Changing the Lineage Name of Kong Chow

by Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong
July 2006

The Kong Chow lineage (or "branch") of choy li fut was created by Great-Grandmaster Wong Gong in the late 1970s. The term Kong Chow was the county or district name in the old days before the Republic of China came into being. Nowadays only the locals know what that means, outsiders don't know where to find a place called Kong Chow.

When cities in China were updated to their modern names, the old Kong Chow district became part of Jiangmen city. Just like the Futsan (Foshan) lineage, the Hung Sing School in Futsan was famous. Also well-known was the Hung Sing School in Jiangmen (its old name was Gong Moon) founded by Chan Cheong Mo.

Our other teachings in the Plum Blossom Federation come from Great-Grandmaster Hu Yuen Chou. This branch is called the King Mui lineage, because it came from the founder Chan Heung's family. Choy li fut was founded by Chan Heung in the King Mui Village of Xinhui (San Woi) in 1836 and Hu Yuen Chou learned from the grandson of the founder. Therefore I named it the King Mui lineage or branch. Some other martial arts schools call this knowledge the Chan Family lineage or style. But because we are not Chan family members we cannot call it the Chan Family style.

I want to let everybody know that our Kong Chow branch of choy li fut is now officially renamed the Jiangmen branch of choy li fut. Here is why; First, Great-Grandmaster Wong Gong was officially given the title "Keeper" by the former Keeper of the Hung Sing School in Jiangmen, Chew Kam Wing in February 2006. Second, Wong Gong's other teacher Chan Yen was from King Mui Village and had the Chan surname, but he was not a member of the founder's family. Because King Mui Village is now part of Jiangmen City, Chan Yen's teaching are also considered to be in the Jiangmen lineage. In other words, Great-Grandmaster Wong Gong's teaching that come down to us are from the Jiangmen area, therefore we called his lineage the Jiangmen branch of Hung Sing Choy Li Fut.