一段非常珍貴而充滿敬意嘅2013年片段，記錄咗周家螳螂門人於春祭期間，一同向葉瑞宗師致敬及追思。
喺中國傳統文化裡面，呢類儀式從來都唔只係形式，
而係一份對先人、師承同家族嘅感恩與尊重。
大家一同上香、準備祭品、焚化祭物，
以行動去表達對前輩嘅懷念與敬意。
更加難得嘅係，除咗本門弟子之外，
葉家家人亦一同參與其中，
與多年來陪伴及承傳本門嘅門人聚首一堂。
從片段之中，
能夠感受到當中嗰份親情、尊重同埋默默守護本門嘅情義。
真正傳統功夫，
從來都唔只係講技術。
更加重要嘅，
係做人、尊師重道、承擔，以及飲水思源。
非常感恩香港總館一直保存並分享呢啲珍貴歷史片段，
讓後輩有機會了解本門背後真正嘅文化與精神。
飲水思源
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association
— ECGA
A deeply respectful moment from 2013, showing members of the Chow Gar Tong Long family gathering together during the Spring ancestral ceremony to honour and remember Great Grandmaster Ip Shui.
In traditional Chinese culture, ceremonies such as these are never simply formalities.
They are expressions of gratitude, remembrance, respect, and family unity.
Incense is offered, ceremonial offerings are prepared, and respect is shown through both presence and action.
What makes this moment especially meaningful is that, alongside the students and disciples of the system, members of the Ip family themselves were also present together with those who dedicated many years to preserving and carrying on the art.
Within the footage, you can truly feel the closeness, respect, loyalty, and quiet responsibility shared amongst everyone there.
Traditional kung fu was never only about fighting skill.
It was also about character, honour, family, responsibility, and remembering the source from which everything came.
We are truly grateful that these precious historical moments continue to be preserved and shared from Hong Kong, allowing future generations to witness not only the art itself, but also the culture and spirit behind it.
“When drinking water, remember its source.”
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association — ECGA
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association
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European Chow Gar Tong Long Association - led by Master Kui Fung, under the guidance of Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay.
A rare clip of Great Grandmaster Ip Shui (葉瑞宗師) teaching and guiding one of his final groups of students.
We are proud to preserve and share these moments of genuine Chow Gar Tong Long for future generations.
Even in his later years, you can still clearly see the unique quality of his movement, natural, flowing, effortless, yet at moments incredibly sharp and direct.
There is no exaggerated motion.
No unnecessary force.
Only refined skill developed through a lifetime of dedicated practice.
For those who truly understand the art, these small details reveal a great deal.
The method remained.
The structure remained.
The spirit of the system remained.
A living example of traditional Chow Gar Tong Long passed directly through generations.
飲水思源
“When drinking water, remember its source.”
European Chow Gar Association — ECGA
When collecting Sifu Wong for yum cha,
he asked his student Kui Fung to show a few movements.
Smiling, he teased,
“Are you sure you’re ready? Do you need to warm up?”
A joke… but also a test.
This is how we train.
No perfect timing.
No perfect clothing.
No warm-up when it matters.
If you need to move, you move.
What we carry is the method:
Timing.
Intent.
Whole-body release.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
Not for show.
Not for ego.
Ready when it matters.
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association — ECGA
功夫真假，手上見
04/05/2026
There is a quieter thread woven through the study of Kung Fu, seldom spoken of, yet deeply rooted, especially within the tradition of Tung Kong Chow Gar Tong Long. Students from Hong Kong headquarters are taught to follow this strictly; and it is a teaching long held with reverence.
“Respect your parents.
Respect your teacher.
Follow their ways.
Learn to be kind.
Learn to be humble.
Learn Kung Fu.”
This message has been passed on from Sijo Lau Shui to Sitaigung Ip Shui as a clear instruction to all future students.
In time, they become more than instruction, they become a mirror. For those who turn away, who drift into deception, discord, or the diminishing of others, find themselves no longer in harmony with the spirit of the art. Such paths stand apart, and cannot be embraced within this lineage.
