Kang Li Kun: Grandmaster Lao Kim
GM Lao Kim started training in a Buddhist Temple in Fujian, China in the 1880s during the Qing Dynasty when he was 6 or 7 years old. Manchu soldiers massacred his family; he was saved because he hid in a latrine. When he emerged from his hiding place, he walked among his dead family. A couple of Buddhist monks who were begging in the village took him to the temple in the mountain. He was adopted by the abbot and since then trained in Buddhism, including a Shaolin style of martial arts that was influenced by the 5-Animal system. The 3 main forms included: Dragon Tiger, Plum Blossom and Red Boy Praying to the Goddess of Mercy.
Kang Li Kun is one of the 10 fist forms I learned from Grandmaster Lao Kim in the late 1960s at Hua Eng. It is a basic set, i.e., he taught it to beginners along with the Sap Ji Kun/#10 form.
Kang Li contains the 5 different fists: Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Snake and Crane. The form also shows the different footwork/stances: Horse, Bow and Arrow, Scissor, and Cat in their variations, Each segment of techniques is done in a different direction: forward, side, diagonal, backward, reverse. The form is foundational but it contains a wealth of advanced techniques like what GM Johnny F. Chiuten called “Positional Sparring.” GM Chiuten taught me several fist forms but not Kang Li. I do not know what Kang (or was it Kung? ) means but Li means strength.
Note: GM Lao Kim was supposed to do 3 sets of a technique but he skipped one of them. Guess which one.
Performed by Master Gordon Chu, an instructor at and son of the founder of the Gin Soon Tai chi Chuan Federation in downtown Boston, the Dao/Broadsword form is the first out of 3 forms that are taught at the school. The curriculum covers different fist and weapons forms, including the 108 solo fist, staff-spear, Jian/Sword (2 forms), Talu/Great Pulling, San-shou/2-man sparring, Tai chi chuan Chang Chuan/Long Fist, and Push Hands. The school is open every day, except Sunday. It is located at: 33 Harrison Avenue (5th floor) in Boston’s Chinatown. For more information about the school, please go to: www.gstaichi.org
For more details on the video below, see this blog post: Diary 3/2/25: Dragon Tiger Video Ching See San
Tai Chi Chuan San Sou – Two Man Sparring Form
Here is a video of the 2-Men set, one of the traditional Yang Family Tai chi chuan training methds for learning the martial applications. The transmission originally came from legendary Yang Chengfu who passed it on to his eldest son and successor Yang Sao Chung. Gin Soon Chu, my teacher in Boston’s Chinatown, learned it from one of Sao Chung’s students, Lai Hok Soon (no relation).
H, Won Kim and I learned the form from Gin Soon Chu in the 1990s. Gordon Chu, the son of Gin Soon Chu, who teaches at the school in Boston, and I use to show the 2-Men set at demonstrations in Boston back in the 1990s.
Sifu Kim, the second disciple of Gin Soon Chu, has been authorized to teach the complete art in New York City since 1997.
Here is his bio from the website:
Sifu H. Won Gim has been training in the Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan since the spring of 1982, under the guidance of Grandmaster Gin-Soon Chu, who is the second disciple of Great grandmaster Yang, Sau-Chung. After 15 plus years of training, Sifu Gim received the permission from Grandmaster Chu to teach the complete Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan (see Curriculum) in New York City. Currently, Sifu Gim is the only person who has received this permission from Grandmaster Chu for NYC.
On September 5, 2010 SIFU H. Won Gim officially became a disciple of Grandmaster Gin-Soon Chu.
Sifu Gim supervises all the levels of his classes & teaches every student personally. With a firm belief in the value of a dedicated training, his traditional training methods & modern approaches present a unique way of attaining & understanding of the powerful internal principles of the Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, physically & intellectually.
All are welcome to observe, interact, & experience the remarkable internal power of Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan with Sifu Gim & his students.
Photos below: H. Won Kim and Rene performing the opening movement of San Sou/2-Men Sparring set in Central Park, NYC, at the millennium. The 2-Men Sparring set has also been demonstrated by Vincent F. Chu and Tom Tetrault in another video available online. Photos copyright (2000) by: Laura Billingham Photography.
H. Won Kim in the Fist Under the Elbow posture of Traditional Yang family Tai chi chuan Chang Chuan/Long Fist. The rare form shows both alternating slow and fast movements. It’s not like the slow movements of the Solo Fist 108 form done fast. The movements of Tai chi chuan Chang Chang are entirely different and contain many kicks and jumps that are not in the slow 108 form. The Sansou and the Chang Chuan/Long Fist are two of the essential forms for learning the authentic martial and fajing/discharge of Jing applications of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan. They are available in affiliate schools of the Gin Soon Chu Tai chi Federation.
