Fujian White Crane Kung Fu
Fujian White Crane Kung Fu, once known as Tiger Crane Combination Kung Fu, has been taught by Chief Instructor Dennis Kah Swee Ngo since 1977. He has been training in this style for more than 40 years. Kung Fu is his first love, but he has achieved black belt status in some of the Japanese arts as well.
Official research in China has traced the origins and history of White Crane Kung Fu. The founder of the style was Fan Qiang Liang, daughter of a famous Wushu Master. They moved to Fujian province after the death of her mother, and in the best tradition of Kung Fu, her father died defending her honour from unwelcome suitors. Only 17 at the time, she vowed revenge, and joined a temple as a nun.
It is said that during this time she dreamt that she was fighting a white crane, but it evaded her attacks easily, using its powerful wings to strike back at her. After the third night of this dream she realized that she could adapt her fighting style to incorporate the crane's agility and grace; its ability to strike quickly and accurately.
Fan Qiang Liang later married a student and moved to Yong Chun county in Fujian Province, where she became a famous master. Her disciples later became the masters who developed the five styles of the Fuzhou White Crane system. Her students spread the White Crane style and its derivatives throughout China and Southeast Asia, and into Okinawa.
This style comes from Fujian Province, China. Fujian Province is famous throughout China for its flamboyant, fierce and efficient White Crane Kung Fu styles. For the sake of simplicity, it is known as Fujian White Crane Kung Fu in the West. It is the complete system of White Crane (the tiger stance providing a strong base for the more flamboyant hand techniques of the crane).
The White Crane style taught by Dennis Ngo originated in the Yong Chun district of Fujian province. Although our club is worldwide, our links back to China are strong. Yong Chun White Crane Kung Fu is the only White Crane style to have its origins in the Southern Shaolin temple. Our Chief Instructor has been officially commissioned by the Fujian Yong Chun YiYun Wushu Society (China) to help with research into the history of the White Crane style. Fujian White Crane Kung Fu (international) is now accepted as original and from the same lineage by Yong Chun White Crane Wushu (China).
Traditionally, this style was taught slowly and solidly, with heavy emphasis on stance and footwork. Mr Ngo strikes a careful balance in his teaching, staying true to the traditional principals of the art while tailoring it to suit the culture and people of the new millennium. The art is taught hard and fast, with heavy emphasis placed on discipline, building a strong healthy body and developing the confidence to be both polite and humble. Students are taught to fight properly so that they can appreciate the value of life and the sanctity of each person's body.
Moral discipline is pressed upon students from the very beginning to help them cope with the responsibility that the deadliness of this art places upon them. You have to go through many growing pains to achieve any real gains. In order to have control over yourself, you must first bring forth your temper - only then can you learn to control it and use it positively. The promise made between the Chief Instructor and the students is that the art will be taught properly and learnt diligently.