A Living Standard of Chow Gar Tong Long
周家螳螂活傳標準
周家螳螂真正功夫風範
呢段珍貴片段，係太師公 吳士麒 於 2010年12月19日 喺香港九龍城武術節公開示範。
雖然只係短短片段，但周家螳螂嘅核心已經清楚展現：
• 馬步穩固
• 全身連貫發力
• 意念集中
• 出手直接
• 動作毫不浪費
呢個唔係表演取悅觀眾。
呢個係多年真功夫磨練出嚟嘅方法。
識睇嘅人，一眼就明白。
感謝太師公 吳士麒 一直保存及承傳真正周家螳螂，惠及後學。
飲水思源
功夫真假，手上見
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association - ECGA
⸻
A Living Standard of Chow Gar Tong Long
The True Expression of Chow Gar Tong Long Kung Fu
This valuable clip shows Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay giving a public demonstration at the Kowloon City Martial Arts Festival in Hong Kong on 19/12/2010.
Though only a short clip, the core of Chow Gar Tong Long is clearly displayed:
• rooted stance
• whole-body connected power
• focused intent
• direct expression
• no wasted movement
This is not performance for applause.
This is method forged through years of real training.
Those who understand can recognise it immediately.
Deep respect to Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay for preserving and passing on authentic Chow Gar Tong Long for future generations.
Drink the water, remember the source.
True or false kung fu is revealed in the hands.
European Chow Gar Tong Long Association - ECGA
The Value of a Real Teacher
We are very fortunate in the UK to have one of Sigung Ip Shui’s direct students teaching students in the way he learned in Hong Kong.
Week in, week out, the transmission continues.
This is something that cannot be replicated through video alone or reading the classics alone without explanation from a correctly taught teacher.
Video and text can support learning.
It can give direction.
But it cannot give feeling.
It cannot give correction.
It cannot give method.
That only comes through hands-on guidance, from teacher to student.
Grandmaster Wong Keung is one of those rare teachers willing to pass that on.
A Rare Thing:
There is an old proverb:
“It is easy to find a thousand soldiers, but hard to find a good general.”
In today’s world, there is no shortage of people demonstrating movement, sharing clips, or making claims.
But finding someone who:
• truly understands the essence of the system
• has lived it over decades
• and is willing to transmit it correctly
…is rare.
The Work Continues:
In this clip, Grandmaster Wong Keung demonstrates, not a technique, but how the body can be used when all the physical requirements are met. His expression of the body is what Southern Praying Mantis body power actually looks like.
What is being shown here is not new but in this day and age it is not common. The old ways of power development were not freely taught and so people often fill in the gaps in their understanding in ways that are not correct to the original method.
This is why the practitioners who actually trained in the original methods under the guidance of such luminaries as Chu Kwong Wah and Ip Shui are such treasures to those who wish to learn today. They are the source we still have to correct practice and correct development.
A real teacher shapes and molds his students in a way a sculptor shapes clay. It is not a cookie cutter model devoid of artistry, it is bespoke, hand forged by Sifu and student.
This is not the modern commercial way, this is the Old Way.
It is being maintained.
No crude movement.
Only method.
You are seeing traditional bodywork, the kind developed and refined over generations by the Hakka people of Southern China. Power is not forced or displayed. It is built through structure, connection, and time.
The continued practice of something real.
— European Chow Gar Association
A Glimpse into the Old School Era of Chow Gar
舊派周家螳螂珍貴片段
由太師公 吳士麒 私下分享之珍貴片段，帶我哋回到周家螳螂早期真正訓練年代。
此片攝於 1973年旺角舊館，片中為太師公學生演練 蟬豹勁第二套。呢類片段唔單止係動作展示，更保存咗當年功夫嘅身法、節奏、結構同味道。
呢啲資料極具價值，令後學有機會親眼見到，當年與源頭仍然直接連接時，周家螳螂係點樣被傳承同展現。
呢個唔係表演。
呢個係歷史。
呢個係參考。
呢個係傳承。
感謝太師公一直願意分享呢啲珍貴周家螳螂文化資產，惠及後人。
舊派風格．真正方法．忠誠守護．歲月見證
European Chow Gar Association-
ECGA
⸻
A Glimpse into the Old School Era of Chow Gar
Private footage shared by Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay offers a valuable look back into an earlier generation of genuine Chow Gar training.
