The Story of Hung Ee Kan & Tee Eng Choon
The Founding of the Tiger-Crane Combination Style of Kung Fu
Of the five masters who escaped from the Shaolin temple, the most famous
was Master Hung Eee Kan. He was a master of the Tiger style and was renown
for the strength of his stance and the power of his punch. He fought many
challenges
and was never beaten. Many Kung Fu styles trace their origins back to Hung
Ee Kan, including the famous Hung Gar*.
After the burning of the temple, Hung Ee Kan sought refuge with a Chinese
opera troop. The troop traveled around China in a red painted barge performing
their operas. For this reason they were known as 'The Red Barge'. Hung
Ee Kan found them to be an excellent cover. Although he posed as a member
of the opera, every time they stopped in a new town, he would gather together
opponents of the Manchurians and form new branches of the secret societies.
He would instruct them in the secrets of Kung Fu, ready to make war with
the Manchu's. In this way, his teachings became widespread in China.
Later in Hung Ee Kan's career, after he had left the Red Barge, he came
one day upon an old man teaching Kung Fu to his daughter. He did not recognise
the style which they practiced, but was fascinated by its soft, subtle
movements. Not wishing to disturb the training session, he hid in a tree
to watch but the old man saw him and beckoned him to come down to join
in. A sparring session followed between Hung Ee Kan and the girl. Hung
was amazed to find that his ferocious punches and blocks with which he
had defeated all challenges, were unable to overcome this fragile looking
girl. You see, her style was very soft and relied on evading and deflecting
his punches, rather than stopping them, making all their strength useless.
She would reply by waiting until she had created a gap in his defence,
then exploiting it with a fast, accurate strike to a sensitive point.
The girl was named Tee Eng Choon and the style which she practiced was,
of course, the White Crane style of Kung Fu. Hung Ee Kan was fascinated
by this style, against which hard force was of no meaning. He stayed with
the Tee
family
to learn more of it and soon found himself falling in love with Tee Eng
Choon. They married and together produced a style which combined the best
of what each had to offer: the power of the tiger and the soft, subtle
technique of the crane.
This is how the Tiger-Crane combination was formed. It was kept by the
Tee family and passed down, generation by generation. The district of Fukien
Province where the Tee family lived was called 'Eng Choon'.
*Hung Gar means the Hung family style of Kung Fu. Such styles became
common after the burning of the Shaolin temple since those practicing their
martial
arts in the morning could deny any connection to the Shaolin that might
be inferred by any passing Manchurian soldiers or informers by claiming
that this was simply their family style that had been practiced for health
privately for generations. Other examples are Lau Gar, the Lau family style
of Kung Fu.
Further
Information on Chinese Martial Arts
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