It contains a wide variety of techniques, including long and short range punches, kicks, sweeps and take downs, pressure point attacks, joint locks, and grappling.

Choy Li Fut is the only style [of kung fu] that traveled to Thailand to fight the Thai boxers and hadn't lost.Chan Heung (陳享), also known as Din Ying (典英), Daht Ting (逹庭), Chen Xianggong, and Chen Xiang (both in Mandarin), was born on August 23, 1806, or July 10, 1806 of the lunar calendar, in King Mui 京梅 (Ging Mui), a village in the San Woi 新會 (Xin Hui) district of Jiangmen, Guangdong province of China.

According to legend, the monk Jee Sin Sim See (至善禪師) is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders – along with Ng Mui (五梅大師), Fung Doe-duk (馮道德), Miu Hin (苗顯) and Bak Mei (白眉道人) – who survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple sometime during the late Qing Dynasty.

[9] At the time Chan Heung sought him out, he had lived as a recluse on Lau Fu mountain (羅浮山) and no longer wished to teach martial arts.

[18] Choy Li Fut's leg techniques contain 6 elements: Chaang 撐 bracing, Ding 釘 nailing, Liu Tek 撩踢 kicking, Sou 掃 sweeping, Jit 截 blocking, Au 勾 hooking, and Daan 彈 springing.

They are: Yam 陰 negative, Yeung 陽 positive, Gong 剛 hard, Yau 柔 soft, Heui 虛 false, Sat 實 real, Tau 偷 stealing, and Lau 溜 sneaking.

What is unique to the Choy Li Fut style is sometimes termed "whipping", where the practitioner's upper torso twists to generate more power in executing hand and arm techniques.

[25] During this era of rebellion and dissent, Chan Heung left his home in King Mui with his wife and two children, and seized the opportunity to set up many Choy Li Fut schools in Southern China to help spread revolutionary ideas against the Manchu government.

The first disciple to teach Choy Li Fut outside of King Mui was Lung Ji-choi 龍子才, who opened a school in the town of Xunzhou in Guangxi.

The Foshan Hung Sing 佛山鴻勝舘 branch was extremely popular and this worried the Manchu government supporters as well as created intense rivalries between martial arts schools.

It is these developments that caused differences in forms and the application of techniques between branches and schools and contribute to the heated discussions regarding the history of Choy Li Fut.

[39][40] In 1898, Chan Cheong-mo 陳長毛 founded the Sei Yup (four counties) Hung Sing School in Kong Chow 岡州 City now called Jiangmen.

Before Chan Cheong-mo 陳長毛 died in 1953, his adopted son and successor Chew Kam-wing 赵锦荣 was appointed to be the keeper and head instructor of the Hung Sing School in Jiangmen city.

Chew Kam-wing 赵锦荣 taught in the Jiangmen Hung Sing School until the Chinese government banned traditional kung fu teaching.

Before Wong Gong 黄江 moved to Hong Kong, both of his teachers told him to continue teaching in order to keep the Choy Li Fut system alive.

All the senior members of Chan Cheong-mo's 陳長毛 students believed Wong Gong 黄江 had achieved the greatest success in the teaching of Choy Li Fut.

The Fut San Hung Sing branch 佛山洪勝舘/佛山鴻勝舘 has some differences in the Choy Li Fut蔡李佛 under Chan Heung Great Sage (洪聖舘) curriculum.

Some of Jeong Yim's 張炎 students include Chan Ngau-sing, Wong Say 黄四, Yuen Hai 阮系, Tarm Narp (Nap), Lui Charn (Chaun) 雷粲, and Lay Yun.

Chia Yim-soon 谢炎顺 is the disciple of Kwan Man-keng and succeeded him as the 掌门人 Hung Sheng (Sing) Chinese Koontow and Lion Dance Society in Singapore.

In 1977 Li Iu-ling returned to Hong Kong, where he received the news that Chan Yiu-chi's 陳耀墀 grandson, Chen Yong-fa, was hoping to leave China.

Chan Ngau Sing's students: Gan Yu-ten 顏耀庭,Qian Wai-fong 錢維方, Tong Sek 湯錫 and Hu Yuen-chou 胡雲綽.

Jeong Yim's primary students were Chan Ngau-sing, Yuan Hai, Tam Lup, Lee Yan and Lui Charn (Chaun) 雷粲.

A Northern Shaolin master named Gu Ruzhang (Ku Yu-cheung|Ku Yu-jeung) befriended and joined Tam Sam and thus added more techniques to the Buk Sing Choy Li Fut curriculum.

There are only a few students of his, Ngan Yiu-ting 颜耀庭, Fong Yuk-shu 方玉书, Wong Fook-wing 黄福荣 and Leong Gwei 梁贵, whose teaching legacy is still around today.

Lee Koon-hung 李冠雄 studied under Poon Sing, as well as Yun Yim-cho, Chow Bing 周炳，Leung Sai 梁世, Leung, and So Kam-fook So Kam Fook 蘇金福，.

Popular Wǔxiá novels, like Wan Nian Qing and the mythology of anti-Qing organizations such as the Heaven and Earth Society, were spreading wildly through China since the early 19th century.

When the Tai Ping Tian Guo (太平天國) government fell in 1864, Chan Heung 陳享 left China for a few years, some speculate South East Asian locations such as Malaysia or Singapore.

In 1867, Chan Heung 陳享 returned home to King Mui, where he was able to see his own kung fu system gain tremendous popularity throughout Southern China.

Chan On-pak's 陳安伯 control of the spear was so advanced that he gained the nickname "Yut Cheung Ng Mui Fa" 一槍五梅花 or "Five Blossoms with One Lance.

The younger son, Chan Koon-pak 陳官伯, left King Mui to become a merchant in Kong Moon 江門市 (Jiangmen) City, where his fame as a martial artist spread quickly.