CHOY-LI-FATT KUNGFU IS NON-RELIGIOUS
Dr Sun Yat Sen, Father of the Chinese Republic
Question
Often Choy-Lee-Futt may be regarded as a style which is more dominantly trained by practitioners of Christian religion, yet many Kung Fu practitioners may regard rightly or wrongly Choy-Lee-Futt as a Christian style. Could you please give us some insights of your point of view on that?
-- Sifu Roland Mastel
Answer
While it is true that many Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners are Christian, it is not true that Choy-Li-Fatt is a Christian style.
Like all other styles of kungfu and chi kung, Choy-Li-Fatt is non-religious. There is no mention of any religious dogmas in Choy-Li-Fatt. It can be practiced by people of any religion without affecting his religious belief.
There is an interesting parallel in our school. Because I have been teaching our arts in the West, I believe there are more Christian now in Shaolin Wahanm than Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Hindu or any other religion. But our arts remain non-religious. And we are proud that, to quote Lee Wee Joo, not only we tolerate other religions we actually celebrate with them.
The reason why many Christians practice Choy-Li-Fatt is due to historical co-incidence, and not due to religion. The founder of the Chinese Republic, Dr Sun Yat Sen, was Christian. Many Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners supported Dr Sun Yat Sen in his revolution to overthrow the Ching Dynasty. Many Choy-Li-Fatt masters also became Christian.
-- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit
Many Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners were patriots who helped Dr Sun Yat Sen to found the Chinese Republic
The above is reproduced from the thread 20 Questions for Grandmaster: Choy-Li-Fatt and Kungfu against Other Styles in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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