The History of Kung-Fu San Soo (Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung)

From what I've read, (Various web pages) and the stories I've been told, There are only a few facts that everyone will agree to, though there are many similarities that seem to match, enough of them that we will try to put them down and hope that everyone will agree that records just were not kept and passed along a hundred, two hundred, a thousand years ago as they are today.

As I never met Chin Siu Dek' (Jimmy H. Woo) and the history is contested, I'm placing a couple of the versions I've come across. The first is the party line handed down to me by our studio, The second Is a version that seems to be the official party line, and the third though not exactly a history of San Soo offers a look into that time period a little more closely.

None of which I believe lessen what San Soo is today.

The following information hopefully will clarify any conceptions or misconceptions which you may have about kung-fu and karate in general. Also, it will provide you with a little background knowledge of the art.

At first, fighting was an individual matter, performed in a disorganized fashion, without art. As Chinese keep their knowledge of the art much to themselves, the exact details of its' origin and development are very obscure. Between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, Chinese monks, within the confines of their monastery, created and organized a system of hand to hand fighting. Thus, Kung-Fu San Soo evolved as the first system of hand to hand combat.

About 400 years ago, this system was introduced to Okinawa (where it was adapted and became known as (Okinawa-Te) and in many other parts of the far east. it underwent a radical change, intermingling with circular motions such as those found in southern china (Num Pi) -- to hard forms consisting of theatrical postures and poses as seen more frequently in the art today. The old system underwent yet another change when it moved to Japan about 1917 and adapted itself to Japanese culture and personality.

Kung-Fu San Soo originated in the Kwan-Yin (goddess of mercy) monastery in the village of Pon Hong in the Guangdong Province of southern China. The martial art was developed by the monks to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as the monks returned with supplies and donations from the nearby villages.

One of the monks named Chin Moon Don (Jimmy H. Woo's great, great, great grandfather), decided to leave the monastery when he was approximately 30 years old, and took with him two of the Buddhist training texts which probably date back to the Ming Dynasty (In the late 1500's). Since then the books have always stayed in the Chin family. They are extremely fragile and rare, and all of the techniques and forms taught by Jimmy came from those two manuals.

Kung-Fu San Soo was brought to the United States by Jimmy H. Woo in the 1930's. he taught only the Chinese people in Los Angeles' China Town until 1959, when he decided to teach all other races. In December of 1962, he held the official grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway Shopping Center in El Monte, California, where it was called "Karate Kung-Fu" because no one knew what Kung-Fu was at that time.

From the Women of San Soo

SAN SOO, as taught by Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo, had its origins in the very basics of Chinese feudal life two thousand years ago. For many hundreds of years, China was divided and sub-divided into various warring factions, and each produced many different types of fighting styles. Chinese systemized warfare predates the arrival of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, thought to the founder of Shaolin Ch'uan, by several hundreds years c. 200B.C.

Exactly how and when these fighting tactics were begun in the Kwan-Yin (goddess of mercy) monastery in the village of Pon Hong, Guangdong Province of Southern China is still unclear, but is in the process of being researched. The main reason the martial arts were perfected by the group of monks was to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as the monks returned with supplies and donations from the nearby villages.

One of the young monks, names Chin Moon Don, an orphan who had lived in the monastery since the age of 10, (Jimmy H. Woo's Great, Great, Great, Grandfather) decided to leave the monastery when he was approximately 30 years old. Ht took with him two of the Buddhist training texts which probably date back to the late 1500's, during the Ming Dynasty. These Books have remained within the Chin family for five generations and are extremely fragile and rare. All the techniques and forms taught to and by Jimmy came from these two manuals.

Yong Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy's real name) was taught by his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung who was nicknamed Chin Neow Gee, which means "Crazy Devil." Hung was an extremely large man, 6'5" tall and weighing well over 320 pounds. Following in his father and grandfather's footsteps, Hung became a well known fighter, teaching in his own SAN SOO school. He was an overlord for the entire province, which at that time, late 1800's and until 1941 was about the size of Orange County, Ca. He has complete control over nearly every aspect of the lives of the people in that area. No one started a business, moved or made any other major decisions without consulting Hung.

