Dear O

In the Hakka village, gongfu was for communal defence. The ability for individuals to be able to fight "one-on-one" was not a consideration. The New Territories of Hong Kong lay outside the British economic activity on Hong Kong island - but were inside the British political zone. The New Territories were added in the 1890s during the lasy years of the Qing Dynasty - and possessed no modern economic structure. The Hakka think they are the "original" Chinese - whist also thinking they are "mixed" ethnicity (usually Steppe barbarian and Northern Chinese). This explains the staunch "Confucian" attitude that permeated Hakka culture  brought southward over the last two-thousands years. One of our Chinese Hakka grandmothers has Siberian mDNA (some Hakka clans think they formed the Qin Dynasty - which defined Chinese culture and gave China its name). In Fujian, the Hakka chose to build Western-style (although not directly related) "castles" - but in our (Southern Guangdong) village, the structure was the Confucian square - with each family of the Chan Clan learning to man the part of the wall handed-down to them over the generations. I say "wall" rather enthusiastically - but I think we are talking about a shallow ditch and a "Dad's Army" type barricade (no disrespect to the British Home Guard). Of course, where the clan migrated from (I think Henan) there may well have been a proper wall. Certainly, thousands of years ago, there used to be Steppe ponies. Our spear forms evolved from fighting on pony-back - until we lost our ponies - then the forms changed to being practiced on foot. Although individual fighting is the modern mode of teaching - self-defence and all that - this need seems to have evolved out of "honour fights" - whereby a "foreign" clan (another Chinese person not known to us) would send an individual to "challenge" the clan-style for issues of "face" - or "public recognition and respect". An impressive victory could move a clan (and its style) up the ranking system of the usually inflexible Confucian social order. This is the underlying bases of the old gongfu films - which might come across as a little unhinged to Western audiences. From proficiency in communal self-defence - a student would then be selected for "individualistic" training. In the modern world - including China - this is often turned the other way around, with "individualism" being emphasised over "communal" Of course, the village system evolved out of feudalism - so without feudalism - the old ways must adapt and change. My teacher - Master Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993) - knew this and actually assisted in the adjustments, but I was lucky enough to have first learned within the feudalistic system. The Imperial Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945) allowed our style to used once again on the battlefield and I will not dwell on this matter here, needless to say, as with all war, many suffered. I always found it curious that the British Authorities would not "arm" the local Chinese population at that time - so this led to a reliance on traditional fighting, until guns could be taken from the enemy. I suppose you know the story of "Admiral Chan" - he had a wooden leg and was in-charge of the Hong Kong "Navy" - which consisted of one old speed boat. He ended up on a rock in the middle of Hong Kong Harbour - and used his wooden-leg as a club to beat off the Japanese soldiers trying to catch him. He managed to swim away and I believe made it to Singapore or Malaya, or some such. Still, just a few words. 

Dear Tony

Thank you for your email - and the very interesting Dragon gongfu video!

Interesting. In the old days, Hakka gongfu was hidden and hardly discussed in public. We learned behind the scenes and always denied knowing anything. This attitude stems from Hakka people being migrants from the North - disliked by the Cantonese population of the South. Quite often, Hakka people spoke only Cantonese in public - but Hakka at home. Many Hakka even learned (superficially) Cantonese gongfu styles to practice in public as part of hiding their identity. We usually dabbled in Wing Chun - and I can still give a good lecture on its basic training (standing around "+" shape on the floor which taught where the feet were placed whilst assuming the Sanchin-type stances - knees-in). Of course, in reality, I know next to knowing about Wing Chun - but I encountered it everywhere in Hong Kong. Master Wang in this video speaks the Chan family dialect of Hakka - so his village would be somewhere near us. The younger Chinese appears to be a linguistic expert who usually speaks Mandarin (Pu Tong Hua) - but he is converting the Hakka into Cantonese and then English. Hakka is a Northern dialect. Even today in the UK - there can be friction between Hakka and Cantonese - as bizarre as that sounds. Still, things are more open today!

