Choy Fook
Semi-legendary figureA monk who, according to Choy Li Fut tradition, spent nine years teaching Chan Heung both Buddhism and martial arts; the style's name honours him as well.
Quick Facts
ChinaBiography
According to Choy Li Fut tradition, Choy Fook was a monk and one of the teachers of Chan Heung, the style's founder. The style was named partly in his honour, together with Li Youshan and Chan Yuen-wu, Chan Heung's uncle. We have not been able to find an independent source outside the school's tradition, and his birth and death dates are unknown.
According to tradition, he studied martial arts in succession under the monk Jue Yuan, the monk Yi Guan, Li Sou, Bai Yu-feng and Choy Gau Lee, the founder of Choy Gar. He had burn scars on his head from the Shaolin monastery, which is why he was called the monk with the injured head.
Before he agreed to teach Chan Heung, he lived as a hermit on Mount Lau Fu and refused to teach martial arts. According to the story, he convinced Chan Heung by effortlessly kicking away a boulder that Chan Heung had struggled with in vain. He then taught him Buddhism and martial arts for nine years, and in 1836 gave him a couplet as a guide for reviving the martial arts of Shaolin.