Li Fut
Fut San Hung Sing Choy Li Fut
Buk Sing Choy Li Fut

Throughout the years of different wars in China, Choy Li Fut developed and proved to be a well-rounded and versatile fighting system. Even Bruce Lee once said, "Choy Li Fut is the most effective system that I've seen for fighting more than one person. It is one of the most difficult styles to attack and defend against". As an attempt to encourage and prepare them to join the war, Chan Heung created special forms and more fighting methods for his followers. These methods included special signals for when they meet during the war, also know as the original five sounds of Choy Li Fut. Those who belonged to the Choy Li Fut system would call out:

'Wak' when using a tiger claw
'Dik' when using kicks
'Yak' when using a fist or palm
'Ha' when using Tsop-Chui and Tsang-Jeung
'Hok' for using crane beak strikes

On August 20th, 1875 (8th moon, 20th day of the lunar calendar) Chan Heung passed away peacefully at the age of sixty nine leaving his legacy to his 2 sons, Chan On Pak and Chan Koon Pak.