Feng Shui Study

Of the five masters who escaped from the burning of the Shaolin temple, the most famous was Hung Eee Kan. He was a master of the Tiger style and we renown for the strength of his stance and the power of his punch. He fought many challenges and was never beaten. Many Kung Fu styles trace their origins back to Hung Ee Kan, including the famous Hung Gar Kung Fu style.

After the burning of the temple, Hung Ee Kan sought refuge with a Chinese opera troop. The troop travelled around China in a red painted barge performing their operas. For this reason they were known as 'The Red Barge'. Hung Ee Kan found them to be an excellent cover. Although he posed as a member of the opera, every time they stopped in a new town, he would gather together opponents of the Manchurians and form new branches of the secret societies. He would instruct them in the secrets of Kung Fu, ready to make war with the Manchu's. In this way, his teachings became widespread in China.

Later in Hung Ee Kan's career, after he had left the Red Barge, he came one day upon an old man teaching Kung Fu to his daughter. He did not recognise the style which they practiced, but was fascinated by its soft, subtle movements. Not wishing to disturb the training session, he hid in a tree to watch but the old man saw him and beckoned him to come down to join in. A sparring session followed between Hung Ee Kan and the girl. Hung was amazed to find that his ferocious punches and blocks with which he had defeated all challenges, were unable to overcome this fragile looking girl. You see, her style was very soft and relied on evading and deflecting his punches, rather than stopping them, making all their strength useless. She would reply by waiting until she had created a gap in his defence, then exploiting it with a fast, accurate strike to a sensitive point.

The girl was named Tee Eng Choon and the style which she practiced was, of course, the White Crane style. Hung Ee Kan was fascinated by this style, against which hard force was of no meaning. He stayed with the Tee family to learn more of it and soon found himself falling in love with Tee Eng Choon. They married and together produced a style which combined the best of what each had to offer: the power of the tiger and the soft, subtle technique of the crane.

This is how the Tiger-Crane Combination was formed. It was kept by the Tee family and passed down, generation by generation. The district of Fukien Province where the Tee family lived was called 'Eng Choon'.