Pao Fa Lien Wing Chun clips:

Does anyone know if there are any representatives of Pao Fa Lien in the U.S.?

I know there are a few in Hong Kong & Mainland but haven't heard to much of the U.S. as of yet.
 
Does anyone know if there are any representatives of Pao Fa Lien in the U.S.?

I know there are a few in Hong Kong & Mainland but haven't heard to much of the U.S. as of yet.

Sorry, I know nothing about it. What was it that called this particular style of Wing Chun to your attention?
 
Hey Geezer,

It seemed like an interesting style: it was one of only 5 that I've found that trace there lineage before the Red Boat period to the Southern Shaolin. Not that it really matter I just thought it would be interesting to compare. The styles are namely:

Fut Sau
Chi Sim
Hung Fa Yi
Pao Fa Lien
Hokkien Eng Chun (fujian)

Can't really say if any are legit but I say let the system speak for itself.
 
Hey Geezer,
Can't really say if any are legit but I say let the system speak for itself.

That's pretty much my take on it too. It's really pretty near impossible to objectively verify the origin of any lineage before the mid-19th Century... say about the time of Dr. Leung Jan. Heck, different branches can't agree on who and what the late Grandmaster Yip taught a century later, in the 1950s, '60s and early 70's!
 
Greetings.

It looks like it has similar elements to the Ip man Wing Chun. Though in a different order and in a more flowing manner, like shaolin Rou Quan. Also, the second clip has a part that looks like a part of Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate Finger Set 1. Interesting.
 
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Does anyone know if there are any representatives of Pao Fa Lien in the U.S.?

I know there are a few in Hong Kong & Mainland but haven't heard to much of the U.S. as of yet.

Sifu Joseph Lau currently resides in Seattle.

A direct disciple of grandmaster Chu Wing-Chee, he is also the sixth generation of the Pao Fa Lien school.

He can be contacted via email: [email protected]
 
A good many years ago a British Wing Chunner, Derek Frearson, who studies Lun Gai Wing Chun sent me a video (which I now cannot locate :mad:) of some Pao Fa Lein guys he met in Hong Kong. Two old gents that he chi sao'd with. It was cool stuff, and like said, very flowing. You could see it was obviously Wing Chun, but there was clearly more movements in their forms than those we see in Yip Man lineage (presumably because Yip Man stripped down the system, made it more compact).

Interestingly, Frearson said that the guys, while being old and slight, could punch with the sort of power a mule kicks with ;-). Damn, I really wish I still had the footage. On it the two men demo'd their various dummy forms (I think they showed three or four).
 
It has probably been 30 years since Derek Frearson visited the Pao Fa Lien school in Hong Kong. The 'two old gents' he met, one was great grandmaster Chu Chong who was 90+years old then, and the other one was his son grandmaster Chu Wing-Chee. The Chi-sao of the Pao Fa Lien school could be very 'soft', even softer than Tai Chi or other internal systems. So I suppose the difference lies not only in quantity of the movements but also the quality and the effects as such they produced. There are altogether four pugilistic dummy forms: exterior, interior, speed, kicks, and two weapon dummy forms: staff pole and double sabre.The video should definitely be very valuable and would be great if it can be fetched?
 
Interesting vids, very "snakey" compared to the HK WC I know/have seen.

Pretty similar in the flowing way he moved to what I was taught in China (A Foshan style).

It certainly shows what Ip Man must have stripped from the system he learnt.

Derek came over to Jersey in the 1990s and ran a seminar for us, he didnt teach us any WC a guy came with him to do that. Derek has lots of knowledge and has been to Foshan many times iirc. I bought my long pole from him a few years ago, the only UK place I could find who would ship here.
 
Sifu Joseph Lau has askded me to share the following story:

The following story is more well known to the senior martial art circle in Hong Kong for it has been 60+odd years. Long story short, a century ago, in a fine afternoon, Pao Fa Lien (Chu Chong’s sifu) was having a nap at the back of his Pao Fa shop. The shop was bombarded by Jiu Yu Chow (Ip Man’s sifu cum si hing, Chan Yu Min’s students) suddenly along with his nephew. (Pao Fa Lien was an 80+ years old man at the time). As the Jius entered the shop, they claimed that that they had heard of his name long before he retired, and now they wanted to ‘see’ just what PFLWC was really like. So Pao Fa Lien got up from his bed slowly and tried to put on his shoes. And before he could put on his left shoe, Jiu Yu Chow launched a fierce low thrusting sucker punch to Pao Fa Lien. In a flash, Pao Fa Lien calmly grabbed Jiu’s wrist and threw him to the corner of bed against a wall, bruised the head. Off the Jius ran, tail between.

