Our Lineage

In The Beginning (Background History)

There are written records of some form of martial art being practiced in China as far back as almost 5000 years. There is good reason to believe that the martial tradition and its natural companion the medical tradition, date back even further than the written record. Treatises on Martial arts, Philosophy, Astrology and Medicine are attributed to Chinas’ pseudo- mythical Yellow Emperor.

Our Roots in China:

Pangai-Noon is a martial art system that has evolved over many hundreds and maybe thousands of years. This style is a mingling of several different Kung-Fu systems primarily of Hakka (Political refugees from North China) origin. Some of the contributing styles may include Chu Gar (official martial art of the Ming Dynasty), Southern Shaolin Temple Boxing (Five fists or Five Ancestors of Fukien), Southern Mantis (Chow Gar), Okinawan Naha-Te and Shorin-Ryu (Shaolin way). There are various ‘origin stories’ for each of these styles and ours overlaps with several of them. An important thing to remember from the outset is that these are based primarily on oral histories which may be at least as much myth as history. So, why should I even share ‘history’ that may be partially ‘made up” or just downright false??? Part of the answer is that the myth and fictional histories even if not based in historical events are IN FACT part of the culture of the martial art and myths always carry cultural and even moral significance. At some point in time, someone made up a story to convey a point about their style that they wished to pass on in story form. Where historical data can be confirmed, I try to do so but in most cases I think these ‘Histories’ have some foundation in historical memory but bare the mark of considerable embellishment.

Descriptions of Chinese martial arts can be traced to the Xia Dynasty which may date back to almost 3000 years BC.  Their origin is attributed to self-defense needs, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important components in the training of Chinese soldiers. From this beginning, Chinese martial arts proceeded to incorporate different philosophies and ideas into its practice, expanding its purpose from self-defense to health maintenance and finally as method of self-cultivation. Conversely, the influence of martial arts ideals in civilian society can be found in poetry, fiction, and eventually film. Chinese martial arts are now an integral element of Chinese culture.

According to tradition, the Yellow Emperor ascended to the throne in 2698 BCE and introduced the earliest forms of martial arts to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a famous general who, before becoming China’s leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology and the martial arts. He allegedly developed the practice of jiao di or horn-butting and utilized it in war.

Shǒubó kung fu, practiced during the Shang dynasty (1766–1066 BCE), and Xiang Bo (similar to Sanda) from the 600s BCE, are two examples of ancient Chinese kung fu. In 509 BCE, Confucius commented on the benefits of practicing the literary arts as well as the martial arts and so, kung fu began to be practiced by ordinary citizens beyond the military and religious sects (pre-dating Shaolin by over 1,000 years). A combat wrestling system called juélì or jiǎolì is mentioned in the Classic of Rites. This combat system included techniques such as strikes, throws, joint manipulation, and pressure point attacks. Jiao Di became a sport during the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE). The Han History Bibliographies record that, by the Old Han (206 BCE – 8 CE), there was a distinction between no-holds-barred weaponless fighting, which was called shǒubó, for which "how-to" manuals had already been written, and sportive wrestling, then known as juélì or jiǎolì. Wrestling is also documented in the Shǐ Jì, “Records of the Grand Historian”, written by Sima Qian around 100 BCE.

A hand to hand combat theory, including the integration of notions of "hard" and "soft" techniques, is expounded in the story of the Maiden of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue (5th c. BCE).

In the Tang Dynasty, descriptions of sword dances were immortalized in poems by Li Bai. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, an early form of sumo contests, were sponsored by the imperial courts. The modern concepts of wushu were fully developed by the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Martial arts are also mentioned in Chinese philosophy. Passages in the Zhuangzi, a Daoist text, pertain to the psychology and practice of martial arts. The author of the text is believed to have lived in the 4th century BCE. The Tao Te Ching, often credited to Lao Zi, is another Daoist text that contains principles applicable to martial arts. According to one of the classic texts of Confucianism, Zhou Li, Archery and charioteering were part of the "six arts" of the Zhou Dynasty (1122–256 BCE). The Art of War, written during the 6th century BCE by Sun Tzu, deals directly with military warfare but contains ideas that are used in the Chinese martial arts. Those examples show the ideas associated with Chinese martial arts changed with the evolving Chinese society and over time acquired a philosophical basis.

