Monkey Kung Fu

  
Monkey Kung Fu  Monkey Kung Fu
 

Hou Quan (i.e. Monkey Kung Fu or Monkey Boxing) is one of the rarest and most secretive kung fu techniques. It is spoken about a lot but very rarely seen. This is also my favourite kung fu technique and the image shows Grand Master Chan Sau Chung head of the Tai Shing Pek Kwar International Kung Fu Federation and myself. It is important for me to state that Hou Quan has both Northern as well as Southern variations and further, that Tai Shing Pek Kwar is a complete system by itself and while Tai Shing Pek Kwar is classified as a Northern Style, there are other Northern techniques that have their own implementations of Monkey Boxing. For instance at the kwoon at which I used to practice, the Monkey Boxing being taught is not Tai Shing Pek Kwar, instead it is from the Eagle Claw System, I must hasten to add that Tai Shing Pek Kwar is regarded as the root of Monkey Boxing and Grandmaster Chan Sau Chung is the real Monkey King.

Monkey Movement

In Tai Shing Pek Kwar there are five(5) variations of Monkey Boxing as follows:

  1. Drunken Monkey uses a lot of throat, eye and groin strikes as well as tumbling and falling techniques. It incorporates a lot of false steps to give the appearance it is defenseless and uses a lot of off balance strikes. For those who have seen the Duel Of The Seven Masters, in the very first fight scene Grandmaster Chan Sau Chung does a few moves from the Drunken Monkey variation. It is very brief so you have to be really paying attention to see it. In this particular scene, he staggers, takes a few faltering steps then falls to the ground (i.e. Monkey Staggering steps) and waits for his opponent to approach at which time he goes into a massive wheel kick and immediately goes for the opponent's groin (Angry Monkey steals the peaches)

  2. Stone Monkey is a "physical" style. The practitioner trains up his body to exchange blows with the opponent - Stone Monkey uses the monkey's Iron body method. It will leave an area exposed on its body for you to attack, so it can attack a more vital spot on your body.

  3. Lost Monkey feigns a lot. He gives the appearance of being lost and confused to deceive the opponent into underestimating his abilities, and he retaliates when least expected. This technique uses a lot of squatting and running while looking nervously around as if it is being chased. The hands and footwork change and flow from each other at will.

  4. Standing Monkey or Tall Monkey is a relatively conventional monkey that likes to keep an upright position and avoid tumbling around. This style is more suited for tall people. Tall monkey likes to climb body limbs to make attacks at pressure points. It is a long range style.

  5. Wooden Monkey is a serious, angry monkey that attacks and defends with ferocity. The attitude of this monkey is more serious, and its movements are noticeably less light than the other monkeys. Wood monkey likes to grapple and bring its opponent to the ground.

I have seen another variation on the wikipedia, described as follows:

  • Crafty monkey is very deceptive, it uses different faked emotions to lure its opponent into attacking. By pretending to be scared for example it lulls the opponent into a false sense of security and waits for the opponents guard to be down, then suddenly attacks when not expected.

Be sure to check out our Monkey Video Links as there are quite a few Traditional and Wushu Monkey Emptyhand and Weapon videos present. This brings us to the end of my Monkey Kung Fu page.