ORIGINS OF THE FORMS

In ancient times, an exceptional soldier might understand maybe three or four martial techniques and develop those and their basic variations over a lifetime, therefore becoming a master. If he was very capable he might teach others in order to preserve and safeguard his precious knowledge. Even at that time, if the outer form was openly displayed and taught, the secrets were always held closely and only taught to a select few. Beginning about 2500 years ago, the gathering together and systematic study of martial techniques began to take place in the temples of Chinese martial arts like Wu Dang and then, later, Shaolin.
In these sacred refuges master monks would verify, practice and hone each technique to perfection, then combine them into formal exercises that would fulfill certain objectives in their own physical and spiritual development and that of their students and disciples. Nevertheless, as in the modern day Shaolin, no single disciple was expected to learn everything; the mastery of even one set of techniques, like a particular, animal style like White Crane, internal style like Ba Gua or Chi Kung technique like Iron Palm, takes many years of preparatory training and then many more for refinement of that particular method.
For this reason students would be expected to specialize in one or more of these styles. The duty of safeguarding the precious knowledge so as to pass it down to the next generation would be given only to truly extraordinary disciples What is being taught at Shaolin today survived the cultural revolution in China only because of this compartmentalization. A large part of the martial tradition that is being taught to the public in the west and the orient is the result of these systems of preservation of the art.
The traditional Hung Gar Kung Fu taught here offers a systematic approach to learning martial arts based on some very simple Shaolin martial principles and both fundamental and advanced combat techniques as were being taught in the 18th and 19th centuries. The application of these principles permit a dedicated student to develop many facets of his or her being without having to memorize and practice an exorbitant amount of material. Hung Gar Boxing is based upon fundamental and advanced Shaolin martial technique. It has been faithfully passed down through the various lineages because it is very effective and complete yet fundamentally simple.
The Original Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan as promoted by the ITCCA is even more simple in its approach as it is based on only one form. The form is a synthesis of Taoist internal energy work and two animal styles derived from both Shaolin and Wu Dang fighting arts: the snake and the crane. Yet in order for students to learn its martial applications, Yang Tai Chi Chuan is much more demanding of their time and patience than Kung-fu. The extraordinary aspect of Yang Tai Chi Chuan, as developed by Master Yang Lu Chan and then passed on through the family to its present day representative here in Europe, Master Chu King Hung, is that anybody with the will to practice and the desire to learn can undertake the study of this extremely effective martial art: the elderly, the young, men, women and even the infirm. In fact, besides being an extremely effective “civil” self-defense system, Yang Tai Chi Chuan also has a long reputation for being an effective method for healing chronic ailments and even serious disease. It has been accepted as a standard therapy reimbursable by many health insurance plans in many countries in the world besides China.

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