Once upon a time in china was a great series.
I believe that he was one of the “ten tigers of Canton”, and is credited for developing the “no-shadow kick” ( fancy name for a front kick that is thrown when the opponent is distracted by hand movements/attacks).
some info I found:
WONG FEI-HUNG (1847-1924)
Wong Fei-Hung: The Movie Portrayals
If one was to mention the name Wong Fei-Hung, one of the first things that would come to mind is a martial arts master, who would help the poor, and beat up the bad guys. To many people, he is just a folk hero, a myth, a person that doesn’t exist except for movie purposes. Actors like Jet Li and many others have portrayed this martial arts master. Probably the one most famous for his portrayal of Wong Fei-Hung is Kwan Tak-Hing, who starred in more than 100 movies of him. Over 200 films in total have been made about Wong Fei-Hung.
If you were to watch some of the Once Upon a Time in China Series’ movies, one of the scenes you might recollect is Wong Fei-Hung fighting Master Yim in OUATIC 1, or perhaps beating up the helpless souls of the White Lotus Sect in OUATIC 2. Maybe another scene you could remember is the famous fight between two of Hong Kong’s greatest martial artists, Donnie Yen and Jet Li, where Wong Fei-Hung is matched against General Lan. Of course in reality, if Wong Fei-Hung actually did kill a regional commander of the Ch’ing Dynasty, he would have been hunted down and killed by the government. In the Once Upon a Time in China Series, it shows Wong Fei-Hung falling in love with his thirteenth aunt, (portrayed by Rosamund Kwan) and they plan to get married. The entire Once Upon a Time in ChinaSeries, while probably one of the best martial arts series ever made in Hong Kong, is very inaccurate and never did happen in history.
Wong Fei-Hung: The True Story
Wong Fei-Hung was born in 1847, and passed away in 1924. He was a martial arts master, teacher, healer, and revolutionary. He would protect and help those who were weak and defenseless. Wong Kay-Ying was his father, and he was a physician and great martial arts master also, and part of a group known as the “Ten Tigers of Kwantung,” and he and his son lived in the city of Canton.
Wong Kay-Ying’s famous medical clinic was Po Chi Lam, and Wong Fei-Hung was there assisting his father. He learned traditional Chinese medicine, and also learned many important values such as generosity and compassion. Wong Kay-Ying always treated a patient, even if he or she was a complete jerk or was poor. He would also secretly treat revolutionaries who were the resistance against the corrupt Ch’ing Dynasty.
The Ch’ing Dynasty consisted of Manchu emperors, who had conquered China from there home in Manchuria. They were foreign invaders to the southern Chinese. The southern Shaolin Temple in Fukien was a place where revolutionaries would go to train to fight against the Manchus. The temple was destroyed in 1734, but the few monks and students who escaped traveled throughout China to teach their skills. Some styles such as Wing Chun (Bruce Lee’s original style) and Hung Gar Kung Fu (Wong Fei-Hung’s style) emerged. The creator of Hung Gar was Hung Hei-Kwun (another martial arts master that was portrayed by Jet Li in New Legend of Shaolin). He was a Fukien tea merchant.
Wong Fei-Hung’s martial arts training began when he met with his father’s teacher, Luk Ah Choi. Luk Ah Choi taught Wong Fei-Hung the basics of Hung Gar. After, Wong Kay-Ying took over his son’s training. By his early 20’s, Wong Fei-Hung had made a name for himself as a dedicated physician and a martial arts prodigy. In addition to becoming a master of hung gar, he created the tiger-crane form and added fighting combinations now known as the “nine special fists.” Wong Fei-Hung was also skilled with many weapons, especially the long wooden staff and the southern tiger fork. One occasion where he utilised his skill with the staff was when he defeated a thirty-man gang on the docks of Canton. He also protected the weak and poor from both criminal gangs and government forces.
However, his life was not all great joy and triumphs. Wong Fei-Hung’s son, Wong Hawn-Sum, followed his father’s foot steps by protecting the weak and poor of Canton. Unfortunately, he was killed in the 1890’s after being gunned down by the drug gang Dai Fin Yee. After this tragedy, Wong Fei-Hung vowed never to teach his remaining 9 sons martial arts, unless they were targets themselves.
Also, Wong Fei-Hung’s first three wives died young, and after, decided to live the rest of his life alone. But in 1903, during an outdoor martial arts demonstration, he met a 16 year old girl named Mok Gwai Lan, and asked for her hand in marriage. She was also a skilled martial artist who taught all of the women’s classes, and even taught some of the men’s classes, which was rare since hardly any women mastered kung fu at the time. In 1924, Wong Fei-Hung died peacefully, a happy and humble man.
Wong Fei-Hung is truly a hero of China. A hero is somebody noted for feats of courage. A hero does righteous things not for money, not for any other venal motivations except, for the benefit of everybody else.