Daoist practitioners have been practicing Tao Yin, physical exercises similar to Qigong that was one of the progenitors to Tai Chi Chuan, at least as early as 500 BCE. In 39–92 CE, "Six Chapters of Hand Fighting", were included in the Han Shu (history of the Former Han Dynasty) written by Pan Ku. Daoist philosophy and their approach to health and exercise have certainly influenced all phases of the Chinese martial arts.

The fighting styles that are practiced today were developed over the centuries, after having incorporated forms that came into existence later. Some of these include Bagua, Eagle Claw, Five Animals, Five Ancestors,    Hsing I, Hung Gar, Praying Mantis, Fujian White Crane, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan.

In 1900-01, the Righteous and Harmonious Fists rose against foreign occupiers and Christian missionaries in China. Although this uprising, known in the West as the Boxer Rebellion due to the martial arts and calisthenics practiced by the rebels, originally opposed the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi gained control of the rebellion and tried to use it against the foreign powers. The failure of the rebellion lead to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1910 and the creation of the Chinese Republic.

The present view of Chinese martial arts are strongly influenced by the events of the Republican Period (1912–1949). In the transition period between the fall of the Qing Dynasty as well as the turmoils of the Japanese invasion and the Chinese Civil War, Chinese martial arts became more accessible to the general public as many martial artists were encouraged to openly teach their art. At that time, some considered martial arts as a means to promote national pride and build a strong nation. As a result, many martial arts training manuals were published, a training academy was created, national examinations were organized, demonstration teams travelled overseas and numerous martial arts associations were formed throughout China and in various oversea Chinese communities.

Chinese martial arts started to spread internationally with the end of the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Many well known martial art practitioners chose to escape from the PRC's rule and migrate to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other parts of the world. Those masters started to teach within the overseas Chinese communities but eventually they expanded their teachings to include people from other cultures.

Hung Hei-Kwun (Hung Hei-Gun), born in Hua County, Guangdong, China, was the founder of the Hung Gar Kung Fu system. Hei-Kwun was originally named Jyu and was a tea merchant. He escaped to the Southern Fujian Shaolin Temple after he had an argument with a few upper class Manchurians during the Qing Dynasty when the Manchus were in control. Abott Jee Sin accepted him into the temple and soon found out how talented and hardworking he was in Southern Shaolin Kung Fu. Jee Sin was impressed by these qualities and soon began to teach Hung the Tiger style that he specialized in. After six years he became number one of the top ten of the laymen followers (they were people who went to the temple to learn only kung fu and not religion). However, afterwards the Qing government destroyed the temple because the temple gave refuge to many rebels who wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty.

*Important to note here that there is today considerable debate as to whether the “Fukien Temple” ever even existed. There IS a temple in Fukien Provence today, the ruins of which were discovered in the 1980s. Many consider this THE 'Nan ShaoLin Miao (South ShaoLin Temple). It may or may not have served as a refuge for Northern refugees during the boxer rebellions but its existance in the oral traditions of countless Kung-Fu systems is indisputable. To what extent these oral traditions recount a real or fictional temple is, to me less important than the “Stories” told. With that in mind, our “History” should be viewed with some historical skepticism and a healthy romanticism.

Hung escaped and during his wanderings he met Fong Wing Chun (not Yim Wing Chun of the Wing Chun Style) and found out that her father, Fong Sai Yuk (kung fu brother of Hung) was killed by the same person who killed his mentor, Jee Sin. So Fong Wing Chun taught him her crane style to balance out his hard tiger techniques with the evasiveness of her crane techniques. Hung then avenged Jee Sin and Fong Sai Yuk by finally destroying the murderer (Bak Mei according to some sources). Hung and Fong Wing Chun soon fell in love and were married. Hung then opened a martial arts school when the banning of martial arts was lifted in China. He called it Hung Gar Kuen in honour of the First emperor of the last true Chinese (Ming) Dynasty and to protect his disciples from harm from the Manchus because the Shaolin arts were still banned. His style soon was ranked the best of the five major family styles in the Province of Kwangtung.

