HEI NG MUN
During the illustrious Qing Dynasty, in the Southern Shaolin temple, a group of martial artists known as "The Shaolin Elders" dedicated themselves to the development and refinement of the Southern Kung Fu style. Based on the five animal styles, one of them decided to implement the cat fist, after seeing a cat fighting against a snake. These skilled individuals recognized the inherent grace and power of the feline form and sought to channel its essence into their combat techniques.
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One of these exceptional monks, whose Cantonese name was éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou), immersed himself in the teachings and practices of the Southern Shaolin temple. As an ardent disciple, he delved deep into the study of the cat fist style, diligently training under the guidance of the other shaolin elders. With unwavering determination, éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou) honed his skills, mastering the intricate footwork, lightning-fast strikes, and seamless transitions that characterized the cat fist Kung Fu.
Years later, éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou) emerged as a highly esteemed and accomplished practitioner of the cat fist style. Renowned for his unparalleled agility and formidable technique, he became a respected Kung Fu master, imparting his knowledge to future generations.
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Under the tutelage of éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou), the cat fist Kung Fu flourished within the Hei Ng Mun lineage. One of his talented disciple and heir to éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou)'s teachings, carried forward the legacy of the cat fist style. His disciple not only mastered the intricate movements of the cat fist but also imbued the art with his own unique insights, further enriching its depth and effectiveness, he only kept to himself, there is no trace that he passed down to his students.
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Today, the name éæ豪 (Zeng Man Hou) lives on as a testament to the rich martial arts heritage of the Qing Dynasty and the Southern Shaolin temple. His contributions, along with those of his fellow Intercessors, played a pivotal role in preserving and advancing the cat fist Kung Fu style, ensuring its enduring legacy and impact on the martial arts world.
Zeng Man Hou
During his travels, Zeng Man Hou arrives in eastern Guangdong, where he encounters someone named Liu Zhi Waa (å»å¿è¯). Recognizing Liu Zhi Waa's immense potential, Zeng Man Hou decides to share his knowledge and secrets of his Kung Fu Fist.
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Under Zeng Man Hou's tutelage, Liu Zhi Waa's journey, diligently learning and mastering the intricacies style. Inspired by his mentor's teachings, Liu Zhi Waa goes on to develop a unique variation of the cat fist style, Unifying all five animal styles, together with Cat Fist, into a single system that would later become known as “Five Gates Kung Fu Fist,” “Hei Ng Mun” in Cantonese, or “Chi Wu Men” in Mandarin. Cat Fist would not remain a separate system, but would instead become integrated with the other five traditions as part of this unified system.
The Fist of the Five Gates Kung Fu (æ°£äºé) combines the swift and fluid movements of the cat fist with additional elements drawn from Liu Zhi Waa's own experiences and insights. The style incorporates five Shaolin animal elements, each representing a different aspect of combat and personal growth. This style draws its roots from the fundamental principles and techniques of the five animal styles, which include the tiger, crane, leopard, snake, and dragon. However, it distinguishes itself by emphasizing the cat fist as its primary and signature style.These gates encompass techniques focusing on agility, strength, adaptability, precision, and inner harmony.
In truth, the Chi Wu Men Kung Fu Fist, particularly its distinct variation known as the Hei Ng Mun or Chi Wu Men style, remained veiled in profound secrecy. The treasured knowledge and techniques of this style were carefully guarded and exclusively passed down within Liu Zhi Waa's family lineage. Through Liu Zhi Waa's unwavering dedication and innovative practices, the Hei Ng Mun style gained significant renown in Guandong and even beyond its borders. Martial artists from diverse backgrounds yearned to learn from him, drawn by the allure of uncovering the hidden secrets and reaping the extraordinary benefits concealed within the enigmatic Five Gates Kung Fu Fist.
The lineage account further relates that Liu Zhi Waa eventually settled in the same village associated with the martial tradition of Choi Cing Wun (è¡æž ç©). During his residence there, Liu became a friend of Choi Goeng (è¡çŸ), who appears in the tradition as an important and respected figure within the local community. It was during this period that Liu is said to have encountered and learned the local Cat Fist (è²åœ¢æ³) tradition. Rather than simply preserving what he encountered unchanged, the account maintains that he incorporated principles and methods derived from Cat Fist into his existing martial knowledge and continued the development of what became Hei Ng Mun in the future.
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What makes the account particularly significant is that it describes martial transmission not as an isolated event between strangers, but as something arising from shared residence, friendship, trust, and participation in the same local martial environment. Liu Zhi Waa's reported a very strong friendship with Choi Goeng therefore provides a possible context for understanding how elements of the Cat Fist tradition could have entered the development of Hei Ng Mun while knowledge associated with Liu's cat fist s system could, in turn, have been transmitted to a prominent member of the Cai village community.
