Part I
Chuka Shaolin in Perspective

CHAPTER ONE

Historical Perspective

The historical documentation of a fighting art that spans several hundred years is a difficult undertaking. This is especially so when the art in question lacks written documentation prior to the 1970s, as is the case with Chuka Shaolin. And while Cheong Cheng Leong knows the history of his art as passed on to him by his late master, Lee Siong Pheow, he is unsure of the origins of the art past five generations.

In an attempt to be as accurate and as detailed as possible, we not only present the oral history of Chuka Shaolin as passed down through the generations, but we also offer several new insights into the “mother art(s)” from which it may have sprung.

One possible origin of Chuka Shaolin is found among the Hakka, or Guest Family, peoples of Canton/Guangdong, China. There is a martial art among the Hakka people that stems from Chu gar kow, or the Chu family religion. Chu gar kow was originally an underground society that formed during the Qing/Manchu dynasties. Chu gar kow’s fighting art is now known to many as Chu-gar mantis, the first of the “southern” praying mantis systems to have developed. Over the years, other styles of southern mantis, such as Chow-gar and jook lum have also evolved. Since the Chinese characters for Chu-gar (southern praying mantis) and Chuka (phoenix-eye fist) are the same, it is possible that the latter art evolved from the former.

Another possible origin of Chuka Shaolin is Fukien white crane boxing. Some believe that the teachings of the Chu gar kow spread and became the various styles of Fukien Shaolin boxing—of which white crane boxing is a part. Since the cave where the nun Leow Fah Shih Koo resided and later taught her “Shaolin” art to the Chu sisters was known as the Pai-Ho Toong, or White Crane Cave, it is possible that Chuka Shaolin is based in pai-ho, or southern white crane, kung-fu.

Perhaps a more feasible explanation is that the art evolved as an eclectic blend of several Fukien Shaolin arts, including white crane boxing and Chu-gar praying mantis boxing.

However, like so many other martial arts, the history of Chuka Shaolin is shrouded in the myths and legends of oral traditions passed down through the generations from master to disciple. In the case of the art in question, oral history holds that it was founded by a Shaolin nun who, after leaving the Shaolin Temple, passed on her art to two sisters with the surname Chu.

The story goes something like this...

A Nun and Two Sisters

In the late eighteenth century, there was a Buddhist nun named Leow Fah Shih Koo who was said to have attained mastery of Shaolin kung-fu at China’s Fukien Shaolin Temple. She learned the art from her brother, Abbot Chih Sun. During a time of political turmoil, Leow left Shaolin to seek a more peaceful and quite life for herself in the Pai-Ho Toong, or White Crane Cave, in Kwangtung province.

Aside from her skills in Shaolin kung-fu, Leow was also an herbalist. In fact, she earned her living by gathering and compounding herbs from the hillsides and selling them in a nearby town.

One day, while en route to town to sell her herbs, Leow chanced upon two sisters who had been abandoned and left to fend for themselves in the village granary. Upon further investigation, Leow found that the sisters were Chu Meow Eng and Chu Meow Luan, daughters of wealthy parents who had recently been robbed and murdered.

Leow took the children into her cave-home and raised them as her own. The Chu sisters assisted the nun in the collection of herbs and the preparation of compounds for sale in the village. In addition, Leow taught them Shaolin kung-fu, an art at which they excelled. In fact, it is said that the Chu sisters were so talented that they were able to master the Shaolin art after just a few years of dedicated practice. It was upon their completion of Shaolin training that Leow encouraged them to study the fighting instincts and techniques of animals and insects. With this in mind, the Chu sisters then embarked on observing and imitating the fighting actions of the praying mantis, tiger, monkey, and snake. They then incorporated these new skills into the Shaolin art taught to them by Leow. Elements of the praying mantis, tiger, monkey, and snake can be found in varying degrees in the empty-hand forms of this dynamic fighting art.

