Jow Ga Kuen
周家拳A southern Chinese family style founded by Jow Lung. It joins the power of Hung Ga to the footwork of Choy Gar and the reach of northern Shaolin.
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What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Jow Ga Kuen
Jow Ga kuen is a southern Chinese family style founded by Jow Lung (1891–1919), a native of Xinhui county in Guangdong. The year of its founding is not documented and this page therefore leaves it blank; what is certain is that the style took shape in the 1910s, since Jow Lung died at twenty-nine of pneumonia after exhausting himself promoting it. After his death his brother Jow Biu carried the system on, and the first documented Hong Kong school dates from 1936. The style is a deliberate synthesis of three sources. From Hung Ga it takes powerful upper-body work and firm stances, from Choy Gar quick feet and a rich kicking repertoire, and from northern Shaolin the long reach of the arms; in Malaysia Jow Lung added elements of the five animals. This composition is summed up in the saying "Hung's head and Choy's tail", which became the nickname of the whole style in Chinese usage. Technically it means a combination that southern Chinese styles do not usually hold together. Low stances serve defence, long arms serve attack; kicks go both high and low, the footwork is evasive, and the system includes grips and throws as well. Characteristic is the principle of covering and attacking in a single motion, and the fact that the syllabus can be adapted to different body types. Today Jow Ga is found in Hong Kong, across Southeast Asia and in the United States, where it was brought by Dean Chin.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.