About Sifu Seng Jeorng Au
Au's Shaolin Arts Society is dedicated to the preservation of the Shaolin Temple arts of Kung-Fu and Chi-Kung. This is headed up by Sifu Seng Jeorng Au. Master Au began Kung-Fu training under BuckSam Kong of Hawaii in 1974 studying Hung Gar and the Lee Koon Hung lineage of Choy Lay Fut. During his time spent with Siu Lum Pai, Sifu Au studied with senior instructors Jose Ramos, Eugene Ho and Kingston Chung. Master Au was the Windward branches head instructor from 1977 to 1990 and started the Kahaluu, Kailua and Kamehameha school branches after he became head instuctor of Kaneohe branch with Gary Keawe-Aiko.
Sifu Au created Au's Shaolin Arts Society to continue the traditions that were taught to him by his Sifu BuckSam Kong. During this time, Sifu Au began training with Master Chan Yong Fa from Australia learning Chi-Kung and Chan Family Choy Lee Fut. Today, Sifu Au is recognized as a Wing Sing Tong International Master within the Chan Family Choy Lee Fut organization and continues to perpetuate his knowledge of Hung Gar and Choy Lee Fut Kung-Fu in Hawaii.
Master Au has won over 300 awards in worldwide competitions, numerious grand-championships, and given hundreds of workshops and seminars. He has traveled to such far off places as South Africa and Siberia to spread the goodwill of the martial arts in competition. In 1990 he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fam and won a gold medal at the Goodwill Games of Seattle that same year. He is also a seven time National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-American Gold Medalist and Hawaii Regional Chairman for AAU Chinese Martial Arts.
Choy Lee Fut
Choy Lee Fut is an integrated system of diverse knowledge that combines traditional Chinese martial arts (kung fu) with traditional Chinese medical practices and the arts of Qigong and Tai Chi.
Choy Lee Fut is one of the most widely practiced kung fu styles outside China today. It is well known for its speed and power, its smooth circular body movements and its flexible footwork. It combines the powerful hand techniques characteristic of southern styles with the versatile kicks of the northern system. It emphasises the intelligent use of strength and the combination of external force with the internal will.
Choy Lee Fut has a tradition deeply rooted within the martial arts of the Shaolin Temple. Chan Heung, our founder, spent 20 years learning his art from his three mentors: Chan Yeun Wu, Lee Yau Shan and monk Choy Fook, before combining his knowledge into one effective and comprehensive system. Chan Heung called it Choy Lee Fut to commemorate his teachers and the Buddhist origin of the art (Fut means Buddha in Cantonese).
The Choy Lee Fut system has over 190 forms classified into three levels of learning, these forms include the following:
- Traditional fist forms and weaponry, either in solo forms or two person sparring sets
- Shaolin wooden dummy forms for hand techniques and weaponry
- Sand bag techniques and forms
- Qi Qong forms and traditional Chinese medical theories
- Lion dance sets
The external sets are harder and faster, designed to condition, increase stamina and benefit muscle and bone structure. The internal sets are slower, flowing and more relaxed. They promote internal organ harmony, correct breathing and a healthier stronger body.
Hung Gar
Hung Gar Kung-fu is a form of self-defense originating from the Fukien Shaolin Temple hundreds of years ago. The Fukien Temple began as a branch of the first Shaolin Temple in Honan province, yet when the Honan Temple was destroyed by fire in 1570, the most skillful monks traveled to the Fukien temple to stay. With them, they brought the precious martial art books of Shaolin, and the status of the Fukien temple grew greatly as a result.
When the Ching Dynasty seized power in the mid-seventeenth century, the role of the Shaolin Temple was changed evermore. Previously, the Shaolin Temple maintained neutrality in most affairs, occasionally helping the government or nearby villages to defend against criminals yet the martial arts of the Shaolin Temple were only known to insiders of the temple and not taught to laymen. The cruel policies of the Ching Dynasty, however, caused the monks to reconsider their neutral policies and allowed escaping Ming government officials to take refuge in the temple, protecting them from the Ching government. The monks trained the most worthy of these officials in the Shaolin martial arts, for the first time accepting layman-followers into the Shaolin Temple.
Hung Hei Goon, a tea merchant, became a layman-follower at the Fukien Shaolin Temple after the abandoning of his business due to a dispute with Ching nobles in Kwantung Province. The head of the temple at that time, the abbot Gee Sin, was so impressed with Hung Hei Goon's talent and hard work that he even taught him personally. Hung Hei Goon was eventually ranked as the best of all the layman-followers of the temple at that time.
The Ching Dynasty had always been suspicious of the activities of the Fukien Shaolin Temple, but when one of the layman-followers, Wu Wai-kin, returned to his hometown and fought the Ching nobles in revenge for his father's death, the Ching Government finally had the excuse they needed to take direct action. Bringing cannons, guns and arrows, the massive Ching troops set fire to the temple and began bombarding the monks within with the deadly cannon, gun, and arrow fire. The monks fought hard to protect their temple, but in the end, the firepower of the Ching troops overwhelmed them and those surviving were forced to flee the burning temple.
Only about thirty people escaped the temple, scattering southward. Among these were Hung Hei Goon, and his teachers from the temple, monk Sam Tak and abbot Gee Sin. After fleeing to Kwantung Province, Hung Hei Goon opened a secret martial arts school in Big Buddha Temple to fulfill his responsibility to pass on and spread the Shaolin Teachings. Ten years later, he opened a formal school in Fa City, naming it "Hung Gar Boxing" in order to conceal its Shaolin origins from the Ching Government, and in order to memorialize the first emperor of the the Ming Dynasty, Hung-mo Chu, whose line was ended when the Ching government took power.
Hung Hei Goon's school of Hung Gar Kung-fu became widely known and very famous, and soon the art spread throughout southern China, being ranked as the best of the five big schools of martial arts in Kwantung Province. Hung Hei Goon's former teacher, the abbot Gee Sin, had also fled to Kwantung Province, and when he found out that Hung Hei Goon had started a school in Fa City, he sent his own follower, Luk Ah-Choy, to Hung's school to further his knowledge. Luk Ah-Choy soon became an expert in the art, and Hung Hei Goon sent him to Canton to spread Hung Gar Kung-fu.
Wong Tai was Luk Ah-Choy's most talented follower, and his son, Wong Kay Ying, also mastered Hung Gar Kung-fu under Luk Ah Choy as his father did. Wong Kay Ying, however, was not content and searched for other followers of Hung Hei Goon to deepen his understanding of the art. Wong Kay Ying's skill grew so great that he was regarded as one of the "Ten Tigers of Kwantung", the ten best martial artists in Kwantung Province.
Wong Fei Hung was Wong Kay Ying's son, and his martial art talent equaled his father's. Wong Fei Hung became so popular in southern China that his life story has since become the subject of over a hundred movies, television programs, radio shows and publications.
Wong Fei Hung's top student was Lam Sai Wing, who took an important role in spreading the art of Hung Gar Kung-fu, and in popularizing kung-fu among the general public as well. Lam Sai Wing abandoned the practice of past masters of reserving part of their knowledge as their own special skill, and taught all his knowledge to his followers. Thus he provided an example for other masters of his time to follow. Lam Sai Wing also published many books on kung-fu, and spent much time reorganizing and developing the Hung Gar style to suit the changing times. Because of Master Lam's dedication, Hung Gar Kung-fu enjoys great popularity in Southern China and Hong Kong to this day