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âThe è¡æž ç© Choi Cing Wun, belongs to the unusually rich martial culture of æµ·éžè± Hoi Luk Fung, Hoi Luk Fung, the historical region centered on Haifeng and Lufeng in eastern Guangdong. What survives today is not a single continuous written history. Rather, the story must be reconstructed from regional martial-arts surveys, local newspaper reporting, material collected by Hoi Luk Fung researchers and practitioners, surviving lineage traditions, photographs and documentary material, and the oral transmission preserved within later branches of the art. When these sources are placed chronologically beside one another, they reveal a local boxing culture that existed before Choi Cyu Wai, a distinctive Cat Boxing associated specifically with him, and a later transmission extending from Guangdong to Hong Kong.
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Liu Zhi Waa
The deeper background begins in è¡åå Choi Cyu Wai, Cai Cuowei, a village in Haifeng remembered locally for its martial traditions. A 2014 Shanwei Daily report, ãåŽæŠæš¹åŸ·æåè¡ïŒèšæ°éæŠè¡å®¶è¡éŠæºªã, “Honoring Martial Virtue and Promoting the National Art: A Record of Folk Martial Artist Cai Jinxi,” describes Cai Cuowei as a well-known martial village and identifies an older local system called 硬銬ååæ³ Ngaang Maa Tan Tou Kuen, literally “Hard-Stance Swallow-and-Spit Boxing.” According to this account, the art originated primary with è¡çŸ Choi Goeng and was subsequently transmitted and developed through è¡éµ Choi Tit, è¡æž ç© Choi Cing Wun, è¡è抮 Choi Taam Wing, è¡é²æ» Choi Zeon Tou, è¡åžæ¥ Choi Hok Jat, and è¡çå Choi Juk Sing.
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âThis older genealogy is important, but it must not be confused with the genealogy of Cat Boxing itself. The evidence tells us that è¡çŸ Choi Goeng was regarded as the originator of 硬銬ååæ³ Ngaang Maa Tan Tou Kuen and that è¡éµ Choi Tit was an early transmitter. Cai Choi Goeng is believed to have lived approximately between c. 1800 and 1840.
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âThe central figure is è¡æž ç© Choi Cing Wun, whose courtesy name is recorded as é€å¥œ Joeng Hou. Regional Hoig Luk Fung martial sources identify him as a native of æµ·è±çž£è¡ååé, Cai Cuowei village in Haifeng County. He was already employed as a martial arts instructor during the early Republican period, a birth in the late nineteenth century is plausible, probably 1890-1900.
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The Hoi Luk Fung account gives us something particularly valuable about Choi Cing Wun's martial background. It says that he was proficient in åå°æè¡å®¶æ³ Naam Siu Lam Choi Gaa Kyun, Southern Shaolin Cai Family Boxing, and 峚åµæ³ Ngo Mei Kyun, Ngor Mei Boxing, and that he studied under multiple teachers. Most importantly, among the martial arts associated with him, he was one of the masters who helped spread Hei Ng Mun, also known as Mao Ying Kuen, a rare boxing system, throughout the region.
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This Emei reference deserves attention. Hoi Luk Fung was a cultural contact region rather than an isolated martial enclave. Research on the region shows significant interaction among local Hoklo/Min-speaking populations, Hakka communities and neighboring Guangdong cultures. Academic research on eastern Guangdong describes the Shanwei-Hoi Luk Fung area as predominantly Hoklo while noting substantial cultural mixing and influence from neighboring Hakka communities. Historical population movements into the region also included migration from southern Fujian, western Fujian and southern Jiangxi.
Hoi-liuk-fung or Hailufeng Hakka which is originated from Lufeng county, Guangdong
This environment makes influences from Fujian and Hakka martial culture historically plausible. At present there is strong evidence demonstrating that Choi Cou Wai's Fist 硬銬ååæ³ was a system with specifically Hakka characteristics. We can also state is considerably stronger: the regional source itself explicitly associates Choi Cing Wun with Southern Shaolin Choi Family Boxing and Emei Boxing. Therefore Ngor Mei influence belongs to the documented account of his martial background, rather than being a modern theory imposed upon the tradition.
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The technical description of Mao Ying Kuen è²åœ¢æ³ preserved in the Hoi Luk Fung material is unusually detailed. The system is characterized by “å¿«ééå·§”, speed and agility;” ææ·å€è®”, rapid and unpredictable transformation; “æ¶èº«åå”, removing or evading the body while borrowing the opponent's force; “å å¢å©å°”, following and guiding according to the situation; and an emphasis on “åéæ»æ”, attacking through the side gate or oblique angle. Its tactical philosophy favors skill and positioning rather than direct contests of strength.
