History of the Pak Mei Clan

8/13/2019 History of the Pak Mei Clan

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History of The Pak Mei Clan

The martial arts of the Pak Mei Clan originated from the Shaolin Buddish Monastery, SungShan, Henan Province, China, Buddish Monk Pak Mei, the eldest of the five elders of Shaolinin the Ching Dynasty was regarded as the first generation of the Pak Mei Clan, the Pak MeiMartial Arts were assed from Buddish Monk Pak Mei to Buddish Monk !wong "ai who wasregarded as the second generation, from Buddish Monk !wong "ai to Buddish Monk Chuk#ai "an who was regarded as the third generation, from Buddish Monk Chuk #at "an togreat $rand $rand Master Cheung %ai Chuen who was regarded as &elonging to the fourthgeneration and from $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung %ai Chuen to his son Cheung Ping%am who was regarded as &elonging to the fifth generation' The first, second and thirdgenerations of the Pak Mei Clan were all Buddish Monks' The Pak Mei Martial Arts did notsread to the secular world until they had &een assed to $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung%ai Chuen'

The first erson to sread wildly and &rilliantly of the Pak Mei Martial Arts in the secularworld was $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung %ai Chuen who was &orn during the reign of(meror !wong Shui at the end of the Ching Dynasty in "eiyang District, Dong )iang,

$uangdong Province, China' He commenced to learn martial arts at the age a&out Thirteenyears and learned three different styles of martial arts in the Dong )iang area from threefamous !ung #u masters who were Master Shek, Master %ee *ee and Master %am Ah Ho, thediscile of Buddish Monk *uk Shing of the "ah Sou Buddish Monastery, %aw #au Shan,$uangdong Province, China' All the three famous Master raised him and indicated that heshould esta&lish his own gymnasium to teach students' As $reat $rand $rand Master was stillyoung at the time, he referred not to teach martial arts &ut went to $uang+hou for good ata&out the age of nineteen years' n $uang+hou he accidentally got to know a Buddish Monkcalled %in Sang and had the chance of having a friendly com&at with Monk %in Sang' "hothen defeated him' $reat $rand $rand Master hum&ly re-uested Monk %in Sang to accethim as a discile, &ut he was refused'

%ater he learned from Monk %in Sang that the martial arts used to defeat him had &een assedto Monk %in Sang &y Buddish Monk Chuk #at "an and &oth Monks toured a&out in the$uangdong Province from the Sichuan Province and were then staying in the !wong HauBuddish Monastery, $uang+hou, Monk %in Sang &rought $reat $rand $rand Master to theMonastery and introduced him to Monk Chuk #at "an who finally acceted $reat $rand$rand Master as his discile to learn the Pak Mei Martial Arts after having &egged lengthilyfor it, thereafter $reat $rand $rand Master followed Monk Chuk #at "an to tour a&out, learnand ractice the Pak Mei Martial Arts' After two odd years of hard learning and ractice andan account of $reat $rand $rand Master.s talent in understanding martial arts, $reat $rand$rand Master learned all the Pak Mei Martial Arts e/cet the techni-ue gravel shooting and

o&tained their vitalities' Then Monk Chuk #at "an and Monk %in Sang returned to theirBuddish Monastery in the Sichuan Province and $reat $rand $rand Master returned to"ei+hou to 0oin his mother'

Thereafter $reat $rand $rand Master 0oined the revolutionary team of "ong "ar Shunagainst the Ching Dynasty in Dong )iang area and took art in the revolutionary &attle in"ong #at !ong of $uang+hou' The revolutionists were defeated heavily and most of them losttheir lives, $reat $rand $rand Master was fortunate for not &eing killed and he escaed from$ang+hou to his native lace'


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After the esta&lishment of the 1eu&lic of China, in )iang Men Town of the Sun "ui District,$reat $rand $rand Master aided Detective Catain %ui Chan to confront a leader of the saltsmugglers, $reat $rand $rand Master fight with the leader who was highly roficient in !ung#u, &roke the %eader.s arm and arrested him for the Catain' As a result $reat $rand $randMaster got his restige in the Sun "ui District and started his teaching of martial art in )iangMen Town' n )iang Men Town $reat $rand $rand Master acceted the challenge of !ung #uMaster Chan Sau who had defeated several !ung #u masters in )iang Men Town and wonhim, thus $reat $rand $rand Master was further raised &y the martial arts communitythere' %ater $reat $rand $rand Master tried to solve some ro&lems for one of his studentsand was forced to involve in a fight confronting more than fifty &ad characters, during thefight he knocked down several ersons, it was heard that one of them had &een unched &yhim with his hoeni/ eye fist at the throat and died of the in0ury' To avoid trou&le $reat$rand $rand Master was forced to leave )iang Men Town for $uang+hou'

n $uang+hou $reat $rand $rand Master set u his !ung #u school to teach Pak Mei MartialArts again at 2n "ide %ane, during which time $reat $rand $rand Master defeated !ung #uMaster Tsang "ai Pok who had closed several !ung #u schools in $uang+hou &y overcoming

the masters thereof' $reat $rand $rand Master.s victory shocked the martial arts communitythere and gained his restige in $uang+hou' A lot of students followed him to learn the PakMei Martial Arts causing the 0ealousy of some of the !ung #u masters' 3ltimately while $reat$rand $rand Master was carrying his infant son and walking along a street, a grou of sevento eight assassins tried to kill him with knives and guns' $reat $rand $rand Master knockeddown several of them and took one of them as his shield, it was fortunate that the olicemenwere accidentally near&y to give assistance and arrested those &eing knocked down' Theincidence was widely reorted &y the newsaers in $uang+hou and honored $reat $rand$rand Master with the title of 4The #ierce Tiger of Tung !ong5 which made him well know in$uang+hou'

