CHAN YIU CHI

In 1903, students of the Chan family in Southeast Asia had offered Chan Koon Pak an invitation to instruct his father's Southeast Asian students.  He did not wish to leave his students in Canton so instead he sent his son, Chan Yiu Chi, to take his place in Southeast Asia.  With Chan Yiu Chi being only eighteen years old and having no experience abroad, Chan Koon Pak sent his own elder sister, Chan Ah Bo, to assist him.

After spending four years in Southeast Asia, Chan Yiu Chi married and returned home to Canton.  Chan Yiu Chi continued assisting Chan Koon Pak until his father’s passing in 1915.

About the time of his father’s death, a man appeared at the door of Chan Yiu Chi's school in Canton to challenge him.  The man challenging Chan Yiu Chi revealed himself to be a Choy Lay Fut practitioner whose greed had overcame his filial commitments as he agreed to fight against his Choy Lay Fut brother for money.  In addition to this disheartening event, Chan Yiu Chi caught wind of the circumstances behind (his kung fu brother) Lau Chung’s death and turned away from teaching the martial arts forever.

Lau Chung was a well-known Hung Sing Choy Lay Fut practitioner teaching in Hong Kong.  During this period, a foreign military officer by the name of Norris offered a cash prize to any Chinese boxer who could defeat him in a match.  Defeating many of the local Chinese boxers made Norris boastful and arrogant.  Lau Chung took on the challenge and ended the fight by breaking Norris’s ribs with an elbow strike.  As the fight was fought under gloved western boxing rules, the elbow strike that Lau Chung had executed was considered an illegal technique.  From the hospital Norris ordered Lau Chung’s capture for his offense.  As the foreign military leaders would no doubt do him great harm for his actions, Lau Chung decided to leave Hong Kong for Macau.  As the incident began to cool down, Lau Chung relocated to Canton.  While believing he was safe, Lau Chung was unexpectedly assassinated by a fellow Choy Lay Fut practitioner hired by those associated with Norris in Hong Kong.

Upon hearing of Lau Chung death, Chan Yiu Chi stopped teaching his family’s fighting art to focus on practicing medicine.  Chan Yiu Chi closed his martial arts academy to open his medical clinic, Wing Sing Tong.

Please see the Choy Lay Fut history section for more details. 

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