Fujian White Crane Kung Fu, once known as Tiger Crane Combination Kung Fu, has been taught by Chief Instructor Dennis Kah Swee Ngo since 1977. He has been training in this style for more than 40 years. Kung Fu is his first love, but he has achieved black belt status in some of the Japanese arts as well.
Official research in China has traced the origins and history of White Crane Kung Fu. The founder of the style was Fan Qiang Liang, daughter of a famous Wushu Master. They moved to Fujian province after the death of her mother, and in the best tradition of Kung Fu, her father died defending her honour from unwelcome suitors. Only 17 at the time, she vowed revenge, and joined a temple as a nun.
It is said that during this time she dreamt that she was fighting a white crane, but it evaded her attacks easily, using its powerful wings to strike back at her. After the third night of this dream she realized that she could adapt her fighting style to incorporate the crane's agility and grace; its ability to strike quickly and accurately.
Fan Qiang Liang later married a student and moved to Yong Chun county in Fujian Province, where she became a famous master. Her disciples later became the masters who developed the five styles of the Fuzhou White Crane system.
Her students spread the White Crane style and its derivatives throughout China and Southeast Asia, and into Okinawa.
This style comes from Fujian Province, China. Fujian Province is famous throughout China for its flamboyant, fierce and efficient White Crane Kung Fu styles.
For the sake of simplicity, it is known as Fujian White Crane Kung Fu in the West. It is the complete system of White Crane (the tiger stance providing a strong base for the more flamboyant hand techniques of the crane).
The White Crane style taught by Dennis Ngo originated in the Yong Chun district of Fujian province. Although our club is worldwide, our links back to China are strong. Yong Chun White Crane Kung Fu is the only White Crane style to have its origins in the Southern Shaolin temple. Our Chief Instructor has been officially commissioned by the Fujian Yong Chun YiYun Wushu Society (China) to help with research into the history of the White Crane style. Fujian White Crane Kung Fu (international) is now accepted as original and from the same lineage by Yong Chun White Crane Wushu (China).
Traditionally, this style was taught slowly and solidly, with heavy emphasis on stance and footwork. Mr Ngo strikes a careful balance in his teaching, staying true to the traditional principals of the art while tailoring it to suit the culture and people of the new millennium. The art is taught hard and fast, with heavy emphasis placed on discipline, building a strong healthy body and developing the confidence to be both polite and humble. Students are taught to fight properly so that they can appreciate the value of life and the sanctity of each person's body.
Fujian White Crane (白鶴拳) is a martial art which its traditions attribute to a woman named Fāng Qīniáng (方七娘; Amoy Min Nan: Hng Chhit-niâ).
The legend of the White Crane: The Fāng family lived in Fujian, a province of China, in a place where there were many cranes.
Qīniáng's father knew the Southern Chinese martial arts and taught them to his daughter.
One day, while Qīniáng was doing her chores, a crane alighted nearby.Qīniáng tried to scare the bird off using a stick and the skills she learned from her father but whatever she did, the crane would counter.Qīniáng tried to hit the crane on the head, but the bird moved its head out of the way and blocked the stick with its wings.Qīniáng tried to hit the crane's wings, but the crane stepped to the side and this time blocked with the claws of its feet.Qīniáng tried to poke the crane's body, but the crane dodged backwards and struck the stick with its beak.
From then on, Qīniáng carefully studied the movements of cranes and combined these movements with the martial arts she learned from her father, creating the White Crane style of Fujian Province.
White Crane Kung Fu is a rare Chinese
martial art which combines foot techniques,
hand techniques, chin na (seizing and
controlling) and weapons training. This
program is offered in our Laval, Montreal
and Poughkeepsie (New York) academies. It is
also available in affiliated clubs such as
at the “Université du Québec à Montréal”
and the “YMCA Park”. White Crane Kung Fu
is a complete self-defense system that uses
hands, feet, knees, elbows, shoulders and
hips in its arsenal of striking techniques.
The style is renowned, however, for its
rapid hand techniques, its strikes executed
in conjunction with grabs and its
devastatingly effective pressure point
attacks. This rare art is particularily
effective as it is an ancient family kung
system that has remained true to it’s
original purpose.
White Crane Kung Fu combines defense and
attack and uses both soft and hard power. It
also emphasizes firm yet evasive footwork.
