Hung
Gar's Lam Chun Fai
by Martha Burr
Fight
and Insight
 Lam Chun Fai opened his
own traditional Hung Gar kungfu school in Hong Kong when
I was 18, continuing the traditions of his father. "Our
purpose was not to fight," he says, "but to make people
healthier, and learn self-defense. Some schools in the old
days would tell their students to go out and fight. Go to
the other schools and challenge them. Not us.
"Other schools would come to our school as well, to challenge
us, challenge my father a lot. My father didn't like teaching
free fighting - kungfu is for health, he would say, not
free fighting. But sometimes we would join the tournaments
and then practice for that, but he would not often teach
this."
"At that time we are careful teaching students. When a student
moves, I can tell if he knows kungfu, a lot or a little,
and what style. Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Choy Lay Fut, I can
tell. You have to be careful. Some people come to the school
and say, "I haven't learned kungfu before." Why not say,
I learned this style before, and now I want to learn Hung
Gar? Years ago, people only had one sifu. Later, it was
OK to learn from more than one person, but back in the old
times, they were prejudiced against that.
"In Hong Kong today much of that generation has gone. Lam
Chun Fai's kungfu youth became tempered by his bank career,
which he retired from nearly a decade ago to go back to
teaching kungfu full time. "Before 1993 I was a bank manager
as well. In the daytime I went to the bank, and afterwards
I'd see patients and teach kungfu. I have three kids, they
play kungfu but they don't teach."
On Down the Line
Since his retirement from the bank, Lam Chun Fai has
shifted his teaching - and preserving the art of Hung Gar
- into a higher gear. Freed from a daily schedule, he has
been able to travel and give seminars. And the art that
he has closely honed for a lifetime is finding its way into
new hands across the continents, from Greece to Brazil.
Both Lam Jo and Lam Chun Fai are determined that the art
will not be lost, and as many nuances and subtleties of
the style will also be preserved. One of the classic sets
created by Lam Sai Wing's father is the War Palm. It is
the set Lam Chun Fai has chosen to teach abroad, as well
as to the many foreign students who travel to Hong Kong
to study with him. "In 1994 I went to Harvard University
to teach War Palm. I had quit banking by then, and just
wanted to do dit dar and teach kungfu.
In Hong Kong nowadays we teach, but it's difficult, hard
to find a center to teach in. Many sifu don't teach in their
own school, because the space is too small for students
to play. I'm teaching more students now, some students are
very interested in this set, and then subsequently in the
whole system."War Palm (Chiu Ju) is a straight Lam Sai Wing
set (have name in characters). Lam Sai Wing learned it from
his father, who was also a Hung Gar stylist. His name was
Lam Koi Chun. Lam Sai Wing studied from a lot of masters,
he had had 6 or 7 sifus, and Wong Fei Hung was the last
one. But when he followed Wong Fei Hung he knew his kungfu
was very good. Wong Fei Hung already retired. He didn't
want to take any other student. Lam Sai Wing was a butcher,
selling pork, so every morning he cut the most special part
of the pig and gave it to Wong Fei Hung. Later, Wong says
OK, I take you as my last student. He saw Lam Sai Wing was
sincere, diligent, and didn't give up."
The War Palm
In the War Palm, notes Lam Chun
Fai, you are practicing power, hard power. "Lam Sai Wing
created the War Palm, which is very good for practical use.
It utilizes hip rotation, working the waist (jin jong) for
power, and turning. It contains techniques not found in
other sets for more practical applications. It develops
power into a twist."
In the War Palm set, Lam continues, techniques
are very fierce. Everything comes from the uppercut - it
is very hard to block. You are cutting from underneath.
This is a very practical technique. "War Palm is not good
for looks," he says, "but practical use. Where you strike
and the way you turn your waist trains you to develop power.
The set contains the chui ju, a famous technique used to
hurt the opponent's leg or hand." Besides the efficient
applications, performing the War Palm is also very good
for health, especially helping internal circulation, much
like the Hung Gar's famous Tid Sin Kuen.