Returned to their school, the Jius immediately summoned a big troop, grabbed all the weapons, and wanted to return and raided Pao Fa Lien overnight. But their move was noticed by a powerful triad head in Fo Shan who also an admirer of Pao Fa Lien. Annoyed by the plan, the triad head went straight to Chan Yu Min’s school and warned them if they dare to disturb Pao Fa Lien once more, they should expect serious consequence… So Jiu’s clan and Ip Man been plotting and seeking for a chance to take reveng ever since then. But since Pao Fa Lien and his students always stay low profile, Jiu and Ip Man could not do anything until one day, 50 years later, they discovered Chu Chong residing in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, working quietly as a carpenter.

It was one tender night, Ip Man sent 50+ students, consist of Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Wong Chu, Wong Shun Leung and people, along with corrupted cops and triad members, surrounded two blocks of Chu Chong’s place, went inside Chu Chong’s flat and wanted a fight. Five of them challenged Chu Chong continuously but none of them could use no skills nor even touched him. Subdued, the sixth person wanted to fight but Chu Chong said, “You people don’t know martial art, there is no way to continue, I don’t want any trouble, how about we just call it a day?” At that time, for one, such a number of crowds had already disturbed the neighborhood, and second, they probably found it quite shameful too after all these attempts, and so they agreed to leave. However just as they were leaving the door, one of them turned around, pretended to wave goodbye, and launched a slapping hand to Chu Chong’s face. Luckily Chu Chong yielded the body and was not hurt.

So that was the story
 
Date:Oct 2012 -Dec 2012


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Sifu Joseph Lau has askded me to share the following story:

The following story is more well known to the senior martial art circle in Hong Kong for it has been 60+odd years. Long story short, a century ago, in a fine afternoon, Pao Fa Lien (Chu Chong’s sifu) was having a nap at the back of his Pao Fa shop. The shop was bombarded by Jiu Yu Chow (Ip Man’s sifu cum si hing, Chan Yu Min’s students) suddenly along with his nephew. (Pao Fa Lien was an 80+ years old man at the time). As the Jius entered the shop, they claimed that that they had heard of his name long before he retired, and now they wanted to ‘see’ just what PFLWC was really like. So Pao Fa Lien got up from his bed slowly and tried to put on his shoes. And before he could put on his left shoe, Jiu Yu Chow launched a fierce low thrusting sucker punch to Pao Fa Lien. In a flash, Pao Fa Lien calmly grabbed Jiu’s wrist and threw him to the corner of bed against a wall, bruised the head. Off the Jius ran, tail between.

Returned to their school, the Jius immediately summoned a big troop, grabbed all the weapons, and wanted to return and raided Pao Fa Lien overnight. But their move was noticed by a powerful triad head in Fo Shan who also an admirer of Pao Fa Lien. Annoyed by the plan, the triad head went straight to Chan Yu Min’s school and warned them if they dare to disturb Pao Fa Lien once more, they should expect serious consequence… So Jiu’s clan and Ip Man been plotting and seeking for a chance to take reveng ever since then. But since Pao Fa Lien and his students always stay low profile, Jiu and Ip Man could not do anything until one day, 50 years later, they discovered Chu Chong residing in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, working quietly as a carpenter.

It was one tender night, Ip Man sent 50+ students, consist of Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Wong Chu, Wong Shun Leung and people, along with corrupted cops and triad members, surrounded two blocks of Chu Chong’s place, went inside Chu Chong’s flat and wanted a fight. Five of them challenged Chu Chong continuously but none of them could use no skills nor even touched him. Subdued, the sixth person wanted to fight but Chu Chong said, “You people don’t know martial art, there is no way to continue, I don’t want any trouble, how about we just call it a day?” At that time, for one, such a number of crowds had already disturbed the neighborhood, and second, they probably found it quite shameful too after all these attempts, and so they agreed to leave. However just as they were leaving the door, one of them turned around, pretended to wave goodbye, and launched a slapping hand to Chu Chong’s face. Luckily Chu Chong yielded the body and was not hurt.

