I was wondering if anyone has any info on Lau Gar kung fu?
Thanx
Lau Gar
Lau Gar, or Lau Family is considered one of the original 5 Southern family styles. I have been told that the style died out, forms were lost or forgotten, and that the remaining forms were incorporated into the Hung Gar curriculum. I have also heard that that guy in Shaw Bros. “Master Killer” (I can never remember his name!) is a descendent of the Lau Family. I don’t know how much truth there is to any of this, but I do know that there is a Lau Gar school in Scotland! Yeah, that’s right, Scotland! I don’t know, I just somehow find that funny. And interesting, very interesting. 
How many times do I have to write this? Lau Gar is a short hand system, sort of halfway between Bak Mei and Hung Gar. As far as I know, the Lau Gar forms in Hung Gar are separate, coming from the Lau family made famous by the members with Shaw Brothers.
Lau Gar is probably the dominant single Chinese style in Britain, having been one of the first taught openly, and by gaiining exposure through great success on the point fighting circuit. ( Strangely enough, many of the big names from the last generation of Lau fighters, Neville Wray, Clive Parkinson, Kevin Brewerton etc were American).
Many people say that Lau Gar in this country is not a true style and was made up by Jeremy Yau, however I have read in sources by people with no love of Jeremy Yau that there are teachers in Hong Kong (I’ve got the name of one of them at home somewhere).
“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu
Ben Gash
I’m interested as to where you get all your info on Lau Gar from?Do you, or have you ever practiced it?
Lausan :rolleyes:
Neville Wray
Neville Wray is not American - nor was he ever! He’s from Birmingham, England originally.
Kevin Brewerton is American.
Clive Parkinson I never heard of.
Actually…
I think I have heard of Clive Parkinson. If it’s the same guy that I’m thinking of then he’s not American either, but also English.
Lau Gar Wing and Lau Gar Fai (aka Gordon Lau / Lui Chiu Hui)
The Lau brothers do NOT practise Lau Gar kungfu, but Hung Gar gungfu.
The father of Lau Gar Wing, Lau Saam, was a student of Lam Sai Wing.
He set up his own Hungga school, where he taught his sons and later Lau Gar Fai. Lau GAr Fai later was adopted and changed his name to Lau Gar Fai.
Lau Saam already played in a few movies (depicting LSW with Kwan Tak Hing as WFH)
His son Gar Wing also joined the movie industry. First he played in some movies, then became a director. Lau Gar Fai joined the movies later and is very famous as “the monk” in Shaolin movies.
Their most famous movie is “36 Chambers of Shaolin” which in America was released as “Master Killer”. Lau Gar Wing was the director of that movie.
There are actually 5 Lau Ga .. brothers.
The others are not that famous.
The Lau family still teaches Hungga in Hong Kong.
Their Hungga does NOT contain the Lau Ga forms.
When Lau Saam learned from Lam Sai Wing these forms were not part of the system yet.
Well they walk round talking in American accents all the time.
Lausan, I haven’t really said a great deal. Tony Leung, who used to teach SPM and Hung Gar in Islington used to have a column in combat and a subscription only magazine called “The Roots of Kung Fu”, and there was a big article in this on Lau Gar. Now Leung and Yau REALLY didn’t get on (actually, there’s quite a lot of people in the English CMA scene he didn’t get on with), and so he wouldn’t support the style if Yau made it up. Sadly I can’t find that issue at the moment, but there was a Lau teacher in Hong Kong who was in the contributor’s section of every issue, and I’ll try to find one and post his name. Leung was going to try to get him over to teach a Lau Gar bench seminar, and to promote traditional Lau Gar. Sadly Tony Leung disappeared back to Hong Kong under something of a cloud before this could happen.
Interestingly enough, and linking with the thread on the KF forum, the lineage given in the article did go to Malaysia for a couple of generations.
No, I’m one of the few kung fu guys in England who’s never studied Lau Gar.
“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu
“How many times do I have to write this?”… Ben Gash
Well, apparently til it takes.
Hey I’m glad you did Ben. And Charris–always great to hear from you! I for one really appreciate you guys responding with so much info–I’m always looking to fill in empty gaps in my knowledge and it’s great when you can provide facts that enable me to set aside rumors and stories that are just plain made-up! I hope my thanks is enough to make up for the inconvenience of repeating yourselves! Thanks muchly.
Chuck
Accents
Ben dude - you need to concentrate more on your accents 
Either that or Neville has been spending altogether too much time with Kevin Brewerton. Neville Wray is not American, and never spoke in an American accent in the five years or so that he was my sifu!