From the age five on Dek was to be his Great Uncle's prize student. He learned extremely fast and loved the contact and grueling workouts on hard floors. In his teens, Dek became a travelling teacher of Choi Lee Ho Fut Hung, the official name of the martial art perfected hundreds of years before in the monastery very near his small village. When anyone in the province needed someone to come and settle grievance, Dek was the enforcer. When village elders decided it was time for the young men to learn to defend themselves, Dek would be sent to live there for months at a time to teach them.

In 1935, at the age of 21, Chin Siu Dek left mainland China under the passport name Jimmy H. Woo and sailed for the United States. During the early years in this country, Jimmy lived in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

Chin Siu Hung was 73 years old when the Japanese invaded mainland China and took over his beloved province. In 1942 he was forced, against his will, to answer a challenge to fight to the death the regimental karate champion of the conquerors in front of the poor villagers of the surrounding area. Under the threat of death to his people it he did not comply, Hung fought and defeated the Japanese champion. In fact he killed the karate warrior in under 20 seconds. He and most of his students were immediately killed by machine gun fire. This basically ended SAN SOO in mainland China.

It was extremely fortunate that Jimmy had left mainland China when he did, for the Japanese would have awarded him with the same fate as his Great Uncle and the SAN SOO practitioners rather than allow a possible resistance corps to remain.

Jimmy carried the art to America and kept it alive while many of the other early Chinese fighting systems were destroyed by the Japanese. Mao Tse Tung later eradicated many of the other martial arts styles, training books and monasteries when the communist Chinese took over power from the Japanese at the end of WWII

Jimmy traveled several weeks by steamship to the United States, landing in the Port of Los Angeles, California. Jimmy worked many varied jobs as he became acclimated to his new home in Los Angeles' Chinatown District. His love for fresh fruit and vegetables stemmed from his long hours as a produce manager in a market, but his first love was teaching SAN SOO. He began teaching privately to close relatives and friends; later he was the instructor for several years at the Sing Dang "cousin club" a social/recreational organization. He also acted as security/police for the residents and business owners in the area and some times as a body guard, the only unarmed one in the area.

In December of 1962 Jimmy officially held the grand opening for his martial arts studio on the Midway Shopping Center in El Monte, CA. In the early years he called it "Karate-Kung Fu" because no one knew what kung fu was at that time. In January of 1984, following his retirement from daily instruction, Jimmy H. Woo came Grand Master (Lau Sifu) when his Grandson, J.P. King, earned his black belt. J.P. marks the seventh generation of a SAN SOO instructor-level practitioner in Jimmy's family. J.P. reached the level of SAN SOO Master in January of 1993. Jimmy H. Woo taught his instructors' class two Saturday's a month until 1991 totaling nearly 46 years of kung fu teaching in America.

NOTE: The above is a reproduction of the HISTORY OF KUNG FU SAN SOO. Copyright May, 1993, Jimmy H. Woo Kung Fu SAN SOO, Association, Inc.

From Dan Hoffmans site

History of Kung Fu and Chinese History in General

Note:  History aside, what we are all sure of is that Grand Master Chin gave us what I consider to be the best art available.
SanSoo is a fighting art.   Many people involved in the art are not interested in history.  There is nothing wrong with this.  Please do not bug people who are not interested in studying history.  If you are one of those who is not interested, just admit it and move on with your other studies.  Don't let others bug you about it.

History
Before exploring the history of San Soo (Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung), it is important to have a basic understanding of Chinese history in general.
I often hear claims about such as "This art was developed by Buddhist Monks 4,000 years ago in China".
Yet, according to the history books I have from school,  there is no record of any Monastic religions in China until about 2300 years ago.
Granted, 2300 years is a long time, but it is not 4000 years.