So that was the story

That sounds like a load of nonsense to me.
 
Sifu Joseph Lau has askded me to share the following story:

The following story is more well known to the senior martial art circle in Hong Kong for it has been 60+odd years. Long story short, a century ago, in a fine afternoon, Pao Fa Lien (Chu Chong’s sifu) was having a nap at the back of his Pao Fa shop. The shop was bombarded by Jiu Yu Chow (Ip Man’s sifu cum si hing, Chan Yu Min’s students) suddenly along with his nephew. (Pao Fa Lien was an 80+ years old man at the time). As the Jius entered the shop, they claimed that that they had heard of his name long before he retired, and now they wanted to ‘see’ just what PFLWC was really like. So Pao Fa Lien got up from his bed slowly and tried to put on his shoes. And before he could put on his left shoe, Jiu Yu Chow launched a fierce low thrusting sucker punch to Pao Fa Lien. In a flash, Pao Fa Lien calmly grabbed Jiu’s wrist and threw him to the corner of bed against a wall, bruised the head. Off the Jius ran, tail between.

Returned to their school, the Jius immediately summoned a big troop, grabbed all the weapons, and wanted to return and raided Pao Fa Lien overnight. But their move was noticed by a powerful triad head in Fo Shan who also an admirer of Pao Fa Lien. Annoyed by the plan, the triad head went straight to Chan Yu Min’s school and warned them if they dare to disturb Pao Fa Lien once more, they should expect serious consequence… So Jiu’s clan and Ip Man been plotting and seeking for a chance to take reveng ever since then. But since Pao Fa Lien and his students always stay low profile, Jiu and Ip Man could not do anything until one day, 50 years later, they discovered Chu Chong residing in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, working quietly as a carpenter.

It was one tender night, Ip Man sent 50+ students, consist of Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Wong Chu, Wong Shun Leung and people, along with corrupted cops and triad members, surrounded two blocks of Chu Chong’s place, went inside Chu Chong’s flat and wanted a fight. Five of them challenged Chu Chong continuously but none of them could use no skills nor even touched him. Subdued, the sixth person wanted to fight but Chu Chong said, “You people don’t know martial art, there is no way to continue, I don’t want any trouble, how about we just call it a day?” At that time, for one, such a number of crowds had already disturbed the neighborhood, and second, they probably found it quite shameful too after all these attempts, and so they agreed to leave. However just as they were leaving the door, one of them turned around, pretended to wave goodbye, and launched a slapping hand to Chu Chong’s face. Luckily Chu Chong yielded the body and was not hurt.

So that was the story
lol, self promoting BS if ever I heard it. So all of these Wing Chun students tried and failed to beat a single fella and what happened?
1)did Ip Man then go and challenge him and win showing his students that they were at fault - apparently not,
2)did any of Ip Man's students return and beg the man to teach them his far superior skills - apparently not as the names so carefully quoted were all Ip Man students till the end,
3)did all /any of those watching subsequently pronounce Ip Man a fraud and thereby damage his reputation losing him students - apparently not as he continued to teach a growing number of students and be highly respected throughout the martial arts community in Hong Kong
 
I believe this strory is based on one I heard 29 years ago. it has just gone through the telephone game and come out 29 years later as a classic 1970's kung fu movie.

Original story: in 50's a Yip Man student ran into a pfl student. Discussion of real or true wing chun etc grew into a fight between the two. The result was that the PFLWC student was hurt very badly ,one version was fatal. When Yip heard about this he was very upset and met with Chu Chong to stop any more fighting before things got out of control. He apologized for the harm his student caused the PFL student. At the time I heard this the Yip student in question was still aliv and apparently in agreement with this version of things.

It is sad when others find it necessary to build their version of wing chun up by claiming imaginary victories over yip man and his students.
 
There was someone on a kung fu forum that said that he got sent a vid from Sifu Derek Frearson , that featured two Pao Fa Lien wck elders doing their chi sao and forms and dummies and he said that they also kicked like mules. Does anyone have a link to this footage or know who would have a copy.
 
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