This videos also covers the "Arm Grinding" we practice within Hakka gongfu. The idea is to strike the opponent - and not only absorb their power - but do this in such a way that they lose their balance  are uprooted. ​In the early 2000s, I was introduced to a White American man, who was very quiet and humble. He had been accepted into a Chinese lineage of Dragon gongfu and I remember a video of him stood in Horse Stance - which looks just like the Horse Stance found in Goju Ryu - a perfect rectangle - like a bridge! My style uses this as well - but with variations (we never use toes-forward but always 45 degrees). The Hakka ancestors used to ride Steppe ponies without saddles or stirrups. Gripping the girth of the pony is where the Horse Stance developed. Hakka children stood for hours in this stance preparing them for the eventual riding of Steppe ponies. The ponies were directed by the hips being thrust forward, back, left and right - with the legs gripping and steering the animal. The hands were usually kept free for holding and using weapons. A spear, a sword, and sometimes a shield. Our Spear Forms used to be practiced on the back of the pony - but as the Hakka migrated South - they lost their ponies.

Best Wishes

​Adrian

Hi Tony!

Yes - when I was in Hong Kong in 1999, I made sure I acquired a good map (in English) which I could use there and in the UK for research purposes. Hong Kong is small - but in the Chinese mind - it is huge! Bear in mind that a Chinese mile (1 li) is the equivalent to one-third of an English mile. We would run up and down a 10 mile hill in the heat to warm up - but that was actually around 3 miles! The heat and steepness made it seem worse than it was. Clan migrations of 100 miles (a massive distance in the old days) turned-out to be around 30 miles. Even Westerners I know working and living in the Hong Kong area find it difficult to locate places and areas. Once, one of my gongfu students - a young man from Sutton who got into Oxford - made his way to the town of Sai Kung, and got on the correct bus (75 probably) I said we used to catch to the Chan (Banana) Village - which is out in the countryside. Our Hakka ancestors grew bananas to sell at the local markets. Otherwise, the place is covered in thick trees because the Hakka who originally settled there used to plant sustainable forests from which they made a career for themselves producing charcoal. When the charcoal market dried-up - the place was left covered in healthy forests - whereas before there was desert and malarial swamps! The Hakka farmers turned barren land into lush crop growing earth. Now, by the time the bus made it to the remote road, my student (who was the only person left on the bus) rang the bell for the bus to stop (we had given him the road co-ordinates). It is an open road with trees aligning both sides. To the untrained eye - there is no settlement there. However, if you walk through a gap in the trees and follow a private road down a steep incline - you arrive at the heavily locked village gate which is guarded by ferocious village dogs and whichever villagers are on guard duty that day. Quite often, the dogs are released to attack anyone walking toward the village they do not know. The bus-driver stopped the bus but wouldn't open the doors. He asked by student "why" he was getting off in this area - and when he explained that his gongfu teacher's family originated in this village - the driver said that no foreigners are allowed here without being escorted by Chinese people. When asked why this was the case - the driver explained that "Hakka people are very violent and unpredictable. You cannot just go to their villages - you need Chinese escorts to protect you and introduce you. If I drop a foreigner off in these parts and they get hurt - it will be my fault and not the foreigner or the Hakka people!" And that was the end of that. My student had to sit down and ride the full circuit of the bus route to be taken back to Sai Kung. What he did manage to do was take our prescription for the Chan Family Dit Da Jow to a local herbalist - who was shocked when he produced it. My student managed to get a huge bag of ingredients that will probably last more than one lifetime! 

Dear Tony
​
Interestingly, "Tai Po" (大埔 - Da Bu) is Hakka for "Great Plain" - as in "Broad Flatland". I stayed near here in 1999 - as it is famous for a Southern Praying Mantis Gongfu School. Tai Po seems to be in the Central New Territories. The Chan Ancestral Village in Sai Kung was around 10 miles South-East from Tai Po (due to the meandering road the journey is abit longer than this). I got out the map I use when in Hong Kong and have photographed the area you need. There is a "Piper's Hill" (D-7 - E-9) in Tai Po - perhaps an allusion to the Scottish Regiments that used to patrol the region (there is also "Tai Po Raod" [E-6 - G-6]). As Master Chan Tin Sang did not come to the UK until 1956 - he (and his family) was still in Hong Kong when your father was serving in Hong Kong. I attach the relevant map. Although the place is geographically small, it is very hilly with lots of valleys and steep inclines - giving the impression the place is much bigger than it actually is! Perhaps the heat adds to this impress - even though everywhere has ice-cold air-conditioning when you come in off the street. Of course, everyone works 12-hour shifts day and night - so we used to go shopping at 2 am when it was cooler and quieter (jet-lag assisted this process). 

