During the turn of the 3rd millennium, Hung Ga was one of the most widely practiced styles of kung fu from southern China in the world.
[4][5][6] It is best known for its low and stable positions, its powerful attacks mainly developed with the upper limbs, many blocks and also the work of internal energy.
[7][2] Hung Gar Kuen is represented in the world in mainly four family branches; Tang Fung, Lam, Chiu and Lau.
In current times, this mode of instruction is generally considered impractical for students, who have other concerns beyond practicing kung fu.
Due to the characteristic techniques of the tiger and the crane, this style is based on the concept of Yam and Yeung (Yin and Yang), which has also fundamentally influenced Chinese thinking.
Its popularity in modern times is mainly associated with the Cantonese folk hero Wong Fei-hung, a Hung Ga master.
It is said to go at least as far back as Jee Sin Sim See, who is said to have taught Taming the Tiger—or at least an early version of it—to both Hung Hei-gun and Luk Ah-choi.
As a teenager, Wong Fei Hung learned Iron Wire from Lam Fuk-sing (林福成; Línfúchéng) a student of Tit Sin-saam.
Wong Fei-hung weapon of choice was primarily the Fifth Brother Eight Trigram Pole (五郎八卦棍), which is a very popular routine in southern styles as its origins is linked to a famous patriot hero.
Other weapons credited to having been taught in Wong Fei-hung curriculum were the Spring & Autumn Guandao (春秋大刀), and the Yu Family Tiger Fork (瑤家大扒) broadsword (刀), the spear (槍), the fan (扇).
Lacking such a common point of reference, the "village" styles of Hung Kuen show even greater variation.
It is said to have featured "a two-foot horse," that is, narrow stances, and routines whose footwork typically took up no more than four tiles' worth of space.
Hasayfu Hung Ga 下四虎洪家 The Ha Sei Fu (下四虎) is said to fit this description, though the implied link to the legendary Jee Sin Sim See is more speculative than most because of its poorly documented genealogy.
Other Branches of Hasayfu Hung Kuen also contain combined animal sets, like Tiger & Crane, Dragon & Leopard, etc.
Wong Kiew-kit trace their version of the Tiger Crane routine, not to Hung Hei-gun or Luk Ah-choi, but to their senior classmate Harng Yein.
The dissemination of Hung Kuen in Southern China, and its Guangdong and Fujian Provinces in particular, is due to the concentration of anti-Qing activity there.
Guangdong and Fujian remained a stronghold of sympathizers and recruits for the Hung Mun, even as it spread elsewhere in the decades that followed.
Cantonese and Fujianese are also predominant among Overseas Chinese, accounting for the widespread dissemination of Hung Kuen outside of China.
One of the more famous teachers of Hung Kuen today was the Shaw Brothers movie director/actor, Lau Kar-leung (劉家良), who has many students in Hong Kong.
Mark Ho, with the blessing of Lau Kar-Leung, has opened a unique Hung Kuen school in Fanling.
The school itself looks like a scene from a Shaw Brothers movie; it has many training chambers, wooden dummies, and hanging logs.
Wong (黃耀楨) (San Francisco), Bucksam Kong (江北山) (Los Angeles and Hawaii), Kwong Tit-fu (鄺鐵夫) and Tang Kwok-wah (鄧國華) (Boston) .
(Among Tang Kwok-wah's students currently teaching in the area are Winchell Ping Chiu-woo (胡炳超) (Chiu Mo Kwoon, Boston), Yon Lee (李健遠) (who is also the master instructor for the Harvard Tai Chi Tiger Crane kung fu Club at Harvard University since 1985), and Sik Y. Hum.
- Chiu Kau (趙教) began learning Hung Kuen in Singapore then became a student of Lam Sai-wing.
The couple eventually settled down in Hong Kong, where they continued their Hung Ga training at the Lam Sai-wing National Art Association Second Branch.
Dang Fong (鄧芳) lineage students consists of such notables as: Ho Lap Tien - Represented in the U.S. by Philadelphia's Master Cheurng Shu Pui.