Thereafter $reat $rand $rand Master was emloyed &y the $uang+hou Police TrainingSchool, the *in Tong College and the "hamoa Military College one after the other as theirmartial arts training officer' During his emloyment in the "hamoa Military College heesta&lished a set of techni-ue for fighting &y using the rifle fi/ed with the knife and wasresonsi&le for training the famous &y sa&er team aart from erforming other duties' Manymilitary officers also ersonally &ecame his disciles in learning the Pak Mei Martial Arts,such as the Security Commander of the $uangdong Province, $eneral "ai Chun #ook andColonel %iu Chun *at who died for China in the 6anking Battle against the )aanese armyDuring the war against the )aanese $reat $rand $rand Master was emloyed as the martialarts trainer of the guerilla &and of %eung !wai Ping in Dong )iang area' After the war he wasemloyed as the martial arts training officer of the Secret Agents Deartment in the

$uangdong Province'

"hen $uang+hou was a&out to &e li&erated, for &eing a military officer of the 1eu&lic ofChina he &rought with his three sons, Cheung Ping Sum, Cheung Ping %am and Cheung Ping#at to migrate to Hong !ong, then some of his disciles also came to Hong !ong' t was fromthat time onward the Pak Mei Martial Arts were formally &rought to Hong !ong and startingto &e sread in Hong !ong $reat $rand $rand Master assed away in Hong !ong at the ageof eighty odd years in 789:' During his time in Hong !ong he only taught a&out twenty odddisciles, &ut it has now &een develoed that mem&ers of the Pak Mei Clan can &e found in


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many arts of the world and the Pak Mei Martial Arts may have &een assed on to the ninthgeneration nowadays' $reat $rand $rand Master com&ated with many !ung #u mastersduring his lifetime and defeated all of them' Many of his oonents admired the Pak MeiMartial Arts after their failure and &ecame his disciles such as Master Chan Sau and masterTsang "ai Pok aforesaid, and $reat $rand $rand Master was very willing to ass the Pak MeiMartial Arts to them'

After the death of the $reat $rand $rand Master, mem&ers of the fifth generation of the PakMei Clan held meetings and elected his son Cheung Ping %am as the Head of the Pak MeiClan' Master Cheung Ping %am is the second son of the $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung%ai Chuen' $reat $rand $rand Master taught Master Cheung Ping %am the Pak Mei MartialArts since his childhood' Master firstly erformed martial arts in the "hamoa MilitaryCollege at the age of seven years and started to teach the Pak Mei Martial Arts at the age ofeighteen years' Amongst the disciles and sons of the $reat $rand $rand Master, his sonCheung Ping %am is the one who sent the longest time to learn the Pak Mei Martial Arts fromthe $reat $rand $rand Master and research the Pak Mei Martial Arts with the $reat $rand$rand Master'

During the old age of the $reat $rand $rand Master in Hong !ong, Master usually stayed &yhis side to make research of martial arts with him and taught for and on &ehalf of the $reat$rand $rand Master some of his disciles the Pak Mei Martial Arts' Master has devoted all hislifetime to martial arts and o&tained all the vitalities and imortance of the Pak Mei MartialArts' He has taken u the teaching of the Pak Mei Martial Arts as his life career and fre-uentlyteaches the mem&ers of the fifth and si/th generations of the Pak Mei Clan the Pak MeiMartial Arts for the urose of romoting them to the higher level' Thus Master was electedas the Head of the Pak Mei Clan an account of his doings and restige' He has selected toteach good -uality disciles of a smaller num&er rather than &ad -uality students of a largernum&er and teaches his selected disciles of all known &y him without reserve' n 7888Master has attained the age of seventy;three years'

n order to show resect and gratefulness to Master Cheung Ping %am, several of his discilesgathered a sum of money to urchase a landed roerty of a&out 7,9 for Master to have a ermanent lace of teachingand in #e&ruary, 78>> they also esta&lished the Pak Mei %ai Chuen Martial Arts Association%imited' The mem&ers of the Association are the disciles of Master Cheung Ping %amwithin the ast fifteen years, each of them has decent 0o& and is without undesira&le&ackground' Amongst them, there are accountant, lawyer, olice suerintendent, olice chiefinsector, civil servant, manufacturer, merchant, e/ecutive and artist, and Master CheungPing %am is the ermanent governor of the Association' At resent there are only leftsurviving several mem&ers of the fifth generation and even the youngest one has attained the

age of si/ty;nine years'

