Pak Hok Pai (Tibetan White Crane)

Some Facts about Pak Hok Pai:

• Our style's lineage dates back to Lion's Roar and Tibetan Dharma Master Simhanada Gong Gut Lama Vajra Drollo

• Our style was taught to the Imperial Guard of the Chinese Emperor

• Focus is on agility and evasion; using powerful long reaching hand and foot techniques

Some of the Pak Hok Pai forms we practice

• Luk Lik Kuen (6 power fist) 六力拳

• Lau Sing Sau (shooting star fist) 流星拳

• Chua Chup Po (forwarding and withdrawing step) 出入步

• Pak Hok Kuen (white crane fist)  白鹤拳

• Gum Gong Kuen (diamond fist)

• Tiet Lin Kuen (Iron Chain Fist)

• Darn Do and Double Darn Do

• Straight Sword

• Butterfly Swords

• Staff and Hoe

• Spear

• Baton Stick

...plus many more fist and weapon sets

Four Principles of Tibetan White Crane

There are four specific principles that comprise the philosophy that governs white crane, whether it involves practice, performance or fighting in general. They are:

Chan- Literally translated as "cruel," this is a non-submissive mental attitude. The point is, either one commits completely to an attack with full power, maintaining the idea of never retreating, or one simply doesn't attack at all.

Sim- The object here is to dodge all strikes whenever applicable by "going around" the opponent and his strikes through the use of body movement. It is this skilled use of body movement, in fact, for which the system is noted. (Importantly, in white crane, blocks are not accomplished by direct contact, because by concentrating on actively blocking, one cannot sustain the preceding principle of chan. Therefore, the second principle, sim, is the only defense in the system. It teaches use of the body, rather than the hands, to block since the hands were made to strike with. Furthermore, it is said to be impossible to block the system's strikes, or get an offensive move in yourself, because within the third principle of white crane's philosophy is the idea of always ending each strike with another one.)

Cheung- By punching "all the way through" the opponent, and always ending each strike with a new one, each strike could theoretically be lethal.

Jit- This is the hardest concept to understand and achieve. The intent of this last principle is to stop one's opponent by always being one move ahead of him. With white crane's emphasis on free-style sparring, one will ultimately master this final concept in time.

It should be noted that long ago these philosophical fighting principles were reserved solely for the masters, and not taught to students of the art. The point behind this was that, although there are many varied sets and advanced forms, the entire white crane system involves the combination of the four philosophic principles and the style's six basic powerful movements.

(taken from The Deadly Fighting Principles of White Crane Kung Fu - by Si-Gung Vincent Cabais)