After perfecting their new fighting art, the Chu sisters presented it to the nun for review and criticism. Leow was so impressed that she formally named the new art “Chuka” from Chu, the sisters’ surname, and ka, meaning “family” in the Hakka dialect. Thus, Chuka refers to the Chu-family style of Chinese martial arts. And while not a Shaolin martial art proper, and actually having developed independent of the temple itself, in deference to the Fukien Shaolin Temple wherein Leow learned her fighting art, the name was carried over. Thus, the complete name of the Chu sisters’ art became Chuka Shaolin.

It was also during this time that the nun envisioned and came to develop the deadly hand-formation resembling the eye of the mythical phoenix. Feeling that this particular fist strike was especially effective for women (i.e., herself and the Chu sisters), Leow incorporated it into the Chu sisters’ new fighting art. As time passed, however, the exponents of Chuka Shaolin began to favor the use of the phoenix-eye fist hand strike. As a result, the art of Chuka Shaolin is now more commonly known as phoenix-eye fist kung-fu.

OOH PING KWANG

After Leow passed away, the Chu sisters embraced her kind disposition and continued to gather herbs, make medicinal compounds, and practice kung-fu. One day while on their way to town, one of the sisters was accidentally struck by mud thrown by a group of boys who were fighting. Upon seeing that a passerby had been struck with the mud, all the boys fled, with the exception of the one who had actually flung the mud. The boy apologized profusely for the accident, stating that he was merely flinging mud in all directions so as to keep the bullies from getting at him.

The boy’s name was Ooh Ping Kwang. He was an orphan who tended the cows and did other chores on his uncle’s farm in exchange for his keep. The sisters were so impressed with the boy’s disposition and honesty that they approached Ooh’s uncle and asked permission to look after the boy. The sympathetic uncle said he would consent only if the sisters agreed to teach his nephew their martial art in an effort to secure a safer future for the frail child. The nuns agreed. Ooh was nine years old at the time.

Over the many years Ooh served the Chu sisters he grew to manhood and became quite skilled as a martial artist and as an herbalist. On the death of the second Chu sister, Ooh, now almost forty, descended from his cave-home and settled in the village, where he married a local girl. Ooh then set about imparting the Chuka art and herbal knowledge to his relatives and trusted friends, never forgetting the Chu sisters, their strict teachings, and their high moral character.

LEE SIONG PHEOW

Lee Siong Pheow (1886-1961) was one of Ooh’s most gifted disciples. He was trained in a more rigorous manner than any of Ooh’s other pupils, serving a long apprenticeship with the master. Lee worked hard during the day, fully occupied with the domestic chores in his master’s household. Every evening and early each morning Ooh directed Lee’s Chuka training. Lee was required to undergo unremitting practice of the various stances and postures, an unnerving and boring practice to be sure, but he persevered. Lee’s only problem was his temper. While he willingly accepted the hard work and the beatings administered by his master, and whatever harsh punishment the master might decree to correct any mistakes made in training, Lee could not accept domination by others.

One day, Lee’s temper got the better of him. He relentlessly beat Master Ooh’s son during training. For this unforgivable act, Master Ooh, using a long hardwood pole, fiercely struck Lee’s fist and foot, crippling the index finger of his right hand and deforming one of his feet for life. While such a severe lesson would surely have discouraged a spiritually weaker man, it only served to make Lee realize that his skill was not yet perfect. He had to train even harder than in the past. In time, Lee’s diligent effort and consistent training elevated him to the highest level of Chuka Shaolin excellence, and it is said that no local fighter could defeat him in one-on-one combat.

