Chin Woo Sport Verein Bochum - Chin Woo Athletic Association Bochum

03/06/2026

Wird heute leider von der Gesellschaft nicht mehr gewürdigt.

Food for Thought…

A peaceful man must still know violence… or his peace will be disturbed by whoever threatens it…

A Quote attributed to Miyamoto Musashi.

I was asked the other day, “how can you be so calm when you can be so violent?”

Just simple Yin and Yang… to know the light… you must know the dark… so that you are not triggered by opposites…

A peaceful and calm man must still know violence, explains a certain blunt wisdom, for peace unprepared is brittle… it can fall apart easily…

This type of reply is not a promise of arms but an orientation of being…

The wise one rests in wu-wei… action that arises from emptiness and clarity… yet cultivates strength as water cultivates a deep bed…

Water is soft and yields, but in persistence it cuts stone… So the wise learn the forms of force so that force need rarely be used…

To know violence is to recognize its nature… its arising from fear and grasping, its shape and its consequences…

Awareness makes a sword blunt… readiness keeps the valley intact…

The uncarved block, tranquil and empty, need not lurch when wind comes… its root is deep…

Training of the body and mind is like tending a garden… pruning does not seek to wound but to keep the plant alive…

A skillful hand restrains, redirects, prevents escalation…

When confronted, the sage's answer is simplicity… presence that dissolves provocation, a tone that cools flame… If action becomes necessary, it is precise, measured, and without spite…

True strength is compassion married to clarity…

One who understands violence knows also how to end it… not through domination but by removing its cause… fear, hunger, insult…

In this way the gate remains open… the heart remains unmoved…

The natural way does not forbid force… it teaches its right use…

To guard peace one must be capable, but never habitually violent… The way is to be like water… ready to flow, patient, and inexorably wise…

The martial artist in the Daoist tradition polishes virtue as well as technique… movement is ethical…

Mastery softens the heart rather than hardens it…

Thus preparedness becomes a compassionate discipline… firm enough to protect, gentle enough to restore, and quiet enough to preserve untroubled center…

Become a peaceful person capable of great and focused violence… a demon and a saint… embrace your dark side… but in a controlled and wisely directed way…

In this way… internal peace may be maintained…

So… are you a dangerous but peaceful man…

All the Best!

H Perry Curtis, Master at Pampamisayoc Qi Gong

I Ching for Today: Modern Interpretations for Daily Living https://a.co/d/0hkGO9Gu

08/01/2026

HUÁNG HÀNXŪN (Wong Honfan): The Mantis King of Hong Kong

Among the second-generation transmitters of Northern Praying Mantis boxing, few figures loom as large—or as influential—as Wong Hon Fan. While he is universally acknowledged as one of Luo Guangyu’s most famous students, it is more accurate—and historically fair—to recognize him as Luo’s most prolific disciple, both in output and in long-term impact.

Wong Hon Fan did not merely inherit Luo’s system; he expanded its intellectual and structural reach. Where others preserved, he synthesized. Where others transmitted privately, he published. And where many martial artists confined themselves to lineage boundaries, Wong understood that the future of Praying Mantis depended on intelligent amalgamation rather than rigid isolation.

Under Luo Guangyu, Wong Hon Fan absorbed the dynamic principles of Seven-Star Praying Mantis: the structures of footwork, rapid interception, continuous striking, and the trademark mantis hooking hands. Yet Wong’s genius lay not only in Luo’s transmission, but in contextual understanding. He recognized that Luo Guangyu himself was a product of reform—already shaped by the Jingwu (Chin Woo) Athletic Association’s modernizing spirit.

Rather than treating Jingwu influence as an external contaminant, Wong Hon Fan embraced it as a necessary evolution. He openly acknowledged the value of cross-pollination: standardized pedagogy, comparative study, and exposure to other northern systems such as Tan Tui, Chaquan, Eagle Claw, and Long Fist.

It was for this reason that Wong referred to his method plainly and honestly as “Northern Praying Mantis Fist” (北螳螂拳)—and in practice, it was often known among insiders as “Jingwu Mantis.”

By the mid-20th century, Wong Hon Fan had become a towering figure in Hong Kong’s martial arts world, a city that functioned as both refuge and crossroads after the upheavals on the mainland. Through relentless teaching, public demonstrations, and—most importantly—publication, his influence spread far beyond the walls of any single school.

It was in Hong Kong that he earned the sobriquet “The Mantis King.” Unlike honorifics bestowed retroactively, this title emerged organically during his lifetime, reflecting both respect and visibility. At a time when many masters guarded their knowledge, Wong placed it into print, ensuring that Northern Praying Mantis would not vanish into obscurity or lineage fragmentation.

One of Wong Hon Fan’s most enduring contributions lies in his instructional manuals, which remain among the most widely circulated Praying Mantis texts of the modern era. These works are notable not only for their technical clarity, but for their systematic presentation—a clear Jingwu hallmark.

Rarely mentioned, but critically important, is the fact that Wong’s manuals often reveal training logic rather than mere forms. Applications, transitions, and conceptual continuity are implied throughout, suggesting that the books were never intended as replacements for teachers, but as intellectual scaffolding for serious practitioners.

For Jingwu practitioners in particular, Wong Hon Fan’s work became foundational. Even among those who did not claim Praying Mantis as a primary system, his interpretations shaped how mantis principles were understood, categorized, and taught.

While precise biographical details vary across sources, a common issue with early 20th-century martial artists, Wong Hon Fan is generally recorded as being born in southern China, likely in Guangdong province, before later establishing himself in Hong Kong. Like many of his generation, his life bridged traditional village transmission and urban modernity.

Today, when surveying the Praying Mantis landscape, particularly within Jingwu-affiliated lines, it is difficult to name a figure whose combined influence of teaching, synthesis, and publication rivals that of Wong Hon Fan. Others may claim older roots or narrower technical purity, but few have shaped how Praying Mantis is understood in the modern era.

In this sense, Wong Hon Fan was not merely a transmitter of Luo Guangyu’s art; he was its architect for the 20th century. His legacy is not frozen in a single lineage, but alive wherever Northern Praying Mantis is studied with intellectual honesty, structural clarity, and an appreciation for evolution grounded in tradition. 🙏🏽