Lau Gar

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Lau Gar (Traditional Chinese: 劉 家; pinyin: Liú Jiā; Yale Cantonese: Lau4 Ga1; literally "Lau Family") is one of the five major family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts and is attributed to Lau Sam-Ngan (劉三眼; pinyin: Liú Sānyǎn; Yale Cantonese: Lau4 Saam1 Ngaan5; literally "Three Eyed" Lau), who is said to have been taught by Jee Sin.

There are three different styles of KungFu that use the name Lau Gar:

  • The Lau Gar Kuen system headed by Master Jeremy Yau Kam-Wha of Birmingham, England, who brought the style to Britain in 1961, and went on to set up the British Kung Fu Association in 1973. Master Yau has several disciples and students teaching throughout the United Kingdom where there are currently over 120 clubs.

Master Yau's Lau Gar incoporates a grading system based on coloured sashes, similar to Karate with White being the lowest and black the highest. There are 6 levels of black sash however a seventh degree was awarded to the chief instructor John Russel in 2007. These are white, blue, orange, green, yellow, purple, brown and then black. However unlike Karate, the white belt is only awarded after the first grading. The style features mid-height strong stances, many open-hand close-range techniques, and several kicks, few of which are above the waist, most aimed at waist height.

  • The Lau Gar found in Mainland China, the current recognised Master of which is Xiao Yong Ding (Siu Wing Ding in Cantonese) of Guangdong Province.
  • The Lau Gar routines found in certain branches of Hung Gar, another of the five major family styles, which do not come from Lau Gar proper (see discussion), but were originally a Mok Gar empty-hand routine (Lau Gar Kuen 劉家拳) introduced into the curriculum by a student of Lam Sai-Wing named Lau and a Chu/Chow Gar Mantis staff routine (Lau Gar Gwan 劉家棍) introduced into the curriculum by a student of the Chu/Chow Gar Mantis master Lau Shui, after whom the routine was named.

[edit] British guardians

There are were initially 20 guardians of Lau Gar Jun in the British Kung Fu association. (The Grade to be known as Guardian of Lau Gar has been awarded to the Senior Instructors of the British Kung Fu Association who have been training for a minimum of 20 years and attained the grade of 4th Degree Black Sash, and during that time selflessly contributed to the running and success of the British Kung Fu Association. It was first awarded in October 2000.) The Guardians have since grown to 28 members (current list 2008)

The following are the British Guardians of Lau Gar:

  • John Russell
  • Neville Wray
  • Stewart Hunt
  • Jason Crabtree
  • Pete Hornby
  • Andrew Nation
  • Morag Quirk
  • Keith Thomas
  • Carl Jones
  • Steve Newby
  • Kord Mannion
  • Graham Abdulla
  • Mike Lavender
  • Rajko Dokic
  • Alan Neeld
  • Clive Thompson
  • Andy Phillips
  • Steve Burton
  • Stuart Agars
  • Alec Clark
  • Alex Barrowman
  • David Eccles
  • Rash Patel
  • Robert Francis
  • Sean Viera
  • Tracy Edghill
  • Bobby O Neill (first Irish Guardian)

[edit] External links

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