Chinese history in a nut shell:
*Approx. 2200 BCE - Xia Dynasty
*Approx. 1600 BCE - Shang Dynasty
*Approx. 1066 - 771 BCE - Zhou (Western - Eastern) Spring and Autumn Period
*770 - 221 BCE Warring States Period. Confucius and Lao Zi
*221 - 206 BCE Qin Dynasty The Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors. Legalism. Mo Zi. Xun Zi. Unification and standardization.
*206 BCE - 8 CE Han Dynasty Buddhism enters China
*25 - 220 CE Eastern Han
*220 - 280 Three Kingdoms The states of Wei, Shu Han, and Wu. Romance of the three Kingdoms. Guan Gong is killed by Cao Cao and becomes enlightened after his death.
*265 - 420 Jin Dynasty. Eastern and Western Jin.
*304 - 420 Sixteen Kingdoms
*420 - 589 Northern and Southern Dynasties. Approx. time of founding of ShaoLin Temple.
*581 - 618 Sui Dynasty
*618 - 907 Tang Dynasty Tang Poetry --- Li Bai - Du Fu
*907 - 960 Five Dynasties
*960 - 1127 Song Dynasty
*1127 - 1279 Southern Song
*907 - 1125 Liao Dynasty
*1032 - 1227 Western Xia
*1115 - 1234 Jin Dynasty
*1279 - 1368 Yuan Dynasty
*1368 - 1644 Ming Dynasty Ming Literature - Shui Hu Zhuan - Dream of the Red Chamber - Carnal Prayer Mat
*1644 - 1911 Qing Dynasty Last Emperor - Japanese Gain influence and control in China.

White Lotus rebellion 1796 -1804 : Opium War 1839 - 1842 (Anglo - Chinese, China lost HK 'till 1997)
Boxer rebellion 1898 - 1901

*1911 - present ROC Republic of China ( Taiwan )
*1949 - present PRC Peoples Republic of China ( Mainland China )

*The many cultures that make up modern China often made war against each other. Since the earliest Dynasties warriors and generals practiced and perfected their skills. No one really knows where the first martial arts originated, but the most logical guess is that they came from such warriors.

Soldiers and Generals were employees of the state, of the Emperor. As such, they could not quit or retire because that would be seen as an unfilial act toward the Emperor.
According to Han and Tang Law, this was a serious crime.
The only way to leave a government job was to die or move to another state and hope they let you live.  After the introduction of Buddhism into China during the Han Dynasty another option became available. 
Monks were given new names and were allowed to detach themselves from the "real world", just as if they had died.  This meant they could be excused from civil service.
Many officials of the government used this method to retire from civil service.  Some of these officials, soldiers, and generals brought books of martial arts exercises with them.  They preserved the exercises for health. 

*Buddhism and Martial Arts
Buddhists did not invent Kung Fu. Buddhist Monks take vows to not kill or harm any life ( Bu Xu Sha Sheng in Mandarin).  It does not make sense that they would sit around and think of ways to kill people. Nor where they aggressive fighters.
Rather, soldiers and government officials who retired to the Monastery would teach the arts to other Monks.
*According to the Buddhist Abbot I spoke with at the Ci Shan Si Monastery in Taichung Taiwan, Monks first began learning Martial Arts from apprentice Monks (retired-soldiers and officials) to enhance their physical and mental ability to meditate and keep the body healthy.
It was not until approximately CE 420 - 590 that Monks really started to use these skills for fighting on any regular basis. This has to do with power struggles between Eunuchs in the Emperors court who were afraid they were losing their influence over the Emperor (a Buddhist), and the Monks who advised the Emperor.
The Monks had to protect themselves when officials loyal to the Eunuchs put a bounty on Buddhist Monks.

Monks had little choice but to fight back. They even helped the Emperor in a Dynastic civil war. For more information on this period of history, check on the formation of the ShaoLin Temple system or the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Read Below.

Note: I have chosen not to post a version of the history of San Soo came to the U.S. because friends have informed that differing versions of the history have contributed to a lot of bickering and arguments between schools. 

I believe this is wrong.  The search for the roots of this art is interesting and fun, but is not worth loosing the family feeling this art once had.  All San Soo students should feel like family.   Nothing is worth loosing that.  I will maintain links to other web sites I feel are interesting, but I will not post a version of Grand Master's history again until the bickering stops and a version that makes sense in the context of written Chinese history is agreed upon by those who are actively teaching the art.

For other sites on San Soo, see my links page.