My si-hing, Don Hamby has also traveled to Hong Kong with
our sifu Buck Sam Kong, and recently returned there to learn
more about the heritage with our si-gung Lam Jo and si-bak
Chun Fai; continuing the Hung family desire for preservation,
Hamby has been compiling Hung Gar history and knowledge
to forward the art, and keep it living, something instilled
in us by our sifu Buck Sam Kong. "Not many other Hung Gar
lineages incorporated the War Palm into their teachings,
"says Hamby. "The War Palm is a great beginner's set, because
it incorporates strong stances, especially the horse stance,
for strong legs, and heart and lungs. It has softness and
hardness, using techniques like tiger claw and snake, and
the footwork is very particular, educating a practitioner
on transitioning from one stance to the next, shifting and
turning, moving the hips. Each step is a shift to turn your
waist, to put your hip and shoulder behind each block or
punch. The War Palm also incorporates breathing with each
step and movement, and trains power and focus."
Another interesting aspect of the War Pam set is that it
trains the wrists, teaching techniques to escape wrist locks;
in addition, this training has an extremely theraputic effect
on the wrist, something Lam Sai Wing probably did not envision
for today's computer users afflicted with carpel tunnel
syndrome.
Lam Chun Fai is a person who is both humble and proud. Of
his own skills he never brags or elaborates, but he carries
a lot of pride over the family's name and kungfu. Growing
up as Lam Jo's son gave him a lifetime of opportunity as
well as challenges. He has learned the system his father
gave him, but he has also has made it his own, shading his
kungfu with his own character, not merely copying Lam Jo's.
Notes Hamby, "When Lam Chun Fai teaches he wants you to
go beyond the mere physical movements of the form. He wants
you to sense, and feel, and analyze all of the movements
- learn, then study, think, meditate on it. When you get
knowledge, how you perceive it is how you project it."
Where a century ago Wong Fei Hung fought for the revolution
against the Qing dynasty, today's Hung descendents have
a different agenda. A modern warrior like Lam Chun Fai teaches
the War Palm less as a method of killing and more as a weapon
in the battle of personal transformation. The teachings
he passes on are small revolutions inside each of us, but
when they reveal a new way of looking at the world, that
is enough.
Lam Sai Wing vs. The Crafty Bonesetter
Lam Chun Fai has many stories about
his famous si-gung Lam Sai Wing. Here is one he wants to
share with the readers of Kungfu Qigong. "Lam
Sai Wing taught in the army, and was very famous around
the Canton area. There was a man named Loy Long Sau who
was very famous for selling medicine and showing kungfu
on the street. At one of his demonstrations on the street,
he said that Lam Sai Wing's kungfu was not so good. But
in that area there were many students and soldiers who had
learned from Lam. They went back and told Lan Sai Wing,
who was very angry. At that time, no one could say that.
Lam Sai Wing went to find Loy, but when he arrived at the
place where Loy was selling medicine he only found a student
there. Lam asked the student, who was very afraid, and told
Lam Sai Wing that his sifu was taking tea on the other side
of the street. Hanging up was a drying cowhide for a drumskin,
and Lam Sai Wing with an incredible display of strength,
tore it in half. Loy saw this and ran to his business and
they started to fight. Loy went to punch Lam Sai Wing, who
used qin kiu, and then Lam punched him again. Loy fell down
pretending to be hurt. Lam Sai Wing knew Loy was pretending,
and that he was a fake. Loy then used a tiger tail kick
from the ground, and so Lam leaped into a cat stance and
used qin ji (chop). Loy rolled over and threw a roundhouse
kick from the ground. Loy was very famous for his block,
but nevertheless Lam Sai Wing grabbed the leg and blocked
with qin qi and broke his leg.
One month later Luo recovered, and came out to sell his
dit dar medicines and perform again and told everyone -
'my leg was broken by Lam Sai Wing - but now I'm healed
- my medicine really works! I can walk! My medicine is good!'"
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