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Its body method includes “äžè§æ¥éŠ¬ Saam Gok Bou Maa”, triangular stepping and stance work; “æè¯æ¶è”, controlling the kua and gathering the pelvis; “èäžé¢æ·”, keeping the elbows close to the body; and strong use of wrist power. Particularly distinctive are its claw methods. The open claw is described through æ²ãåœãçºãå°, roughly pouncing, springing, entwining and sealing actions, while the closed claw uses æ£ãæãæãå·, hooking, pinching, seizing and rolling actions. The source describes the arms as constantly changing, using misdirection so that an opponent may attack where the practitioner is no longer present.
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During the early Republican period, Choi Cing Wun’s reputation was sufficient for him to be hired as a boxing instructor by the æµ·è±éå鹿å¢éè¡ææŠé€š, the Choi Clan Martial Arts School of Lujing, Fucheng, Haifeng. There he taught his è²åœ¢æ³æ, Cat-Form boxing methods, together with a routine identified as å·Šæå³æ³äžæ¥å¥è·¯ Zo Zoeng Jau Kuen Saam Bou Tou Lou, approximately “Left Palm, Right Fist Three-Step Routine.” The regional source says this material was popularly associated with è¡ååæ³, Choi Cuo Wai Fist.
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The Luk Ging school is important because it shows that Choi Cing Wun's fist was not merely a private family practice. It was being formally taught within a village martial institution. Named inheritors associated with this transmission include è¡å®¶å Choi Gaa Hei, è¡å°è³ Choi Siu Ho, è¡å°å¿ Choi Siu Hing, è¡èé® Choi Taam Zan, è¡åžèŒ Choi Hok Fai, è¡å®¶è² Choi Gaa Sing, è¡æŠ®äŸ Choi Wing Loi, and è¡åé Choi Gwan Jyun.
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Choi Cing Wun's own family also continued the art. The surviving account specifically identifies è¡åžæ¥ Choi Hok Jat as his son and è¡æŒ¢æ¿€ Choi Hon Tou, è¡æŒ¢æ³¢ Choi Hon Bo, and è¡æŒ¢ç Choi Hon Zan as his grandsons, stating that they were familiar with or proficient in the family's fist routines. Other names preserved among the inheritors include è¡æšæ Choi Muk Caam, è¡æšæº Choi Muk Wong, è¡ç¥è¬ Choi Zou Him, è¡éŠæºª Choi Gam Kai, and è¡èµçŒ Choi Kwai Faat.
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The appearance of è¡éŠæºª Choi Gam Kai can be independently documented. Shanwei Daily reports that Choi Gam kai was born in 1966 in Choi Cuo Wai village, began martial training at seven, and grew up surrounded by the village's martial culture. His biography again preserves the older 硬銬ååæ³ Ngaang Maa Tan Tou Kuen genealogy beginning with Choi goeng and continuing through Choi tit and Choi Cing Wun. This provides an independent twentieth-century continuation of the Choi Cuo Wai martial environment.
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Among the later figures, è¡æŠ®äŸ Choi Wing Loi is especially significant. The Hoi Luk Fung village people says that Wing Loi loved martial arts from childhood and began studying with è¡åžæ¥, Choi Cing Wun's son, at approximately ten years old. He became accomplished in both è¡ååæ³ and è²åœ¢æ³, developing the methods further while maintaining the system's characteristic emphasis on speed, side-gate attack, bridging, borrowing force and deceptive hand changes.
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è¡æŠ®äŸ Choi Wing Loi later accompanied è¡åžæ¥ Choi Hok Jat in teaching outside the immediate village. The account places their teaching activity in ææç³ Man Ming Sek, also called çç ç³, in Gongping, and äžæž¯æ iZung Gong Cyun. Students associated with these locations include è¡éåš Choi Gam Noeng, è¡æçŽ Choi Man Sou, è¡èæ¹ Choi Laan Fong, and è¡é Choi Sing. Choi Wing Loi also taught in éžåŸ Luk Ging, where his inheritors included his younger brother è¡æŠ®ç Choi Wing Juk, together with è¡ä¿¡æ Choi Seon Wui, è¡ç³é« Choi Bing Jam, è¡æ é² Choi Wai Zeon, è¡å ¶æ° Choi Kei Man, è¡åæ° Choi3 Gwan1 Man4, åç«å»º Leoi5 Fo2 Gin3, åå°é Leoi5 Siu2 Seon6, and å挢 Leoi Hon.
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One of these later inheritors gives us an important chronological anchor. è¡æ é² Choi Wai Zeon was born in 1950 and became a practitioner of traditional Southern boxing as well as a Chinese medicine practitioner. The Hoi Luk Fung account describes him as having spent decades collecting martial-arts and herbal-medicine material from Hoi Luk Fung, Hong Kong and Macau. He contributed to preserving precisely the type of regional history from which much of the surviving Choy Cing Wun information comes.