Probably the latter 
Anyway, that sifu’s name is Yan Chu Mian (that’s mandarin, could anyone translate it into cantonese, as that’s almost certainly what he uses).
“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu
Tony Leung had to return to Hong Kong in order
to take care of relatives he has there.
Yan chu Mian
Ben, Do you have any more info regarding this Lau Gar sifu from Hong kong?
'Fraid not.
Here’s some more Lau websites for those interested.
www.stafford-lau-gar.co.uk
www.laugar.co.uk (with syllabus info)
www.bkfa.org.uk
www.laugar-kungfu.co.uk
“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu
Thanks Ben…
Hears a copy of some info I posted else where. Might just agree with you!
Well…
So many different opinions.
I’ve Studied Lau Gar kuen in London for 12 years, and well OK i admit I fought in a few semi-contact tourneys as a beginner.but then I attended a summer camp with Master yau
back in '92 and have never looked back.
I sometimes dispair at the constant bitching that seems to go on in the UK and elsewhere regarding Lau gar.
The system that contains many hand forms, first form if anything appears similar to beginning of Hung Gar’s Tiger/Crane form.
Form 2 has similarities to Wing Chun first form (QUESTION) IS CENTRE LINE THEORY EXCLUSIVE TO WING CHUN?
Answer I don’t think so!
Form 3. Maybe similar toBak mei as it contains only phoenix punches.
Need I go on?
OK .many more hand forms also many weapons.
Staff, broad sword, butterfly knives, spear, tiger fork, straight sword.
Now the big admittance!!!
Yes there is alot of Lau Gar instructors in UK teaching kickboxing, but this has a long history, back in the days when the kung fu guys had to enter karate tourneys
just to get a fight. Originally there were hardly any high kicks in Lau Gar 30 years ago,
but the story goes that a lau fighter could not score with his traditional kicks namely ngau lim toi, (sickle kick).
So the lau man proved that the kick was strong by breaking his apponents ribs.
the fighter was disqualified. So… as one of the people in Lau had some experience of taewondo he started to use these kicks in compeitions however they are not part of the lau gar system except for comps.
The kickboxing is usually kept to seperate classes with the trad classes being smaller but with long timer loyal students.
So on a final note Lau Gar Kuen as taught by master Yau is very much a traditional southern style.
The difference is that he chooses to keep the real Lau Gar Kuen closer to himself.
Go train with the man and let your eyes and mind be opened.
Colin…
Colin:first form if anything appears similar to beginning of Hung Gar’s Tiger/Crane form.
Is that not because thats where it comes from?
Colin:Maybe similar toBak mei as it contains only phoenix punches.
I hope you’re not suggesting that Pak Mei only uses Phoenix Eye.
Many systems use this fist, some in quite a different way to the ‘drilling’ strike of White Eyebrow.
My personal experince with Lau Gar is mostly from tournaments when I was younger (where I might add I had my point scoring ass severely whipped on many occasions). I have however been to four separate Lau Gar classes in four separate places and what I have seen is not traditional training but the semi contact type training, I have also had students in the past from Lau Gar. Fair enough then that the traditional style exists, and all power to it,I’ve just never seen it. I was under the impression that the Lau Gar in the UK was an offshoot from Hung Kuen. This was the subject of some discussion during an early British Kung Fu Council meeting where Jeff Hasbrook was present and performing in order to be accepted into the council.
Mark S
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Mark,
Quote from “Complete guide to Kung Fu Styles” Jane Hallander. ‘The only fist that White eyebrow uses is the phoenix eye fist’ Does this mean that you are not training in pure traditional Bak Mei? ;^)
Colin…
Colin :Quote from “Complete guide to Kung Fu Styles” Jane Hallander. ‘The only fist that White eyebrow uses is the phoenix eye fist’ Does this mean that you are not training in pure traditional Bak Mei? ;^)
Oh dear, oh dear. Well I must be wrong then, couldn’t possibly argue with the bible of chinese fighting arts. I wonder, is Lau Gar in that book?
The Pak Mei I study must be a load of old rubbish then, and to think all this time I thought it was real. Damn.
How we can be fooled so easily by believing that the style/system we study is the real mcoy. I must seek out an authentic style to learn, mmmmm, now which one?
Mark S
Well is it possible that you are wrong?
I’m only quoting from else where!
Maybe I shouldn’t comment as I admit I know very little about bak mei.
But then again you also seem to know nothing about Lau gar…