You ask questions and want answers - that is good. It shows you are not entirely ignorant, and when in doubt, you ask questions. There are many elders in the Hung Sing and Buck Sing branches of Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Canton that can bring more clarity to your questions than I can and it would be best to ask questions and seek information from these 4th and 5th generation masters. Afterall, they are not only senior to me but can read and write Chinese, and have the full comprehension of Choy Lay Fut's history pertaining to Cheung Yim and the Hung Sing martial arts originally known as "Fut Gar Jing Jung" but later referred to as "Choy Lay Fut".

The "Choy Lay Fut" name was a misnomer and was not yet adopted till a much later date when people began to use this term to describe our fighting style as other martial artists realized that it was a synthesis of the Choy Gar, Lay Gar and Fut Gar martial arts styles taught at the Shaolin monastery. The name "Choy Lay Fut" became so overwhelmingly popular that eventually the students adopted this name for convenience. It was good in a sense that it became the unifying umbrella for all branches of the school to come under. As many Choy Lay Fut followers have been "kept in the dark", especially those of the latter days Chan Clan, who because of their martial arts lineage have come to accept Chan Heung as the creator of Choy Lay Fut -this is news to them.

My elders in Hong Kong and Singapore do not have a computer nor the desire to access the Net. Also you must understand that my elders do not speak, write or understand the English language. No one has asked me to speak out on my website. I chose to, 'cos there has been too much back-stabbing going on over the internet and when Choy Lay Fut people started using e-mail to argue and even insult others I felt a responsibility to help clear up this mess since no one else wants to speak out against the injustices perpetuated by those seeking to discredit and humiliate others in the same martial arts fraternity. It is obvious to me, there are many people in the Choy Lay Fut fraternity who know either nothing, very little, an abridged or distorted version on Choy LayFut¹s history. The only information they have on Choy Lay Fut's history is from what they've read from articles in magazines or books published in the English language since the late 1970's and written by those affiliated with the Chan Family branch.

The history and dates of the Hung Sing (Cheung Hung Sing) martial arts recorded and displayed in the Hong Kong and Singapore Hung Sing Gwoons have been there for a long time. Of all the Choy Lay Fut elders (including those of the Chan Clan) who visited the two schools, none of them disputed over the dates on the schools' ancestor's tablet. As these writings were in Chinese it posed no threat to a few of the immigrant sifus to the West who sought to make a living from their martial arts. Since the "foreigners" couldn't read Chinese there was no way they would find out about the history of the "Hung Sing" Choy Lay Fut martial arts founded by Cheung Hung Sing, and as only the Chan Clan history of Choy Lay Fut was published in English, students of Choy Lay Fut came to believe and accept Chan Heung to be the originator of their martial arts style. The history of Cheung Hung Sing's martial arts and his legacy had been published for quite some time, BUT only in Chinese until 10 years ago when it was translated in English in the Singapore Hong Sheng Koon (Hung Sing Gwoon) 25th anniversary magazine for the very first time. When this story (now translated into the English language) began to circulate it caused the Choy Lay Fut students in western countries to ask questions 'cos it challenged and contradicts what many of these sifus had been telling their students about the greatness of their lineage! In defense of their martial arts heritage, these Chan Clan masters told their students that the Hung Sing Choy Lay Fut story was a fallacy!

Fourth generation grandmaster Lun Chee is the most revered elder in Choy Lay Fut martial arts today and even at 92 years old his vivid memory has enabled him to recall events that happened as far back as his childhood days when he first started his martial arts training at age 14 (1924) under his master Tarm Sarm. He has provided us with valuable information on the generations of masters that came after Cheung Hung Sing and is highly respected as an authority on the history of Choy Lay Fut martial arts.