The story then moves toward Hong Kong. The regional record states explicitly that before 1949, Choi Cing Wun moved to Hong Kong and continued operating a martial arts school and accepting students there. He moved during 1935,. The source further states that Choi Cing Wun eventually died in Hong Kong in 1950’s following an infection caused by a scratch from a cat.
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Within the oral transmission preserved in the Leung Wing-hang lineage, additional details connect this migration to the later history of Mao Ying Kuen. According to lineage letters and the account transmitted by Lung Fei Li, æ¢æ°žäº« Leung Wing Hoeng, Leung Wing-hang, had already learned Cat Fist directly from è¡æž ç© Choi Cing Wun before Choi's relocation to Hong Kong later influenced by Leung Wing Hang. The lineage tradition further maintains that Leung Wing-hang influenced or assisted Choi Cing Wun's move to Hong Kong.
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According to the Hong Kong Government’s Medical Health Department Annual Report for 1952-1953, Choi Cing Wun died in 1953. This date is compatible with the public record in the broad sense that the Hoi Luk Fung source places his migration before 1949 and his death subsequently in Hong Kong.
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Another figure provides a remarkable point of contact between the Choi Cing Wun tradition and the later Hong Kong transmission: åçé³ Lau Wu Leoi, or Liu Wulei in mandarin, also known as å家å Lau Gaa Git. The Hoi Luk Fung material identifies Liu as a native of the Haifeng or Hou Luk Fung area and records that he studied under several teachers, explicitly including è¡æž ç©. Lau was an eclectic and accomplished practitioner whose training incorporated material associated with Emei and several Hoi Luk Fung boxing traditions. He eventually organized his knowledge into æ¥å€ååå®¶æ³ Joeng Gu Bou Lau Gaa Kyun, Yanggu Bu Liu Family Boxing.
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Hoi Luk Fung Traditional Martial Arts: The Choi Mo School
The history of åçé³ Lau Wu-leoi, also known as å家å Lau Gaa-git, is particularly important to the study of traditional martial arts in æµ·éžè± Hoi Luk Fung, because his career connects several different streams of southern Chinese boxing. He was not simply the inheritor of one system. The surviving Hoi Luk Fung material describes him as a martial artist who began with the boxing of his home region, studied under numerous recognized teachers, absorbed methods from several traditions, taught throughout the villages of eastern Guangdong, and eventually organized his knowledge into the system remembered as æ¥å€ååå®¶æ³ Yeung Gu Bou Lau Gaa Kuen, Yeung Gu Bou Lau Family Boxing. Most importantly for the history of è²åœ¢æ³ Maau Ying Kuen, Cat-Form Boxing and Hei Ng Mun, the available Chinese source specifically names è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun among Lau Wu-leoi's teachers.
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The principal surviving account is ã廣æ±çæµ·éžè±å³çµ±æŠè¡åæèŠé »ïŒåçé³æ³ïŒã, “Guangdong Hailufeng Traditional Martial Arts in Images and Video: Lau Wu-leoi Boxing.” It was organized by è¡æ é² Choi Wai-zeon, an important collector of Hoi Luk Fung martial history, with additional information credited to åå€å¹Ž Lau Do-nin, ååžç Lau Hok-lou, åé²æµ© Lau Wan-hou, and çŸ æ¹æ¯ Lo Fong-ngai. The article was published online in 2012, but it preserves older local testimony and martial genealogical information. It is presently one of the most detailed publicly accessible Chinese accounts of Lau Wu-leoi.
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According to this account, åçé³ Lau Wu-leoi, also called å家å Lau Gaa-git, originally came from æµ·è±çž£é¶æ²³æ¥å€åèæ¹æ Hoi Fung Jyun Tou Ho Yeung Gu Bou Gaau Wu Cyun, Jiaohu Village in Yanggu Bu, Taohe, Haifeng County. He later lived in æ±å°ŸåžååçŽ èéäºé äžå¡æ, Wuyashangpo Village in the Hongcao area of Shanwei. This places his formative years firmly within the martial environment of Hailufeng in eastern Guangdong.
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Unfortunately, the source does not provide Lau Wu-leoi's exact year of birth. It does, however, state that he died in Hong Kong during the 1990s at the age of seventy-eight. Depending upon the precise year of his death, this would place his birth approximately between 1912 and 1921. For historical writing, he was born circa the 1910s, possibly early 1920s, rather than assigning him a specific unsupported year.
