Wong Kiew Kit

Wong Kiew Kit is a grandmaster in the tradition of the mythical Southern Shaolin Monastery in China, which should not be confused with the more commonly known Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province. Wong founded the Shaolin Wahnam Institute in 1982 in order to teach what have been called Shaolin arts to the public.^[1] He claims to be a student of many famous lineages including a fourth generation successor of Jiang Nan and a sixth generation successor of Chee Seen.^[2]

Life and career

Born in 1944, Wong Kiew Kit started his lifelong training of the Shaolin arts at the age of 10 when he began learning Shaolin Kungfu from Lai Chin Wah, who was also known as Uncle Righteousness. According to Wong's biography, he became Lai Chin Wah's best disciple.^[3] He has taught Shaolin Cosmos Qigong, Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan, Zen and also Lion dance worldwide for more than 25 years. His school has qualified instructors in Canada, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, USA, Venezuela, Austria, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.^[4] He claims to have over 2000 students throughout the world.

Wong received the Qigong Master of the Year award at the Second World Congress on Qigong held from 21 to 23 November 1997 in San Francisco, United States.^[5]

He has written a number of books published in multiple languages on martial arts and philosophy. His works include Chi Kung For Health and Vitality,^[6] The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu,^[7] The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan,^[8] The Complete Book of Zen,^[9] Introduction to Shaolin Kung Fu,^[10] The Complete Book of Chinese Medicine,^[11] The Complete Book of Shaolin.^[12] Sukhavati: Western Paradise,^[13] and The Art of Chi Kung, ^[14]

Southern Shaolin Monastery

The location and existence of this has been disputed. The book Martial Arts of the World: Regions and individual arts gives the stories of a Southern temple as an example of the unverifiable claims often made for the establishment of Chinese martial art styles. It says "One example involves a Shaolin monastery in Fujian Province. During the nineteenth century, Heaven and Earth Society documents referred to a southern Shaolin monastery in Fujian Province from whence so-called southern Shaolin martial arts styles such as Hong Quan reportedly originated. Although this assertion has been repeated many times, and claimants from three locations (Quanzhou, Putian, and Fuxing) have each made a case for their location, none of the claimants has been able to provide much evidence to support their claims." It also states that "Another aspect of the Shaolin story subject to misperception is the impression that martial arts called "Shaolin staff/' "Shaolin boxing," etc., were actually developed at a Shaolin Temple" noting that "Recruiters for organizations such as the Heaven and Earth Society also used stories about Shaolin prowess to recruit members. And, of course, playwrights and novelists created stories. This makes it difficult to confirm whether any specific style originated at any specific location, let alone at Songshan Shaolin monastery in Henan."^[15]

References

External links

• Official website
• Shaolin Wahnam Institute Homepage