Kung-fu fighting in Lancaster
Show scheduled for Friday night
July 17, 2003
By DAVE PURPURA, dpurpura@nncogannett.com
E-G Assistant Sports Editor
A car accident 36 years ago changed Tony Brown’s life forever – and opened avenues far greater than he ever anticipated. Brown lost his left arm in a 1967 accident. Shortly thereafter, he willed himself to learning a martial art. That art was kung fu, specially Shaolin hungar, and today the suburban Columbus resident teaches hungar’s nearly 300-year-old methods to more than 200 students in central Ohio and Europe. “I wanted to learn a martial art and I wanted dexterity in my left hand. It’s difficult to teach someone with one hand, but I found a teacher willing to do it,” Brown said. Among Brown’s students is Hank Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Kung-Fu Studio. Friday night, Brown will highlight a Shaolin hungar demonstration at a parking lot beside the studio, located at 117 South Columbus St.
“We want to attract people to this part of Lancaster and show some traditional Chinese kung fu,” said Taylor, a fifth-degree blackbelt and the studio’s owner since 1988. Brown will bring several students, including two of his daughters, to the demonstration. Brown himself will perform tai chi, among other sets. He has more than 40 students in his Columbus school, travels to Norway four times a year to teach 190 students at two schools, and also travels to Canada and Taiwan for both teaching and instruction. “Shaolin arts are classic,” Brown said. “They’ve stood the test of time and they’re not just for fighting, they’re for your health.”
Shaolin hungar, one of more than 1,000 styles of kung fu, was originated by boxer Hung Hee Goon in the mid-18th century in the Chinese province of Fukien. Based on tiger and crane movements, it is a combination of short-range tactics and long-range motions also known as animal imitation boxing. Shaolin hungar has become one of the most popular fighting methods in southern China. “Local people have probably seen more karate than kung fu and probably haven’t seen Shaolin,” Taylor said.
The story of Shaolin hungar’s origin goes as follows:
One day a Shaolin mentor spotted a crane pecking at the vegetables in his garden. The gardener got a stick to chase the crane away, but the crane waged a counterattack with his beak. The gardener found the crane to be a formidable opponent. So the gardener imitated the crane’s movements, devising a new and what Taylor called “a highly effective” method of combat. Goon blended the system with teachings from mentors Chee Sin, an expert in long-hand style, and Fong Wing Chuen, a short-hand expert, Goon added the tiger claw method and devised the hungar school. “They devised a powerful, swift motion with an immovable stance,” Taylor said. “The blocks and kicks are supposed to have the power of a sledgehammer.”
Approximately 10 of Taylor’s 60 students will participate in the demonstration. Brown will bring a Chinese lion and traditional Chinese weaponry. The Canal Winchester steel drum band will perform at the demonstration, as will bodybuilders, entertainers and some singers from the Columbus area. Though the demonstration is not directly affiliated with the Lancaster Festival, it coincides with the popular ArtWalk event involving several downtown businesses. “We hope some people will drift over our way,” Taylor said.
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