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Hoi Luk Fung Traditional Martial Arts Presentation Toi Si Haak Gaa Si
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Article of Hoi Luk Fung Traditional Martial Arts by Choi Wai Chun
This approximate chronology is important when considering his relationship with è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun. If Lau was born during the 1910s, his serious martial training would probably have begun during the 1920s or 1930s. That corresponds well with the period in which Choi Cing-wun was still active in Haifeng before relocating to Hong Kong sometime before 1949.
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Lau Wu-leoi loved martial arts from childhood and initially practiced the traditional boxing of his own home region. This is an important detail because it means his martial education did not begin with Choi Cing-wun. He was already exposed to the martial culture of æ¥å€å Yeung Gu Bou before seeking instruction from other masters.
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Lau Wu-leoi's martial education appears to have been unusually broad. After practicing his hometown style, he studied under masters including è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun, æ±è²Ž Gong Gwai, and åæ·» Lau Tim. It then explains that Lau learned from numerous teachers and eventually synthesized the essence of more than ten different styles traditions.
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Among the influences specifically named are å³šåµ Ngo Mei, Emei Fist, é³³éœ Fung Yeung, Fengyang Fist, methods associated with æ±è²Ž Gong Gwai, åæ·» Lau Tim, èæ·» Yip Tim, åæè³ Lau Sing-fong, åä»å¿ Lau Si-jung, and è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun. This is one reason it would be inaccurate to describe Lau Wu-leoi simply as a “Cai Family boxer.” Choi Cing-wun was clearly one of his teachers, but Lau's eventual system represented a much wider Hoi Luk Fung martial education.
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One of those teachers is particularly well documented. åä»å¿ Lau Si-jung, born in 1897 and known by the nickname äžè ³è Saam Goek Fu, Three-Legged Tiger, was an important Hoi Luk Fungmartial artist associated with è¡è«æŽŸæ³ Choi Mok Paai Kuen, Choi-Mok School Boxing. A separate Hailufeng history explicitly lists åçé³ Lau Wu-leoi among Lau Si-jung's inheritors. Lau Si-jung's art itself combined è¡å®¶æ³ Choi Gaa Kuen, Choi Family Boxing and è«å®¶æ³ Mok Gaa Kuen, Mok Family Boxing, which provides another Cai-family component within Lau Wu-leoi's broader martial education.
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Lau Wu-leoi encountered Choi-family methods through more than one avenue. Choi Cing-wun represented the Choi Cuo Wei tradition and the rare è²åœ¢æ³ Maau Ying Kuen, while Lau Si-jung represented the è¡è«æŽŸ Choi Mok Paai tradition. These should not be confused as the same system, but both contributed to the extraordinarily diverse martial environment in which Lau Wu-leoi developed.
The most significant sentence in the public Chinese record is the statement that Lau Wu-leoi:
“åŸæè¡æž ç©ãæ±è²Žãåæ·»ççºåž«”
In English, this means that he later took Choi Cing-wun, Gong Gwai, Lau Tim and others as teachers. This is significant because it gives us independent Chinese evidence connecting åçé³ Lau Wu-leoi directly to è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun. The connection does not depend solely upon the later oral history of another lineage. Separately, Hoi Luk Fung material identifies Choi Cing-wun as the master associated with the development and transmission of è²åœ¢æ³ Maau Ying Kuen. When combined with the lineage tradition identifying Lau Wu-leoi as a later Cat Fist practitioner, the historical relationship becomes highly relevant, but the public source and lineage tradition should remain distinguishable.
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Lau Wu-leoi eventually took the material he had accumulated from numerous teachers and reorganized it. The source uses the expression æ£åœå粟ïŒèå¯è²«é, meaning roughly that he discarded what he considered ineffective or inessential, retained the refined material, and integrated what he had learned into a coherent whole. From this process emerged the boxing system known as æ¥å€ååå®¶æ³ Yeung Gu Bou Lau Gaa Kuen, literally “Yanggu Bu Lau Family Boxing.” It was also locally called the èæ¹çš® Gaau Wu Zung, or “Jiaohu branch/type,” referring to his native village.
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Authentic Lau Family Fist from Zhongshan, Guangdong
This point is important historically. åå®¶æ³ Lau Gaa Kuen in this context should not automatically be identified with every other southern Chinese system carrying the name “Lau Family Boxing.” The source specifically presents this as a system organized by Lau Wu-leoi from the martial material he had acquired in Hoi Luk Fung.
The system is described as powerful but highly adaptable. Its techniques were said to be åå, strong and forceful; capable of both attack and defense; flexible and changeable; compact in structure; and delivered through rapid continuous combinations. The traditional description emphasizes the principle that a fist should not be issued meaninglessly and a hand should not return empty. Characteristic hand methods include ç ž, smashing; å, chopping; æ£, hooking or fastening; æ, gathering or pulling; and çº, entwining.
