Hung Gar, also known as Hung Kuen comes from the south of
China.
The celebrated Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung was a master
of this style .
Hung Gar is reportedly named after Hung Hei –Gun a
disciple of the Shaolin monk Jee Sim. Hung a tea merchant
by trade brought the art to Guandong. Hung Gar stresses
honesty, righteousness, directness and iron will. The training
emphasizes strong and low stance work, bridge ( forearm
) training, low snapping kicks and the development of Root
( centreing the chi ).
Hung Gar is also comprised of five animals and five elements
the animals being:
Tiger ( power, strength ) clawing,
grabbing and palming techniques,
Crane ( grace and agility ) pecking, hooking and kicking,
Leopard (swiftness) back handing pawing and chopping techniques,
Snake (softness ) finger and hand strikes with wrapping
and coiling movements,
Dragon (spiritual ) stance training and Hei – Gung
development.
The elements are:
Gold ( Gum ) splitting fists,
Fire ( Foh ) rapid punching inverted fist not unlike Wing
Chun,
Water (Soi ) long swinging arms,
Wood ( Muk ) blocking and striking simultaneously,
Earth ( Dei ) to come from the ground to uproot.
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