History of Kung Fu San Soo
SAN SOO as taught by Grandmaster
Jimmy H. Woo, had its origins in the very basics of Chinese feudal
life two thousands years ago. For many hundreds of years, China was
divided and sub-divided into various warring factions, and each
produced many types of fighting styles. Chinese systematized warfare
predates the arrival of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, thought to be
the founder of Shaolin Ch�uan, by several hundred years c.200 B.C.
Exactly how and when these fighting
tactics were begun in the Kwan-Yin (goddess of mercy) monastery in
the village of Pon Hong, Guangdong Province of Southern China is
still unclear, but is in the process of being researched. The main
reason the martial arts were perfected by this group of monks was to
protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as the monks returned
with supplies and donations from the nearby villages.
One of these young monks, named
Leoung Kick, an orphan who lived in the monastery since the age of
10, (Jimmy H. Woo�s Great, Great, Great Grandfather) decided to
leave the monastery when he was approximately 30 years old. He took
with him two of the Buddhist training texts which probably date back
to the 1500�s during the Ming Dynasty. These books have remained
within the Chin family, where the techniques and forms were taught
and passed down from generation to generation. All of the techniques
and forms taught to and by Jimmy came from these two manuals.
Young Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy�s real
name) was taught by his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung who was nicknamed
Chin Neow Gee, which means �Crazy Devil.� Hung was an extremely
large man, 6�5� tall and weighing well over 320 pounds. Following in
his grandfather�s footsteps, Hung became a well-known fighter,
teaching in his own SAN SOO school. He was overlord for the entire
province, which at that time, late 1800�s and until 1941 was about
the size of Orange County, CA. He had complete control over nearly
every aspect of the lives of the people in the area. No one started
a business, moved or made any other major decisions without
consulting Hung.
From the age of five on Dek was to be
his Great Uncle�s prize student. He learned extremely fast and loved
the contact and grueling workouts on hard floors. In his teens, Dek
became a traveling teacher of Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung; the official name
of the martial art perfected hundreds of years before in the
monastery very near his small village. When anyone in the province
needed someone to come and settle a grievance, Dek was the enforcer.
When village elders decided it was time for the young men to learn
to defend themselves, Dek would be sent to live there for months at
a time to teach them.
In 1935, at the age of 21, Chin Siu
Dek left mainland China under the passport name Jimmy H. Woo and
sailed for the United States. During the early years in this
country, Jimmy lived in Chinatown, Los Angeles.
Chin Siu Hung was 73 years old when
the Japanese invaded mainland China and took over his beloved
province. In 1942 he was forced, against his will, to answer a
challenge to fight to the death the regimental karate champion of
the Japanese army. This was to be a public display of the power of
the Japanese conquerors in front of the poor villagers of the
surrounding area. Under the threat of death to his people if he did
not comply, Hung fought and defeated the Japanese champion. In fact
he killed the karate warrior in less than 20 seconds. He and most of
his students were immediately killed by machine gun fire. This
basically ended SAN SOO in mainland China.
It was extremely fortunate that Jimmy
had left mainland China when he did, for the Japanese would have
awarded him with the same fate as his Great Uncle and the other SAN
SOO practitioners rather than allow a possible resistance corps to
remain.
Jimmy carried the art to America and
kept it alive while many of the other early Chinese fighting systems
were destroyed by the Japanese. Mao Tse Tung later eradicated many
of the martial arts styles, training books and monasteries when the
communist Chinese took over power from the Japanese at the end of
W.W.II.
Jimmy traveled several weeks by
steamship to the United States, landing in the Port of Los Angeles,
California. Jimmy worked many varied odd jobs as he became
acclimated to his new home in Los Angeles� Chinatown District. His
love for fresh fruit and vegetables stemmed from his long hours as a
produce manager in a market, but his first love was teaching SAN SOO.
He began teaching privately to close relatives and friends; later he
was the instructor for several years at the Sing Kang �cousins club�
a social/recreational organization. He also acted as security/police
for the residents and business owners in the area and sometimes as a
bodyguard, the only unarmed one in the area.
In December of 1962 Jimmy officially
held the grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway
Shopping Center in El Monte, CA. In the early years he called it
�Karate-Kung Fu� because no one knew what kung fu was at that time.
In January of 1984, following his retirement from daily instruction,
Jimmy H. Woo became Grand Master (Lau Sifu) when his Grandson, James
P. King, earned his black belt. Jimmy H. Woo continued teaching his
instructors class two Saturdays a month until 1991, totaling nearly
46 years of kung fu teaching in America.
Destiny brought Chin Siu Dek to
America as Jimmy H. Woo to preserve the ancient art of Choi (Ga Kuhn
How) Lee (Ga Ma) Ho (Ga) Fut hung (Ga), SAN SOO. In his memory and
that of thousands of instructors and monks before him, the art must
be preserved.
- From
www.kungfusansoo.com