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The Lau tradition is particularly interesting technically because among its fundamental material are äžæ¥æš Saam Bou Teoi, Three-Step Push; äžè§ä» Saam Gok Zai, Small Triangle; åéäžè§ Sei Mun Saam Gok, Four-Gate Triangle; and äžè§éŠ¬ Saam Gok Maa, Triangle Stance. The appearance of triangular footwork is noteworthy beside Choi Cing Wun documented äžè§æ¥éŠ¬, although similarity alone cannot prove which of Liu's several teachers supplied a particular method.
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The repeated use of äžè§ saam gok, triangle, is particularly interesting in comparison with the documented äžè§æ¥éŠ¬ Saam Gok Bou Maa, triangular stepping and stance method, associated with Choi Cing-wun's Cat Boxing. This resemblance deserves further research, particularly given the independently documented teacher-student relationship between Choi Cing-wun and Lau Wu-leoi.
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Lau's curriculum became extensive. The surviving record lists dozens of methods and routines, including èæ Fu Sau, Tiger Hand, çŽåæ³ Hau Zi Kuen, Monkey Boxing, æåé Daa Sei Mun, Striking the Four Gates, èçŽçŽ¢æš¹ Lou Hau Sok Syu, Old Monkey Grasping the Tree, ééŸæ¶ç Soeng Lung Coeng Zyu, Twin Dragons Seizing the Pearl, çœé¶Žå±ç¿ Baak Hok Zin Ci, æ°£äºé Hei Ng Mun White Crane Spreads Its Wings, and numerous additional routines. This enormous curriculum reflects Lau's reputation as a collector and synthesizer of Hoi Luk Fung martial knowledge rather than the representative of only one animal style.
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âLau Wu-leoi began teaching while still a young man. At the beginning of his teaching career, he reportedly traveled with the older clan martial artist ååé² Lau Sing-zeon to teach boxing outside their home village. Later, Lau traveled independently from village to village and became a professional martial arts instructor.
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CHoi Clan Martial Arts School at Lujing, Fucheng, Haifeng
His teaching activity appears to have been extensive. The surviving account says he was employed by more than thirty martial arts and lion-dance schools across Hoi Luk Fung. These included institutions in Yeung Gu Bou Gaau Wu, San Cu, Haa Jan Gaa, Sin Cu Haang, Hung Cou, Luk Fung, Mui Lung, and other communities around Hoi Fung and Shan Mei. Among the named schools were ä¿é 通 Bou Seon Gun, Po Shun School, æ°è通 San Hing Gun, New Prosperity School, 矩è通 Ji Hing Gun, Righteous Prosperity School, and è¯è通 Lyun Hing Gun, United Prosperity School.
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Approximately one thousand people in Hoi Luk Fung practiced his boxing. The same source preserves traditional stories about his fighting ability, including claims that he could knock over a bull with a punch and that on one occasion at Cing Haang market he defeated more than thirty people while intervening in an injustice.
The Chinese source states: 1962幎åçé³å®å± éŠæž¯ïŒç¹Œçºæ¶åŸå³ææŠè¡
In English: “In 1962, Lau Wu-leoi settled permanently in Hong Kong, where he continued accepting students and transmitting martial arts.” Therefore the chronology is quite clear. Lau spent the major formative and teaching portion of his early life in æµ·è± Hoi Fung and the wider Hailufeng region, developed a substantial reputation there, and then relocated permanently to éŠæž¯ Hoeng Gong, Hong Kong, in 1962
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Hoi Luk Fung Traditional Martial Arts: Article
According to the lineage masters, Leung Wing-hang and Lau Wu Leoi were kung fu brothers or martial relatives through this broader transmission, and in 1965, Leung Wing-hang took Lung Fei Li to train with Lau Wu Leoi, whom he described as his kung fu uncle, specifically in connection with learning and refining the Cat Fist with a different perspective. In this overall history, Leung Wing-hang and Lau Wu Leoi later worked to organize and preserve the material so that the art could be transmitted forward. This 1965 encounter is especially significant because it places the later lineage in personal contact with a practitioner whom independent Hoi Luk Fung material also identifies as having studied under Choi Cing Wun.
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âThe chronology of Lau Wu Leoi independently fits this general period. The available Hoi Luk Fung biographical material places him permanently in Hong Kong by 1962 and reports that he died there in the 1990s at approximately 78 years old. His birth therefore likely falls somewhere around the 1910s or early 1920s, depending on his exact death year. Thus, Lau would indeed have been an established middle-aged martial artist in Hong Kong in 1965.
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The Chinese record specifically identifies two sons of Lau Wu-leoi among the inheritors of æ¥å€ååå®¶æ³ Yeung Gu Bou Lau Gaa Kuen:
åèèš Lau Hing-zung, son
and
ååžè Lau Hok-jiu, son.
