Huang Fei-hong, 1847-1924, was one of the great Cantonese masters of the Hong school and a major figure in southern Chinese kungfu during the late Ching and early Republican eras.

Inheriting the Hong tradition

The schools of Chinese martial arts are divided by the Yangtze River. To the south they use their fists; to the north they kick. Geography plays a big part in this, for the north abounds with wide open spaces, whereas the south tends toward the cramped. There are five major southern schools: the Hong, Liu, Tsai, Li, and Mo. The Hong school was founded by Hong Hsi-kuan of the Shaolin Monastery and takes inspiration from the movements of animals. Its "Shaolin reclining tiger," "tiger-crane double image," and "drunken" fighting styles frequently appear in the movies.

Fearing that Shaolin would join with anti-Ching forces working to restore the Ming dynasty, the Ching court burned the entire complex of monasteries. But Lu Ah-tsai, a disciple of the great master Hong Hsi-kuan, hid himself among the people and survived by performing kungfu and selling Chinese osteopathic medicines. By chance he once came across Huang's father Huang Chi-ying, and the two got into a fight. Locked in battle for three days and three nights, 'the heroes finally grew fond of each other and became bosom buddies. Huang Chi-ying studied Hong-style kungfu from Lu Ah-Tsai, and his son Huang Fei-hong would follow in his footsteps and learn the true Hong style.

A clever lad, the younger Huang traveled about with his father, performing kungfu and selling Chinese medicines. When he was 16, he and his father--two of the "ten Cantonese tigers"--opened a martial arts school.

Huang Fei-hong taught kungfu to Liu Yung-fu's Black Flag Army, and was the head martial arts instructor for Li Fu-lin's Fu Army. He also taught fighting skills to laborers in the vegetable, fruit and salted fish markets of Canton. His wife, they say, was also a skilled fighter and would help teach.

Porky Lang, the master's heir

Huang's most noted students included Liang Kuan, Lin shih-jung (Porky Lang), Ling Yun-Chieh and Feng Hsueh-piao. Originally apprenticed to a blacksmith and coppersmith, the mischievous and promiscuous Liang Kuan began studying with Huang in his teens. In his twenties, when he had mastered the core of Huang's teachings, he helped his master teach the laborers in Canton's markets. But he died when he was just 25. Chang Tsuo, a writer who has researched Huang Fei-hong, says that Liang Kuan was shot to death. National Cheng-chih University professor Pang Ka Fat says he died on the street after picking a fight with an old kungfu performer. Huang Fei-hong would take revenge for the death.

Of all of Huang's students, Porky Lang learned most from the master, and he would later open his own school in Hong Kong. His student Liu Chan is the father of Liu Chia-liang, a martial arts director of Chinese movies.

Huang did not have a happy family life. He had two sons. The older one, Huang Han-lin, studied with his father but was later killed by a barrage of bullets in an attack against bandits. Huang Fei-hong was devastated and decided not to pass his kungfu on to his second son, Huang Han-hsi. The movies show a Huang caught in the snares of romance. Yet truth be told, Auntie Yee is a completely fictitious character. After Huang's first wife died, he married twice again but both of his later wives died as well. He finally felt that he was fated to live out life as a widower and took a concubine, Mo Kuei-lan, who was famed for her skills with a knife in each hand. When Kuan Teh-hsing's portrayal of Huang Fei-hong made Huang famous in Hong Kong, Mo and Huang Han-hsi grew in notoriety as well. Pang Ka Fat remembers seeing Mo, the last witness to Huang's great achievements, when he was small.

Shadowless feet

Huang Fei-hong was a master of the southern Chinese kungfu, which stresses planting oneself firmly. (They call the idea "bronze bridge, iron horse.") In attacking they strived for steadiness, and so they didn't kick any higher than their waists. The flips and high leaps featured in the movies are derived mainly from the highly vigorous and agile movements of northern kungfu.

And what about the "shadowless feet" technique that propels Huang all over the silver screen? Pang Ka Fat points out that Huang Fei-hong was inspired to invent "shadowless feet" --a blend of Hong and northern kicking techniques--after friendly sparring with a northern master. Shadowless feet makes full use of the martial arts proverb: "let your mind lead your ch'i and your ch'i move your power." Letting your ch'i flow down to your feet, you kick vigorously without any preparatory movements. You don't go flying around on hidden suspension cables like in the movies. Peng Ka Fat emphasizes that you first do the chaotic arm motions of "the poisonous snake wags his tongue" before proceeding with the kungfu under foot.

After the truth comes to light and the superhuman bravery of Huang Fei-hong is explained, it turns out this "shadowless feet" technique is something we all could learn.

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His leg like a knife chopping vegetables, Huang Fei-hong of the silver screen kicks the kungfu technique of shadowless feet out of all proportion.(courtesy of Long Shong Pictures Ltd.)