Chan Cheong-Mo was the founder and chief teacher of the Sei Yup (4 counties) Hung Sing Faculty in Kong Moon Metropolis, which is now known as Jiangmen. He realized Choy Li Fut from Chan Heung, the founding father of Choy Li Fut kung fu, when he was a toddler. After Chan Heung died, he continued to review from Heung’s eldest son, Chan On-Pak. 

In 1898, Chan Cheong-Mo opened the primary Hung Sing Faculty within the Wong clan household temple in Jiangmen Metropolis and invited Chan On-Pak’s youthful brother, Chan Koon-Pak, to be the pinnacle teacher. Chan assisted Chan Koon-Pak in instructing Choy Li Fut kung fu. In 1906, Chan Koon-Pak went to Canton (Guangzhou) and Chan Cheong-Mo formally took over the college and have become the pinnacle teacher of the Jiang Males’s Hung Sing Faculty. Earlier than Chan Cheong-Mo died in 1953, his adopted son and successor, Chew Kam Wing, was appointed keeper and head teacher of the Hung Sing Faculty in Jiang Males Metropolis. 

Chew Kam Wing taught within the Jiang Males’s Hung Sing Faculty till the Chinese language authorities banned conventional kung fu instructing. All his college students finally stopped practacting and now not taught the nice Choy Li Fut system. Chew Kam Wing taught Choy Li Fut privately to his sons. Sadly, his sons have been lower than the usual that was required for passing down the standard instructing. Chew Kam Wing practiced Chinese language drugs on the Folks’s Hospital of Jiang Males. He lastly retired a number of years in the past after having served the neighborhood for greater than 45 years. He was among the many most well-known docs in southern China when he retired.  

Right this moment, only some of Chan Cheong-Mo’s senior college students are nonetheless alive in China and around the globe. In Jiang Males Metropolis, there are Wong Kan Fu, Lui Sieh Gen, and the previous Keeper, Chew Kam Wing. In Canada, Yan Jun Ho taught in Vancouver’s Chinatown for greater than 30 years, however he has since retired. In Hong Kong, solely Wong Gong stays actively concerned in instructing Choy Li Fut. Chew Kam Wing now could be in his mid-80s and can quickly cross on the Keeper’s place to his kung fu brother, Wong Gong. Of Chan Cheong-Mo’s college students, it’s believed Wong Gong had achieved the best success within the teachings of Choy Li Fut. Final February, Chew Kam Wing formally signed the certificates of Jeong Moon Yen to Wong Gong as the brand new Keeper of the Sei Yup Hung Sing Faculty. 

Wong Gong was born in 1928 and is a local of Jiang Males metropolis. He studied kung fu together with his father as a toddler and later grew to become a disciple of Chan Cheong-Mo. Together with his instructor Chan Cheong-Mo’s permission, he continued his research from Chan Yen, the chief teacher of King Mui Village’s Hung Sing Faculty. Chan Yen realized Choy Li Fut from his father Chan Yau-Kau, a pupil of Chan Heung. In 1949, the Communists assumed management of Mainland China. Earlier than Wong Gong moved to Hong Kong, his academics advised him to maintain the Choy Li Fut system alive. Right this moment, Wong Gong has greater than 50,000 pupil memberships around the globe representing six generations. 

This text initially appeared within the September 2006 challenge of Inside Kung Fu Journal, “Coaching for Life” by Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong.