In the southern fist online comunity , there is the hung gar forum . is very popular and the topics and discussions have a great quality of knowledge and friendship between differents hung gar branches . one of his topics was a patience step by step analisys of the gung gee fook fu kuen form . starting with the first movement , every member explained the way he learned the movement according his branch and his own interpretation of correct posture , energy and combat application .
With a lot of members in this forum who train and some teach the choy lay fut system of grandmaster lee koon hung , I was thinking maybe we could start a similar topic with siu muy fah kuen , maybe the most commun representative form .
I’ll start based upon the master lee koon hung poster , with the first steps . if you think would be a good topic , please . feel free of join .
I think before start with the fist steps we could anylize the name :
Siu muy fah kuen - small plum flower fist
Siu muy fah is the national flower of china , many styles have a form called muy fah kuen . the petals of the flower represent the 5 nations of china :
Han – original Chinese
Moon – Manchurian
Moan – Mongolian
Woy – muslim
Jong – Tibetan
Someone wants add something about the right and wrong relation between the name of the form with his footwork . also how many forms in the lineage have the name muy fah ?
Most systems with a Shaolin root will have various moi fa forms.
Siu moi fa is named in relation to the energy and method of the form. The form is fast, quick and changes direction rapidly. When a plum blossom falls from the tree, think about how it flutters and moves, very hard to catch. Hence the name.
I believe teh term “moi fah” is in relation to the petals of teh plum blossom and how direction of form goes in as many directions.
IE: 4 petals = 4 cardinal directions.
Of course, some plum blossoms have 5 petals and so 5 directions is the path the form takes.
The plum flower also blossoms while there is still snow, and so, it is considered hardy and enduring. THis is also related to the forms that bear the name.
Moi fa in general refers to five directions based on the five petals. Like Sup ji ( + ) refers to the four cardinal directions. Siu moi fa kuen as a form is in reference to the directions also, but also in reference to the type of energy in movement as I mentioned earlier.
Plum Flower is a symbol that represented China as a country… Relating to the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. So the name was to stand for the Chinese having their own country again, similar to Chan Kai Shek and Taiwan. Also similar to the Japanese Sun being their symbol…
As far as directions it would be 5, but in our form in the LKH lineage, their is only 4. I believe you will find the names given more as a representation then as a literal meaning or by a move by move clue finding artifact…
After all those who know CLF will find most of the forms have much more in common than they do different I even notice this in other branches that I have been lucky to see outside of our own.
I had the pleasure of visiting one of Grandmaster Wong Ha’s students Master Gary Seto in Vancouver, nice clean and traditional stuff…
ok. thank you, this is very helpful. my sifu calls this dang toi, or nail kick, which is basically the ball of the foot. on gm lkh’s poster, it is a toe kick. it is important to me to know this, b/c doing a ball of the foot dang toi requires me to thrust more with my hips than with a toe kick.
It’s like a side kick with the outside part of ball of foot.
You could do it as a snap kick also with the top of the foot but I prefer the Deng Geuk because
It is very powerful
You have more targets to choose from
The snap kick from this position can only effectively kick the groin or chin. The Deng Geuk can hit anywhere on the torso, or the groin or the throat etc.
However, you should be able to execute both from this position because in combat you have to be flexible enough to take any opportunity that reveals itself.