Recorded in 1973 at the old Mong Kok school, this clip shows one of Great Grandmaster’s students performing the second form of Seem Pao Jeng. More than movement alone, footage like this preserves the body method, rhythm, structure and flavour of that era.
Material such as this carries real value. It gives students and practitioners the opportunity to witness how the system was expressed when the connection to the source was still direct and uncompromised.
This is not performance.
This is history.
This is reference.
This is transmission.
We are grateful to Great Grandmaster for continuing to share these important pieces of Chow Gar heritage with future generations.
Old school. Real method. Preserved through loyalty and time.
European Chow Gar Association-
ECGA
Honouring the Ancestors at Ching Ming • Remembering the Source of the Water We Drink
清明敬祖・飲水思源
太師公 Ng Si Kay 帶領門徒，於清明時節拜祭歷代祖師，承傳中國傳統美德，亦表達後輩對前人深深敬意。
清明節乃慎終追遠之日，紀念先人，感念恩德。武術門中更有深遠意義，因為一門功夫能流傳至今，全賴歷代前輩辛勤保存、無私傳授。後學若懂得感恩，自然更明白傳承之可貴。
功夫不單止係拳腳動作，更包含做人之道、忠誠之心、尊師重道之德。今日所學，皆建基於前人所留下之根基。
見到太師公仍然親自帶領門徒守此傳統，實在令人敬佩。此乃門風所在，亦是真正傳承精神所在。
💙🙏🏼☯️
Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay led his disciples during the Ching Ming period to pay respects to the generations of past masters. This continues the traditional Chinese virtue of honouring one’s roots, while also expressing the deep respect that later generations hold for those who came before.
Ching Ming is a time to remember our ancestors, reflect on their contributions, and give thanks for their kindness and sacrifices. Within martial arts families, it carries even deeper meaning, because any system that survives to this day has only done so through the hard work, protection, and selfless teaching of previous generations. When later students understand gratitude, they naturally come to appreciate the true value of transmission.
Kung Fu is not only punches, kicks, or physical movement. It also contains the way of conducting oneself, loyalty of heart, and the virtue of respecting teachers and honouring the Way. What we learn today is built upon the foundations left by those before us.
To see Great Grandmaster still personally leading his disciples in preserving this tradition is truly worthy of admiration. This reflects the spirit of the school, and the true spirit of genuine transmission.
💙🙏🏼☯️
Paying Respect
Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay with his student Sifu Paul Brennan visiting Lao Shui’s grave.
A quiet moment, but an important one.
It reflects the real connection between Lao Shui and Ip Shui, and the respect that carries through the generations.
This is how the art is kept alive.
— European Chow Gar Association
17/04/2026
The 36 San Sau of Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis A Lineage List Preserved Through Lau Shui, Ip Shui, Ng Si Kay, Paul Brennan, and the ECGA
The 36 San Sau (三十六散手) are an important part of the technical vocabulary of Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis. More than a collection of named techniques, they represent a structured body of short-bridge fighting methods preserved within the art and passed down through generations of hands-on teaching.
The above picture of the Chinese San Sau list is special interest because it does not stand as an isolated reference. This list comes directly through the transmission of Lau Shui (劉瑞), to Ip Shui (葉瑞), to Ng Si Kay, to Sifu Paul Brennan, and to the ECGA. This makes it much more than a historical curiosity. It is a living teaching document tied to direct lineage transmission and practical training.
In particular, it is important to acknowledge Great Grandmaster Ng Si Kay, who was Ip Shui’s longest-serving student and is widely regarded as arguably his most senior student. His guidance, experience, and memory of the system are invaluable in helping preserve the meaning and usage of the material. We are also fortunate to have the help and advice of Grandmaster Wong Keung in interpreting and clarifying the terminology. This is significant because, when dealing with older handwritten or traditionally formatted Chinese martial material, the characters are not always straightforward to read through a modern lens.
That point deserves emphasis. When translating old martial calligraphy, the challenge is not simply one of language, but one of context. Certain Chinese words, characters, and usages are often difficult for today’s younger generation to read correctly, especially where older forms, martial terminology, or lineage-specific meanings are involved. In some cases, the apparent meaning of a character can shift over time, or a technique may be understood one way in general Chinese and another way within a particular kung fu family. Because of that, we are extremely fortunate to have senior people such as Ng Si Kay and Wong Keung to help advise on the reading and interpretation of the list. Their knowledge helps ensure that what we preserve is not just the written character, but the intended meaning behind it.