Dear Tony (Sensei)

​Following the Hakka-Punti Clan Wars and the Taiping Uprising (both happening during the mid-1800s) - the Hakka Armies were defeated by the Qing dynasty Forces (following the death of millions) and the Hakka people were consigned into very small areas to live. At this time, to hide their ethnic identity (as Northerners living in the South) many gongfu Masters deliberately "shortened" the movements of their Northern gongfu so that it better resembled the Southern gongfu practiced by the Cantonese people. As my Chan family lived in the remote area of South-East Guangdong (not yet under the control of the British - that area would become the "New Territories" in the 1890s) - we felt no need to shorten our gongfu technique and so we still practice the Longfist of the North.

​This is true of only a minority of Hakka Clans - as many now practice Southern Styles - the product of technical adjustment in the mid-1800s. As many Hakka people do not know their past - they think they have always practiced the shortened Southern Styles but this is not the case. I think a similar situation exists in Fujian province regarding the Hakka - but I have no way of knowing whether this is linked to Suparinpei Kata (and other Goju Ryu kata). From my limited view - Suparinpei (and other Goju Ryu kata) looks like how Longfist is used for close-in fighting. As you know, Longfist is taught at long, middle and short range - with the long-range being on display in the standard Forms. 

I suppose many Hakka Clans that practiced Longfist simply ceased openly practicing the middle and long-range Forms - limiting practice to the close-in range - although this would also include middle-range where applicable. Long-range "reaching" with extended limbs (open arms and legs) was replaced with short and concise shuffle-stepping (moving the torso nearer and away from the opponent whilst keeping the bodyweight firmly "rooted" to the ground). Unfolding (whipping) power was replaced with small-circle force (both drawing force up from the ground - regulated by the breath). This is not a moving away from Hakka Longfist - but rather a focusing on one particular and well-known aspect of it. I think I see all this in the various versions of Suparinpei Kata. 

​Our Hakka gongfu training requires the carrying of heavyweights upon our backs. This represents the hilly terrain the Hakka people lived within throughout the New Territories, Hong Kong. Hakka Clan villages, especially by the 20th century, were often re-constructed upon the top of various hills situated in prominent good (feng shui) positions. The bones must be kept strong for building good health and ensuring longevity. Strong bones allow the bodyweight to drop down through the centre of the bone-marrow into the floor (creating a strong 'root') - and facilitates the rebounding force which is distributed (throughout the skeletal-system) to the striking part of the anatomy - be it a hand, foot, elbow, knee, fore-head or torso, etc. The Hakka people moved into the Guangdong area (that became the 'New Territories' under the British in the 1890s) in the mid-1600s - following the Manchurian invasion of China (which established the foreign 'Qing Dynasty' during 1644 CE). 

​Our 'Chan' (陳) Clan (pronounced 'Chin' in the Hakka language and 'Chan' in the Cantonese language) originally settled at the base of a hill near the coast in the Sai Kung area. I think we probably originated somewhere in Henan province (like many other Hakka Clans that I have investigated). Younger people often carried older relatives on their backs (as part of the required filial piety) up and down the hills - to and from various areas. Chinese families reflect the government and vice versa. One reflects the other whilst the notion of Confucian 'respect' permeates the entire structure. This is true regardless of political system, era, religion or cultural orientation. Many Daoists and Buddhists are Vegetarian - because they respect animals and the environment. 

When working as farmers - Hakka people carried tools, goods and the products of harvests on their backs between long hours working in the rice fields with the Water Buffalos. The continuous repetition of hand and foot movements - and the standing postures for long hours in the wind and rain - condition the mind and body for genuine Hakka gongfu training. Although there is an 'Iron Ox' gongfu Style (different to our own) - the spirit of the Ox pervades all aspects of the Hakka gongfu styles! Even so, our Hakka Style embodies the spirit of the Bear! We can fighting crouching low - or stand high giving the impression that we are bigger than we actually are! Our developed musculature is like the Ox and the Bear in that it is large, rounded and tough! We can take a beating and still manifest our gongfu Style with ease! We do not go quietly into that dark night! 

The above video shows Hakka people de-husking rise - with the standing person practicing 'Free Stance, rootedness and knee-striking, etc, and the crouching person showing a low Horse Stance and position for 'Squat-Kicking', etc, whilst demonstrating dextrous hand movements often found in gongfu Forms.  Of course, not all Hakka Styles are the same and there is much diversity throughout the Name Clans. Our Chan gongfu is Military-related and can be traced to the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE). I think there used to be a State Gongfu Manual (since lost) issued by the Qin Dynasty as part of the process of turning every village, town and city into a 'Barracks'.