It also names three grandsons:
åé²ä¿¡ Lau Wan-seon, grandson
åé²æµ© Lau Wan-hou, grandson
and
åé²æ³³ Lau Wan-wing, grandson.
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This is significant because åé²æµ© Lau Wan-hou was also one of the people credited with supplying information used by Choi Wai-zeon in assembling the historical account. In other words, at least one grandson was not merely a name preserved on a family tree. He participated in preserving information about his grandfather's martial history.
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âThe same source also lists ååžç Lau Hok-lou, who likewise provided information for the historical record, together with a much larger body of inheritors including åå極 Lau Sing-gik, ååŸ·å« Lau Dak-syun, åä»å Lau Jan-wai, åç«æ Lau Fo-sing, åæšç Lau Muk-zan, åæ±å° Lau Jyu-zyun, åæšç Lau Muk-zyu, åæšæž Lau Muk-cing, åè¯ç Lau Waa-zan, åéè® Lau Gam-duk, åé枺 Lau Gam-miu, å端ç Lau Dyun-seoi, åçæ£ Lau Seoi-tong, å海抮 Lau Hoi-wing, åå 寶 Lau Hak-bou, and åæ¢æ¡ Lau Zi-wun.
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There were also inheritors outside the Lau family. The source names æŸæå® Zang Ming-ji, é³çèŒ Can Lit-fai, æŸçŽå²© Zang Gei-ngaam, æŸçŽå± Zang Gei-zin, é»åºæ Wong Ting-ming, and é»åºèŒ Wong Ting-fai. Particularly interesting is Wong Ting-fai, who is explicitly identified as Lau Wu-leoi's adopted son, 矩å ji zi.
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One later inheritor, åæ¢æ¡ Lau Zi-wun, is associated in the source with the establishment in Hong Kong of æšè通çéºéŸç å, a martial and dragon-lion organization. This indicates that at least part of the Lau Wu-leoi tradition continued institutionally in Hong Kong rather than disappearing immediately after his death.
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There is also evidence of continued practice in Guangdong. The original article identifies å海抮 Lau Hoi-wing performing Lau Wu-leoi Boxing and refers to a Shanwei television program about Lau Wu-leoi's boxing, as well as practitioners from the Jiancha village lion school demonstrating æ¥å€åå家æ³.
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The article says simply that Lau Wu-leoi: 90幎代éåšæž¯ä»éã享幎78æ²
Meaning that he died in Hong Kong sometime during the 1990s at the age of seventy-eight. Lau Wu-leoi occupies an unusual position in the history of è²åœ¢æ³ Maau Ying Kuen because two separate bodies of evidence converge around him.
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The Hoi Luk Fung historical material independently identifies è¡æž ç© Choi Cing-wun as one of Lau Wu-leoi's teachers. It also establishes Lau as a major Hoi Luk Fung martial artist who eventually developed æ¥å€ååå®¶æ³ Yeung Gu Bou Lau Gaa Kuen, taught extensively throughout eastern Guangdong, and relocated permanently to Hong Kong in 1962
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Within the lineage account, the Choi Cing Wun transmission also predates another important stage in Leung Wing-hang's martial development. According to the tradition, Leung's study of Cat Fist under Choi Cing Wun occurred after his later encounters with æ¥æŒ¢å Yeung Hon-git and é³äžç² Chan Saam-gap. Both men had previously studied under Choi Cing Wun and had also trained at the Choi Clan Martial Arts School, æµ·è±éå鹿å¢è¡ææŠé€š, in Hoi Luk Fung. Those later teachers belong to another layer of the martial genealogy that eventually contributed to æ°£äºé Hei Ng Mun. Consequently, the relationship between Mao Ying Kuen and Hei Ng Mun should not be described simply as though the two names were interchangeable and became one style. Mao Ying Kuen was taught as closed-door material, while Hei Ng Mun served as the foundational system taught to students. Rather, the Choi Cing Wun Cat Fist transmission represents one identifiable strand that entered the broader body of knowledge later organized and transmitted through Leung Wing-hang.
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Choi Gam Kai. Choi Cing Wun grandson
The name Hei Ng Mun was officially adopted to unify Cat Fist and Five Gates Fist into a single system after Leung Wing-hang and Lau Wu-leoi reunited in Hong Kong and worked together to organize and structure the system. However, the martial tradition itself is understood to predate this formal naming. According to several texts and accounts attributed to Choi Cing Wun, he stated that his Sifu, Choi Tit, and Goeng had previously received this martial knowledge from Liu Zhi Waa. Therefore, Hei Ng Mun represents the later formal organization and naming of an older body of martial knowledge, rather than the creation of an entirely new system in Hong Kong.
