The History of Choy Li Fut Kung Fu
Choy Li Fut Kung Fu (also spelled Choy Lay Fut, or Choy Lee Fut) was founded in 1836 by Chan Heung, one of China's most well known Kung Fu masters. A martial arts prodigy who began his training at the age of seven, Chan Heung learned his art from three masters from China's famed Shaolin Temple. His first two teachers, Chan Yen Woo and Li Yau San, hailed from the Shaolin Temple's Southern branch, where sophisticated hand striking and close in fighting techniques were the focus. His third teacher, Choy Fook, was a highly skilled monk from the Northern Temple, who taught Chan Heung the fast moving footwork and kicking techniques of Northern Shaolin.
It was this diversity of experience that led Chan Heung to combine the techniques of both Northern and Southern Shaolin into one devastatingly effective system of fighting. He would use this new system to produce students that could fight proficiently at any range. For example, if an opponent kept his distance, the Choy Li Fut fighter would close the gap with powerful kicks, leg sweeps and long arm techniques. If crowded or grabbed, the student would simply switch to elbows, knees, jointing locking or pressure point techniques. If taken to the ground, the student was trained to fall, roll, and employ various ground fighting techniques. Students were also well versed in the use of both Northern and Southern Chinese weaponry giving them an unmatched competitive edge.
Chan Heung formally established the Choy Li Fut system in the Southern Chinese village of King Mui after 24 years of study and refinement. He named the new system in honor of his two teachers, Choy Fook and Li Yaun San, and used the word "Fut" to pay respect to his first teacher Chan Yuen Woo, and to acknowledge the Shaolin roots of the new system. Chan Heung went on to produce many great students, including the immediate members of the Chan family, who helped spread the new system throughout China and ultimately the rest of the world. Today, Choy Li Fut is considered one of the most widely practiced forms of Kung Fu in the world.
White Dragon's Connection to Choy Li Fut's Founder
White Dragon is one of the few schools in the country that teach the authentic Choy Li Fut system of Chan Heung as described in the written texts of Chan On Bak, the founder's oldest son, and Chan Yiu Chi, the founder's grandson. Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong, a fifth generation Choy Li Fut grandmaster, handed down these rare texts to White Dragon's founder, Master Nathan Fisher, who helped standardize and organize English versions of the scripts. Instructors at White Dragon use these texts to insure that the system is practiced exactly as the founder intended.
