Hello all,
I'm currently learning Black Tiger Kung Fu, but after researching online I'm having some difficulty piecing together exactly what style this is and where it came from. My instructor is Grandmaster John Dowdy who, as great a teacher as he is, didn't seem to invest much time into studying the history himself, as he did a lot of style hopping back in the day and this was just one of many styles he picked up along the way (his primary style is Hapkido). So the forms and applications he teaches are really great, but I'd like to know more about the cultural and historical background of the art.
He refers to it in English as Black Tiger, but says that the official Chinese name is Fu Jow Pai. From the research I've done online, it seems that Fu Jow Pai is a renamed offshoot which translates as Tiger Claw, and the original name of the art was Hark Fu Moon. He says that he learned it from one of two brothers (the other taught him Great White Crane, apparently) while in Greensboro, NC, and that they came directly from China, where they learned it from who-knows-where. I've contacted Sifu Shue Yi Kwan, who runs a Fu Jow Pai studio up in Peekskill, NY; he says he's never heard of any of these people and denies their connection to any authentic style of Fu Jow Pai.
This is where things get tricky, because Sifu Kwan's own style comes from the Wong Bil Hong lineage, who in turn learned it from "an unnamed monk" at a Shaolin temple, who broke up a fight between Hong and another sifu. This leaves much unanswered, such as: Was that the only temple Black Tiger was ever taught at? Did the unnamed monk ever teach anybody else besides Hong and the other sifu? What happened to that other sifu? It seems to me that Fu Jow Pai practitioners may be trying to make a claim of exclusive authenticity when their own lineage is pretty murky. More recently, I've found many saying that Hark Fu Moon developed out of Hung Gar, though the deep-set horse stances and rigid motions of Hung Gar don't really resemble what we practice.
My instructor has pointed out that with thousands of styles and sub-styles coming from China, with some of them being as specific as "the village style" or "the family style", it may be impossible to truly sort all this out. Unfortunately, he's no longer in contact with either of his teachers, who taught him decades ago.
So, I guess my questions are: If my Fu Jow Pai doesn't share the same lineage, why do many of the techniques look the same, and why would it have the same name if Hark Fu Moon was the original? Any other info on Fu Jow Pai/Hark Fu Moon that I should know about? Are there any online or in print resources I can study to learn more about the history (e.g., it's actual development within the Shaolin temples)?
Thanks,
Monarch
I'm currently learning Black Tiger Kung Fu, but after researching online I'm having some difficulty piecing together exactly what style this is and where it came from. My instructor is Grandmaster John Dowdy who, as great a teacher as he is, didn't seem to invest much time into studying the history himself, as he did a lot of style hopping back in the day and this was just one of many styles he picked up along the way (his primary style is Hapkido). So the forms and applications he teaches are really great, but I'd like to know more about the cultural and historical background of the art.
He refers to it in English as Black Tiger, but says that the official Chinese name is Fu Jow Pai. From the research I've done online, it seems that Fu Jow Pai is a renamed offshoot which translates as Tiger Claw, and the original name of the art was Hark Fu Moon. He says that he learned it from one of two brothers (the other taught him Great White Crane, apparently) while in Greensboro, NC, and that they came directly from China, where they learned it from who-knows-where. I've contacted Sifu Shue Yi Kwan, who runs a Fu Jow Pai studio up in Peekskill, NY; he says he's never heard of any of these people and denies their connection to any authentic style of Fu Jow Pai.
This is where things get tricky, because Sifu Kwan's own style comes from the Wong Bil Hong lineage, who in turn learned it from "an unnamed monk" at a Shaolin temple, who broke up a fight between Hong and another sifu. This leaves much unanswered, such as: Was that the only temple Black Tiger was ever taught at? Did the unnamed monk ever teach anybody else besides Hong and the other sifu? What happened to that other sifu? It seems to me that Fu Jow Pai practitioners may be trying to make a claim of exclusive authenticity when their own lineage is pretty murky. More recently, I've found many saying that Hark Fu Moon developed out of Hung Gar, though the deep-set horse stances and rigid motions of Hung Gar don't really resemble what we practice.
My instructor has pointed out that with thousands of styles and sub-styles coming from China, with some of them being as specific as "the village style" or "the family style", it may be impossible to truly sort all this out. Unfortunately, he's no longer in contact with either of his teachers, who taught him decades ago.
So, I guess my questions are: If my Fu Jow Pai doesn't share the same lineage, why do many of the techniques look the same, and why would it have the same name if Hark Fu Moon was the original? Any other info on Fu Jow Pai/Hark Fu Moon that I should know about? Are there any online or in print resources I can study to learn more about the history (e.g., it's actual development within the Shaolin temples)?
Thanks,
Monarch