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$rand Master 6g *iu constant ractice of martial arts, he en0oys e/cellent health' At the oldage, his kung fu movements are still e/tremely &risk and owerful' n arallel to his suer&mastery of Pak Mei kung fu, his martial ethic is e-ually well known' He is highly resected asan outstanding kung fu master in &oth the Pak Mei family and the general martial art circle inHong !ong'He came from 6an Hoi district of !wong Tung Province' At the age 7, he learned kung fufrom the $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung %ai; Chuen' He was tall and of sturdy &uild'$reat $rand $rand Master Cheung was deely imressed &y his loyalty and diligence inracticing' He gave him constant encouragement and e/tra coaching in Pak Mei kung fu' Afew years later, he &ecame $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung.s distinguished discile'He was soon aointed &y the $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung.s to head the first &ranch ofthe %ai;Chuen kung fu association at !wei;tong street, Canton and to teach in the militaryacademy'At that time, the %ai;chuen kung fu association of the Pak Mei school develoed and e/endedraidly' There were 7> &ranches altogether in Canton' Many other kung fu were alsocometing strongly for ground and reutation' 2ne would find it e/tremely difficult to surviveand esta&lish if without genuinely high standard in martial arts' *et' "ith his sheer mastery ofPak Mei kung fu, $rand Master 6g stood u to cometition, understand' As a matter of fact,

he was $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung.s right hand man' Due to his achievement andesta&lishment, he was highly resected and so a&le to act as a troushooter within the kungfu circle'Throughout his career, he has &een ut into numerous tough and real tests' To mention a few,the following were included'n 78


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were a&out to attack' He reali+ed that that to &reak through, he must aly the genuinetechni-ues' So he first e/erted a owerful and sudden inward ull' The two guys were drawnoff their &alance, falling forward' They were su&se-uently flung out &y his forceful left;rightlower outward &locks'Having defeated the two leaders, he could then concentrate on the rest of the gangsters one &yone and got away' The story of this fight once again sread fast throughout Canton'The city fell into )aanese hands soon after %ou!ouchiao ? %oo Chow Bridge @ ncident, in78'$rand Master 6g was assisting $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung to train the soldiers in themilitary academy after having retreated' They taught charging techni-ues using rifles, andtrained the 4&ig choer S-uad5 Both were found useful and efficient on the &attlefield'Toward the end of the Sino;)aanese "ar' $rand Master 6g was aointed to work in theintelligence division of the Commando S-uad'He had won a few awards for his outstanding achievements' He had also racticed thetraditional her&s treatments throughout the year'The tragic war ended in 78: after the )aanese surrendered' He returned to Canton andrestarted his &usiness' n his sare time, he heled the $reat $rand $rand Master Cheung todevelo the kung fu school' The latter was very roud of his remarka&le achievements in

martial art and had therefore made known that he was his most distinguished discile' Healways encouraged and reminded him to ursue the true sirit of chivalry and endurance'n 78:8, he followed the $reat $rand $rand Master to Hong !ong' "ith his vast knowledgeand e/erience in medical her&s, he set u his clinic to ractice her&s treatments on the!owloon side' As for the $reat $rand $rand Master, he was invited &y many village leadersfrom the new Territories to set u school to teach martial art' Again, $rand Master 6g wasvery active in assisting to develo and romote Pak Mei kung fu'Three years later, a rather famous kung fu instructor also came to Hong !ong from Canton'He was agitated &y someone with malicious intention to defame the Pak Mei school' He oftenclaimed that if you wanted to &ecome famous, all you had to do was to defeat the Pak Meischool' And, to defeat that school, you must first defeat nd $raMaster 6g' But, $reat $rand

$rand Master Cheung took all these slanders with a smile' However, they got worse anddistasteful as they sread around' $rand Master 6g was infuriated' He had found out thatinstructor used to lunch in a articular restaurant in Shum Shui Po' Having found him there,$rand Master 6g -uestioned him a&out its truth and suggested a dual to determinesueriority &etween themselves'*et' That instructor was scared of $rand Master 6g.s achievement in martial art and had toaologies' $rand Master 6g acceted it and so a fight was avoided' After the death of the$reat $rand $rand Master, he &ecame the leading veteran of the Pak Mei School'A similar incident arose in 78:' At that time, he was resonsi&le for the further develomentsof Pak Mei kung fu, which was already rosering in Hong !ong' Another kung fu teacherintended to achieve fame through the same trick' He got to know $rand Master 6g through a

her&alist friend' He had learned kung fu from many different schools' (very evening, hediscussed and racticed kung fu in a near&y Buddhist temle with his friends'2ne day, $rand Master 6g was having luncheon with the instructor together' After lunch,they went to the her&alist clinic' That kung fu teacher &egan to &oast of his kung fu skillsintending to invite $rand Master 6g for a fight' t was natural to learn and imrove in thisway, roviding all arties o&served the true sirit of martial ethics' The teacher maintained hehimself was very fast and could fling $rand Master 6g on to the ground easily' $rand Master6g took a more cautious and defensive aroach' He then set u a 4&lockade5 with his twofists covering the middle art of the &ody while &ending his waist slightly' Because of such


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History of the Pak Mei Clan