WuBeiZhi is a 'style manual' that documents 'A' version of this martial art practice that began to take root in Southern China and is a foundational document for many modern styles of Kung-Fu and Karate. The origin of WuBeiZhi (Bubishi) is probably lost to antiquity. No one knows who first compiled the book but there are several theories. One has Bubishi evolving during the early part of the Ching dynasty. There was some resistance to the Chings and the Shaolin Temple was known to be a safe haven for resistance fighters. As a result the temple was burned to the ground and the monks scattered. One monk, Fan Zhonggong (Huishi), moved to Fujien Province to escape and passed Monk Fist Boxing to his daughter, Fan Chiniang. The daughter, after her fathers' death, realized she could not face a larger, stronger attacker in direct combat and developed a softer system that became White Crane gongfu. These two disciplines, along with Chinese herbal medicine and pressure point theory, were recorded in Bubishi. There are some who believe that Master Kanbun Uechi brought a handwritten copy of the Bubishi back from China. Uechi family history states that this book was a “style manual” written by Master Zhou specifically for Kanbun Sensei. If there is any truth to either of these legends, it lends credibility to the relationship between Uechi-Ryu, Fukien white crane, Monk fist and Five ancestors’ boxing.

With regards to the Shaolin style of martial arts, the oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat is a stele from 728 CE that attests to two occasions: a defense of the Shaolin Monastery from bandits around 610 CE, and their subsequent role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621 CE From the 8th to the 15th centuries, there are no extant documents that provide evidence of Shaolin participation in combat. However, between the 16th and 17th centuries there are at least forty extant sources which provided evidence that, not only did monks of Shaolin practice martial arts, but martial practice had become such an integral element of Shaolin monastic life that the monks felt the need to justify it by creating new Buddhist lore. References of martial arts practice in Shaolin appear in various literary genres of the late Ming: the epitaphs of Shaolin warrior monks, martial-arts manuals, military encyclopedias, historical writings, travelogues, fiction, and even poetry. However these sources do not point out to any specific style originated in Shaolin. These sources, in contrast to those from the Tang period, refer to Shaolin methods of armed combat. This include the forte of Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous - the staff (Gun, pronounced as juen).The Ming General Qi Jiguang included description of Shaolin Quan fa and staff techniques in his book, Ji Xiao Xin Shu that title can be translated as "New Book Recording Effective Techniques". When this book spread to East Asia, it had a great influence on the development of martial arts in regions such as Okinawa and Korea.

The Shaolin order dates to about 540 AD, when Boddhidarma (in Chinese - Tamo), an Indian Buddhist priest, traveled to China to see the Emperor. At that time, local Buddhist monks were translating Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese, by order of the Emperor, with the intent to allow the general populace the ability to practice this religion. Tamo traveled to the nearby Buddhist temple to meet with the monks who were translating these Buddhist texts. The temple, constructed years before in the remains of a forest that had been either cleared or burned down, was named "young forest" (in Mandarin, Shaolin - in Cantonese, Sil Lum), since at the time of temple construction, the emperor's gardeners had also planted new trees. 

Upon his arrival, Tamo was refused admittance to the temple, perhaps being thought an intrusive foreigner by Fang Chang, the head abbot. After being rejected by the monks, he went to a nearby cave and meditated until the monks recognized his religious prowess and admitted him. Legend has it that Tamo bored a hole through one side of the cave with his constant gaze; however, the actual accomplishment that earned his recognition may very well be lost to history. 

When Tamo joined the monks, he observed that they were in poor physical condition, as most of their routine paralleled that of the Irish monks of the Middle Ages, in which hours each day were spent hunched over tables, transcribing handwritten texts. As a result, the Shaolin monks lacked both the physical and mental stamina necessary to perform the most basic Buddhist meditation practices. By teaching them moving exercises, designed to both enhance chi flow and build strength, Tamo succeeded in countering these qualities. The exercises modified from Indian yoga and based on the movements of the 18 main animals in Indo-Chinese iconography (i.e., cobra, deer, dragon, leopard, snake, tiger, etc.), were the beginnings of Shaolin Kung Fu. 

