As you may recall from the previous page, Tarm Sarm left the Hoi Ping suburb of Canton and moved to the northern part of the city, settling in a suburb known as Siu Buk (Little North), and opened his school at Buk Dye Mew (Temple). His name became a household word in Canton, and due to his reputation as a great fighter he became known as the “Champion of the North”. 

As Master Tarm Sarm had a natural ability as a fighter, he and his school were better known for their fighting techniques and strategy rather than their ‘Forms’ (fighting sets-Kuens/Katas). Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut specializes in the wide horse stance (Dy Ma), long hand movements (Cheung Kiu), and the side ways stance (Peen Sun). Master Tarm Sarm’s   favorite techniques were the ‘Charp Chui’ (stabbing panther fist), the ‘Gwa Chui’ (back fist) and the ‘Sau Chui’ (round house swinging punch). 

 The main ‘Forms’ (Kuens) in the Buk Sing branch of Choy Lay Fut are ‘Sub Tse Kuen’, ‘Ping Kuen’, ‘Kou Da’, and the staff form, ‘Seung Garb Darn Tou Gwun’. In the beginning stages the training was tedious and repetitious, the movements were few and simple and they did not appear intimidating or practical to Tarm Sarm’s students. It was only after a period of time that the students began to realize the importance of these basic movements and appreciated the training, particularly in the devastating straight, stabbing-like ‘Charp Chui’ fist (fist clenched at the first knuckle, held firm by the thumb-like a snake head). Tarm Sarm spent his life perfecting this punch, and it became the trademark of Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut. Tarm Sarm was renowned for his ‘Leen Wan Charp Chui’ (continuous, cyclic panther fist), a devastating punching technique that helped the name of Master Tarm Sarm and the reputation of Choy Lay Fut spread throughout China. 

Master Tarm Sarm’s students would first be taught the ‘Sub Tse Kuen’ (Ten Pattern Form), which usually took three months to complete. Next, they would learn the ‘Kou Da’ form, which would require another six months to learn. After the students had mastered the first two forms, they began to learn the third set, called ‘Ping Kuen’ (Level Form), which could take a year or more to master. Even today, anyone with knowledge of the various kung fu styles recognizes the ‘Ping Kuen’ salute and form as being from Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut! 

Upon mastering the ‘Ping Kuen’, the students would begin to learn and master the ‘Cheung Kuen’ (Long Form), a feat that could take two or more years. During the continuous form training, the students also had to learn the ‘Sub Tse Jong’ (Ten Pattern Wooden Dummy) in which they practice all their basic moves and techniques. There was no set routine or pattern for the ‘Ching Jong’ wooden dummy; the students would go through all they had learned and improve on their reflexes and timing. 

The Buk Sing students would first train in a low horse stance, this to build a strong foundation, then gradually apply some of the movements to a higher stance, depending on the technique-sometimes high, sometimes low, left to right, and so on. Many of the offensive moves in Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut are based on the ‘Chai Kuen-Lye Ma’ (advancing, attacking footwork combined with punching). The students would also learn ‘exhale shouting’ while they practiced their forms, this to regulate their breathing and develop their ‘Chi’ (internal power).

This extremely rare photo is of Tarm Sarm and his two wives.
The baby in this photo may be his son, Tarm Fei Pang.
The photo was taken in the late 1920's or possibly early in 1930.

  Tarm Sarm’s Kwoon had a slogan which helped motivate the students, it reads as follows; 

“Hands are like the wind blowing out the candle,” 

“the footwork is like walking on the clouds.” 

Master Tarm Sarm also wrote his own couplet for his school, which expresses the “heart” of the Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut style. The couplets read as follows; 

“Farn Sun Yau Tse Fu N’gon Tau” 

Master Tarm Sarm would often encourage his students to go out and challenge other martial artists. He viewed all these sparring matches as merely personal experience and part of a students training. His concept was simply “the more you get to spar, the better your fighting skills will be!”