​​Guiding the ploughs through the water and mud at the back of the Water Buffalos reflected the leg, arm and torso positions found within the Hakka gongfu. How the Hakka farmers stood still, stepped forward and back - side to side, tensed and relaxed their muscles, used their eyes and ears, and produced power and learned to give-way - all manifested in the various Hakka gongfu Styles. On Occasion, the Ox is given the day-off and the local people take to 'pulling the plough'!

​Our Hakka Gongfu is 'Longfist' based. Whereas many Hakka Clans - following our defeat at the end of the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1854-1867 CE) - Hakka people were ethnically cleansed into small areas of Guangdong province. Around 20 million people had died in this terrible war (which included the separate but related Taiping Rebellion - a Hakka-led war - fought for different reasons). The original 'Northern' Hakka Styles were persecuted and viewed as the vehicle through which the Hakka people had made war in the South of China (the area they had migrated into). The Hakka are patriotic Han Chinese migrants who fled the foreign invasion of Northern China - but who were not wanted or welcome within Southern China. Since the 1949 Revolution - things are very different today in China - as Hakka and non-Hakka now live side by side in harmony.

​When the various Hakka Clans 'shortened' the arm and leg movements of their gongfu Styles - to make these arts seem 'Cantonese' in origin - our Hakka Clan lived in a relatively remote area of South East Guangdong province and refused to do this. We practiced our 'Northern' Longfist martial arts in isolation and hid our gongfu in Temples grounds, behind walls and by practicing at night. Master Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993) fought and killed Imperial Japanese soldiers in the New Territories between 1941-1945 using our Hakka gongfu. Around 10,000 Hakka men, women and children were killed in this war fighting the modern Japanese soldiers using bare-hands and feet - and traditional weaponry. Many of our relatives were killed during this time. 

Master Chan Tin Sang came to the UK in 1956 - as a British Subject - to work for a better life, not because China is a bad place (it is not), but because life in the New Territories under British rule was continuously impoverished. Master Chan Tin Sang worked hard for 10-years before he earned enough money to bring his wife and two daughters to the UK (in 1966) - also as British Subjects. My Chinese relatives were NOT economic migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Refugees. My Chinese relatives do not follow Cults and are free-thinking individuals who are proud to be 'British' whilst supporting Mainland China's right to self-determinate - just like any Western country.

As I write - I am sitting in front of my laptop - 'boiling in the bag' - as I call it! This is because that when I run with the weighted rucksack (56 lbs) - I wear a polythene 'sweat suit' under layers of the normal training gear of short, T-Shirt, and Tracksuits, etc, as well as a military woolly hat and usually Karrimor Trainers (as this brand is strong enough to support my feet and ankles whilst carrying a heavy rucksack - and which do not break easily under the strain. Furthermore, as I not only run in the early hours - but often head to the local park to practice gongfu and Taijiquan forms - I wear a thin, strong, flexible, waterproof and warm gloves designed for rock-climbing and/or skiing. These gloves allow the hands to freely move and grip whilst protecting the outer structure. Today was slightly different due to the intense cold - which took me by surprise. I have been running in around -4 or -5 degrees Celsius over the last week or so - but although my hands did not feel the cold as a ran (the gloves are that good) - When I got in (after about 15 minutes) - my hands felt freezing cold after I had took my gloves off! This just goes to show the danger of low temperatures and how the human-body reacts to such conditions. The lowest temperatures I have been in is -10 - and that was in the UK in the mid to late 1990s (in London). I was out for over an hour on that evening and had to get in a hot bath for an hour and then only started shaking later when wrapped-up in bed with a hot bottle! I was not very warmly dressed at that time - but I was young! The hottest temperature I have experienced is 54 degrees Celsius - and that was in Egypt around 1996!.

The point is, practicing in air-conditioned and purpose-built halls (with 'soft' flooring) is not necessarily what proper gongfu training is all about. When we were training in the New Territories (Hong Kong) - the temperatures varied between 25 - 40 Celsius - but this was a tropical heat. In such a heat a person sweats profusely merely by being present! Perhaps there has to be an element of true danger when training in genuine gongfu - a danger that must be 'managed' appropriately and correctly. Limits must be realistically pushed - whilst allowing common-sense to prevail. For instance, since damaging the skin of my knees (which are now healing) - I now wear rock-climbing knee-pads to absorb the shock of potentially falling down whilst carrying a heavyweight. Adjust and overcome!

