Great-Grandmaster Chan Yan

 
Chan Yan (1918-1993), was a native of King Mui village, San Woi (Xin Hui) district of Jiangmen city, Guangdong province. He learned Choy Li Fut kung fu from his father Chan Yau Kau when he was child. Chan Yau Kau, himself, was a direct disciple of Chan Heung , Choy Li Fut's founder.

In addition to kung fu Chan Yan also learned Dit-Da healing arts from his father Chan Yau Kau. Later, his father took over the Hung Sing studio headquarters in King Mui as the head instructor; Chan Yan then helped his father with most of the teaching. After his father retired, Chan Yan officially took over the position as the head instructor in the original Hung Sing studio founded by Chan Heung in King Mui village.

During his childhood, Chan Yan was a very hyperactive and mischievous kid. His natural ability allowed him to learn Choy Li Fut Kung Fu very easily and he loved to tease other students and make them angry so they would spar with him so he could test his fighting skills. That is how he became the best fighter in the group at that time. Later, even in his senior years, he still loved to tease people into sparring. This is how he gained his nickname Lou Wan Tung (the old naughty kid). His skin was like leather, when he tensed it up, even pliers could not pinch him. He was also very strong and would often let people strike his arms and legs and no matter how hard they hit him he didn?t feel the pain.

In 1945, Chan Yan went to Jiangmen city?s Peng Jiang district to visit his kung fu brother Chan Cheong Mo. He met a young man named Wong Gong, one of the instructors of the Hung Sing studio run by Chan Cheong Mo in Jiangmen city. He liked this young man's kung fu potential, he asked Chan Cheong Mo for permission to have this bright young man to go to King Mui village for advanced kung fu training. At that time Chan Cheong Mo was 77 years old, most of the advanced kung fu forms were hard for him to teach at that age. Chan Cheong Mo agreed to have Chan Yan help him teach this student. The young man is Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong's teacher, our Great-Grandmaster Wong Gong.