Incursioni storie e riflessioni di Alberto Biraghi
I threw my first “roundhouse kick” in September 1971 in the Kenyukai gym lead by Luciano Panciroli and kept training the karate Shotokan until I conquered my “black belt” in 1976.
In the same year I discovered the “Hung Kuen” kung fu thanks to an Hong Kong friend who later introduced me to master Chan Hon Chung. From 1977 al 1990 I spent all my free time (30 to 45 days per year) in Hong Kong studying the Hung style with master Chan Hon Chung in the historical Hon Chung Gymnasium located at 729 Nathan Road. When the gym closed and master Chan retired I kept training with my “si-hing” and friend, doctor Cheung Yee Keung.
I still train the Hung Kuen every morning: the Tit Sin Kuen that i learned from master Chan Hon Chung, the straight sword and the six bare hands sets. I am still in touch with my Hong Kong brothers: Cheung Yee Keung, Kong Pui Wai, Lee Yun Fook, Seto Wing, Raymond Lau.
From 2016 to 2018 I studied the Tai Chi form of the Chen Ming branch with my old friend Fulvio Fiori. In January 2019 I started training the fascinating “Kung Fu Evolution” (a hot rodded Wing Chun) with mr. Dorillo Rota.
In the sad days of the COVID-19 pandemy I decided to share with the world the Tit Sin Kuen that I learned from master Chan Hon Chung in a series of live videos that I collected in this YouTube playlist.
I found a YouTube channel with a few videos of a guy performing the Tit Sin Kuen and some other forms of the Hung Kuen style. His kung fu is 95% similar to the one that my master Chan Hon Chung taught in the late Seventies . . .
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E’ accaduto un evento eccezionale l’altro giorno, perché – almeno da quanto mi risulta – mio fratello maggiore Cheung Yee Keung non aveva mai dimostrato in pubblico il nostro “filo di ferro”. Lo ha fatto pochi giorni fa in occasione della serata di commemorazione del maestro Chan . . .
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In spite of some technical inaccuracies, the article “Exit the Dragon? Kung Fu, once central to Hong Kong life, is waning” (Charlotte Yang, The New York Times, August 22, 2016) describes the profound – not to say epochal – social, economical and cultural changes I . . .
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“This is a great fact that I am sharing now, for the benefit of whoever wants to get it: in our family’s Hung style breathing in never happens while contracting the muscles or even worse executing a technique. For this reason we do not breath in while . . .
Continua a leggere“In fact, the author seems to make a very pointed argument that Hung Gar is in its essence not a technical system of physical movements, but is instead an expression of culture. He doubts the ability of anyone who was not born within the Chinese . . .
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A few words about the “one finger bridge” and the “three extensions”. Back in the days in the Hon Chung Gymnasium in Hong Kong this gesture – so peculiar to Hung Kuen and a significant symbol in the Chinese secret societies tradition – was held . . .
Continua a leggereBack in the days – late Seventies to late Eighties – when I was spending most of my free time in Hong Kong to learn the Hung style from master Chan Hon Chung, there was no the “lineage” thing, nor there was the rivalry that . . .
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“Check out one of the best Hung Ga Kyun books I had pleasure to read in years (and download a free sample here). Hung Ga Story is a memoir of Alberto Biraghi and his martial arts journey. Alberto studied the traditional Hung Ga Kyun in Hong Kong with . . .
Continua a leggereL’altro giorno su uno dei vari gruppi dello stile Hung che si trovano su Facebook un sedicente “maestro di Hung Gar” ha postato questa foto. Sarà sicuramente un grande atleta e uno spaccamontagne, visto che insegna anche arti specifiche di combattimento, ma una cosa è . . .
Continua a leggereDa cameriera sempre in bolletta, abituata a dormire in una vecchia Honda per risparmiare i soldi con cui comprarsi fumo e alcol, a star del ring, con 14 incontri sostenuti (tre da dilettante e undici da professionista), nessuna sconfitta e una media di 60 secondi di durata per ciascun . . .
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I had the honor to learn Tit Sin Kuen, the ultimate form of the Hung Kuen school, 30 years ago from master Chan Hon Chung, in his country house and to refine it with my elder brother Cheung Yee Keung. I kept a daily written . . .
Continua a leggereI see more and more people posting on Fabebook and/or YouTube pictures and videos of themselves engaged in the practice of Tit Sin Kuen. I would like to tell them that this act is wrong, dangerous and not in line with our Hung Kuen tradition. . . .
Continua a leggere22This is a reply to a post in the “Hung Gar Kung Fu Worldwide 全世界洪家拳一家” page. IMHO the dualism “internal vs. external” and the “Quigong” concept are mostly a Western simplification of the holistic and deeply interacting nature of the traditional Eastern martial arts.
Continua a leggerePremessa. Fino a metà anni 2000 ben pochi in Europa avevano sentito parlare di Hung Kuen (letteralmente: il “pugno”, ovvero lo “stile” di Hung) detto anche Hung Gar, la famiglia di Hung (ma a me piace di più “Kuen”, perché per me “famiglia” è la . . .
Continua a leggereHo scritto un commento in un thread… a rischio (infatti è stato rimosso) su una pagina di appassionati di karate. Lo salvo qui, perché mi piace. Il problema, Flavio Daniele, sta soprattutto nel verbo che lei usa: “credere”, che nel variegato e pittoresco mondo delle arti marziali cinesi . . .
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In questo thread ho postato due commenti che mi piacciono, quindi li edito un po’ per per decontestualizzarli e integrarli tra loro e li salvo come nota. Sostanzialmente rispondo a chi sostiene la superiorità delle arti marziali cosiddette “antiche” nei confronti di quelle cosiddette “moderne”. Smitizzo il . . .
Continua a leggereChinese kung fu is about sincerity and loyalty. It’s about passing on and sharing culture and correct information. Chinese kung fu is about brotherhood and mutual aid, regardless of the seniority and respective experience of those who practice it. There’s never mystification or obfuscation in a traditional . . .
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