Choy Li Fut Kung Fu: The Shaolin Five Principles

During the Manchurian occupation of China, the legendary Shaolin Temple was a haven of training for serious patriots and fighters. The temple was a Buddhist institution and its martial arts stressed training patterns that created the complete martial artist. 

The Choy Li Fut system derived from the Shaolin Temple, it emphasises relaxed internal power over stiff, muscular force.  It includes long and short range punches, kicks, sweeps, takedowns, lethal pressure point attacks, joint locks and grappling.  It also includes training with 36 types of traditional Chinese weapons, including short weapons like the broadsword, long weapons like the staff or spear, flexible weapons like the chain whip and three sectional staff, and twin weapons like the double hook swords.

Based in Wymondham, Norwich, Sifu Jo Hardy is the head instructors of the Guan Yin Kung Fu Studio.  She teaches Choy Li Fut Kung Fu under world-renowned Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong, inheritor of the Choy Li Fut System and president of the Plum Blossom International Federation.

Today, Grandmaster Wong’s teachings lie within the five time-worn principles of Shaolin temple training: the mind, eyes, hands, body and footwork.

1) The Mind If a martial artist's mind is not clear. He'll meet an actual self-defence situation with confusion, nervousness and an inability to produce needed energy.  Meditation is the most common way of producing self-assurance.

Some Shaolin martial arts use Buddhist like sitting or standing meditation techniques while others prefer the Taoist approach of simply sitting. Moving meditation is also a common practice, and can be seen in the slower conditioning forms of Hung Gar and Shaolin.  Choy Li Fut’s moving meditation practice, consist of forms like, ‘Sup bot lohan yik gen kung’ which translates to "18 lohan changing tendons form." This is one of the traditional qigong forms originating from the Shaolin temple, handed down from Bodhidharma. It contains stretching exercises that increase flexibility and strengthens connective tissue, such as tendons.  The form utilizes special breathing exercises and also includes pressure point self-massage.

Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong passed this rare form onto Sifu Jo Hardy in 2002, and she has now made this form available to all, through seminars and workshops.

Concentration also is a by-product of a relaxed mind. Without proper concentration, the martial artist can neither mount an adequate defence nor recoil for an offensive strike. Concentration can be mastered through constant forms practice.  The sequence, power and balance will be sloppy unless proper concentration is exercised.

2) The Eyes Another aspect of concentration is the eyes. If you don't watch, you don't see the target. The eyes combine the shen (spirit) with vision to produce awareness and focus.

Awareness is the sense or feeling, of impending attack, and helps create the quick reactions that can save a person's life. Focus is the combined result of spirit and intention (willpower). If a student can focus on an imaginary opponent when he practices his sets, he’s developing intention.  When he blends spirit and intention to get focus, he is adding speed to his perception. He soon will be able to simultaneously see and attack his target.  The Choy Li Fut System further develops this through its many two man open hand and weapon fighting forms.

3) The Hands As with the mind and eyes, the hands must be fast, accurate, strong and well-conditioned to block and strike safely.  If the martial artist practices an external (using force as a weapon) system, the training will be different from that of an internal stylist, who turns his opponent's force into a weapon.  The martial artist who uses his fists should practice mainly on various types of sandbags to toughen the surface of the hand and strengthen the shoulders and arms. Those who prefer palm strikes are best advised to spend many training hours slapping objects with open palms to simulate iron-palm training. Finger strikes and claw-hand techniques are developed by jabbing objects with the fingertips and grabbing small sandbags with the fingers. 

The Choy Li Fut Wall Bag Set is taught early on in the system.  It combines the conditioning of hands, shoulders and arms, along with palm and finger strikes and claw-hand techniques.  The form uses footwork to create different strikes with different angles of attack.

Consistency is the key to successful external conditioning. The Wall Bag Set, when practiced lightly on a day-to-day basis, should only take a few years to develop external strength and conditioning.

To deliver controlled power, internal martial arts practitioners should keep their arm muscles relaxed. When the arms become too stiff, it hampers the circulation of energy and inhibits internal power.

Choy li fut's internal forms all come from the Jiangmen School, through the system's founder's son, Chan On Pak. He passed these almost secretive forms on to his student, Chan Yen, who taught his own student, Wong Gong. Wong Gong, now a resident of Hong Kong, taught only a few people, one being Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong.

Internal training is developed later on in the advanced forms of the Choy Li Fut system.  Internal power takes many years to develop.  One of the main Internal forms of the system, ‘Lohan fok fu kuen’ translates to disciples of Buddha taming the tiger.  Lohan was a term of respect for very high-ranking Buddhist monks. The reason it is called "taming the tiger" is due to the many Choy Li Fut "fighting tiger positions" in the form. This form doesn't take up much space, but does use most of Choy Li Fut's variety of stances and footwork.  It is initially practiced slowly to develop relaxed power. Once students learn to relax they can practice this form with focused power (jing).

4) The Body   For the external martial artist, the muscles should be strong enough to withstand a crunching blow. The waist and back should work in unison, thus allowing the body to function as a single unit.

Those favoring the internal martial arts are encouraged to use deep natural breathing to keep their bodies loose. When breathing patterns are relaxed, strikes are stronger and carry more power. Never expand the chest; it reduces power and effectiveness because the breathing is confined to the upper cavity. Shoulders should also be relaxed since they connect the body with the hands.

5) Footwork According to an ancient Chinese martial arts saying, "fists take 30 percent of the fighting ability, while footwork takes 70 percent."

The foundation of any martial art lies in its footwork, stances and kicks.  All stability and power originates from strong, well-balanced footwork.

To achieve a solid stance, CLF practices ‘jop ma’, horse stance training.  The knees should be aligned with the toes and the feet parallel.  Both knees and thighs should be spread.  Whilst some martial artists merely spread their legs as wide as possible and squat with their knees buckled.  If attacked, the person with the extra wide stance is unable to move and will easily lose their balance.  The buttocks should be tucked, as protruding buttocks limit the breathing to the upper abdomen region.  Thus, the lower back will weaken.  Horse stance training is considered to be one of the best methods of providing a martial arts foundation.

Chinese martial artists also utilize leg sweeps as offensive techniques. Considered a vital part of footwork, leg sweeps require well-conditioned ankles and shins.

Kicks are important in the overall concept of footwork. Many hours of practice, combined with stretching and limbering exercises, is a must for kicks to be effective.

Handed down from China's Shaolin temple, these martial arts essentials helped a suppressed people during the years of a China Dynasty.  However these same principles apply to today’s martial arts training.  These principles work in combination to create maximum impact. 

With such a direct lineage to the Shaolin Temple, the Guan Yin Studio of Wymondham, Norwich possesses all of the tools needed for a complete martial arts system.

Written by Jo Hardy