Singapore Geok Beng Pugilistic Association 新加坡玉明国术协会

Northern vs southern shaolin training cycles
There are a few differences between these two that are worth pointing out.

First, northern shaolin systems tend to do forms first whereas some southern systems do application first or at least along with forms. It's a difference in focus. I noticed this in choylifut where application came first or along with forms. I couldn't move on to the next form until I could do the moves in a sparring format.

Southern mantis tends to not have a lot of forms (or at least it didn't at one time) and the emphasis was on strong basics before anything else. Forms were part of the training but in my case, came after you did the moves individually in line drills.

And the Fujian systems in general have a ton of forms and teach them fairly fast because each form is just a little harder than the one before it. You are supposed to get a large amount of material under your belt and train it hard. The principles become quite clear very quickly.

Northern forms tend to be longer and many southern forms shorter. Hung gar people are groaning at me right now since their first form taming the tiger is massive, hence why arrow fist was added. It makes the process easier to have a shorter form for students.

Northern forms are considered more developmental meaning you get fewer of them than in many southern systems but since they are longer, they take more time to train. North mantis' beng bu form comes to mind. That's one of the harder forms as a beginner to learn so many styles have added a form or two before that. Looking at beng bu compared to my long fist, beng bu is at least intermediate level in long fist, not beginner level. This is one reason in Taiwan, the two styles are often mixed. Long fist is used to fill in the gaps.

The pace that forms are given in Fujian styles can get overwhelming quickly but it's at least a sign that the material is being passed on. Both 5A and grand ancestor were taught to me fairly quickly. If my long fist teacher had done that, I would have had to take a month of in between forms lol.

The 5A system I learned in Taiwan had 75 FORMS! If you didn't teach those fairly quickly, you'd never learn the system. But yeah, it got overwhelming at a certain point.

Northern shaolin places more emphasis on body mechanics at first and frankly speaking, it takes longer to recover from the work in terms of stances. Long fist done properly leaves me sore for days. My legs need time to recover. Southern styles tend towards footwork over wide stances and is easier to recover from, in general. This supports the higher amount of forms that you get. Volume makes up for the higher intensity found in long fist.

From a fitness POV, it all comes down to volume vs intensity and at a certain point, you have to choose one of those paths until you've adapted to the training. You can't do both high volume AND high intensity at the same time, at least not for very long.

The way I figured all of this out was by doing all these different systems intensely and applying my fitness coaching knowledge to the process. I put this into my courses to the students training cycle is accelerated. No need to wait years!

The three branches of southern shaolin
Popular styles and their histories often give people false impressions and misperceptions die hard, especially in the AI age we're living in. I asked one AI and it said "the three major branches of southern shaolin are hung gar, choy li fut, and wing chun." False. Another AI told me "the three major branches of southern shaolin are Putian, Quanzhou, and Fuqing." Also false. Why are these wrong and what's the correct answer?

Start with the three "southern shaolin temples" of Putian, Quanzhou, and Fuqing --EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE IS A RECENT RECREATION! Was there an actual southern shaolin temple? I haven't seen compelling evidence of that but they built Quanzhou for marketing purposes and as a guy that also practices wuzuquan (5A) I'm not complaining. But once that was built for marketing purposes, others got in on the tourist game. $$$$$. Putian and Fuqing recently put out a call for teachers to come teach them "shaolin" and now southern temples are springing up like mushrooms. What do mushrooms get fertilized with?

Let me state this clearly so everyone gets it: WHILE THERE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AN ACTUAL "SOUTHERN SHAOLIN TEMPLE" THERE ARE ACTUAL SOUTHERN SHAOLIN STYLES!

The temple thing is a separate issue.

Hung gar, choylifut, and wing chun are fine systems and many people have heard of them obviously. But those aren't the only southern shaolin styles out there. Not by a long shot. ALL OF THOSE ARE CANTONESE! There are other branches of southern shaolin done outside the Cantonese category. Sorry but many school websites have this completely wrong.

And no the choy, li, mok, hung, lau (however you list them) families still don't cover it. Sorry, again.

The three main branches of southern shaolin are apparently found outside AI which simply compiles what is already out there and popular on the internet which is frequently sketchy and incomplete. This leads AI to make false assumptions and therefore, false conclusions. Garbage in, garbage out.

Southern shaolin: Cantonese, Hakka, and Fujian styles. Are there other smaller styles? Yes, but these are the three major divisions.

Cantonese styles: hung gar, CLF, wing chun, five family, etc.
Hakka: southern mantis, white eyebrow, southern dragon, wanderer style (boy do I have a story about that one!), etc.
Fujian: five ancestor, white crane, taizu (grand ancestor), etc.

ALL of these are southern shaolin systems. I personally trained CLF, hung gar, 5A, grand ancestor white crane, calling crane, and southern mantis. No, I'm not a wing chun guy. :)

Don’t just trust what the internet tells you — investigate history yourself.

对于福建白鹤拳有兴趣者，这是一个难得的机遇，请点击以下报名链接。

For those who are keen in exploring more on Fujian White Crane, it is a good opportunity to have hands-on experience with GM Lee Kong in London.

Registration Link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBXB8BHxCww4V7MgGj8-iT6U-58yExWGNGmfsewqhbi10jww/viewform

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Master Harry Wee in Singapore, a man who has dedicated his entire life to Wu Zu Quan (Five Ancestors Fist). During our meeting he kindly presented me with a traditional Kung Fu banner from his school.

Harry began training in 1968 at the age of 23, at a time when gang violence was common in Singapore. What started as a way to protect himself became a lifelong passion. His dedication eventually led him to the Zhengzhou China International Shaolin Wushu Festival in 2014, where he won the gold medal at age 69.

Photos by the organizers of our recent participation in Qixi Fest 2025 in Kereta Ayer Square! Thank You!

#新加坡五祖拳 #沈扬德 #玉明国术协会