Some had asked the question, "Why didn't Cheung Yim name his fighting arts style Choy Lay Ching or Cho after the monk Ching Cho?" The answer is simple. It's because Cheung Yim's martial arts was the synthesis of 3 styles -the Choy Gar, Lay Gar and Fut Gar. Hence the names of these "Gar" (Family) styles were adopted. The Founder of the Choy (or Cai in Mandarin) Gar style was CAI LIYI and the Lay (Li in Mandarin) Gar style was created by LI SIKAI, LI YANG KAI and LI SHIKAI. Later Cai Yafu (Choy Fook) and Cai Zhanguang helped to further develope the Choy (Cai) Gar pugilism. Likewise, Li Youshan (Lay Yau Sarn) did the same with the Lay Gar style. The Fut Gar Jeung pugilism was the specialized Buddhist Palm style of the monk Ching Cho of the Southern Shaolin Temple and along with the other popular Gar (Family) styles of Hung, Lau, Choy, Lay and Mok became known as Shaolin Martial Arts.

THE CHOY GAR, LAY GAR AND THE FUT GAR MARTIAL ARTS CREATED THE CHOY LAY FUT FIGHTING ARTS

The Martial Arts of Cheung Hung Sing (Cheung Yim) derived from the 3 prominent Family (Gar) styles - Choy, Lay and Fut. The martial arts he developed was a synthesis of these 3 styles and it was originally known as "Fut Gar Jing Jung" (implying "Original Buddhist Style of Shaolin") but due to the fact that it was well known to contain the martial skills of the Choy, Lay and Fut Gar schools it later took on the adopted name "Choy Lay Fut" because of it's popularity. Cheung Hung Sing's students and followers have always preferred to refer to their martial arts as Hung Sing Martial Arts as a tribute to the Originator of the style more widely known later as Choy Lay Fut. As it has been established that Cheung Hung Sing is the Original and True Founder of Choy Lay Fut martial arts, the "Hung Sing" name can rightfully be put before the name "Choy Lay Fut".

Followers of the Choy Lay Fut Tarm Sarm Buck Sing branch have always had the tendency of referring to their martial arts as Buck Sing Choy Lay Fut - a habit that has become contagious over many years and therefore a habit many find hard to break. But it is not done intentionally, for afterall, old habits are hard to break as many have been accustomed to using "Buck Sing Choy Lay Fut" rather than "Choy Lay Fut Buck Sing". We all know that Tarm Sarm was a true blooded Hung Sing man as his teacher Lui Charn was a disciple of Cheung Hung Sing but sometimes we unintentionally forget where our original martial arts roots come from.

It is said that Chan Heung called his martial arts "Choy Lay Fut" to commemorate his 3 teachers Choy Fook, Lay Yau Sarn and Chan Yuen Wu. QUESTION -why did he choose ONLY the Family names of two of his teachers, Choy and Lay and omit the Chan Family name of Chan Yuen Wu? Isn't that being disrespectful to Chan Yuen Wu who was his first martial arts teacher -using the family names of his other two teachers but not that of Chan Yuen Wu? Why not name his martial arts "Choy Lay Chan" -the family names of his 3 teachers? Why the name "Choy Lay Fut" and not "Chan Choy Fut" or "Chan Lay Fut?" What was the purpose of replacing his teacher's (Chan Yuen Wu) family name with the name "Fut?" The Hung Sing Choy Lay Fut history clearly explains why the name "Choy Lay Fut" was adopted. It represented the 3 kung fu styles that Cheung Yim learnt -the Choy Gar, Lay Gar and the Fut Gar.

That's why the history of Cheung Hung Sing makes more sense and it is closer to the truth and also more believable once you dig deeper into the history on Choy Lay Fut to uncover the "Hidden Truths". There is so much to the History on Choy Lay Fut than you know. It's all out there but unfortunately it hasn't been within your grasp and therefore many have been "kept in the dark" for a long time. To uncover the true story on Choy Lay Fut you have to go to the right sources and not to the ones who have "something to hide". In my future website projects I will reveal the full "Hung Sing Choy Lay Fut" story, including the Southern Shaolin Monastery, Quingcao (Ching Cho) and Zhang Yun (Cheung Yim) and the background behind Cai Yafu (Choy Fook), Li Youshan (Lay Yau Sarn), Chen Yuanhu (Chan Yuen Wu) and their connection to the Chen Xiang (Chan Heung) legacy.