MOK
GAR (Mo Jia) Mo family Fist
The
Mok Gar (Mo Family) style is said to have originated with Monk
Mo Ta Shi as an inheritance of the Southern Shaolin Fist. Legend has it that Mo was a midget and highly skilled. It
gained fame three generations later, in the Qing Dynasty, with Mo
Qing Chiu (also known as Mo Ta Chang) who learned supposedly from
a famous kicker, Choy Kao Yi. Mo's reputation was so high after defeating many other boxers that the style, formerly known as Southern Shaolin Quan, was reamed for the Mo family (Mok Gar). Different generations through Guandong boasted masters
such as Mo Lin Ying, Mo Fifth Brother and Mo Ta Fen. The famous Wong
Fei Hung's wife was one Mok Kuei Lin, a member of the Mok clan
who had been studying since childhood. Cantonese papers recorded
her fight with a would be rapist and the kick that sent him sprawling.
In the post war period one Zheng Liang (Mandarin) was a security garden for a linseed oil plant, during the post war period. There was so much unrest in the Hong Kong-Kwoonlun area from the vast throngs of immirgrants that a day did not go buy without a fist fight. During serious struggles Sifu Zheng would use a fish knife as a weapon for close quarter work, rarely not leaving his opponent dead or wounded. In modern times the work has passed to Lin Yin Tang, one of the "Three
Tigers of the East River." In Hong Kong the major exponent was
for a long time Chang Yung Hui, who was elected vice-president of
the Hong Kong Kung Fu Association .
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Mok style teacher
Chang Yung Hui |
Mok
Gar (Mo Jia) is unusual for a Southern Style in that it is renown
for its kicks. One Mok historical anecdote suggests how serious this
was. The ancestral offerings at the tombs of the Mo family were very
important. Any family member would travel a great distance to attend
the festival. The origin of the Mok Family was Huo Kuang village,
Tung Wan District, Guang Dong. On the Pure and Bright Festival around
April, members of the Mok Family would crowd into Huo Kuang. One year
after festival an argument broke out among the top practitioners of
the style. The topic? Why must the shoulders be pulled back and the
waist elongated when throwing a side kick? They couldn't come to a
conclusion so they had two members consume some "hit medicine"
then go at it. After many engagements they learned that with a shoulder
pull back and waist extension the side kick will cause real injury.
But without these adjustments it will only hurt. Then they corroborated
their findings on wooden panels.
Some
of the kicks from this style include:
Guo Men Jiao: Pass the Gate Kick
Zhi Jie Ce Jiao: Direct Side Kick
She Jiao: Absorbing Kick
Pao Jiao: Hurling Kick
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Wong Fei Hung's 3rd wife
Mok Kuei Lam |
Special
stances include:
Mu Ren Chan: Wooden Man Stance
Pian Shen Ma: Deflecting Stance
FORMS
are said to include:
Zhong Quan (Mok's basics "seed" form)
Lau Gar Kuen a "borrowed" form from the Lau Family style
Lian Tui Quan (Practice Leg Form)
At
present there are said to be two branches of Mok. The first is a direct
lineage from Mok Qing Chiu and the other traces to Mak Shing Mo.
