Cultural Heritage

Origins of Chinese Martial Arts in Canada

By: Sifu Robin Young (Guelph Jing Mo Kwoon)

The Chinese Martial Arts (CMA) came to Canada with the Chinese immigrant workers in the mid-1800s. These workers came from the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong province, China. Toi San was one of the primary areas that were Chinese men boarded ships to the west for promised work. The main Chinese immigration to Canada came with the promise of the riches of the west and the idea of traveling to the “Golden Mountain” (Gam Saan), first to mine for gold and later to build the Canadian railways. Their intent was to make their fortune and send earnings home or pay for their families to come and live with them in Canada. The reality was extreme sacrifice: racism, isolation, low wages, exhausting physical labour, poor health and work based danger... a failed dream. With this, government sponsored racial policies such as the head tax and exclusion of bringing wives and families to Canada made the Chinese workers’ life extremely difficult.

Along with the manual skills of mining and building the railways, came a vast array of arts, crafts, customs, dance, music, cuisine and language. Chinese Martial Arts came incidentally through the immigrant population and the clan societies or through the intentional “administration” of the population by the triad collectors, protectors and enforcers that set up in the developing Chinese communities in the west. At the time (1700-1850), in the rural villages of southern China, Chinese martial art teachers taught the villagers their specific style of fighting method, originally to defend against bandits and raiding parties from other villages or across the water. Many martial art teachers were military officers tasked with creating fighting militias for the protection of the coastal villages that were repeatedly raided by pirates from Japan. Certain villages became well known for their expertise in martial arts, both for village defence as well as cultural practice. Some villages became known for specific styles of martial art. Those who learned were clan members, farmers, scholars and children. Each village had their own style taught by the head sifu of that village.

Toi San fighting arts also had influences from other areas of China, such as the north, as martial art masters, triad members and former military men travelled through the south toward Guangzhou or Hong Kong, or to the west via ships. As the port in Guangzhou was, for a long time, the only entry and exit point from mainland China, it became a destination for those who wanted to travel to the "Golden Mountain" of California and make their riches in the gold mines. Many stayed for lengths of time in the Toi San villages either to settle or because they were unable to secure a spot on the ship for the voyage west. Some martial artists, perhaps former soldiers or temple monks, would stay and teach privately or professionally. Many opened schools.

As the many Chinese social organizations appeared and grew within the western communities, so did the appearance of Chinese celebrations. Chinese Martial Arts initially kept isolated within the communities, mostly “behind locked doors”. Western people were prohibited from practicing due to language and cultural barriers, isolationism and fear of the westerners. The isolation of CMA existed into the late 1950s in Canada. With the movement of the Chinese population east from Vancouver after the completion of the railroads, CMA migrated across Canada as well.

With the acceptance and recognition of the richness of Chinese culture and celebrations, including martial arts and the Chinese lion and dragon dances, CMA rapidly expanded into western society in 1960s. Media, presenting the (unrealistic) mysteries of Chinese Martial Arts, greatly contributed to the expansion of “Kung Fu” into western society. In Toronto, the Chinese community in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was located in the original Chinatown at Bay and Dundas Streets. The three original official kung fu clubs were: Jing Mo Kung Fu Club under Master Lore King Hung (James Lore) and Chin Fong (Jack Chin), Hong Luck Kung Fu Club under Master Chan Yuk (Paul Chan), Jin Chan, and Jin Wah Kung Fu Club under Master Mah Wan Koy (Henry Mah). The martial arts of these masters originated in Toi San, China which had a rich history of martial art schools.

There has been a recent recognition of the "village" systems which diverge from the established lineage of the more well known masters such as Wong Fei Hung. Canadian Chinese Martial Arts moved east with the migration of the Chinese workers. They established themselves in the big cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal where they settled for work and to build their families.

Chinese Martial Arts, "Kung Fu", has its original foundation in the Toi San villages. All the masters arts point directly back to Toi San China.