
The British Nationality Act of 1948 granted the right of all people born within British colonies to be 'British Subjects', or 'British Citizens' and therefore entitled to settle in the Mainland UK. Master Chan Tin Sang came to the UK in 1956 and the story was hat he worked hard at all kinds of jobs in and around Sutton, and eventually saved enough money to send for his wife and two young daughters. I was told this took about ten years and always assumed that 'Por Por' (i.e. our Chinese grandmother Cheung Yuet-Tai - known in the UK and Cheung Yat-Tai) came to the UK in 1966 - but these Immigration Papers record that she was granted permission to leave Hong Kong and fly to Britain in late 1968. From what her daughters have told me, the air-tickets Master Chan sent from the UK arrived two-weeks late due to a postal delay. In fact, the air-tickets arrived on the morning of the day of the flight - and Por Por had to quickly pack a few small cases, and rush to the local school to extract her children! This she did, and they eventually made their way to Sutton in South London. Master Chan Tin Sang went on to open one of the first Chinese Restaurants in Sutton - the King Wah - situated on the opposite side of the road from the Masonic Lodge and the Post Office in Grove Road. We have never managed to find a photograph of the King Wah. ![]() Madam Cheung Yuet-Tai was born in the New Territories (Hong Kong) in 1924, and passed away in Sutton during January, 2011. She was 86 years old, and in her 87th year (her 87th birthday would have been on the 3rd of September, 2011). She had been suffering from kidney problems for quite sometime prior to her passing. In 2001, Madam Cheung Yuet-Tai 'confirmed' Master Chan Tin Sang's 1991 'Transmission' to me - and also passed on to me one of his jade rings, a gold and jade clan-leader's ring, and gold wristwatch.
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Within the Hakka Chinese villages of the New Territories, and regsrdless of clan family name or differing village martial arts styles, from young, Hakka Chinese children were taught to make the peculiar 'Pheonix Eye Fist' (凤凰眼拳 - Feng Huang Yan Quan) whilst learning how to strike anatomical pressure-points in self-defence drills. In the local Hakka-Cantonese dialects, this is known as 'Fung Ngan Kune', with the wrists, hands and knuckles starting off being weak and slowly being strengthened through shadow-boxing, light striking and then heavy striking. Broken skin and brusing would be treated with locally brewed 'Iron fighting wine' (铁斗酒 - Tie Da Jiu) - referred to as 'Dit Da Jow'. Within our Ch'an Dao System practiced within Banana Village in Sai Kung, learning medicine and martial arts was a dual activity - with one subject never learned without the other. It was known that although small in stature, a child could knockout an adult using a Pheonix Eye Fist if the village was ever attacked. This is a highly effective technique that is difficult to learn properly with many people damaging their own knuckles when making contact. I have also seen the 'Pheonix Eye Fist' in a kata of Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-Do as practiced in Hereford. Below, I demonstrate how to make the 'Pheonix Eye Fist:
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AuthorShifu Adrian Chan-Wyles (b. 1967) - Lineage (Generational) Inheritor of the Ch'an Dao Hakka Gongfu System. Archives
July 2020
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