Hung Gar (Hung Ga, Hung Kuen, or Hung Ga Kuen) is a member of the family of Kung Fu styles known as Southern Kung Fu. Legend has it that it was founded in the early Qing Dynasty in Fujian Province, China, by the tea merchant Hung Hei Gun.

 

The hallmarks of Hung Kuen are deep low stances, notably its "sei ping ma" horse stance, and strong hand techniques, notably the bridge hand and the versatile tiger claw.

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Hung Kuen is sometimes mis-characterized as solely external; that is, reliant on brute physical force rather than the cultivation of Chi; even though the student advances progressively towards an internal focus.

 

 

Hung Gar's earliest beginnings have been traced to the 17th century in southern China. More specifically, legend has it that a Shaolin monk by the name of Gee Seen Sim See was at the heart of Hung Gar's emergence. See was alive during a time of fighting in the Qing Dynasty. He practiced the arts during an era when the Shaolin Temple had become a refuge for those that opposed the ruling class (the Manchus), allowing him to practice in semi-secrecy. When the northern temple was burned down many fled to the Southern Shaolin temple in the Fukien Province of Southern China along with him. There it is believed See trained several people, including non-Buddhist monks, also called Shaolin Layman Disciples, in the art of Shaolin Gung Fu.

Of course, Gee Seen Sim See was hardly the only person of significance that had fled to the temple and opposed the Manchus. Along with this, Hung Hei Gun also took refuge there, where he trained under See. Eventually, Hung Hei Gun became See's number one student.

That said, legend has it that Gee Seen Sim See also taught four others, whom in their entirety became the founding fathers of the five southern Shaolin styles: Hung Gar, Choy Gar, Mok Gar, Li Gar and Lau Gar. Luke Ah Choi was one of these students.

Because the character "hung" (洪) was used in the reign name of the emperor who overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty to establish the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty, opponents of the Manchu Qing Dynasty made frequent use of the character in their imagery. (Ironically, Luk Ah-Choi was the son of a Manchu stationed in Guangdong.) Hung Hei-Gun is itself an assumed name intended to honor that first Ming Emperor. Anti-Qing rebels named the most far reaching of the secret societies they formed the "Hung Mun" (洪門).

The Hung Mun claimed to be founded by survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple, and the martial arts its members practiced came to be called "Hung Ga" and "Hung Kuen."

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