Secrets of Phoenix Eye Fist Kung Fu. Mark Wiley

out and fight on the banks of the Air Itam river—nice water, nice fishing, nice fighting. For despite what he had told Master Lee, he actually wanted to learn martial arts to become a better fighter. From day one of his practice, Cheong was already plotting ways in which to use the new techniques in a fight. A few months after beginning his Chuka training, Cheong and some of his Chuka classmates had a fight with a group of boys who were saying derogatory things about the fighting art of Master Lee. Though in their minds they had an acceptable reason to fight, Master Lee scolded Cheong and his classmates and warned that if they fought again, under any circumstance, he would expel them from the school. The art and guidance of Master Lee truly changed Cheong’s character, and he has not fought since.

      Master Lee’s Chuka Shaolin classes were held in his backyard, within easy walking distance from Cheong’s home (fig 3). Classes were held seven days a week in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and each session lasted roughly two hours. Cheong was quite studious and incorrigible when it came to training. In the beginning, he trained in all three classes on each day of each week. After three or four years of consistent training, Cheong no longer had to pay the student training fee, for he became Master Lee’s assistant.

      Master Lee Siong Pheow died in 1961; he was seventy-seven years old. After the master’s death, his disciples held a formal meeting to discuss the future of Chuka Shaolin. During this meeting one of the disciples nominated Cheong to succeed Lee as the head of the art, since it was Cheong who had learned the most from their late teacher. It was unanimously agreed. From then on, even Cheong’s seniors would come to him for pointers or to learn a new technique or form.

      Lee Siong Pheow (seated) with his students.

      Prior to Lee’s passing, Cheong had never entertained the thought of teaching kung-fu for a living, and certainly not on a commercial basis. However, in 1964, with the encouragement of many people, Cheong decided to open classes in an effort to keep the art from becoming lost.

      In the 1970s, Cheong opened a clothing, souvenir, and gift shop that caters to the many tourists who trek up the long stairway to the great Kwan Yin statue at the Kek Lok Si Temple, located in the Air Itam quarter of Pulau Pinang (fig. 4). After business hours, the shops and stairs empty and students gather to practice the art of Chuka Shaolin on a section of flat stone running parallel to Cheong’s shop (figs. 5, 6).

      CHUKA SHAOLIN TODAY

      While still obscure, the art of Chuka Shaolin has garnered somewhat of a cult following around the world. This has occurred as a result of some international exposure the art received in the early seventies through the book co-written by Cheong Cheng Leong and the late Donn F. Draeger, titled Phoenix-Eye Fist: A Shaolin Fighting Art of South China, and a number of articles that appeared in such magazines as Inside Kung-Fu, Oriental Fighting Arts, and Martial Arts Legends.