Tam Sam

Buk Sing Choy Li Fut The history of the Buk Sing 北勝 (buck sing, bok sing, bak sing) branch of Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛 can be traced back to Jeong Yim 張炎 in Fut San. Jeong Yim張炎 primary students were Chan Ngau Sing, Yuan Hai, Tam Lup, Lee Yan and Lui Charn (Chaun)雷粲. Lui Charn had a student named Tam Sam 譚三 (Tarm Sarm). Tam Sam 譚三 was originally a Hung Gar master and wanted to further his martial arts skill by learning Choy Li Fut. He became a student of Lui Charn. Due to an unfortunate incident between Tam Sam and another students, Lui Charn expelled Tam Sam from the Choy Li Fut school before he completed his training. Thus in the Buk Sing lineage, there are only 3 primary core Choy Li Fut hand forms: Sup Jee Kuen (十字拳), Ping Kuen (平拳), Kau Da (扣打), a staff form: Seung Gaap Daan Gwun 雙夾單棍, and in later years, an original Buk Sing Choy Li Fut form he created. After his expulsion, Tam Sam 譚三 asked some of Lui Charn's student to help him open a new Choy Li Fut branch in Guangzhuo, Siu Buk 小北 (little north) district and called it Siu Buk Hung Sing Choy Li Fut. Eventually it was shortened to Buk Sing Choy Li Fut. Tam Sam's 譚三 students referred to themselves as the Buk Sing branch of Choy Li Fut. A Northern Shaolin master named Ku Yu Jeung (Gu Ruzhang) befriended and joined Tam Sam 譚三 and thus added more techniques to the Buk Sing Choy Li Fut curriculum.
What makes Buk Sing Choy Li Fut a unique branch is that it concentrates on the application of Choy Li Fut techniques rather than the practice of forms. Because the emphasis is on combat applications, the Buk Sing style, in the tradition of the Jeong Hung Sing, has produced many excellent Choy Li Fut fighters.From the Buk Sing Choy Li Fut branch - Tam Fei Pang, Lun Ji, Chan Nien Pak, Kong On, Kong Heng, Lee

Chow, Mah Yan, Lau Kuru Tong, Lung Tse Cheung, Chang Choy, and Nip Chi Fei, were all students of Tam Sam. Nip Chee Fei, established a Bak Sing Choy Li Fut school in Ipoh, Malaysia, and Chang Choy established a Buk Sing Choy Li Fut school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kong On also learned from Chow Loong, the founder of Chow Gar, and Ku Yu Jeung (Gu Ruzhang). Kong Hing learned from his father Kong On. Li Hung was a student of Lai Chou and Lung Tse Cheung.