Author's Note: I suspect there are many localised names for these folk remedies often linked to family gongfu styles. For instance, I was verbally taught to refer to this medicine as 'Iron Fighting Wine' (铁斗酒 - or 'Tie Dou Jiu' in Putonghua) - with the idea that the wine both 'cures' and 'toughens' the body - especially the anatomical weapons. However, when checking the medical notes of Master Chan Tin Sang (1924-1923) we discovered that this TCM treatment is listed as being referred to in a number of different ways.  One such description is '跌打酒' (or 'Die Da Jiu' in Putonghua) - although this is not how we refer to this treatment in general conversation. This alternative description literally means 'Bruise Wine' or more specifically 'Bruise Removal Liniment' - although some versions (including our own) are also made to be drank (in small quantities). The complication seems to stem from the fact that in our Hakka-Cantonese dialect - both these names are pronounced 'Dit Da Jow'.  The idea of 'Iron Fighting Wine' is linked to arm and leg conditioning which involves smashing the hands and feet repeatedly into hard objects. Afterwards, the broken skin and the deep and shallow bruising is treated with this liniment - which not only 'cures' but also hardens' the effected areas. As the liniment is vigorously rubbed onto the area in question - a 'Great Heat' ('Die Yeet' in Hakka-Cantonese) is produced - forming yet another descriptive explanation (Die Yeet Jow) that regularly use! ACW (26.11.2023)

These medicinal ingredients were gathered in Hong Kong by Master Chan Tin Sang long before his passing in 1993. Indeed, many of the constituent herbs were actually sourced from various places throughout Mainland China and transported to various Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors who ran the Herbal Medicine Shops throughout the New Territories and Hong Kong Island. Invariably, these shops were often located within dark and obscure back alleys.

A customer and/or patient has to approach the main desk at the front of the shop and present the 'Dit Da Jow' (铁斗酒) prescription (or 'recipe') - which is traditionally written in the Chinese medical-script - a different type of formal Chinese writing that is something akin to how classical Greek or Latin is used in the West for medical terms (although unrelated in structure). In the Hakka dialect - 'Dit Da Dow' - is usually termed ''Die Yeet Jow' (大暍酒) - but this changes the emphasis of the name from 'function' (fighting) to 'treatment' (rubbing the bruised area vigorously so that a great healing 'heat' is produced).

​Therefore, 'Die Yeet Jow' translates as 'Great Heat Wine'. We mixed these medical herbs with Western brandy on February 23rd, 1997 - and it has been brewing now for 26-years and nearly 9-months as of November 2023!

Our Chinese grandfather - Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993) fought as part of the 'People's Militia' (with his Section also known as the 'Hakka Resistance') in the Hong Kong and New Territories region. When he recalled these events years later – he often described this time period (1941-1945) as ‘The years covered in blood.’ - as there was never a time that he was not covered in his own blood or the blood of his enemies. Hong Kong had been under the imperialist rule of the British from 1841-1941 - when the Imperial Japanese Army successfully overran the area - killing thousands of ethnic Chinese POWs and civilians in the process! Thousands of ethnic Indian and 'White' British soldiers were killed in combat, wounded and taken into captivity (where many were tortured). What follows is description of what the ethnic Chinese people experienced throughout Hong Kong and the New Territories – a reality either deliberately ignored or simply not known by Western historians and biographers. Part of the problem is not simply political bias or historical preference (although these two issues undoubtedly play their part) - but rather that not ALL ethnic Chinese people understood fully what was happening! The ‘White’ British Administration did not trust the ethnic Chinese population – as they were afraid of homegrown uprisings – but positively detested the Imperial Japanese! This is why the British Authorities ‘refused’ to arm the ethnic Chinese population at the beginning of the Japanese troubles! Rumours of a fifth column in Kowloon turned out not to be true (these groups were comprised of Japanese sleeper cells activated to meet and assist the incoming Japanese troops). 

As the British Authorities did not arm the local ethnic Chinese populations with modern firearms – these people (comprised of the Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew ethnic groups amongst others) had to rely upon their traditional martial arts skills to fight the Japanese invaders. This was NOT a problem as the ethnic Chinese attitudes were still very ‘feudalistic’ at the time and the martial arts incredibly effective on the battlefield and in self-defence encounters! How did (modern) British arms enter the area? This seems to have been through a behind-the-scenes agreement between the CPC and the British government. The People's Militia was organised by the Communist Party of China (CPC) - as the Nationalist government had no interest in Hong Kong being part of a united China again (for the British this must have been a tricky business as the CPC was not formally in power in China - nor was it ‘recognised’ by any ruling government outside the USSR). It is remarkable that given CPC troubles being experienced in Central and Northern China at the time (fighting the Nationalists and the Japanese) that it was able to 'project' its power into what was then a very distant and remote area – but the understanding that had been reached between the CPC and the British allowed a small trickle of UK arms into the region to be used by the local Chinese people! This 'Resistance' movement against the Imperial Japanese was permitted providing the CPC power structure (together with the British arms) be 'withdrawn' from the region following the eventual defeat of the Imperial Japanese!  