It is a direct, linear and deceptive martial
art. This particular system is called Fei He
or Flying Crane. Flying Crane makes use of
both high and low kicks yet has a marked
preference for rapid hand techniques. It
stresses empty-hand as well as weapons
training, two-person sets, self-defense
drills and free-sparring. The style's fierce
pressure point attacks combined with rapid
footwork and a no-nonsense approach make it
a particularly effective, complete, and
beautiful martial art.
Since many traditional family systems
have remained largely unaffected by trends
and fashions in the martial arts, students
are selectively chosen and the arts remains
unaltered. It should be emphasized however,
that learning such system’s is more than
simply learning how to fight. Rather,
apprenticeship can become a means to develop
amazing physical skills and internal power,
greater self-confidence, a sense of
camaraderie and to gain insight into a very
ancient culture. In the end, it is
ultimately about developing a kind and
forgiving heart.
This program is geared to individuals
interested in learning an effective and
complete traditional kung fu system.
Although White Crane is definitely a
physical system, it has so many techniques,
methods and routines as to make it
accessible to people of all ages. This is
compounded by the fact that as skill
progresses, so too should one’s ability to
nullify force with softness and skill.
Curriculum:
Traditional systems emphasize
applications (Yong Fa). To do so
effectively, they must study a wide spectrum
of subjects related to combat. Consequently,
most traditional Chinese martial arts focus
upon forms, two-person forms, weapons,
two-person weapon sets, body conditioning,
striking training aids, internal exercises
and free fighting. This is especially true
for family systems such as the Lee family
Flying Crane.
White Crane’s founder, Fang Chi-Niang,
was a petite woman who lived in violent
times. Fang Chi-Niang reasoned that certain
vulnerable areas of the body could not be
hardened or conditioned to resist injury.
Powerful strikes to the temples, eyes,
throat, solar plexus, floating ribs,
kidneys, groin, knees, etc., could
successfully debilitate even the most
determined attacker. Consequently, attacking
pressure point targets with specialized hand
strikes became a trademark of Fukien White
Crane.
The Fung Ying Chuan (Phoenix eye fist) is
the most commonly used specialized fist
technique. It is named for the slightly
protruding index finger which resembles the
eye of the legendary Phoenix. It is most
useful for pressure point attacks, since it
concentrates one's entire power in a very
small area, namely the second joint of the
index finger. This means that power is
extremely focused and that it tends to
penetrate deeply. Although it is necessary
to practice specific hand and finger
strengthening exercises to effectively use
the Phoenix eye fist, it is nevertheless
considered a relatively easy technique to
master. A second commonly used hand
formation is Biao so, or Spear Hand. It is
formed by completely straightening the
fingers and thumb and keeping them held
tightly against each other. It is used
exclusively against the body's weakest
points, such as the eyes, throat or groin.
Further hand formation used in Flying Crane
include: edge of hand strikes,crane, eagle,
tiger, and dragon claws. Most other hand
movements either mimic a crane's wings or
resemble classical Southern Kung Fu systems
hand techniques.
A unique feature of the White Crane
system is the manner in which the many
empty-hand and weapon forms are designed.
The forms are comparatively short, and many
of them are designed to be done as fighting
sets with a partner. That is to say, the
various blocks, counter-strikes, and joint
locks in the second half of a given form
make up the correct response to the various
moves of the first half. Thus, one can
familiarize oneself with the movements in
solitary practice, and then test one's
understanding in a controlled-contact
environment with a partner. This system
ensures an organized approach to mastery of
not only the individual movements, but also
the fighting theory and real-world
application of the form.
Besides forms and two-person sets,
students also condition their bodies and
practice striking various training
equipment. Several sensitivity or listening
drills are also emphasized. For example,
students often pair up and extend their arms
so as to make them touch. From this
position, they practice attacks and
counter-attacks. Regular practice of this
listening hands drill permits students to
feel their opponent's intentions and act
accordingly. It also provides a safe and
realistic forum from which to practice the
application of their techniques. Free
sparring is also introduced early on and is
emphasized according to the individual's
wants, desires and skill level. Finally,
advanced breathing exercises are taught on a
one-on-one basis due to their nature.