In 1930, Lee left Kwangtung and emigrated to Malaysia, where he settled in Penang and earned his living as an herbalist and traditional physician (fig. 1). He followed the strict traditional policies of his Chuka predecessors, especially the rule of choosing students with wisdom and great care. Lee required that each candidate who wished to study under him accept certain conditions. The candidate was to kneel before him holding a cup of Chinese tea in one hand and a small red envelope containing money in the other. By this method, Lee tested the candidate’s humility and sincerity. Many refused to kneel before the master, instead issuing pompous challenges of fighting skill. Lee, a man said to have never refused a challenge, obliged. As in China, Lee was never known to have been defeated in Malaysia. Many, after being defeated and thoroughly embarrassed at the hands of Master Lee, had an immediate change of heart and, in the manner Lee required, asked to be accepted as a student. Once accepted as a pupil, Lee inculcated them with three principles:

• Do not create or seek trouble.

• Do not teach people of unproved character what you have learned.

• Always be humble and respectful to others.

Indeed, a breach of any of these principles meant instant expulsion from the art. Master Lee was said to have never given an offender a second chance.

Master Lee passed away in 1961, at the age of seventy-seven. His most prized pupil was Cheong Cheng Leong, the current grandmaster of the art.

Lee Siong Pheow

CHEONG CHENG LEONG

Cheong Cheng Leong began his study of Chuka Shaolin under the tutelage of Master Lee Siong Pheow in 1951, at the impressionable age of ten (eleven, by the Chinese calendar). Master Lee, who was already in his sixties at this time, was famous in the Air Itam quarter of Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Someone had told Cheong that there was a master in the town who knew a very special type of fist that was strong and could surely kill anybody, regardless of size and fighting ability. Being a young and impressionable boy who liked to fight, Cheong approached the master, determined to learn his art (fig. 2). At that time, Lee taught only Chinese of Cantonese or Hakka status, no Hokkien. Fortunately for the future of the art, Cheong Cheng Leong was a member of the correct social class.

Cheong Cheng Leong

Master Lee was interested in Cheong and his friends because they were so young and impressionable; he believed that he could mold them into respectable and upstanding citizens. When he approached Lee, the master asked Cheong if he was interested in learning Chuka Shaolin to become a better fighter. Cheong answered no, he was not interested in the art for fighting. Master Lee then asked the young Cheong why, if not for fighting, he wished to learn kung-fu. Cheong sat there in silence. Master Lee again asked Cheong if he was sincerely not interested in the art for purposes of fighting. Cheong replied that he was really not interested in such things. With that, Master Lee seemed content and said since Cheong was not interested in fighting, he would accept the boy as a student.

Master Lee still adhered to the ceremony of accepting new pupils, but Cheong was young and forgot all that was expected of him in this regard. He simply stuffed five Malaysian dollars into a red envelope and handed it to the master. At that time, five Malaysian dollars was quite expensive for kung-fu training in Malaysia. After all, one could join any of the other martial arts associations in Penang, like Chin Wu, for only one or two dollars. However, money seemed no object for some, and a few people who could afford it paid Master Lee fifty Malaysian dollars for lessons! These people thought that with the extra money changing hands, they were afforded special attention and training by the master. Cheong, however, is of the opinion that they learned nothing special as a result.

Cheong and his friends used to hang out and fight on the banks of the Air Itam river—nice water, nice fishing, nice fighting. For despite what he had told Master Lee, he actually wanted to learn martial arts to become a better fighter. From day one of his practice, Cheong was already plotting ways in which to use the new techniques in a fight. A few months after beginning his Chuka training, Cheong and some of his Chuka classmates had a fight with a group of boys who were saying derogatory things about the fighting art of Master Lee. Though in their minds they had an acceptable reason to fight, Master Lee scolded Cheong and his classmates and warned that if they fought again, under any circumstance, he would expel them from the school. The art and guidance of Master Lee truly changed Cheong’s character, and he has not fought since.

Master Lee’s Chuka Shaolin classes were held in his backyard, within easy walking distance from Cheong’s home (fig 3). Classes were held seven days a week in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and each session lasted roughly two hours. Cheong was quite studious and incorrigible when it came to training. In the beginning, he trained in all three classes on each day of each week. After three or four years of consistent training, Cheong no longer had to pay the student training fee, for he became Master Lee’s assistant.

