The history of kung ku always will be a bit of a mystery. There is little in the way of written history, with most of the knowledge about the martial art coming from oral tales passed on from one generation to another, making it difficult to separate fact from legend. White Tiger Kung Fu can be traced to the 17th century after the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty
To get to the origin of white tiger kung fu, or bak fu pai, one has to begin with the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China between 1368 and 1644. The eventual fall of the dynasty came about through a peasant rebellion, and the peasants received help from many monks. The Qing Dynasty immediately followed. It was knowledgeable about the monks' role in the fall of the Ming Dynasty and set out to destroy many temples. One of those that was burned was the Fukien Shil Lum Temple.
Temple Escapees
When the Fukien Shil Lum Temple was burned, five people escaped the destruction: four men and one women. They were Ng Mui, Jee Shin Shim Shee, Mew Hing, Bak Mae and Fung Doe Duk. They fled to the Szechwan and went into hiding. In time, four of the five escapees developed their own variations of kung fu. Ng Mui created plum flower fist kung fu, Bak Mae invented white eyebrow kung fu, Mew Hing created 108 dragon palms pung fu and Fung Doe Duk developed white tiger kung fu.
Fung Doe Duk
Fung Doe Duk was eventually given refuge by Doo Tin Yin, who was from a family with a history of serving a personal physician to the emperor. Legend has it that because of the prominence of Doo Tin Yin's family, he was able to gain admittance for Fung Doe Duk into the O'mie Mountain Daoists' temples. Fung Doe Duk spent many years afterward traveling through remote areas of China, where he gleaned information on kung fu and the healing arts from numerous villages.
Doo Family
Shortly before his death, Fung Doe Duk passed on his knowledge of white tiger kung fu and his grandmaster title to Doo Tin Yin to show his appreciation for all he had done for him. The secret of white tiger kung fu has remained with the Doo family ever since. In the 1970s, grandmaster Doo Wai began teaching white tiger kung fu to the public in Southern California.
Member Comments