The movements associated with Dragon Kung Fu of Chinese martial art styles are usually related to the mythical Chinese dragon. Long ago, Saint George is believed to have encountered this beast, but even before that, the dragon has played a very influential role in the culture of the Chinese. The Chinese dragon is a combination of a number of creatures - monitor lizard, dragon, pythons and Chinese alligator that happened to be a spirit worshipped for the welcoming of rains and ensuring the thriving of crops. However, the dragon was also believed to be the protector of the gods and said to be the source of all truth. Water and Earth are the two ancient elements represented by the dragon. It also happens to be the yang symbol as per the observation of the Taoists who personified the dragon to Tao himself. Shaolin Buddhists on the other hand saw the dragon as a symbol of enlightenment that one could feel but never hold. In the Chinese culture, some old men are referred to as the dragon - they are usually experts in talents of herbal medication, kung fu and agriculture. In ancient China, such skills were necessities and matter of survival or death - so those who acquired these skills were considered to be of great esteem.
Foundation of Dragon Kung Fu
Dragon Kung Fu originates from Hakka Kuen, which is an amalgam of local techniques practiced in the Hakka inland in Eastern Guangdong, along with the method practiced by Gee Sim Sim See, a monk, who during the 1700s taught in the nearby province on Fujian. North of Dongjiang is the holy mountain Luofushan where many temples are located including the famous Wa Sau Toi. Here a master called Tai Yuk Sim See taught Dragon Kung Fu to Lam, who then carried forward the training by teaching a number of students the same in schools at Guangzhou. As history says, Cheung Lai Chuen and Lam Yiu Kwai happened to be great friends from a very tender age, trained together as partners for a long time and also became cousins later through the custom of some inter family marital ritual. Cheung and Lam later went on to open many schools jointly and teach Dragon Kung Fu, which is very similar to Cheung's later developed style Bak Mei.
Lam Yiu Kwai
The history of Dragon Kung Fu has never been found in text and always been transmitted orally. Hence, it is difficult to find the origins of the art entirely. However, the history of the modern form of the art can be linked back to a monk named Tai Yuk Sim See; he was an abbot on White-Hair temple or Wa Sau Toi on Mount Loufu. There is much speculation about whether this style emerged before this period, but historically there are no recorded documents to falsify our understanding. From a very tender age, Lam developed martial art skills from both his grandfather and his father and finally went on to get training just like them from the masters residing at Loh Fu Mountain of the Bo Loh County. Here the Zen master, known as Tai Yuk from Wa Sau temple, taught him the art of Dragon Kung Fu. He also learnt other routines such as Saam Tung Gwo Kiu from Wong Lei Giu and also Mui Fa Chat Lo from the Ke Hing Ma. Lam Yiu Kwai later married and went onto have several children, to whom he taught the same art.
In the year 1920, he shifted to Guangzhou and established many schools there in order to teach students Dragon Kung Fu. Here he met master of Mok Gar, Lin Yin Tang, with whom Lam shared a number of common interests and thus befriended him. Lin Yin Tang belonged to the region of Dongguan that bordered two counties - Huiyang and Bolou. Just as Yiu Kwai had, Yin Tang too started studying traditional Chinese medicine at the temple located upon Loh Fu Mountain. Lam Yiu Kwai shifted to the city of Hong Kong in order to get medical treatment after suffering a stroke in the early 1950s. He suffered another stroke like before, in 1965 and passed away in 1966. His students Chan Cheung, Wu Hua Tai, Tsoi Yiu Cheung, Chan Tak and Ma Chai, the sons of Lam Wun Gwong and Lam Chan Gwong all learnt the art of Dragon Kung Fu from him. Today the form of Dragon Kung Fu has been broken down into two different forms - one being the northern Dragon Kung Fu which is sufficiently different from the southern Dragon Kung Fu or Lung Ying and in popular culture, we can see much of this being demonstrated by Jackie Chan in the film Dragon Fist.