Master Lee Siong Pheow died in 1961; he was seventy-seven years old. After the master’s death, his disciples held a formal meeting to discuss the future of Chuka Shaolin. During this meeting one of the disciples nominated Cheong to succeed Lee as the head of the art, since it was Cheong who had learned the most from their late teacher. It was unanimously agreed. From then on, even Cheong’s seniors would come to him for pointers or to learn a new technique or form.

Lee Siong Pheow (seated) with his students.

Prior to Lee’s passing, Cheong had never entertained the thought of teaching kung-fu for a living, and certainly not on a commercial basis. However, in 1964, with the encouragement of many people, Cheong decided to open classes in an effort to keep the art from becoming lost.

In the 1970s, Cheong opened a clothing, souvenir, and gift shop that caters to the many tourists who trek up the long stairway to the great Kwan Yin statue at the Kek Lok Si Temple, located in the Air Itam quarter of Pulau Pinang (fig. 4). After business hours, the shops and stairs empty and students gather to practice the art of Chuka Shaolin on a section of flat stone running parallel to Cheong’s shop (figs. 5, 6).

CHUKA SHAOLIN TODAY

While still obscure, the art of Chuka Shaolin has garnered somewhat of a cult following around the world. This has occurred as a result of some international exposure the art received in the early seventies through the book co-written by Cheong Cheng Leong and the late Donn F. Draeger, titled Phoenix-Eye Fist: A Shaolin Fighting Art of South China, and a number of articles that appeared in such magazines as Inside Kung-Fu, Oriental Fighting Arts, and Martial Arts Legends.

In 1972, Donn F. Draeger approached Cheong Cheng Leong with the prospect of the two of them writing a book together. Each year during the festival season in Penang, all of the local kung-fu clubs are invited to demonstrate their arts in public. While Draeger spent a good amount of time in Penang teaching Shindo Muso-ryu jo-jutsu, it was during the 1972 festival season that he was introduced for the first time to the dynamic fighting art of Chuka Shaolin.

Not knowing Cheong personally at that time, and following the tradition of using a mediator on first introductions, especially when making a request, Donn Draeger asked an associate to introduce him to Cheong Cheng Leong. After introductions had been made, Draeger asked Cheong if he would be interested in collaborating on a book on Chuka Shaolin. Cheong was interested, but told Draeger that permission would first have to be given by Master Lee’s widow and the art’s senior instructors. Mrs. Lee and the seniors agreed, as long as nothing secret to the style would be revealed in print. Two or three years later, the book was written, and in 1977, it was published. Although the book had been out of print for years, with the popularity of Chinese martial arts once again on the rise, it is again available.

Aside from co-authoring that book, and the one you now hold in your hands, Cheong Cheng Leong has perpetuated the art of Chuka Shaolin through his teachings in Malaysia,Venezuela, and England. A few years ago, the Malaysian government initiated a government-sponsored Penang martial arts organization, called Malam Seni Silat Malaysia Sempena Pesta Pulau Pinang (Penang Government Kung-fu Society). All of the senior chief instructors from Penang, along with one or two from Johor, demonstrated their arts at the first gathering of the society in 1997 (fig 7).

These days Cheong Cheng Leong can still be found, several evenings a week, on the steps of the Kek Lok Si Temple imparting to a small yet dedicated group of students the dynamic and deadly art of the phoenix-eye fist: Chuka Shaolin.