Our Hakka Chinese family clan in Sai Kung suffered terribly at the hands of the brutal Japanese - with women and girls routinely 'raped', 'tortured' and 'murdered'! Not only do we possess eye-witness accounts of this barbarism - but long before the internet the Japanese liked to 'photograph' (and sometimes 'film') their crimes for all to see! These are crimes that the Japanese committed all over China and Asia - and which the Japanese government has yet to properly acknowledge and apologise for! Chan Tin Sang was 17-years old in 1941 and 21-years old in 1945 - when the war ended. During that time, he lost most of his immediate relatives and was accustomed to fighting ‘hand-to-hand' with the fanatical Japanese soldiers - using his Hakka martial arts skills to survive (his father died fighting in this manner in 1944). Later, in search of a better life - Chan Tin Sang came to England in 1956 when he was 32-years old. He worked hard for 10-years in what became London's 'new' Chinatown and finally saved up enough money to bring his wife and daughters to the UK (as they already possessed 'British Citizenship') in 1966 (when he was 42-years old). He passed away in 1993 when he was 69-years old - which was quite old at the time - but many believe that the years of deprivation (and continuous violence) he experienced between 1941-1945 definitely shortened his lifespan. Sometimes - as individuals and groups - we possess no choice. By the time the Western allies were landing on Normandy 79-years ago – the Japanese Occupiers were still strong and effective throughout Hong Kong and the New Territories! It would be with the entry of the Soviet Red Army (during late 1945) into Manchuria that begin the demise of the Imperial Japanese Army and signal the return of the British to Hong Kong! 

Dear Tony

Thank you for your interesting email regarding the relatively 'open' stance as found throughout the various lineages of Fujian White Crane Fist when practicing the 'San Zhan' (三戦) or 'Three Battles' Form - as compared with the 'closed' stance work (and obvious groin protection) found within the 'Sanchin' Kata of the Goju Ryu Karate-Do Style!

​Yes - I have noticed this. I was talking to a student about this. It reminded me of the stance used for skiing. As if 'gripping' or 'stabilising' on a slippery surface. Sometimes, the old Masters (such as Master Chan) would talk about stepping in, through or onto congealed blood - which is slippery. He fought, wounded and killed invading Japanese soldiers during WWII (1941-1945) as part of the Hakka Resistance operating throughout the New Territories (a People's Militia had developed - supplied from the Mainland). His father (Chan Yun-Fat) was killed fighting in 1944 leading an attack on an Imperial Japanese Army position - armed only with traditional gongfu weapons. This was a diversionary attack whilst those armed with the limited number of rifles and ammunition attacked the main target. 

His wife's mother was gang-raped by Japanese soldiers, skinned, hung-up by her hair and set fire to. Por Por (Mrs Chan) used to tell us stories for years about those terrible times - until her passing in 2011 (years later, a Detective contacted Mrs Chan and said one of her brothers had survived a Japanese village massacre and had been taken to Australia by foreigners - she got to meet him again one more time in his now native Australia a year before he passed away. I spoke to him on the telephone. He was around five years old at the time of him going 'missing' - with his small body being hidden under the bodies of the adults killed around him). 

We practice falling to the ground forward, backwards and to the sides in our Hakka Longfist Family lineage - and using Ground Fighting (with a groin guard and a head guard). I suspect that other aspects of the Fujian Style in question also teach a groin guard in an accumulative sense - as is usual in traditional gongfu. Goju Ryu is highly rationalised and modernised (a process of sheer genius) - which is a good thing - but traditional gongfu is often sprawling, illogical and difficult to fathom! 

​Thanks

PS: Wong Tai Sin is our 'Daoist' family God - as Master Chan Tin Sang (1924-1923) was a TCM Doctor (taught in the old way). It is virtually impossible to acquire statues of this 'healing' God as it is very carefully guarded by the Temple Authorities in the New Territories! We have a photograph on our family shrine - but my ex-wife currently looks after the family Wong Tai Sin statue (which was passed into my keeping by Mrs Chan upon her passing). Indeed, my ex-wife can be seen on the above-linked BBC programme - 'Escape to the Country' with our family statue of Wong Tai Sin (黃初平) shown at 5:39: