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Ng Ga Kuen, also known as Five Families/Five Animals Kung Fu or Five Family Fist (五家拳) is a major traditional Southern Chinese Martial Art that traces its origins to the Shaolin Temples of China.
Ng Ga Kuen roughly translates to “Five Family Boxing/Fist”. As the name implies, it is distinctive in that it brings together techniques of five different family styles: Choy Gar, Li Gar, Mok Gar, Fut Gar and Hung Gar, taking the best of each style to create a very complete system. It also incorporates techniques and forms from the 5 legendary Shaolin animals, the Tiger, the Dragon, the Leopard, the Snake and the Crane.
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After Shaolin Kung Fu had been allegedly created by Da Mo (Bodhidharma), and during the Yuan dinasty, a general by the name of Gwok Yuen (later Abbot Zhao Yuan) became a Shaolin monk and decided to modify the techniques of the Shaolin, as he saw much room for improvement. Though creating a much more comprehensive fighting style, he wasn't satisfied and soon sought out other men, schooled in the martial arts, to contribute to the system. The men he eventually found were Bai Yu Feng and Li Sau, and together with them, he created the Ng Ying, or the system of the Five Animals Kung Fu, which along with the Shaolin style and the Five elements fist was passed down to the Five Elder of Shaolin, who survived the burning of the Shaolin temples and migrated South. One such survivor of the destruction was Gee Sin Sim See, who taught all Five Elders who are the root for Ng Ga Kuen: Hung Hei Koon, Lee Ba San, Sam Dak, Mok Ching Qui and Choy Pa Da, who then taught at a Southern Shaolin temple, keeping the styles alive. These were the descendants and representatives of Hung, Li, Fut, Mok and Choy (styles whose individual history can be read about through their own articles) that decided to create Ng Ga Kuen by merging the five styles of the five families. After its creation, Ng Ga Kuen continued to be taught at this monastery.
Perhaps the most important event in Ng Ga Kuen in the modern era was when Ark Yuey Wong, a 7 year old boy from a well-to-do family, was sent to the Southern Sil Lum (meaning “Shaolin” in Cantonese) Temple, to learn Kung Fu by an arrangement of his grandfather with the monks at the temple. Under Masters Lam Ark Fun and Ho Ark Yeng, he learned various styles of Kung Fu, particularly the Five Family style, and the Five Animals of Shaolin, rising to the level of Master in time. Eventually, Wong would leave China and migrate to the United States, where he taught Kung Fu to his family members and people of Chinese descent in a variety of locations, finally settling down in Los Angeles in 1929, where he opened his Kung Fu school of War Que, and earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 31. In 1965, he made history in becoming the first known Sifu to teach traditional Kung Fu to anyone, regardless of race. This makes Ng Ga Kuen quite possibly the first style of traditional Chinese Kung Fu taught in the United States of America to non-chinese students, and was notable enough to warrant several articles on respected martial arts magazines, such as The Black Belt Magazine. The system is featured as one of the 27 fighting styles or systems from which Bruce Lee, notable martial artist and legendary movie star, formed Jeet Kune Do.
Grandmaster Ark Yuey Wong continued his teaching of Ng Ga Kuen and the Five Animals up until his death in 1987, with his grandson Seming Ma continuing his direct lineage, and having taught many others, like Ralph Shun, who was instrumental in spreading Ng Ga Kuen and Ng Gar King (Ng Ga Kuen as modified by Shun) throughout the United States and Mexico. Due to the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple in the 1927 along with most of its martial artists, Ng Ga Kuen would’ve been lost had it not been for Ark Yuey Wong and his efforts.
Today Ng Ga Kuen is taught as originally intended by Seming Ma, Wong’s grandson, through his school and association. He is considered the authority in the matter by NGK organizations all over the world. One particular student of Yuey Wong, called Ralph Shun, combined his knowledge of Ng Ga Kuen with his previous mastery of other kung fu styles and opened up schools of his own. He eventually taught a student by the name of Manuel Cisneros, who after becoming a Master opened up Dragón Rojo (Red Dragon) Kung Fu in Mexicali, Baja California, in Mexico, which became immensely popular. It was during a rupture in Dragon Rojo that another organization was created, called Tigre Negro, which is one of the largest Chinese martial arts associations in Mexico, with direct approval of Seming Ma and presided over by Master Ruben Vargas, teaching Ng Gar King: Ng Ga Kuen as passed down by Ralph Shun and Dragón Rojo. Several other schools that teach the style or its derivatives also exist within the Mexican republic, ensuring the survival of the style.
The main components of the style are the legendary five families' kung fu styles: Fut Gar, Li Gar, Mok Gar, Hung Gar and Choy Gar, each of them complete styles with different approaches to Kung Fu, all descended from the temples of Shaolin Their lines came together and created a style that combined the might of all the Five families to create a system with better transition and strength.
Fut Ga (in itself a combination of two family styles) provided its powerful open palm techniques, knifehand chops and blocks, pokes and slapping techniques along with evasion and utilizing the force of the enemy against them.
Hung Gar added its ferocious, direct and powerful punching style, chosen thanks to it’s directness in power usage.
Choy Gar added its useful medium stance and its swift footwork, facilitating quicker transitions and improving on the style’s speed, also adding to the balance and agility of the style. This style comprises the stances utilized in Ng Ga Kuen.
Li Gar, the most obscure of the Five Family styles, provided the new style with its effective blocking, throwing and containment style along with some Chin-Na techniques, in order to become the system’s defense.
Finally, Mok Gar completed the new system with its unmatched, powerful and stealth kicking style, for which the style was very renowned. A set of forms was then created by the masters, to ensure the style’s longevity and to help students assimilate the techniques.
The style was complemented with the Five Legendary Shaolin Animals, each with its own approach to fighting techniques, and each with its own advanced form within the style:
The Crane represents equilibrium and it features open palm thrusts, knifehanded strikes and blocks, powerful kicks and the use of the crane’s beak, where the hand is bent downwards at the wrist with all of the fingers extended and closed together to form a beak. The fingers would be utilized to strike at weak spots such as the ears, eyes or use nerve-strikes, while the hard surface of the bent wrist would be utilized to strike with power using odd angles. The beak is also used as a hook to parry incoming attacks. The crane is an internal style, and if focuses on equilibrium, balance, precision and elegance, which it instills on each student with its form and techniques.
The Tiger represents strength and power, and it features the diverse Tiger’s claw, utilizing it for tearing, ripping, clawing and grasping an opponent, as well as striking with the palm of the claw. It aims for vulnerable targets such as the face and groin. It also makes use of devastating and dynamic kicks, such as the tiger’s tail kick. The tiger’s is considered an external style and it focuses on strength and power. It develops bone structure and power in the student, taught through tiger exercises and its form.
The Leopard represents speed and agility, and it makes use of the Leopard’s claw, basically a half-fist, created by folding each finger at the fist phalanx, using the ridge created thus as a striking surface, also using the palm of the claw as secondary weapon. The leopard attacks at narrow targets with its agility and speed, such as the throat, the ribs, the joints and nerve targets such as the brachial plexus in the neck, arm or armpit. In Ng Ga Kuen, Leopard utilizes the joint of the wrist along with the leopard claw as a blocking surface. It also employs palm thrusts to the face, powerful elbow and knee techniques, and lightning-fast low kicks. The Leopard is external and its focus is on speed and agility, and is described within Ng Ga Kuen as specializing in destructive techniques. It develops muscle structure, speed and agility.
The Snake represents evasion, endurance and deceit in combat. The snake evades the opponent and uses its sinuous movements to stay out of its range. The snake fist is simply an open, extended palm, with the palm pointing downwards and the straight fingers pointed at the enemy. Utilizing circular and sinuous movements, the snake arm is used to parry an attack. The snake targets only the most vulnerable and soft areas, particularly the eyes, the groin, the throat, some joints and nerve clusters, although it can also make use of knifehanded strikes. Snake is the other internal style within the Five Animals, and its focus is on strategic combat, flexibility, evasion and endurance. In a student, the snake style aims to develop superior endurance and chi harnessing through breathing training, along with flexibility.
The Dragon is the last of the Five Shaolin Animals, and it represents intelligence, internal power and the ability to flow in combat. The Dragon, unlike the other five animals, makes ample use of the fist as a striking weapon, but it also features the Dragon Claw, formed with an open palm, but with the first phalanxes of the finger slightly bent. It is used to strike with the palm, to chop, to claw or to grasp an attacker. Dragon style emphasizes circular, explosive and long distance attacks, designed for penetrating an opponent’s defense. The Dragon, though seeking spiritual development, is neither internal nor external; rather, it is considered by practitioners of this system as the balance between the two. It also places the Five animals in equilibrium, as there are now two external styles (Tiger and Leopard), and two internal (Crane and Snake), being complemented by the balanced Dragon. Dragon style has its focus on teaching the student to flow on the attack, and seeks the development of the spirit and of the chi.
As said before, all Five Animals have their separate advanced form within Ng Ga Kuen, and though the system is focused on these Five animals, forms exists for other animals, which are: Lion, Elephant, Horse, Bull, Eagle Claw, Monkey, Praying Mantis and Panther; although these are mostly forms and not complete styles.
In the schools that derived from the lineage of Ark Yuey Wong through Ralph Shun and Manuel Cisneros and that exist in Mexico, there is a variant of Ng Ga Kuen, called Ng Gar King (which would roughly mean: “Five Family (Five) Animal” style). Allegedly, Ralph Shun, one of Wong’s closest and most advanced students, modified several aspects of the style in order to make it more accessible for students. Shun was known to have the ability to analyze and dissect a style, comprehending the hows and whys of every movement, and thus he broke down several of the hand forms, separating them in two, so that now there were two Salutes, two Combination forms, two Small Cross forms, etc; where the first served as a solid base and as preparation for the second, thus creating an easier-to-acquire and deeper understanding of each movement of the form, and of their purpose. Another important modification came thanks to Shun’s kicking experience and style. Ng Ga Kuen’s kicks as coming from Mok Gar, while powerful and useful, were always limited to the torso and below, never above the stomach and only as high as the ribs, as typical of Southern Kung Fu styles, where the only exception would perhaps be the crescent kick. Shun however introduced several high and aerial kicks to the style’s movement curriculum as well as to several of the forms. White Scorpion, a form of Shun’s own making found only in Ng Gar King and the styles that descended from it, reflects these changes: A rapid succession of high kicks, jumping spinning crescent kicks, double jumping front kicks, etc. Other forms were modified to accommodate high kicks, such as the basic Salute (the traditional had standing sweeps with each leg to enter a Horse stance, whereas Ng Gar King uses a reverse crescent kick with each leg in order to get into the Horse stance). There were several new forms introduced later on by other masters of the style that later went on to create their own schools, such as Alberto Sainz Kanagi, the founder of the Tigre Negro association in México, who added two Wing Chun forms, although these bear little resemblance to traditional Wing Chun. It is also to be noted that Ng Gar King utilizes some weapons that Ng Ga Kuen does not, and vice versa; although the most shining example of this is the use of the Japanese Sai by Ng Gar King. On a more superficial level there’s also several differences in the number or belts or sashes a student will need to attain before making it to instructor level, and then to Master’s level. The sashes also differentiate from Ng Ga Kuen in their number and color; there are fewer sashes in Ng Gar King and fewer advances in each of those sashes than in Ng Ga Kuen.