More Chinese History


The Five Families:
Although the family names are there to honor the people who are the roots of the art, they also demonstrate the blending of 5 styles into one.

*Cai Jia (Choy Ga) Punching and Kicking (most likely from the famous teacher Cai Fu)
          There is an art from the same area that was founded by a teacher named Cai Fu.
          This art was incorporated into many other arts in this area of Canton.
*Li Jia (Li Ga) Leverage (most likely from the famous teacher Li You Shan)
          Like Cai Jia Quan, Li Jia Quan was a popular art in the area near the Guan Yin monastery.
          Li Jia Quan was also incorporated into many later arts.
*He Jia (Ho Ga) Pressure points and Ground Fighting.
          Have not heard any real convincing evidence for the origin of this family.  
          However there seem to have been a few people named He that joined the anti-Japanese movements.
*Fo Jia (Fut Ga) In honor of the Buddhist roots of the art (Fo means Buddha) 
          Do not confuse this with the Fut Ga lessons...  Different Chinese characters. 
        Demonstrates the power of mind. Also adds defensive aspects to the art such as the downstep.
*Xiong Jia (Hung Ga or Hsiung Jia)  Demonstrates Power and Strength.

One version (not confirmed) points toward this family being named in honor of the anti Qing/ Japanese/Western fighters  known by their collective name Xiong Sheng or Hung Hsing (Victorious Heroes).

One other version I have read is that this was named for Chen Shou De's Uncle (Chen Shao Xiong/ Chin Siu Hung). The problem I have with this theory is that it would not make sense in Chinese to use the second syllable of one's given name to honor them..  That would be like using someone's middle name to honor them in English.

 

    Although many people believe that the five family sect of the art died in China with the cultural revolution and now only exists in the USA, it remains possible that some of the teachers in China survived the Cultural Revolution and are still teaching in Asia today.
In fact, according to Master Chen Tian Yang of Da Du Taiwan, the art (Identified by the 5 family names) is still taught in some areas of China and Taiwan under the name Southern Shao Lin Short Range Fighting (Boxing, or Combat).
There you have it. Cai Li He Fo Xiong.
Still taught in China and Taiwan as southern Shao Lin short range combat. Hmmmmm.....   Could it be???

Q: Is San Soo related to Choy Lay Fut?
A: I have not seen any solid proof one way or another.  The two arts are neighbors geographically.  They both use similar characters in the name. They both have the majority of their stories of origin rooted in the same time period (1800's). So, the answer is that no one can say for sure at this time.
The most likely truth is a middle ground between the FOR and AGAINST arguments.
We know from written history that many martial art schools banded together during this period. One of these schools was Chen Heng's (Choy Lay Fut).  It was a common practice for schools to exchange students (often relatives of the Master) to create a strong bond.  So there was quite a bit of mixing during this time.
So, although we are definitely not the same as Choy Lay Fut, there appears to be some relationship, maybe like cousins.

Q: Still, why is the art known by the name San Soo (sparring) here in the USA?
A: The art as it is taught in the USA is based on the San Soo (sparring -- Dui Da) of Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung. This is probably why it came to be called San Soo. According to the people I have talked to, who knew Grand Master Chen Siu Dek, he most enjoyed teaching the fighting aspects of the art.  This is evident when you watch his former students work out, as they are usually very accomplished fighters.  It is my guess that his American students just could not pronounce the name of the art properly (Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung or Cai Li He Fo Xiong). Since he taught the fighting aspect of the art (the San Soo of Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung), he just called it San Soo.
That's just my guess though. But if you go to Taiwan or China and ask about San Soo, people will ask "what style San Soo"?
After all, San Soo (San Sao, San Da or Dui Da) means nothing more than "sparring" or "fighting".  In some styles it is not freestyle but a choreographed 2 man set.
That is it. There is no other meaning. You can break the words apart to try and make it sound fancy...... "Scattered Hands" or the such. But the compound word simply means Sparring.
So when we say we study San Soo, what we are really saying is that we study the San Soo of Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung.

For more on Jimmy Woo and the history of Choy Lay Ho Fut Hung, click here.
Grand Master  

Chen Shou De (Chin Siu Dek AKA Jimmy H. Woo)