Snake style history

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Shaolin Form Artful Hand
A Pleasant Conversation About the Esoteric Fist with Leung Gar Wun, Fourth Generation Master of the Snake Form Artful Hand
By High Dragon
Translated by Alvin Wong

Adhere (Niem), Bind (Chien), Soft (Mien), Connect (Lien), and Follow (Chiur) are the five concepts of the Snake Form Artful Hand. If one understands these concepts, one can attain the art’s secret.

There are not many students of Snake Form in Heung Guong [Hong Kong] and very few have openly established schools to hand down the art to disciples. At present, Leung Gar Fong is the only one to teach this art.

Master Leung, presently at Wong Gok, Dai Bu Dao, is a specialist in bone injuries sustained in falls and fighting. He is director of the Tien Chi Health Clinic [Tian Zhu Health Institution]. Master Leung is presently concentrating on his medicine; he has “sealed his fists” and no longer teaches his martial art. Teaching has been turned over to his nephew Fong Chok Ming, and others, to manage.

Snake Form is a Sieu Lum [Sil Lum] art. There are 136 forms in the entire system. The “bearing” [?] of each form is not the same, and it has hidden hand movements. According to tradition, Snake Form began in the Ching Dynasty with Leung Sieu Jong (Leung Sil Jong). Master Leung Sieu Jong learned it from a famous Sieu Lum monk. [According to Wong Tim Yuen, Leung Sieu Jong was a Sieu Lum monk—of course, he would have learned his art from other monks]. Leung was from Fu Jian, Pu Teen. Leung Tien Chi [Leung Sieu Jong’s nephew] is the third to perpetuate the art [Hue Lung Gong, Leung Sieu Jong’s first student, was the second]; Leung Gar Fong is the fourth.

Master Leung Gar Fong says that his uncle Leung Tien Chi told him that the discovery of Leung Sieu Jong’s skill was accidental. Leung Tien Chi is from Sae Gong, Law Ding. The community of Law Ding had engaged the famous master Yao Loong Kuang (Yao Lung Gong) to live in the Leung clan’s village and teach the boys his martial art. Yao Loong Kuang taught Hung and Choi styles. At the time, Leung Sieu Jong was only a caretaker at Law Ding’s ancestral hall. He was seventy years old and his only apparent interest in life was indulging his fondness for wine. He showed no interest in Yao Loong Kuang’s teachings, and so, during the ten years he looked after the ancestral hall, no one knew he had extraordinary skill as a martial artist.

One year, during one of Law Ding’s seasonal celebrations, fate stepped in. The Dance of the Waking Lion must have been heard in the heavens as the joyful villagers filled the square in front of the hall to watch demonstrations of fist and staff forms. Leung Sieu Jong had joined in the celebration and, full of happiness, had drunk three cups of wine, and the septuagenarian had returned to the hall to rest from his exertions. But the group of youths performing the Lion Dance in front of the hall “shook the heavens” with the noise they made, and an angry—and drunk—Leung rushed out to shout at them to stop.

Leung’s status in the village was very low, and no one expected such behavior from him. At first, the youths pointedly ignored him, and even began playing louder, to the point of acting disorderly and rude. This infuriated Leung, who pushed his way to the drummer and snatched away his drumsticks. He then grabbed the various weapons on their rack and scattered them about. At that point the crowd of youths moved as one to try to seize him. The next sounds were dull thuds as the five strongest men hit the ground, groaning from their injuries.

The villagers’ anger was now matched by their vexation: instead of the humble caretaker, a complete stranger stood there, looking immovable. They had between them many years’ experience in martial arts learned from Yao Loong Kuang, but they couldn’t take down Leung Sieu Jong. So they called upon Yao to teach Leung a lesson.

Yao Loong Kuang knew that Leung Sieu Jong was not entirely at fault, but he also realized that if he did not take action he would lose much of his standing in the community. He approached Leung and saw that he was sleepy, intoxicated, dizzy, and could not distinguish black from white, but was nonetheless trying to provoke Yao into fighting. Yao saw that it was not possible to avoid exchanging blows with Leung, and he stopped to consider his opponent.

Yao Loong Kuang was a martial artist with many years’ experience, and he reflected that he had never seen Leung Sieu Jong accost another man in public. He surmised that Leung must be one of two types: either he had an extraordinary skill that he never disclosed, or he simply acted thoughtlessly (and was lucky). He gave Leung a nudge to provoke him and see what he’d do.

Leung became even more angry and said, “Master Yao, you want to exchange move with me. But first we have to agree on a certain number of moves in a fixed time.”

Yao’s eyes opened wide. “In what way?” he replied.

Leung said, “You will direct ten successive moves at me. If you knock me down or your fist connects with my chest I will acknowledge defeat. If you don’t, or if I knock you down, you must acknowledge defeat.”

Naturally, Yao Loong Kuang accepted these terms, and attempted to strike Leung Sieu Jong. But Leung’s hands and body were quick as lightning; indeed, he move like a dragon. After seven moves he had not only dodged Yao’s fists, but on the eighth began to counterattack. Leung’s moves were unfamiliar to Yao, and while he was able to block Leung’s strikes, he was not able to resist his overall force. On the ninth move he was thrown to the ground.

The people of Law Ding felt they had been watching a tiger fight a dragon. The now regarded Leung Sieu Jong with great respect, while Yao Loong Kuang had lost his standing and was expected to leave the community, Leung taking his place as instructor to the youth. But Leung Sieu Jong had a very upright character, and he did not feel that this was right. He persuaded Yao Loong Kuang to stay and continue teaching. United like brothers with different dispositions, they taught the community together. Yao Loong Kuang taught Hung and Choi forms, and Leung Sieu Jong taught the Snake Form.
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