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This distinction is historically important. Public Hoi Luk Fung evidence establishes a è²åœ¢æ³ associated with Choi Cing Wun. It establishes his origin in Choi Cing Wun, his knowledge of Southern Shaolin Choi Family Fist and Emei Fist, his teaching at the Luk Ging Choi Clan Martial Arts School, his named family and non-family inheritors, his relocation to Hong Kong before 1949, and his continuation of teaching there. Independent Hoi Luk Fung evidence also places Lau Wu Leoi among Choi Cing Wun's students.
The genealogy is not a simple straight line. The older Choi Cing Wun martial tradition is remembered through è¡çŸ Choi Goeng → è¡éµ Choi Tit → è¡æž ç© Choi Cing Wun, followed within the 硬銬ååæ³ history by è¡è抮 Choi Taam Wing → è¡é²æ» Choi Zeon Tou → è¡åžæ¥ Choi Hok Jat → è¡çå Choi Yuk Sing. This is a martial transmission sequence, not necessarily a father-to-son genealogy.
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The Cat Fist family transmission, meanwhile, centers upon è¡æž ç©, his son è¡åžæ¥, and his grandsons è¡æŒ¢æ¿€, è¡æŒ¢æ³¢ and è¡æŒ¢ç. The broader Choi Cing Wun transmission includes è¡æšæ, è¡æšæº, è¡ç¥è¬, è¡éŠæºª and è¡èµçŒ, while his Luk Ging school produced or preserved a branch represented by è¡å®¶å, è¡å°è³, è¡å°å¿, è¡èé®, è¡åžèŒ, è¡å®¶è², è¡æŠ®äŸ and è¡åé . Choi Wing Loi subsequently transmitted the fist to another generation, including è¡æŠ®ç, è¡ä¿¡æ, è¡ç³é«, è¡æ é², è¡å ¶æ°, è¡åæ°, åç«å»º, åå°é and å挢.
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Alongside those branches stands åçé³ Lau Wu-leoi, independently documented as a student of Choi Cing Wun among several masters, and, according to the later lineage tradition, æ¢æ°žäº« Leung Wing-hang, whose Cat Fist transmission ultimately became part of the body of knowledge preserved within the later Hei Ng Mun lineage.
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What emerges from these records is therefore considerably more substantial than a modern claim that a “Cat Style” once existed. We have a named early twentieth-century master, è¡æž ç©; a specific village, è¡åå; an older documented local boxing tradition, 硬銬ååæ³; an institutional teaching location, 鹿å¢è¡ææŠé€š; a named art, è²åœ¢æ³; a technical description of its tactics, stance and claw methods; named sons, grandsons, students and later inheritors; documented movement of the master to Hong Kong; and an independently recorded student, åçé³, who also established himself in Hong Kong.
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The Kuoshu Association introduces treasures of traditional boxing arts.
Article about Hei Ng Mun 1955
For that reason, the history of Cat Fist within Hei Ng Mun is best understood not as an isolated animal imitation system but as a branch of the larger martial culture of Choi Cing Wun and Hoi Luk Fung, shaped by Choi Cing Wun’s background in Southern Shaolin Choi Family Boxing and Emei Boxing, developed around the tactical qualities associated with the cat, transmitted through family and village institutions, and eventually carried from Haifeng into Hong Kong. From there, according to the preserved lineage tradition, its path intersected with Leung Wing-hang and Lau Wu Leoi, providing one of the historical foundations from which the later Cat Fist transmission associated with Hei Ng Mun was preserved.
Leung Wing Hang and Lung Fei Li 1965
LUNG FEI LI AT HIS YOUNG AGE
LUNG FEI LI
Articles and Official Documents:
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Maau Jing Kyun jyu Choi Gaa Kyun z Lik6 Si
The History of Cat-Form Boxing and the Cai Family Boxing Tradition
The most important public sources behind this reconstruction are the Hailufeng study ã廣æ±çæµ·éžè±å³çµ±æŠè¡åæèŠé »ïŒè¡æž ç©æ³ïŒã, “Guangdong Hailufeng Traditional Martial Arts in Images and Video: Cai Qingwan Boxing” Original Hailufeng Cai Qingwan material, ãæµ·éžè±å³çµ±æŠè¡åæ¢ïŒäºïŒã, “A Preliminary Study of Traditional Hailufeng Martial Arts, Part II” Hailufeng martial arts survey, and the Shanwei Daily profile ãåŽæŠæš¹åŸ·æåè¡ïŒèšæ°éæŠè¡å®¶è¡éŠæºªã, “Honoring Martial Virtue and Promoting the National Art: A Record of Folk Martial Artist Cai Jinxi” Shanwei Daily material on Cai Cuowei and Cai Jinxi. These sources should be read together with the surviving lineage letters and oral transmission, while keeping clear which statements are independently documented and which are preserved within the lineage itself.