Hung Gar Kung Fu Novel

[LanJie]

The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas is a fiction mystery novel with the main character who is a Hung Gar kung fu practitioner.

The main character is a Chinese gentleman that is a private detective in London and he is the younger kung fu brother of the famous Grandmaster Wong Fei Hong. The name he uses in London is Cyrus Barker, his Chinese name is Shi Shi Ji; his nickname is the Stone Lion of Canton. He taught his assistant Japanese martial arts (he does not reveal the style).
One of his best friends turns out to be a former Shaolin monk. The mystery of the story revolves around finding the forbidden kung fu Dim Mak book stolen from a Kung fu temple in what was I believe southern China.

The story also features a challenge match between Shi Shi Ji and a triad kung fu champion; a fight between Cyrus’ assistant and a well trained female Hung Gar fighter, Miss Winter; and a great description of a very interesting lion dance and kung fu demonstration.

I would recommend this book to any Chinese Martial artist because it is not only a good mystery but it also describes Chinese Martial arts techniques, historical figures, and culture well. So far this is the first fictional novel in English that has described any Kung fu system accurately that I have read or heard of and that by itself is refreshing and encouraging.

 

[Randy Strausbaugh]

Thanks for the heads up, LanJie. By chance, I ordered the book from amazon.com a few days ago, and am looking forward to it even more now. Any accurate description of martial arts in a fiction novel seems rare these days, so if this is as good as it sounds, it'll be a welcome treat.

 

[hungfistron]

Interesting, I may need to check this one out. I like it when real techniques are descibed...

 

[Journeyman]

I've read three of the books by Will Thomas. They're all pretty decent. The Limehouse Text is the most focused on martial arts, but they've all had bits and pieces about martial arts. Cyrus Barker is Scottish not Chinese, but he grew up in China.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I have never read any of the books by Will Thomas but will go out and find the one in the original post. Thanks for letting us know about what sounds like a good novel

 

[ShortBridge]

I will check this out, thank you.

I recommend the novels of Barry Eisler. He didn't like the original titles, so he renamed them and I don't know which ones to recommend, but read them in order, it's a series. The lead character is a hit man with a heart of gold and both the author and the character is a martial artist.