As time went on, the Buddhist sect became more distinct, due to the nature of the martial arts studied and practiced. Although martial arts had existed in China for centuries, it was within the confines of the temple that these arts were codified into the new and different styles that would become distinctly Shaolin. 

In 589 AD, China was united under the 'barbarian' rule of Yang Chien founder of the Sui Dynasty. In about 600 AD, the Hunan Temple became the seat of Shaolin Buddhism in Northern China. In 618 the T’ang Dynasty was established after a yearlong political takeover from the Sui and in 624, the T’ang reunited all of China for over 200 years of relative peace. It is this peace that allowed the emergence of the Fukien Temple in 650. Though both the Fukien and Hunan Temples were previously established Buddhist Monasteries, they took on a completely new character as they became part of the Shaolin Order. Shaolin philosophy started from Buddhism but later adopted many Taoist principles to become a new sect. Even though a temple may at first have been Taoist or Buddhist, once it became Shaolin, it was a member of a new order with roots in both earlier systems.

The Shaolin were much more than Kung-Fu practitioners. The monks were first and foremost a religious order. The martial aspects of their daily training rituals were born of necessity. The original training routine introduced by Boddhidarma was codified into a system of self-defense over a period of time, although it is hard to say just when they became actual "martial arts". The Shaolin temples were often in secluded areas where bandits would have traveled and wild animals were an occasional problem. At various times in Temple histories, they even had to defend themselves from Dynastic Military persecution. Most prominently after the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and throughout the Ching Dynasty it became obvious that an advanced system of self-defense was necessary. Shaolin philosophy dictated that their art was purely defensive and never offensive. Rather, the study and practice of kung fu within the Shaolin order led to a better understanding of violence, and consequently conflict avoidance. Shaolin would refuse to accept an offering of violence (i.e., an attack) & merely return it to the aggressor. Initially, Shaolin may choose to parry an attack; however, if an assailant is both skilled and determined to cause harm, a more definitive and concluding solution may be required, ranging from a joint-lock hold to a knockout, or even death. The more sophisticated and violent an assault, the more devastating the return of the attack is to the attacker. This philosophy was practiced by either a single monk or by the whole community when necessary.

The Two Temples 
There were said to be five main temples at the height of the Shaolin order, Hunan, Fukien, Kwangtung, Wutang & O mei shan. The five temples were rarely active at the same time and in our lineage, the first two are most significant. 

Hunan: This is "the" Shaolin temple seen in most Chinese kung fu movies. The physical premises, located in Loyang, a small mountain town southwest of Beijing, have been restored by the Chinese government in the mid 1970s (the temple was destroyed in response to the Boxer Rebellion of 1901, though probably not completely out of use until the late 1920s), and subsequently became a tourist/martial arts Mecca. Most of the resident "monks" seen today are actors; similar to the people you would meet in Colonial Williamsburg and other historical sites. During most of its history, Hunan Temple was the seat of the most senior monks in the Shaolin Order. 

Fukien: Probably built around the same time as Hunan Temple, and originally a mainstream Buddhist temple. This temple was possibly integrated into the Shaolin order around 650. Larger than the Hunan Temple, Fukien served as the "headquarters" during times when Hunan was either destroyed or under threat. The southern styles of Praying Mantis as well as the Snake, Dragon, and Wing Chun systems all claim to have been developed in the Fukien Temple, or by its masters. The temple was burned in response to the Tia Ping & Boxer Rebellions of the early 1900’s, and its remains were rediscovered in the 1980s.

