Hakka Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu,Dubai

As per GROK the AI of X:

Chen Kiu was a significant figure in the history of Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu, particularly known for introducing a branch of this martial art to India. He was a Hakka Chinese martial artist who learned the Southern Praying Mantis system during his time as a merchant marine sailor, reportedly around the early 20th century, possibly circa 1903. According to tradition, Chen Kiu acquired his skills from a man named Yaap Mune, who was said to be a disguised monk working as a cook on the ship where Chen served. Yaap Mune is speculated to have been a disciple of Wong Leng, one of the two students of Saam Dart (a legendary figure often credited with creating the Southern Praying Mantis system), though this lineage remains speculative due to limited historical documentation.
Chen Kiu eventually settled in Kolkata, India, in the 1920s, specifically in the Tangra Chinatown area, which was home to a significant Hakka community. There, he began teaching Southern Praying Mantis exclusively to students of Hakka descent, initially at the Pei Moi Tangra Chinese School. His teachings were kept within the community until his disciple, Sifu Hsiung Khan Seong (1917–2000), broadened the scope. Hsiung, who took over the lineage from Chen Kiu, taught in Kolkata from the 1950s until his death in 2000. In 1975, Hsiung made the significant decision to open the style to non-Chinese practitioners, thus expanding its reach beyond the Hakka diaspora.
The system Chen Kiu brought to India, often referred to as Thong Long Quet Tsot (meaning "Praying Mantis Martial Art Style" in the Hakka Moiyang dialect) or K.S. Hsiung Southern Praying Mantis, emphasizes close-range combat with a focus on hand techniques, short power generation, and limited low kicks—hallmarks of Southern Praying Mantis. Its core training includes forms like Kiu Bo Jin (9 Step Arrow), a foundational set akin to the Som Bo Gin (Three Step Arrow) found in other Southern Mantis branches, along with Pai Sith (8 Steps), Sine Su, and Fa-Khian. These forms emphasize shock power ("Gen") and practical self-defense applications, reflecting the style’s roots as a no-nonsense fighting art.
Chen Kiu’s legacy continued through Hsiung’s disciples, notably fifth-generation lineage holders such as Abhijit Mukherjee, Lee Kuo Sen, and Akbar Singh Thikari. Some of Kiu’s students later spread the system internationally, with practitioners like Sifu Liu teaching in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hsiungs student Sifu Joseph Fan in Canada. This branch of Southern Praying Mantis, while sharing similarities with other Hakka styles like Chu Gar and Jook Lum, maintains a distinct identity, possibly predating the commercial differentiation of these styles in Hong Kong, as suggested by Hsiung’s view that they were originally unified under the broader Hakka Tong Long tradition.
Though historical records about Chen Kiu himself are sparse and much of his story is preserved through oral tradition, his role as a transmitter of Southern Praying Mantis to a new cultural context highlights his importance. His efforts laid the groundwork for a unique lineage that has persisted for over 80 years in India and beyond, adapting while retaining its traditional essence.

In 1993 at my Tai Chi masters house I first read about Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu and I was mesmerized! I photocopied the article and this copy has been with me for all these decades. The Master featured was Tai Sigung Sammy Wong. Fast forward a few decades and his direct disciple a man I call my brother Sigung Manuel Rodriguez and his son Joshua Sifu very kindly shared this system with me. I have been training this system side by side with my main lineage for the past decade or more.
.g.rodriguez.sigung

Fighting is not a complicated skill set.To train a fighting system with self added on complications does it a disservice.
Old Hakka Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu practitioners trained in a straightforward manner to achieve the end result of finishing an encounter in maximum three moves.
The first generation teaching of my Tai Sigung Chen Kiu reflected this philosophy and we had a total of three Form sets at this juncture.
The most important Kiu Bo Jin with the Lien Yaap Shu footwork was always considered as not only the basic but also the highest set.It imparted and developed the unique Hakka mantis body mechanics in great detail.
The second set in the old curriculum called Yin Yang Hands built upon the release of this energy and the third and final set called Rotating Hands added more angles and specific finger strikes including to those of the body’s vulnerable acupuncture points.The two sets are direct and ‘cut down’ in their training structure.The rest of the training consisted of San Sao methods and two person drills.
This first generation teaching was expanded upon by Chen Sifu along with his disciple (my Sigung) K.S.Hsiung to the current iteration of the system.
The final area was Sine Kung or Spirit Kung Fu.This was not trained by my Sigung due to his strict Christian belief system and thus this teaching skipped two generations.
I was presented with these two original training sets by still living students and their descendants of my Tai Sigung in the US and we also retrieved the entire Sine Kung learning (my student Agni played a large part in this).

https://youtu.be/SuvTxTBVaWA?si=GgNZAYQky26CCTDy

Tai Sigung Chen Kiu’s legacy, Hakka Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu This video is dedicated to my Tai Sigung or Great Grandmaster Chen Kiu.He was a merchant marine and was the one responsible for brining our lineage to India ...