Weapons are introduced fairly early
beginning with White Crane's famed Seven
Star Staff (Chi Sing Guen). Along with the
spear (Chiang), three-sectional staff (San
jie guen), halberd or General Kwan's
Broadsword (Kwan Dao), cane (Gwaijian),
Horse Cutter Broadsword (Jam Ma Dao), and
the tiger fork (Jing Fu Cha), there are
several double weapons in Flying Crane.
These include: Double iron rods (Swan jien)
which are similar to Japanese sai, double
broadswords (Bai Her Dao), double daggers
(Bi Shou), and southern short swords (Nan
Dao). Single weapons include: Single
Broadsword (Dao), Straight sword (Dsien) and
Fan (San Tse). There are over 80 empty hand
forms in the Flying Crane style. Some are
very short, others rather long. There are
also a great many weapons forms.
A good White Crane fighter can, amongst
other things, sidestep and strike an
opponent. This tactic is very effective in
self-defense scenarios against a completely
committed and possibly enraged adversary. It
was not designed for the often tentative,
forewarned and illusory nature of controlled
sparring involving mutually consenting
competitors. This brings us to a most
important point: Authentic Chinese martial
arts were created and evolved to be
devastating self-defense systems. As society
changes and evolves, however, many martial
art systems have changed their fundamental
nature and modified their training regimen.
We can safely distinguish between those arts
that have remained faithful to their
tradition of all-or-nothing self-defense
and those that have become martial sports.
Both have something very special to offer to
the public. There is, however, a great
difference in approach.
History of Shaolin White Crane Kung fu:
( Before proceeding
further, it is important to explain that
there are actually two martial art systems
emanating from China that bear the name of
White Crane: one originates in Tibet and the
other in the southern coastal province of
Fukien. Both arts are famous and have
glorious histories of their own. This fact
is mentioned in order to avoid confusing the
public. Although rare in the western world,
Fukien White Crane is a famous fighting
style in Southeast Asia. In fact, it is
widely considered to be one of the ancestors
of several traditional Okinawan Karate
systems).We have presented below a very
detailed account of this art’s history as
it this information is not readily
available. To learn more about the Fukien
White Crane, it’s history and theories,
consult Shifu Bernard’s latest work
“Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu: A rare art
revealed”
The history of the Fukienese White Crane
Kung Fu has been passed down from master to
student (father to son) for five
generations. Although various accounts do
exist, they all tell a similar tale. The
history of White Crane Kung Fu as passed
down within the Lee family and given to
Shifu Bernard is presented below.
Fang Chi-Niang was born in Lei Chow Fu in
the middle of the 18th century.
Her father's name was Fang Hui Sz and her
mother's name was Lee Pik Liung. Fang Hui Sz
studied Kung Fu in the Shaolin temple at
Nine Lotus Mountain, Ching Chiang district,
Fukien (modern day Fujian) province. His
wife and daughter lived at Lei Chow Fu.
Since they were victimized by local
landlords, it was decided to move away from
the village. Eventually, they settled down
in Ching Chu temple, on Ching Chea Mountain
(Lei Chow Fu). One day, as Fang Chi-Niang
was drying grain in front of the temple, she
saw a huge crane come down from the roof and
begin to eat. She decided to use a bamboo
stick to chase away the intruder. Fang
Chi-Niang was both curious and fearful of
the crane. At first, she tried to strike its
head but the bird was evasive. Then she
attempted to hit the crane's wings but it
stepped to the side and used its claw to
block the attack. When Fang Chi-Niang tried
to poke the bird's body with her staff, it
moved back and used its beak to peck the
bamboo. Fang Chi-Niang was surprised. She
continued to use the techniques her father
had taught her but her efforts were
completely unsuccessful. Astonished by the
crane's skill, Fang Chi-Niang sought to
practice with it on a daily basis.
Fortunately, the crane obliged. This
permitted Fang Chi-Niang to analyze and
absorb the bird's self-defense strategies.
Eventually, she mastered the movements and
spirit of the crane.
During this period, Emperor Chien Lung
ordered the destruction of the Southern
Shaolin temple after having been informed of
revolutionary activities on its grounds.
Fang Hui-Sz was one of the few fortunate
ones to escape the attack. He sought out his
wife and daughter and they initially settled
at Pik Chui Liang. Subsequently, Fang Hui-Sz
moved to Sah Liang temple near Foochow,
where he spent his spare time refining his
daughter's Shaolin Kung Fu. Fang Chi-Niang
eventually mastered everything her father
could teach her and chose to combine the
crane's spirit and movements with her
Shaolin Kung Fu. She taught Kung Fu at Sah
Liang temple to Weng Wing-Seng, Lee
Fah-Sieng, Chang The-Cheng, and Ling Te-Sun.
