History of Hung Gar

According to history, South China has been dominated by five Kung Fu styles: Hung, Fut, Choy, lee, and Mok. Hung Gar is the most popular and widespread style. Gar means clan or family in Cantonese Chinese, and Hung refers to the surname of the man who created the system, Hung Hei Gung. The teachings of Hung Gar can be explained by the meaning of the name as Hung means "Stand tall with integrity"Let's look back and see how Hung Gar created such an impact on China's culture and history. Let's pay tribute to these great masters that helped develop Hung Gar and kept the style alive through war and turmoil. Let's learn what sacrifices these masters made, and what took place to develop the most famous southern style of Chinese Gung Fu.

Hung Gar Gung Fu is so immersed in China's culture and history that it will always be remembered. Many of China's legendary heroes studied Hung Gar. It's virtues and ideas are still reflected å today's world, never to be forgotten. People such as Wong Fei Hung, Fong Sai Yuk, Tang Fung, and Lam Tsai Wing contributed to making the style what it is today.Hung Gar Gung Fu is a style that was developed at the Sil Lum (Shaolin) Temple. It was founded by a man named Hung Hei Gung.

Southern Style Hung Gar (5 animal system) is a traditional Shaolin martial art that incorporates the movements of animals such as the tiger, crane, snake, leopard, and dragon. It is a very powerful system that emphasizes external strength, powerful muscles, and low stances. Hung Gar is a very popular and demanding system that is practiced throughout the world.

Hung gar is one of the most popular styles of Chinese kung fu. Many past sifu's such as Wong fei Hung, Tung Fong and Lam Tsai Wing all contributed to it's popularity today. Hung gar was developed and practiced in Southern China at the Shaolin Temple. This style was taught by Abbott Gee Sin Sim and developed by his student Hung Hei Gung who made this system very popular thoughout china.

This system is historically famous for it's martial arts application. This style emulates the spirit of the five animals (tiger, crane, leopard, snake and dragon) and five elements (Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth). The power (strength) of Hung gar comes from a strong stable foundation, which is demonstrated in it's low stances. Forms, weapons, sparring, and two person sets will develop self-defense techniques.The forms of the Hung Gar system incorporate hard and soft (external and internal) techniques.   Hung Gar also utilizies a wide variety of weapons which are incorporated in the style, including Broad Sword, Staff, Butterfly Knives, and the Kwan Dao.

Kung-Fu is not only a form of healthful exercise and highly effective system of self-defense, but also a benefit to the practitioner's mental and spiritual well-being. A person's body cannot act without the mind, and the mind must be directed by a calm spirit. The practice of true kung-fu requires that the teachings become integral to the way of life of the practitioner, influencing every aspect of life. kung-fu blends mind, spirit, and body together, enabling the harmonious action between the elements of a person's life.  Chinese philosophy consistently stresses the importance of harmony within the natural order, as is perhaps best symbolized by the ancient Chinese symbol of yin and yang. Neither side of the symbol is larger or more important to the other both sides must be in perfect balance, or the whole is affected. This is the same with the practitioner of kung-fu. The true mastery of kung-fu may only be achieved when all elements of a person's life are in balance..

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