History
History of I Liq Chuan
The history of Chinese Martial Arts is rich and bursting with colorful characters. Naturally, most of the stories are dubious at best, however, there have been enough documents unearthed to establish at least a general sense of the history of Kung Fu.
Our first stop on this journey would have to be Shaolin Temple circa 527a.d., the year Emperor Liang Wu invited the Indian Monk Bodhisattva Bodhidharma, or Da Mo, to China to spread the Dharma (Buddhist Philosophy). Appearantly there was a disagreement between he and the Emperor and Da Mo retreated across the Yellow river to the Shaolin Temple at Song Mountain. There, he found most of the monks to be weak and sickly, and so it is said, that after meditating for 9 years, he emerged with two training regimens which essentially changed the whole approach of the Shaolin to what we know today. Da Mo is considered by many to be the father of Martial Qi Gong.
Another important figure from the history of Kung Fu is Marshal Yue, Fei who lived in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1280a.d.). He was reputed to be an excellent soldier and is credited with he creation of Xingyiquan (mind/form/fist), one of the root arts of I Liq Chuan. He was a General who was eventually captured by the enemy and poisoned in his cell by a corrupt minister of the government.
Taijiquan (Tai Chi) is said to have been created by a Daoist monk named Zhang, San Feng around 1200a.d. after watching a crane fight a snake. He meditated on thier "techniques", and after a sudden enlightenment came up with the art we now call Taiji. There are many, many stories about Zhang, San Feng, and if you would like to read more about him check out Jou, Tsung Hua's excellent book on Taiji, "The Dao of Taijiquan"
In reality there are documents from as early as 550a.d. which depict arts similar to Taiji which were called Hou Tian Fa and Xiao Jiu Tian (Post Heaven Techniques and Small Nine Heavens).
Previous to the late 19th century Taiji was called Mian Quan (Soft Fist) or Shi San Shi (13 Postures), until it was introduced to the Qing Royal Court by Yang, Lu Chan, the creator of Yang Style Taijiquan.
I Liq Chuan comes from the diverse Chinese community in Malaysia. The Grandmaster (Sigong Chin, Lik Keong) Created the art after studying and mastering the essence of several other arts.
He studied with Sifu Lee Sum training Lee Style (Shaolin Quan), Sifu Len training Phoenix Eye (the striking of meridian points, Dian Mai or Dim Mak in Cantonese). And lastly, he learned Feng Yang Lu Yi from Master Lee Kam Chow, which is also called Xingyi-Bagua.
After many years of practice and study he came to some conclusions about the Dao (Nature) of the Arts and so, in 1976 I Liq Chuan was born