The Ming Dynasty

In 1368, after almost 100 years of Mongol occupation in China, the Buddhist Priest, Chu Yuan-Chang overthrew the Mongol Empire and established the Ming Dynasty, the longest lasting and most stable Dynasty in China (1368 - 1644). Chu Gar (Chu family style probably a derivative of the Northern Shaolin Practice) was established as the official martial art of the Ming Dynasty. Chu Gar was originally taught only to members of Chinas royal family. The first concern of China's new emperor in 1370 was military strength and preventing Mongol resurgence. Chu Yuan-Chang (Hung-wu), established garrisons at strategic points and created a hereditary military caste of soldiers who would sustain themselves by farming and be ever ready for war. Hung-wu made his commanders into military nobility. Troops were forbidden to abuse civilians.

Hung-wu's regime executed many who violated his laws and were suspected of treason. He worked toward economic recovery. Farms had been devastated, so he settled a huge number of peasants on what had been wasteland and gave them tax exemptions. Between 1371 and 1379 the land under cultivation tripled, as did revenues. The government sponsored tree planting and reforestation. Neglected dikes and canals were repaired and thousands of reservoirs were rebuilt or restored. Hung-wu died in 1398, at the age of seventy. Hung-wu's death was followed by four years of civil war and the disappearance of his son and heir, Jianwen. Jianwen had been indecisive and scholarly and no match for his uncle, Yongle, who became emperor in 1403. Yongle ruled to 1424, using eunuchs as spies and appointing them to high positions in government. By the mid 1400’s the Mongols were again making border raids and appeared to the Chinese as the greatest threat since the rise of Ming power. Also, with independence from Mongol rule, Confucian influence had increased at court. Confucian scholars were filling the ranks of senior officialdom and remained hostile to commerce and foreign contacts. The Confucianists had little or no interest in seeing China develop into a great maritime trading power. In the wake of Mongol rule, China's leaders were eager to restore things Chinese, and that included shipping on China's canals -- which had gone into disrepair under the Mongols. Inner trade was good enough for the Chinese.  By 1592, China was engaged in a costly war with Japan over Korea. This was the beginning of the end for the Ming Dynasty. Over the next 50 years, the Ming military experienced heavy decline due to extensive defense programs in response to increased civil conflicts. In 1644

Li Tzu-ch'eng, a domestic rebel, captured the capital. The Manchu forces helped Ming forces to remove Li Tzu-ch'eng, but took the throne for themselves. In 1646, Dorgon, who became the first Ch’ing emperor, declared the Ch’ing dynasty.

The Ching Dynasty

With the ascension of the Ching Dynasty, the Ming Emperor and his family fled to the Northern Shaolin (Hunan) Temple to escape certain death at the hands of the Manchurians. The military forces of the Ching Dynasty followed the royal family. Knowing that a revolutionary spirit was being nurtured in the temple, the Ching army burnt the temple to the ground. The royal family escaped to the Southern Shaolin Temple located in Fukien Province. Knowing that the Ching were looking for Chu Gar practitioners they changed the name of their family art to "Praying Mantis", in hopes of tricking the Ching into thinking that the style was the same as the more popular Northern Praying Mantis. Still the Ching army eventually followed and destroyed the Southern Shaolin Temple also. Many of the royal family escaped and went into hiding. They became known as "Hakka" or "Northern Guest". From that point on the art of Chu Gar was only taught secretly to Hakka people for fear of being betrayed and hunted down by the government. In Hong Kong Chu Gar was only taught to Hakka descendants. Later this rule expanded to trusted members of only Chinese heritage.

Development of the Chow Gar style is attributed to a monk named Chow Ah Naam. It is possible that the Chu family art came into contact with Chow Ah Naam during the final years of the Fukien Temple (circa 1890 to 1920). Chow Ah Naams’ story is probably a mixture of fact and legend. The traditional story is as follows.

