* Second part of the article written by Sifu Wong Zan Gong and published in 2001 “My Master, the third generation inheritor of the Hung Sing Kwoon Ho Yi”
At that time the “da shihing” Joeng Yun also came, he had first been a student of Ho Cheung, fourth-generation master of the Hung Sing Kwoon, for many years. He studied with Ho Cheung’s sons, Ho Choek Wah and Ho Zan Wah. Then, all together, they went to do the “baishi” to Master Ho Yi. So not long after Master Ho Yi started teaching us we were already training in the same place with Joeng Yun, Ho Choek Wah and Ho Zan Wah.
After that, Zyu Siu Jing, Lo Kwok Sam, Choeng Seon San, Gam Zi Sing, Leung Zi Koeng, Ze Fai Loeng, Leung Siu Man and others looked for Master He Yi to learn the weapons and fist of Choy Li Fut. These students whom Master taught were all related to him through the generation of their parents and grandparents. (Note: What I tell here is only about the brothers who studied with my Master in the same period of time. Sifu taught many groups of people before and after this, but I don’t have that information handy, so I won’t give more details than necessary.)
When our Master taught us kung fu he was tremendously strict, he was conscientious with each movement, if the movement he had taught us were not executed well, he did not teach us a new one. Even now I still clearly remember the Master with almost seventy years of age, in the decade of the sixties of the last century, he wore hard-soled plastic sandals, very slippery, but even so, his positions when doing the “biu ma” were extremely stable.
When he was young, the master worked at a fresh fish stand, and in his spare time, he practiced “biu ma” in a mossy fish pond to hone his skills. His footwork was fast and violent and his hands were very speedy and strong.
Master Ho was also especially skilled with the whip. In summer he liked to go shirtless with a towel over his shoulders, once, while Sifu practiced a whip movement to teach it to my classmates, I saw him wave the towel, which instantly sounded loudly twice “pa, pa!” one on each side of Ng Bak Kyun’s ear, who was frightened and closed his eyes tightly.
Ho Sifu also dictated us the rules of the Hung Sing Kwoon and he explained them in detail. The ten rules of the Hung Sing Kwoon are:
- (TN) Due to the difficulty of translating the rules literally, we have limited ourselves to illustrating them with this photo. To know more about the Rules of Hung Sing Kwoon you can read the following article by clicking on this link: The rules of the Futsan Hung Sing Kwoon
Sifu also taught us that in order to learn martial arts, we must first learn “wude,” the unwritten rules governing martial virtue. It is necessary to respect the Headmaster of the kwoon, to help each other between older and younger brothers and sisters, to treat everyone with education and respect and regarding our youngest and fieriest students, to tell them with a special emphasis that fighting is not allowed and that whoever gets into fights outside the school, will not be recognized as a student.
All students from the same generation of Ho Sifu have followed his teachings to this day and for several decades we have never gotten into trouble or caused any fight.
Sifu Ho Yi not only had a deep knowledge of martial arts but also knew a lot about “dieda” medicine and medical ethics. As we followed the master to learn this art, we saw many wounded and sick patients coming to seek medical treatment, Master Ho would ask the cause of the illness and after inspecting the injury, he would dictate a prescription to them. The patients wrote down the preparation, the form of decoction or washing and application and went to the pharmacy to get the medicine for themselves. The Sifu never took a penny, and everyone seeking medical treatment praised him. Some of us Master also taught us a homemade way to strengthen the body, which benefited us for life.
Most of Sifu Ho Yi’s disciples are today the backbone of Futsan’s Hung Sing Kwoon, they occupy important positions and have the responsibility as heirs to transmit the techniques of Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut.
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Hung Sing Kwoon I write this humble article as a tribute to Master Ho Yi.
Wong Zan Gong
Translated by María Arias
