Five Families

Five Familes of the Chen Family Art

Five Families

Tsoi-ga, Li-Ga, Ho-Ga, Fut-ga, Hung-ga"

"Definitions of The Five Families "

Tsoi Ga; is the art of striking. This includes punches, chops, pokes, elbows, forearms, head bunts and all forms of kicking

Li Ga; is the balance family. They dealt with leverage, throwing and takedowns. To do these types of things you have to control the balance of your opponent. These members of the family were important to fighting, especially, when dealing with a larger and stronger opponent. This is also most important in close-in fighting.

Hoi Ga; is the study and application of pressure points, pass and crippling points. By learning the vital points of the body and certain pressure points, one can direct the striking and balance moves of the Tsoi and Li families to more vulnerable areas where it does not take a lot of force to incapacitate or kill an opponent.

Fut Ga; is the psychology of fighting. The attitudes, internal power, self-confidence, proper breathing and strategy for sudden attack. The proper use of mind and body coordination. Mind over body.

Hung Ga; deals with the physical conditioning of the body in order for it to perform up to its maximum potential. It includes dynamic tension exercises along with exercise and show forms. The use of geometry, trigonometry and physics help deliver maximum power and also compose part of this system.

When we combine all these families together, we have the art of Kung Fu San Soo. This we believe, makes it one of the most powerful arts in existence today. To have an understanding of Kung Fu San Soo it must first be stated it is not a sport. It is a combat art tested throughout history for the express purpose of defending one's life by whatever means necessary. The art is loosely defined as the complete use of a man's hands in combat.

From the pages of San Soo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Revise]

Kung Fu San Soo is an American martial art loosely based on techniques from several styles brought from southern Chinese martial arts practiced in the Taishan region of Guangdong province including Choy Lee Fut and 5 Family Fist. This style does not utilize any of the orthodox forms of the styles it borrowed from, rather focusing on application and individual technique to be optimized for American street fighting. Also despite the similarity in the Chinese name, this style is not related to the Chinese full contact fighting styles called San Shou or San Da. Kung Fu San Soo's purpose is for effective brawling type combat in the Mixed Martial Arts style popular in America . The styles could had been brought around by warriors, monks, war lords, pirates and the surrounding monasteries located with in the provenience regions.

American San Soo, or Kung Fu San Soo, was brought to America by Chin Family practitioner, Chin Siu Dek. Entering the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act, and leaving China on the eve of the Japanese Occupation, Chin Siu Dek took the name, "Jimmy Haw Woo" as a lifetime pseudonym. Most believe he was born around 1905–10. He died in Southern California in February, 1991, and is credited with bringing the Five Family Style of Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung or San Soo Kung Fu to America after learning primarily from his Great-Uncle, Chan Siu Hung, at the Hung Sing Goon school in Taishan , China Guangdong Province. Kung Fu San Soo tradition holds that Chin Siu Dek lived and grew up just across the river from this school in the village of Sanba . Sadly, this school was later destroyed by the communists in the cultural revolution. Also, one of his classmates was Chan Siu Hung's own son, Chan Si Mo (Chen Shi Wu (Mand)). As Jimmy H. Woo, Chin Siu Dek opened his own studio in El Monte, California to teach his family art in about 1962.^[1]

Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung San Soo was not created or taught as a tournament sport. The basic premise of San Soo is there are no rules in a fight, so the style incorporates techniques to remove a threat as quickly as possible through the seizing the initiative and using a free-flowing variety of throws, joint breaks, strikes, and pressure points to exploit an adversary's natural reactions. Like many martial arts, San Soo claims it can be used by smaller or weaker persons against larger or stronger assailants as it does not rely on brute force.

San Soo Kung Fu does not attempt to emulate the motions of animals. Techniques are made up of Chin Na leverages, Throwing, Choking, Joint-locking, Strangling, Da, or strikes, and quick Takedowns. Targets include the eyes, nose, throat, base of the skull, neck, liver, spleen, kidneys, groin, and knees, and for this reason, most San Soo practitioners do not spar or engage in full contact fighting, preferring to practice the techniques in unrehearsed 'freestyle workout' sessions with carefully controlled contact. San Soo practitioners claim this method of training builds an automatic and flexible response in much the same way we learn language a few words at a time until we have full and versatile vocabularies. Training methods, historic interpretations, and modifications exist from school to school among the modern descendants of Chin Siu Dek's Kung Fu San Soo, and a new generation of masters is testing and applying the lessons in full contact fighting..............

Five Families