Chow, a Cantonese man was born into a wealthy farming family. When he was about ten years old he developed a stomach illness and many doctors failed to find a cure for him. While traveling North in search of a climate that was better suited to his health, he found himself at an Inn that was part of the Fukien Temple. The owner of the Inn knew of Chow Ah Naams’ illness and advised him to go to the Temple to see a Monk named Sim Yan. This Monk was a famous medical man and did not normally treat outsiders, but he got on well with Chow Ah Naam and after a few months of treatment Chow Ah Naam had recovered fully. By this time, Chow had very limited access to his family’s wealth and became very concerned about the cost of staying at the Inn. The owner of the Inn asked him if he would like to be a servant in the kitchen. Because the Inn was part of the Shaolin Temple, the rules were that after being accepted you had to practice Kung Fu for at least two hours each day. So Chow Ah Naam decided to stay at the Temple. One day another monk was carrying two buckets of water and Chow Ah Naam accidentally bumped into him. The monk was so angry that he hit Chow Ah Naam. Although Chow tried to defend himself he was knocked down with one punch. This monk thought of himself as the strongest boxer at the temple and was always telling people off and picking on others, so Chow Ah Naam tried to avoid him as much as possible. One day Chow Ah Naam went to a nearby forest to collect wood for the stove in the kitchen when he heard a bird making a lot of noise, he went to investigate and he saw the bird using its beak against a Praying Mantis. Watching closely Chow Ah Naam saw the Praying Mantis suddenly cut across the bird’s throat with its arm, the bird fell and was covered in blood and did not move. Chow Ah Naam was very surprised at this incident. Chow Ah Naam was an intelligent person and it occurred to him to copy this insect and so caught the Praying Mantis and many others after it, feeding them and using a twig to test their fighting reaction thus developing the Southern Mantis style.

My personal theory is that the above account was fabricated to hide the arts relationship to the Chu Gar style. It is more likely that Chow Ah Naam developed a friendship with one of the “Hakka” (descendants of the Ming Royal Family), and studied Chu Gar from that friend. The Hakka friend would have instructed Chow to keep the origins of the style secret because of its relationship to the Ming Dynasty. This may or may not have been known to some or all of the monks at the Temple. The idea of having observed the Mantis Defense style in nature relates to the families habit of calling their family art “Praying Mantis Kung-Fu”.

Nobody knew about Chow’s secret studies until one day, a few years later the bully monk was showing off in front of a crowd as Chow Ah Naam was passing through. The monk decided to pick on him, Chow Ah Naam realized he could not always avoid him and so he made a challenge. The monk began to laugh and then struck out at Chow Ah Naam. Chow Ah Naam was cool and avoided all his punches. The monk became angry and used all his power to try to knock him down. All the other monks around were shouting and jeering, the noise was loud and so awoke the High Monk Sim Yan. Sim Yan went out to investigate what was going on and saw Chow Ah Naam fighting. Sim Yan knew that his fighting style was different from the Shaolin style, and while he was watching, Chow Ah Naam struck out at his aggressor knocking him down to the ground.

Sim Yan stopped Chow and asked where he studied his Kung Fu from, so Chow Ah Naam told Sim Yan that he observed the Praying Mantis' fighting habits. Sim Yan praised Chow Ah Naam because he felt that there were not many people like him. Sim Yan personally taught Chow Ah Naam the highest of the Shaolin training to develop a strong and powerful bridge between the mantis style and Fukien Temple Boxing. Everybody heard about this new method of training and its creator for miles around.

Based on my theory, this would represent the point at which a new style was developed as a blend of Shaolin Boxing and Chu Gar. It would make sense that Master Sim Yan recognized the “Mantis” style as Chu Gar and took on Chows training in order to further protect the Chu Family Style from recognition by others. In this respect, Chow Gar would represent a bridge connecting Shaolin Boxing and the Ming Dynasty’s Chu family style. Looking further back into history at the origins of Chu Gar, we can see that Master Chow’s new style is a blend of Northern and Southern Shaolin Kung Fu.

The new system likely passed from Chow Ah Naam to ZhouBei while both studied at the Fukien Temple during the late 1800’s. Chow and Zhou are variant spellings of the same name and the two monks were possibly brothers and certainly contemporaries at the Temple. We know very little about Zhou Bei except that he was rumored to have been an active member of one of the many Secret Societies that were working to restore the Ming Dynasty to power during the early 1900’s. These secret societies were conceived with a high moral standard and often espoused high religious principals. Many of the membership of these societies were actually Shaolin Monks. As time passed, many of the organizations turned to more secular goals and after the rise of Communist China, these secular organizations became the forerunners of the modern crime syndicates known in the west as “Triads”.

