Hand forms have been passed down through the centuries, from master to student. Learn more about our hand forms below, such as the famous Five Animals pattern, or how to develop your foundation with Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen.
工字伏虎拳 – Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen
Taming The Tiger In An ‘I’-Shape
The first form teaches the basic stances and techniques of Hung Kuen. It develops foundation and the student learns where and how to place the feet in order to move between the stances correctly and with power. Many important aspects are developed by training this form, including deepening the breath and coordinating the breath with movement. The whole body is exercised and endurance and stamina are greatly increased.
虎鹤双形拳 – Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen
Tiger Crane Double Pattern Form
The second form strengthens the foundation and stance training built up in Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen. The focus becomes more martial here, with more obvious fighting techniques. This form introduces the student to the theory of hard and soft power, represented in the form by the Tiger style’s explosive hard strikes and the Crane style’s soft whipping power. This form contains many famous sets, which can be trained independently as well, including the Ten Tiger Pattern, Five Element Fist, Drunken Style, and Ten Killing Hands.
五形拳 – Ng Ying Kuen
Five Animal Form
The third form contains most of the style’s fighting techniques and applications. All five animals are represented and the student learns more about the philosophy of the five elements as well as the fighting philosophies of each animal. The Dragon style trains the mind and spirit, emphasizes the twisting of the waist for power, and makes the practitioner changeable and unpredictable. The Snake style trains the Qi, teaches striking vital points on the body and is the fastest animal at short distances. The Tiger style trains the bones and tendons, and uses its body weight, alignment and extreme fierceness for power. The Leopard style trains the strength, and uses momentum and multiple strikes to disable the opponent. Finally, the Crane style trains the sinews, and teaches grace and balance, it uses patience to wait for the right moment to strike with speed and accuracy at sensitive areas.
铁线拳 – Tiet Sing Kuen
Iron Wire Form
The final hand form trains the internal power and teaches the student to coordinate sound, breath, movement and internal energy. Both extremes of hard and soft are exercised in order to learn to combine them in different ways, the body learns to open and close, float and sink as well greatly improving on the connection between different parts of the body (such as upper- and lower-body). The Twelve Bridges philosophy is introduced and exercised.
达摩易筋经 – Dat Mo Yit Gung Ging
Dat Mo Muscle-Changing Classic
Not a hand form as such but a set of exercises that were brought into the style and developed further by Grandmaster Yee Chi Wai. This extremely powerful set is only taught to students that have been training for a minimum of five years, as the risk of injury is high. Through breath training and beating exercises, the whole body is conditioned, the internal system is strongly exercised and the tendons are stretched and extended.