Training begins with learning the basic stances, starting with the Horse stance. It was claimed by Ark Yuey Wong that, traditionally, a new student would pass a few months doing nothing more than standing in the Horse stance before a Master would bother with teaching him his first forms. Wong modified this teaching style, realizing it was not suited for the modern day and the modern student. Training still begins with basic stances, but they are introduced at a normal pace and strengthened throughout the student’s entire martial arts career. The basic punches, kicks and blocks are assigned to each sash or grade, and are taught to the student as he moves up in the grading system, along with the traditional forms, which gradually become longer, more demanding and more complex. As pertaining of a style descended from Shaolin, the style places great care in physical conditioning with rigorous physical training, both internal and external, with typical strengthening techniques such as sit-ups and running, whereas more specialized exercises exist in the form of push ups, but instead of using a whole palm, the student utilizes the tiger’s claw (5 fingered pushup), Crane’s beak (utilizing the bent wrist as a support surface), the Snake’s fist (using the hand’s blades), Eagle’s claw (3 fingered pushup), etc. Internal training is also enforced, teaching the student how to breathe properly. Typical classes often consists of warm up (physical conditioning), techniques practice corresponding to each student, sparring matches and forms training. Sparring is done consistently, and it requires that students wear protection equipment: Helmet and gloves are required for official competitions, but it is advised that the student also wear shin-guards, feet-guards and a cup. Chest protection is not often used, and students who wish to do so can also use a mouthpiece. Point-sparring is the default and mandatory portion of fighting within the style. Depending on the fighting prowess and interest of each student, they have the option to train full contact and Sanda/Sanshou techniques. Techniques on self defense, takedowns and joint-manipulation are also an important part of the routine. Under Ark Yuey Wong, students were divided secretly into two categories: the public students and private students. Public students were taught powerful and useful techniques, along with mandatory forms and standard conditioning training; however, these were students who were thought of as likely to drop out or that didn’t showed enough interest in the style; they still left training with a curriculum of techniques that made them formidable individuals, but didn’t know the style in its deeper form. Private students were taught the deepest secrets of the art, its history, its additional forms, the different combat applications of every movement within the forms, etc. These students were rewarded so because of the quality of their work, their enthusiasm for the art, their attitude in training and their having proved being reliable by making timely payments. As such, these students were regarded as the true heirs of the style who would pass it down. Some have credited the rarity of the full Ng Ga Kuen system today to this practice.
Hand Forms Salute: A salutation, it goes at the beginning of each of the next hand forms, and is used as both a greeting to express respect, and as way to identify the style and set it apart. Small Cross, Butterfly, Combination, Black Bird, Palm
Five Animal Forms Snake, Tiger, Dragon, Leopard, Crane
Combination Animal Forms Dragon and Tiger, Crane and Snake and Dragon, Tiger and Leopard
Five Greater Animal Forms Lion, Elephant, Horse, Monkey, Panther
Two-Men Forms Fighting Form One- Fighting Form Two
Optional Hand Forms Exercise form one- Exercise form two- Exercise form three, Eagle Form, Golden Dragon, Gliding Crane, Side Tiger, Bull
Weapon Forms Butterfly Knife, Double Head Stick, Short Stick, Long Pole one - Long Pole Two, Single Saber - Double Saber, Single Sword - Double Sword, Green Dragon Sword, Spear, Nine Ring Big Broadsword, 3 Sectional Staff One- 3 Sectional Staff Two, Guan Dao One- Guan Dao Two, Single Dagger - Double Dagger, Tiger Hook Sword, Tiger Fork, Single Crescent Spear, Steel Whip Chain, Double Monk's Cymbal, Monk's Spade, Fan
Hand forms Salute, Wing Chun I, Combination, Set I, Wing Chun II, Small Cross, Blackbird, Butterfly, White Scorpion, Lau Gar King, Three Families, Salute II, Combination II, Butterfly II, Shaolin One, Shaolin Combination, Fu Shao, Hung Kuen, Set II, Set III, Set IV, Blackbird II, Palm.
5 Animal Forms Leopard, Snake, Tiger, Crane, Dragon.
5 Greater Animal Forms Horse, Lion, Panther, Elephant, Monkey.
Additional Forms Eagle’s Claw, Great Crane, Black Tiger, Black Tiger II, Praying Mantis, Red Dragon vs Green Dragon.
Weapon Forms Long Staff, Spear, Fan- Double Fan, Dao sword-Double Dao sword- Double Dao Sword Exercises, Guan Dao, Twin Sai, Butterfly Knives, Short Stick-Double Short Stick, Crescent Snake Spear, Tiger Hook Swords, Green Dragon Sword, Three-Sectional Staff, Cross Pattern (Advanced for Dao), Jian, Whip Chain.
Ng Ga Kuen Grading No sash (white); Grey 1, 2, 3, 4; Yellow 1, 2, 3, 4; Green 1, 2, 3, 4; Red 1, 2, 3, 4; Blue 1, 2, 3, 4; Black 1, 2; Instructor Black; Master’s Black.
Ng Gar King Grading Beginner (no sash); White sash 1, 2 (symbolizing the Crane); Yellow sash 1, 2 (symbolizing the Leopard); Green sash, 1, 2 (symbolizing the Snake); Red third degree, red second degree sash, Red First degree (symbolizing the Tiger); Black sash, Black First degree sash (symbolizing the Dragon).
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