Weng was from Lei Chow Fu, Lee was from Chow
Ann district, Chang was from Wing Chun
district, and Ling was from Foochow. Weng
and Lee taught many students at Kao Pei
Cliff and set up a school there. Chang
(nicknamed Nine Dots monk) settled at the
White Crane temple and taught martial
arts.
Ling's descendants moved to Taiwan. Lee
passed his skills to his son Lee Mah-Saw.
Lee Mah-Saw continued to set up schools and
taught in Chow Ann district. Fang
Chi-Niang's teachings gave birth to
different interpretations and four principal
styles were developed: Flying Crane (Fei
He), Eating Crane (Shi He) Screaming Crane
(Ming He) and Sleeping Crane (Jan He or Su
He). Later on, variations and combinations
with other systems occurred which led to the
creation of even more types of Fukienese
White Crane.
At this point, it may be useful to debate
whether the Fukienese White Crane arts are
truly Shaolin systems or whether they
represent a separate school. Since they were
created outside the temple, many older
generation White Crane masters do not
consider their art to be a Shaolin art. This
belief is compounded by the fact that White
Crane focuses heavily upon soft power in the
advanced stages. On the other hand, the
founder did study from her father who was an
accomplished Southern Shaolin practitioner.
Consequently, it is difficult to resolve the
debate as it is largely a question of
perspective. Perhaps it is best to
acknowledge the root of the art while
simultaneously recognizing the founder's
unique contributions.
Grand-Master Lee Kiang-Ke: Bringing
White Crane into the 20th Century:
Historically, with the end of feudal
social systems and the widespread use of
firearms, advanced methods of combat are no
longer an every day necessity. This fact of
life, combined with the traditionally
secretive nature of kung fu instruction, is
contributing to the loss of an irreplaceable
part of China's cultural heritage. Many of
the hundreds of different styles of kung fu
are in danger of being lost or diluted to
the point of extinction.
For practitioners of Fukien-style White
Crane Kung Fu, the life of Grandmaster Lee
Kiang-Ke (1903-1992) represents both a link
to the past and window toward the future. To
properly understand the reverence a martial
artist has for his or her Grandmaster, it is
necessary to view the martial art in its
proper historical and cultural context. One
important difference between the martial
arts and other forms of physical activity is
that martial arts can be practiced and
enjoyed for a lifetime, and progress can be
made at virtually any age. As such, many
older masters are considered living
treasures, due to the decades of accumulated
knowledge, experience, and teaching
expertise that they possess. Today, fewer
and fewer people are willing to devote their
lives to the study and teaching of martial
arts as was done in the past. Because of
this unfortunate reality, priceless martial
knowledge often disappears forever upon the
death of an elderly Grandmaster. This is
especially true in the many styles of
Chinese martial arts, where kung fu Shifus
were secretive about their personal fighting
art, and unwilling to disseminate it
indiscriminately.
Fukien Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu is
continuing to thrive, thanks to the
enlightened thinking of one of its foremost
proponents. Third-generation Grand-Master
Lee Kiang-Ke was the single most influential
person responsible for the preservation and
dissemination of the flying crane system of
Fukien White Crane. His choice to open to
the public what had previously been a
closed-door system ensured the survival of a
most complete and devastating Chinese
martial art system.
Grandmaster Lee Kiang-Ke (Lee Kiang-Kay)
started to learn Kung Fu from his father at
the age of seven. After 10 years of arduous
training, his father sent him away to live
at a temple (Bai He An) where he furthered
his martial knowledge under the instruction
of a temple monk known as "Nine-dots
Monk." This temple specialized in the
instruction of Fang Chi-Niang's White Crane
techniques. After four years of intensive
study, the young master returned home to
assist his father in teaching White Crane
and in practicing herbal medicine. In time,
he became the chief instructor and medical
practitioner in his community. Later on, the
Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist government)
invited him to join the 49 th Army Division
as a medic. He ended up also teaching the
soldiers the long handled broadsword (Da
dao).
When his time of service was completed,
he returned home and continued teaching
martial arts and practicing medicine.
