Mok Gar is one of the five major family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts. It was developed by a Shaolin monk named Monk Mo Ta Shi as an inheritance of the Southern Shaolin Fist in Guangdong

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

 province in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

It gained fame three generations later, in the Qing Dynasty, with Mok Gin Kiu/Mo Qing Chiu (莫清矯; also known as Mo Ta Chang) who learned supposedly from a famous kicker, Choy Kao Yee. Mo's reputation was so high after defeating many other boxers that the style, formerly known as Southern Shaolin Quan, was renamed for the Mo family (Mok Gar). Different generations through Guangdong boasted masters such as Mo Lin Ying, Mo Fifth Brother and Mo Ta Fen.

The Hung Gar

Hung Gar

Hung Ga 洪家, Hung Kuen 洪拳, or Hung Ga Kuen 洪家拳 is a southern Chinese martial art associated with the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, who was a master of Hung Ga....

 lineage from Wong Fei Hung

Wong Fei Hung

Wong Fei-hung was a Chinese martial artist, a traditional Chinese medicine physician, acupuncturist and revolutionary who became a folk hero and the subject of numerous television series and films. He was considered an expert in the Hung Gar style of Chinese martial arts. Wong is visibly the most...

 has influences of Mok Gar from his fourth wife Mok Kwai-lan

Mok Kwai-lan

Mok Kwai-lan was the fourth spouse of Lingnan martial arts grandmaster Wong Fei-hung. A native of Nanhai in Guangdong she married Wong when she was 19 and he was 60...

, who after the death of Wong Fei Hung ran his medical clinic and school until her death many years later.

At present there are said to be two branches of Mok. The first is a direct lineage from Mok Qing Chiu and the other traces to Mak Shing Mo.

Techniques

Mok Gar emphasizes shorthand fighting techniques and also powerful low kicking techniques. Mok Gar fighters fight so close, it is said they fight chest to chest, cheek to cheek, breath to breath.

Some of the kicks from this style include:

• Guo Men Jiao: Pass the Gate Kick.
• Zhi Jie Ce Jiao: Direct Side Kick.
• She Jiao: Absorbing Kick.
• Pao Jiao: Hurling Kick.

Mok Gar training also includes a full range of weapons training.

Special stances include:

• Mu Ren Chan: Wooden Man Stance.
• Pian Shen Ma: Deflecting Stance.

Mok Gar techniques are based on simplicity and using maximum leverage. These techniques are used for a smaller, weaker person to combat someone who is bigger and stronger.

Some forms include:

• Zhong Quan.
• Lau Gar Kuen, a "borrowed" form from the Lau Gar style.
• Lian Tui Quan.