Secret Societies and The Boxer Rebellion

According to the legends, the Hungmun was founded to reestablish the Ming dynasty, which was ended by the Manchu’s (Ching Dynasty). The Manchu’s conquered China very quickly, though revolts arose. Therefore, the Manchu emperor used the services of the fighting monks of the Northern Shaolin Temple. However, the monks became a danger for the Manchu emperor, so he had the monastery closed in 1674. (Other stories tell that the monastery was a center of rebellion right away and that it was shut down because it harbored Ming Dynasty refugees.) Several monks did escape. Five of them played an important role in the rebellion and became known as the Five Ancestors of Shaolin. Their names were Choi Dakjung, Fong Daaihung, Mah Chiuhing, Wu Dakdai, and Lei Sikhoi. They founded the Hungmun under the motto “Fan Ching Fu Ming” - “Down with the Ching, restore the Ming”. They choose the name Hungmun (Hung League) to remember the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, who reigned under the name “Hungmou” (Hungwu). Among the monks who managed to escape the Northern Shaolin Monastery were Wanjung and Jihong (Zhi Kong). They set up new monasteries in Southern China or simply joined Monasteries that were already established. Whether the Monks and remnants of the Ming royal family joined local temples or not, most remained in contact with one another and helped recruit supporters for their cause. The Shaolin Temples were centers for this underground loyalist movement but membership in the secret societies was not limited to Monks. Many people were recruited for their military experience or expertise in (non-Shaolin) martial arts. Many people brought martial arts knowledge into the rebel organizations that were eventually blended with the Shaolin styles. All these styles were later called Hungkyun, “style of the Hungmun”, or Hungga kyun “style of the Hung family”, since the Hungmun members referred to themselves as the Hung Family. The Hungmun divided itself into “cells” that operated independently of one another but for the common cause of restoring the Ming Dynasty.

One of the earliest and biggest of the rebel cells was the Tin Dei Wui or Heaven & Earth Society. It’s suspected that this society is the original Hungmun and that several others using different names actually belonged to Heaven & Earth as well. The Heaven & Earth Society was founded solely as a rebellion movement and focused (at least in the beginning) on spreading kung fu among the rebels. Maintenance of a single posture for long periods was an established part of Shaolin training, a “basic skills exercise”. It was especially popular with the Southern Shaolin and adopted by the secret Heaven and Earth Society (Tin Dei Wui) in Southern China.

After 1860 many other big societies came into existence. The Taiping, Old Brothers Society, Ching Pang, and Hung Pang are just a few of these secret societies. All of these societies were originally offshoots of the Heaven & Earth Society.

Eventually many of these societies began to rob the rich (considered enemies of the common people) to finance their activities. Over time, they became more criminal and less anti-Ching. The secret societies were officially forbidden in 1890 and were given the name “Triads” by the British, who controlled Southern China (first together with the Manchu’s, and after 1895 with the Japanese.)

In 1890, Japan declared war on China. China capitulated in 1895. With the Manchu power broken, Japan and Europe took over and exploited the Chinese. Because of this exploitation many more people joined the rebel movement and specifically the Hungmun, resulting in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. In response to European and Japanese exploitation, the rebels and the Chinese army (of Manchu reign) were united against the “foreign menace” in this Rebellion. Although the Manchu power was broken, it was 1911 before the last Manchu emperor, the little boy Pu Yi, was dethroned. After the Ching dynasty was ended in 1911, the Secret Societies did not disappear. They became mostly criminal organizations under new names. When the People’s Republic of China was established, many members went to Hong Kong and founded new Triad organizations there.  These Triads form the “Chinese mafia”, which is present in almost every Chinatown throughout the world.

It is within this context of the late 1800s and early 1900s in Fukien Province where Kanbun Uechi and ShuShiWa were training together. It has been suggested by some that the two teachers in their early and mid 20s were involved with perhaps training and recruiting for this "Boxer Rebellion" against the Japanese Invasion.