CHAPTER TWO

Overview of Chuka Shaolin

As with most traditional Chinese martial arts, there is no ranking system in Chuka Shaolin; you are either a student, a teacher, or a master. Hard work and dedication are the only things that make the novice an expert and bring an expert to mastery. The hardest part for the individual interested in Chuka Shaolin, however, is not the training as much as finding a qualified and authentic teacher of this rare fighting art. Whether a teacher is found or one attempts to learn the art from a book, what is most important is to engage in proper and directed training. As one cannot learn how to run before he can walk, one cannot learn a martial art form or its fighting techniques before he has gained a strong foundation in the basics. With this in mind, this chapter outlines the training process and the four basic principles necessary to apply Chuka Shaolin for self-defense.

PROGRESSIONS IN TRAINING

Once accepted as a pupil, the first thing the novice is taught is the horse-riding stance. After this stance has been developed to a respectable degree, students are introduced to the various footwork maneuvers, including the art’s unique dodging stance. The foot maneuvers are followed by hand movements, including how to form and hold the phoenix-eye fist and then how to strike with it. Once students learn how to punch, they put it together with the footwork. After a trainee has completed the fundamentals he goes on to the most basic form, kai san, which means “opening the mountain.” The title signifies the start of the trainee’s journey, a long and arduous uphill struggle. And it is only one of fifteen solo empty-hand forms to be learned.

Beginners take about one month to finish a given form before they are permitted to progress to another. Even then, they must attend three classes a week—each class lasting two hours—if they hope to do this in such a short time. Students then go on to learn another two forms, of which there are a total of twenty-five in the system: fifteen solo empty-hand forms, two two-person empty-hand forms, seven solo weapon forms, and one two-person weapon form. There are so many forms in the art because they are believed to be good for developing stamina and flexibility and for learning and developing the fighting combinations of the individual movements. After the first three empty-hand forms are learned, students move on to the two-person forms, weapons, and the fighting applications applicable therein.

In general, the Chinese method of teaching a group of students is for each student to practice on his own. When the master is free, he may come over and tell each student individually what to do. And while classes are not traditionally strict in terms of everybody being made to practice the same thing at the same time, students are not permitted to just stand around and socialize with their classmates; they must at least be sitting in a horse stance. As long as a student is doing something constructive with his training time, he can talk—permitting he is not disrupting the other students.

Practitioners of Chuka Shaolin don’t train in the same militaristic fashion as do exponents of other martial arts. Generally speaking, classes are held in small, informal groups. In fact, it is believed that the only true way of perfecting a Chinese martial art is by way of private, one-on-one instruction with a master, who will teach a solo form and then a two-person form. The master will tell a student in private what each movement is only once, and then he won’t show him again—the student will have to later recall it—or rediscover it—for himself. It is through this method that the diligent student will come to learn and understand the application of the forms.

As far as strength and conditioning training is concerned, in addition to the standard kung-fu sandbag, exponents of Chuka Shaolin use the phoenix-eye fist post for developing striking accuracy and conditioning of the phoenix-eye fist striking knuckle.

There are also a number of two-person arm-conditioning exercises in the art. While many styles advocate striking an inanimate object for purposes of conditioning the extremities, exponents of Chuka Shaolin believe the only way to truly develop the necessary power is to condition the arms jointly with another individual. This method of impact training develops a realistic feel of impact, distancing, body shifting and mechanics, and confidence in a close-quarter combative encounter. This type of training finds two students squaring off and banging various parts of their arms together in an effort to develop the strong forearm bones used for blocking hard strikes. Moreover, blocks are not executed force-to-force, but by way of twisting motions. As such, Chuka exponents don’t feel the impact on blocking, but their opponents certainly do. So, while exponents of Chuka Shaolin use the forearms to block, such tough training occasionally injures students.

In addition to the aforementioned training methods, there are also methods of developing resistance strength, pushing and redirecting sensitivity, and pulling strength. For maximum effect, these training methods are interspersed with forms practice. The general progression is: one or two empty-hand forms, a wrist-banging exercise, a palm-up/palm-down resistance exercise, one or more empty-hand forms, push and redirect exercise, three more empty-hand forms, a pulling exercise, one more empty-hand form.

