Ten Tigers of Canton

Did You Know?

• The Ten Tigers' martial arts lineage traces to the Southern Shaolin Monastery in the Jiulian Mountains in Fujian Province.
• So Chan, known as Beggar So, has been the subject of films such as King of Beggars (1992) and True Legend (2010).

Ten Tigers of Canton

Wong Yan-lam studied under the Tibetan monk Xinglong, mastering the Lion's Roar style, which later split into Hop Family Fist, Lama Style, and White Crane Fist. Wong Ching-ho, a student of Luk Ah-choi, is portrayed in fiction as specializing in the Nine Dragons Fist. So Hak-fu trained under the Shaolin monk Zhaode in the Southern Shaolin Style before creating his own Black Tiger Style. Wong Kei-ying, also a student of Luk Ah-choi, was a progenitor of Hung Ga and father of Wong Fei-hung.

Lai Yan-chiu practiced Hakka Fist, also known as Southern Praying Mantis, and was skilled in the Seven Stars Fist. So Chan, a Hung Ga practitioner nicknamed Beggar So, was famous for Drunken Fist and Shaolin Staff. Leung Kwan, a progenitor of Hung Ga, was known for his Iron Wire Fist and nicknamed Iron Bridge Three. Chan Cheung-tai specialized in Iron Finger and was called Iron Finger Chan.

Tam Chai-kwan practiced Huadu-style Hung Ga and Tam Ga, earning the nickname Three Legs Tam for his three types of kicks.

Cultural references

The Ten Tigers first appeared in the 1978 film Ten Tigers of Shaolin. They were featured in the 1979 Shaw Brothers film Ten Tigers from Kwangtung, which included actors from the Venom Mob, Ti Lung, and Alexander Fu. A fictionalized version appeared in the 2004 film Around the World in 80 Days, with Sammo Hung as Wong Fei-hung. Hong Kong's ATV produced a 40-episode TV drama series titled Ten Tigers of Guangdong in 1999. The Ten Tigers also appear in the Doctor Who novel The Eleventh Tiger, and the electronic music artist Bonobo has a track called Ten Tigers on his 2013 album The North Borders.