Ku Yu Cheung (Mandarin: Gu Ruzhang) (顾汝章) (1894–1952) was a Chinese martial artist who disseminated the Bak sil lum (northern shaolin) martial arts system across southern China in the early 1900’s. Ku was known for his expertise in Iron Palm hand conditioning among other Chinese Martial Art training exercises. Ku Yu Cheung has become a legendary heroic figure in some Chinese Martial Arts communities.[1][2]
Major events in Ku’s life are difficult to verify, as many of his achievements have been made legendary and may have been subject to gross exaggeration.
Ku Yu Cheung had been photographed breaking twelve un-spaced bricks with one strike.[3] He entered the first National Wushu Fighting Examination and placed in the top 15 competitors. He was also an instructor for the Guangdong Armed Forces.[1]
According to legend, Ku Yu Cheung, in the same spirit as the folk hero Huo Yuanjia, defeated foreign fighters who viewed the Chinese Martial Arts as an inferior system of fighting.[4]