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History of Luk Hup Bah Fah There are many ways to spell Luk Hup Bah Fah, however just twenty years ago, you could not find the system of Luk Hup Bah Fah anywhere. Sifu Fiedler started to learn this Chinese internal system in 1974. He could never find any written material about this Chinese Kung Fu System in English. He had to ask his Chinese wife, to translate some Chinese in order to do some research on this most amazing system of Chinese Boxing. The first time Sifu Fiedler found something on Luk Hup, but it was incorrect. The second time, in only thirty years the article he found was the same as what Grand Master Chow was teaching him. Of course there were a few things that were different, but it was close. Grand Master Chow's Luk Hup Bah Fah, is taught after he teaches a student all that they should know about his form of Ying Yee, in fact Grand Master Chow's art uses the Ying Yee as the foundation, with the Luk Hup Bah Fah being taught in the highest stages of learning. There are other ways to spell this art, all because of the different dialects of Chinese. Mainly Cantonese and Mandarin, but please do not think that is the only dialects of Chinese, there are many many ways to speak Chinese, and only one method of reading it. What is remarkable is that every dialect can read the same writing. But they cannot understand each other when talking. Liu ho pa fa (Mandarin), or LUK HUP bat fat, or Lok hop ba fa,(Cantonese), and on and on. Luk Hup Bah Fah is an ancient and esoteric martial art from China. It is counted among the "soft" schools of martial arts, as in Tai Chi Chuan, Ba Gwa, Ying Yee, Hsing I, or Sum Yee, and Taoist Natural method. Luk Hup Bah Fah relies on internal strength over physical power and speed, yet the movements of Luk Hup Bah Fah are performed faster than slow, it has very hypnotic movements that make's it very unique, but if we were to associate it with any particular style it would be the Chen and Wu styles. Instead of being "hard" and fast like kung fu, Luk Hup Bah Fah is akin to the fast forms of the, Chen and Wu styles of tai chi chuan. These fast sets, which are rarely seen anymore, blend fast movements with the internal principles of softness, continuity and circular motions. Luk Hup Bah Fah, is also known as, "Water Boxing". The form flows like the water in a stream. This water can flow so fast that it picks up anything in its path and moves it aside with ease, or it can also flow slow and soft over the rocks flowing ceaselessly down along the winding road of life. The moniker "water boxing" is well deserved; the motions are fluid and graceful, and each one is infused with the characteristic chi generation that make internal arts so devastating in combat. Luk Hup Bah Fah has many origin stories. One of the most popular is that the form was originally created by a Taoist hermit who sealed himself in a cave. When the cave was opened years later, it was noted that he had diagrammed the form on the stone walls. Unfortunately areas had been made illegible by erosion and time. So, the martial artists who studied the drawings filled in these gaps with the internal systems that they knew. Thus, Luk Hup Bah Fah encompasses all of the internal styles within its framework. Other stories state that it was originally created for an Emperor. Most believe that Luk Hup Bah Fah traces its roots to a Taoist scholar and martial artist who lived as a hermit on one of China's five sacred mountains, during the Sung dynasty (960 - 1279 A.D.) Some say he found ancient scrolls in a cave when he went to meditate. Others say he had a dream and learned the form this way. Others say he found an old Taoist Monk who had trained many of the ancient Taoist arts. What I say is who knows the truth for sure, we were not there, we cannot look back to the past, and aside from this, who really cares, the fact remains that the form of Luk Hup Bah Fah that I learned was so unique and so secretive, that it was a blessing to learn. What Grand Master Chow's teacher also told Grand Master Chow, was that every linage holder of this form of Luk Hup Bah Fah, always made sure to teach the most common arts of the day, in our case, we had to learn the finer points of Wing Chun, with the trapping techniques and one inch power, and learning how to punch with the center punch. We also had to learn White Eyebrow, and other Southern Short bridge arts to learn all we could about short bridge learning how to use it's unique power and technique. Grand Master Chow also taught me Choy Lay Fut and Northern Long Fist, and Tam Tiu, to teach me everything important about Long Bridge. After this, and only after this were we taught basic Ying Yee, and after that we were then allowed to start the animal forms from Luk Hup Bah Fah. Luk Hup Bah Fah literally means "six coordination's, eight methods, " or "six harmonies, eight directions". The form seeks to harmonize six aspects of the human being - body, mind, idea, chi, spirit and movement. Luk Hup Bah Fah, (Loo-we-ha-bah-fah) has the best elements from the three main internal arts: it combines the five elements and twelve animals or Ying Yee, the eight main palm variations of Ba Gwa, eight method boxing, and the thirteen postures of Tai Chi Chuan, which actually make this art a very unique and incredibly hard art to understand. Grand Master Chow told the Young Sifu Fiedler when he started to learn this art that the Luk Hup Bah Fah was not taught to just anyone. A Master of Luk Hup Bah Fah, would only except a student if they were already highly trained in another Chinese Marital art. Also they have to dedicate themselves to learning this art night and day.
The Six Combinations are:
The six combinations are achieved through eight methods:
SIX COORDINATION'S:
The Six Harmonies are: Three internal harmonies: Mind + Will
Three external harmonies: hand - foot shoulder - hip Elbow - knee
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