Thereafter, Lee Kiang-Ke moved to Singapore
where he stayed for six years. In an effort
to escape the Japanese invasion forces, he
then moved to Kuching, East Malaysia.
Unfortunately, the Japanese invaded Malaysia
soon after. Following the war, fellow
martial artists invited him to open a club.
He did so and named it the "Martial
Heroes Association" (Woo Ing Tong). It
prospered for many years. During this
period, Malaysian society was quite
rough-and-tumble. Polite tests of skill were
fairly common. Less friendly challenges and
outright life and death self-defense
situations also occurred. Master Lee was
famous amongst his peers for never losing a
challenge. In 1963, he moved to the city of
Sibu (also in the East Malaysian state of
Sarawak). Eventually, he directed several
schools in local communities including
Kuching, Sibu, Sarikei, and Bintulu.
In 1967, the first South East Asian Kung
Fu Tournament was held in Singapore. Lee
Kiang-Ke's Kung Fu brother, Lee Wen-Hung,
came from China and competed. Lee Wen-Hung
had studied with Lee Kiang-Ke under Lee
Mah-Saw. Despite his somewhat advanced age,
he won first place in combat. He then he
settled in Singapore. In 1973, a White Crane
student representing Sarawak (East Malaysia)
went to compete in the third South East
Asian Kung Fu Tournament where he won second
place in combat.
Grandmaster Lee Kiang Ke retired in 1978
leaving his son, Shifu Lee Joo-Chian, the
leadership of the head school in Sibu, East
Malaysia. Master Lee Joo-Chian's own
training reveals the hard work needed to
acquire some real skill (Kung Fu). Like his
father, he started training at the age of
seven. Classes were generally two and a half
hours long. As the climate is hot and humid,
warming up time was very brief. Students
practiced forms for a half hour without any
break. Thereafter, they briefly rested and
recommenced their training of forms and
basic moves for another half hour.
Two-person forms were then practiced for
another half hour followed by conditioning
drills or weapons training. Finally, the
last half hour was reserved for free
sparring practice. The young Lee Joo-Chian
followed this grueling schedule three times
a day, six days per week! Morning class was
at 4.30 A.M. Then the children went off to
school. Upon his return, Lee Joo-Chian
helped teach the afternoon class. Around
eight in the evening, Lee and his sisters
trained once again. Master Lee likes to
remind people that there was little
television in those days.5
One of the foremost proponents of the
White Crane system in North America is Shifu
Lorne Bernard, based in Montreal. He began
his studies with a student of Grandmaster
Lee, Shifu Augustine Ngu, who immigrated to
Canada in 1977. Shifu Ngu now operates a
large Kung Fu academy in Mississauga,
Ontario. Later he was able to continue his
studies under the direct tutelage of the
heir to the system Master Lee Joo-Chian.
Shifu Bernard travels to Malaysia on a
regular basis to learn from the various
White Crane masters both in and out of the
Lee family. He has also arranged for the
system's present leader, Shifu Lee Joo
Chian, to travel to Canada and teach for an
extended period of time on several
occasions. Access to such highly skilled
practitioners permitted Shifu Bernard to
gain a deep understanding of the theories
and finer points within the art.
In addition to teaching at two schools in
the Montreal region, Shifu Bernard has
arranged for White Crane to be taught at a
major university in Montreal ( Université
du Québec à Montréal). Shifu Bernard has
also trained several instructors, and
assitant-instructors thus ensuring the
continued growth and expansion of the White
Crane system.
Teaching methedology:
A good teacher understands that the
vitality of a teaching institution can be
gauged by the quality of its students. As
such, a skilled martial arts instructor
takes pride in helping students achieve new
heights of proficiency. In order to acquire
real proficiency in any art form, It is
essential to fully master that art’s
basics. For this reason, we let people
progress at different paces according to
their own abilities. Furthermore,our
teaching is one on one and “very hands
on”as we feel it is the best way to learn
this system.
Class emphasis is the same as in all
other courses offered at the Academy:
Namely, the apprenticeship of a traditional
Chinese martial art done so in a serious yet
pleasant atmosphere. The Shaolin White Crane
kung fu program is offered in both the
Montreal and Laval academies. Students can-
with permission and according to
availability, attend classes in both
academies. To learn more about our authentic
traditional Chinese martial arts programs,
please schedule an appointment to visit the
Academy.
