Bak Mei Kung Fu
白眉拳A southern Chinese close-range fighting style. The documented lineage begins with Cheung Lai Chuen, and the story of the monk Bak Mei is a legend.
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Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Bak Mei Kung Fu
Bak Mei, meaning white eyebrow, is a southern Chinese close-range fighting style. Tradition links it with a monk called Bak Mei, one of the legendary Five Elders of Shaolin, but the historian Ben Judkins regards this story as a legend. The documented lineage begins with Cheung Lai Chuen, a Hakka from Huizhou county in Guangdong, who according to tradition learned the style around 1908 from the monk Juk Faat Wan. In Guangzhou he taught police officers and at the Whampoa military academy, and in 1949 he left for Hong Kong, where he died in 1964. According to the description of the Hong Kong lineage, Bak Mei uses short bridges, the phoenix-eye fist, claws and stabbing palms, and body movement is described as four currents: swallowing, spitting, floating and sinking. The basic form is Jik Bo, the straight step. We found no belt or grade system. Judkins regards the style as a Hakka and Cantonese art rather than a Buddhist one. By a document of 11 May 2026, Guangzhou added Bak Mei to its list of municipal intangible heritage, in Foshan it is a municipal-level project, and it is taught in primary schools. The style's reputation was damaged by the links of some of Cheung's students to the triads. The video game Sifu from 2022 brought it to a wider public.
History
Tradition links Bak Mei with a monk of the same name, one of the legendary Five Elders of Shaolin, and with a southern monastery in Fujian. The historian Ben Judkins regards this story as a legend, because most scholars consider the southern temple in Fujian never to have existed. According to tradition, Cheung Lai Chuen, the founder of the documented lineage, learned the style around 1908 from the monk Juk Faat Wan in a temple near Guangzhou. Judkins also considers this story doubtful, as no written evidence of the monk survives. Cheung Lai Chuen was born into a poor Hakka family in Huizhou county in Guangdong, and his year of birth is given as 1882 or 1889. In Guangzhou he worked for the salt office, and his first students were colleagues from there. He taught police officers and at the Whampoa military academy. According to Judkins, his style combined the earlier teachings of several styles, among them Dragon Shape boxing. In 1949 he left for Hong Kong with three sons and died there in 1964.
How it differs
Judkins regards Bak Mei as a Hakka and Cantonese art shaped by the styles of the eastern part of the Pearl River Delta rather than a Buddhist art, as the legend claims. In his view Cheung's lineage does not rest on a single source and combined several earlier styles. The developers of the game Sifu described it as a southern style that is more grounded than the northern styles, striking and explosive. We found no documented comparison with Hung Gar, Choy Li Fut or Wing Chun.
Technique
We found no federation source or scholarly literature on the technique, and the description is based on the Hong Kong association Bright Dragon. According to it, Bak Mei is a close-range fighting style with short bridges. Characteristic techniques include the phoenix-eye fist, the eagle and tiger claw, and the stabbing and pushing palm. The stance is triangular and serves for stepping and pressing forward. Body movements are described as four currents: swallowing, spitting, floating and sinking. The list of six coordinated forces differs between lineages.
Training
Training too is described only by schools. The Hong Kong association Bright Dragon distinguishes three body shapes, four currents and eight hand techniques, including whip, chop, pull and impact. A Canadian school says teaching also covers weapon forms Cheung took from his teachers, and that Cheung studied meditation and fracture care besides fighting styles. We found no structure of an ordinary lesson in the sources.
Ranks and progression
We found no belt or grade system in the sources. According to the schools, the basic form is Jik Bo, the straight step, containing the style's basic movements. According to a Canadian school, the lineage's original forms also include Gow Bo Tui and Mang Fu Chut Lam, Cheung added others and created 4 Mun Bagua himself. Forms differ between lineages.
Today
By a document of 11 May 2026, the city of Guangzhou added Bak Mei, in Chinese Baimeiquan, to the supplementary list of the 9th batch of municipal intangible heritage for the Huadu district. The municipal transmission bases for 2024 to 2026 include Hengsha primary school in the Baiyun district. In Foshan, Bak Mei in Lishui is a municipal intangible heritage project and taught at Mashe primary school. According to Judkins, the style's spread remained smaller than its reputation suggests, mainly from fears of links to criminal groups in the nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties. It was brought to the wider public by the video game Sifu from the studio Sloclap in 2022, whose hero's movements are, according to the developers, based on Bak Mei.
Did you know
Bak Mei has a darker side to its reputation. According to Judkins, Cheung's students included criminal bosses, and his student Kot Siu Wong, a former intelligence officer, founded the Zhongyi Association, which later became the triad 14K. Some of Cheung's bayonet techniques reached infantry training, according to Judkins. The choreographer of the movements in the game Sifu was the Bak Mei master Benjamin Colussi, and the game's creative director Jordan Layani practises the style himself. Abilities such as walking on vertical walls, which Juk Faat Wan is said to have taught, are cited by Judkins as a legend.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Bak Mei and who founded it?
The documented lineage begins with Cheung Lai Chuen (1882 or 1889 to 1964). The story of the monk Bak Mei and the Five Elders of Shaolin is a legend.
Is Bak Mei recognised heritage?
Yes, at the local level. Since 11 May 2026 it has been on Guangzhou's list of municipal intangible heritage, and in Foshan it is a municipal-level project.
Which martial art is in the game Sifu?
In the game Sifu by the studio Sloclap, the hero's movements are based on Bak Mei according to the developers, and the choreographer was its master Benjamin Colussi.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.