The first lay person to learn Yau Kung Mun outside of the Shaolin Temple was Great Grandmaster Ha Hon Hung (1892-1962) of Kou Ming County, Guangdong Province.  Grandmaster Ha was a skilled practitioner in many different arts of kung fu; as a teenager, he started by learning the Choy Lee Fut system from his brother Ha Sang who was well known in Kou Ming for his kung fu skills.  Over the years he also gained knowledge in several other northern and southern kung fu styles.  Eventually Ha Hon Hung started teaching these arts to the people of his village, becoming a well respected kung fu teacher and mentor.  His skill was not only noticed by the local people, but also by many different masters of kung fu in the Guandong region.  A few years later, Ha Hon Hung became friends with the famous Bak Mei master Cheung Lai Chun, later becoming one of his earliest disciples to master the art of Bak Mei (White Eyebrow).  After mastering the Choy Lee Fut and Bak Mei styles Ha Hon Hung grew to be deeply interested in the subtle aspects of kung fu, and began his search for a more internal system.

Around 1915 Ha Hon Hung became the only disciple of the Shaolin Monk Tiat Yan who taught him the complete Yau Kung Mun system, the eighteen methods of Shaolin, as well as Chinese herbal medicine (dit dar).  When Grandmaster Ha had completed his training, Tiat Yan authorised him to open a school of martial arts and healing, and told him to call the still nameless style Yau Kung Mun (school of flexible power).  Tiat Yan later retired to the mountains of Lo Fu San as a spiritual monk to continue his Buddhist studies.  In 1924 Grandmaster Ha opened up his new Yau Kung Mun Academy at the Pearl River Martial Arts Club in Guangzhou (Canton).  It was at this time that he formed his own organisation called the Ha Hon Hung Sports Association.  Ha Hon Hung blended his knowledge of all of his previous trained arts in order to offer his students many different methods of combat, while the Yau Kung Mun system was taught only to the most loyal and talented of his students. During this time Master Ha added the some of the external forms and principles of Bak Mei, Choy lee Fut, and Hung Gar to the original syllabus of Yau Kung Mun, this provided a solid base for the disciples to begin with, before progressing on to the more advanced training.

Grandmaster Ha Hon Hung’s reputation for great kung fu continued to grow, over the years he passed on his knowledge to hundreds of students in a variety of styles.  In Canton today, many of the Bak Mei clubs are in some way or another linked to the teachings of Great Grandmaster Ha Hon Hung.

When the Japanese invaded China, Ha Hon Hung was given the honor to teach fighting techniques to the Chinese army, using his knowledge to help protect his country.  He also played a major role in helping to drive out the Japanese from his home town of Han Hoi County.

There is a story passed down to Yau Kung Mun practitioners of a particular demonstration of power by Grandmaster Ha Hon Hung.  In the autumn of 1931 a Russian man was performing acrobatic feats outside of a recreation park in Canton.  The Russian man boasted that he was strong enough to subdue a bull, and mocked all of the Chinese people calling them weak, useless, sick men of Asia.  Master Ha learned of this and decided to go up against him to prove that Chinese were not weak.  First, Master Ha challenged the Russian to a test of strength.  In those days challenges started with a test of strength or skill before the actual fighting commenced.  The Russian accepted his challenge, so Master Ha went up onto the stage and sat on a chair of hardwood which the Russian had been using for his performances.  Master Ha proceeded to smash it into pieces with a simple twist of his waist.  This amazing feat demonstrated Master Ha’s tremendous internal strength.  The Russian saw this and recognising the skill of Master Ha, pulled out of the fight.  Soon after this the Russian man was seen to apologise to the Chinese people he had insulted.

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