The title of the list, 三十六散手, is usually rendered as “Thirty-Six Free Hands” or “Thirty-Six Separate Hand Methods.” In practical terms, however, this should not be understood as thirty-six disconnected techniques to be memorised one by one. In Chow Gar, these names function more as a technical vocabulary of bridge interaction. They describe ways of making contact, controlling the opponent’s structure, issuing pressure, seizing, redirecting, striking, and finishing at very close rangen.
This is very much in keeping with the nature of Chow Gar itself. Southern Praying Mantis is a short-range Hakka fighting art, and its skill lies not in large, flowing combinations, but in what happens once contact is made. The bridge is established, pressure is felt, and from that moment the practitioner must control the exchange through structure, timing, and force. The San Sau list gives names to these actions.
Looking at the recent lineage list, several important themes become immediately clear. One is the presence of methods involving seizing and controlling, such as 擒拿手, 擒箭手, and 鷹擒手. These point to a clear emphasis on close-range domination of the opponent’s limbs and position. Another is the inclusion of short striking methods such as 絞搥, 角搥, 釘搥, and 切掌, showing that striking in Chow Gar is compact, direct, and delivered through structure rather than through wide swinging motion.
A particularly important feature of the list is the repeated appearance of 撐手, often rendered in our phonetics as Charn Sau. This is central to understanding Chow Gar. Although it is often translated as “supporting hand,” the meaning is deeper than a simple support or block. In practice, these methods express the idea of the arm as a bridge structure through which the body’s force is transmitted. In other words, power is not produced by muscular arm movement alone. It is created through body connection, compression, alignment, and short force issuing through the bridge.
This is why the list contains multiple forms of Charn Sau, each suggesting a different quality or direction of structural pressure. Rather than seeing them as repetitive entries, it is better to understand them as variations of bridge energy: lifting, sinking, stabilising, pressing, carrying, or driving. This reflects the depth of the Chow Gar method. A single family of movements can produce different effects depending on the pressure, angle, timing, and body connection behind it.
For that reason, the 36 San Sau are best understood not as a set of static techniques, but as a catalogue of functional fighting ideas. They help define how the art behaves in contact. Some methods receive or intercept. Some control or bind. Some disturb the opponent’s bridge. Some strike. Some enter. Some finish. Together they describe the logic of close-range combat in the style.
This also explains why the San Sau are not traditionally taught as thirty-six isolated movements in the modern sense. They are developed through the core training of the system: the body method, the fundamental forms, the bridge drills, and partner work. The list gives names to actions that are learned physically through practice. The written chart preserves the terminology, but the meaning is transmitted through touch, correction, and repetition.
Seen this way, the San Sau list is both technical and cultural. Technically, it preserves the fighting vocabulary of the style. Culturally, it reflects the old way martial knowledge was recorded and handed down: through calligraphy, reference lists, oral explanation, and direct instruction from teacher to student. A document such as the one recently shared is valuable precisely because it sits at the meeting point of those things. It is not merely a piece of writing, but a record of how the art was organised and remembered within the lineage.
For the ECGA, this makes the above image especially important. It is a tangible expression of our connection to the Chow Gar family line through Lau Shui, Ip Shui, Ng Si Kay, and Sifu Paul Brennan. It reminds us that the art is not only preserved in forms and drills, but also in the names, concepts, and training vocabulary passed down by those who came before us. It also reminds us of our responsibility to preserve these things carefully and accurately.
Above all, the 36 San Sau should be appreciated for what they truly are: not just “36 moves,” but a compact map of Chow Gar’s short-bridge method. They contain the principles of contact, control, pressure, seizing, striking, and finishing that define the art. Through the generosity and knowledge of our seniors, and through the preservation of documents like this one, we are able to continue studying not only the movements themselves, but the understanding behind them.
We are very fortunate to have this material, and even more fortunate to have those within the lineage who can still help us interpret it properly.
ECGA
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