After several years of consistent training, students are introduced to chi kung internal strength and energy development exercises. These exercises are among the most important training a Chuka practitioner will engage in.

APPLYING THE ART

Chinese martial arts on the whole are an interesting lot. They are at once a physical culture, a discipline, a personal defensive system, and an art form complete with aesthetic movements and postures, poetic names for the movements and postures, and key words or phrases that both shroud and act as a mechanism through which to uncover the true meaning behind the fighting techniques.

The art of Chuka Shaolin, while being a discipline and containing poetic names for its movements, is first and foremost a pragmatic fighting art. As such, it must be immediately applicable if the art is to be of use to its exponents. There is no advantage to hidden meanings and obscured phrases in a fighting art that may need to be used at any time, especially after ten years of training. As such, the fighting theory of Chuka Shaolin is simple, direct, pragmatic, and based on the following four key principles.

Principle 1: No Unrealistic Techniques

At the basic and most fundamental level of Chuka Shaolin are methods of movement and evasion, blocking and parrying, striking and kicking. There are joint locking techniques, sweeping methods, and ground-fighting skills within the system, too. However, this training is thought to be complicated and unnecessary in gaining a basic skill in self-defense. Thus, such training is reserved for advanced students who have already learned simple and effective self-defense skills but who embrace the art and wish to develop themselves further in it. In essence, Chuka techniques are mainly applied empty-hand against empty-hand and weapon against weapon. Very little is done is terms of applying empty-hand techniques against an armed opponent.

Since the phoenix-eye fist system is a fighting art based on practicality, exponents are taught that if someone comes at them with a weapon, and they are unarmed, they should consider running—or finding a weapon of their own—rather than facing the armed opponent empty-handed. Should the opportunity permit, it is better to stack the odds in one’s favor, or at least to try and balance them, than to fight a potentially losing battle.

Principle 2: Always Hit First

One of the most primal and basic of human emotions is fear. Fear is what allows one human being to be dominated by another, either physically or mentally. In terms of self-defense and fighting, fear is often the cause of improper technique, poor timing, lack of power, and hesitation. More than anything else, it is these things that will cause the practitioner to lose a fight.

During the course of their Chuka Shaolin study, students are taught to be resolute in their decision of whether they are going to fight or not. If one decides to fight, then he must fight—all out and with complete resolve. If one wants to fight, one must learn how to move fast. One mustn’t think “Oh, this guy is bigger or stronger than I and I don’t know if I can beat him.” If you are going to fight, go in as fast as you can and strike first with all the intention and skill you can muster.

Principle 3: Fight at Close Range

Since Chuka Shaolin is a close-range fighting art, once an opponent throws the first punch the Chuka practitioner must go in immediately. The skills of closing-the-gap or entering-in on an opponent, and remaining in the close range where the techniques of the phoenix-eye fist are most effective, are taught and developed through the practice of the two-person forms.

Exponents of Chuka Shaolin believe that their art of in-fighting and pressure-point striking is so advanced that once they close-in on an opponent, they will win. Indeed, many styles don’t teach how to kick or strike effectively—and with power from such short distances—once the distance is shortened between you and your opponent. Phoenix-eye fist kung-fu excels in this range and type of fighting. The primary targets sought to be struck with the phoenix-eye fist, depending on the practitioner’s position in relation to the opponent, are the sternum, ribs, throat, eyes, and temples.

Principle 4: Move to the Blind Side

The art of the phoenix-eye fist is a close-range, fast, and deceptive fighting style. Its techniques are based more on finesse of skill and precision in striking, and less on brute strength or use of force against force. As stated earlier, Chuka Shaolin exponents like to get the jump on an opponent by quickly closing the gap and moving into close range. However, if an opponent is also a skilled in-fighter, when they attempt to enter in on a Chuka practitioner, the Chuka practitioner will sidestep to the opponent’s blind side, striking vital points along the side of their neck and body.