by sportswriters Xue Yanwen and Zhang Shuhui

SYDNEY, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Mark Whelan's fists cut through the air like thunder. His body moves as one with each punch, footwork steady as flowing water.

"Like a tree with stable foundation, but it changes with different seasons," he explains, "It has strong branches and it has soft branches that flow in the breeze. Sometimes you must use a soft approach. Sometimes you must be determined."

Whelan, 60, goes by his Chinese name, Mai Weilong, which translates to "mighty dragon." With blond hair, blue eyes and fluent Cantonese, he stands out in this Choy Lee Fut martial arts school in Sydney's Chinatown. But somehow, he feels right at home.

In one corner of the school stands his master sifu, Chen Yongfa, 75. Hands clasped behind his back, he is as still as an old pine rooted on a cliff edge.

"Too slow!" Chen's voice cuts through the hall, soft but commanding.

His students, regardless of age, skin color or gender, pick up the pace. The room fills with the sound of fists slicing through air.

Choy Lee Fut is one of southern China's most renowned martial arts styles. It was founded in 1836 by Chan Heung, or Chen Xiang in mandarin, a native of Xinhui in Guangdong Province, and was inscribed onto China's national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008.

In 1983, Chen Yongfa, Chan Heung's great-grandson and the fifth-generation inheritor of Choy Lee Fut, arrived in Sydney and opened this school. Over four decades, he has established branches in 28 countries and regions, with disciples spreading around the world.

This year marks the 190th anniversary of Choy Lee Fut's founding. Just like the banyan trees back in Xinhui, the art is deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with its aerial roots maturing into thick trunks, spreading its branches far beyond.

SPREADING BRANCHES

Whelan was Chen's very first foreign disciple. As a skinny youth, he had tried boxing and karate, hoping to defend himself against bullies. But it was Choy Lee Fut that gave him something deeper.

"Choy Lee Fut never encouraged me to be violent, but rather to not be fearful of my surroundings, and strive for the best always," he says.

Choy Lee Fut is a vast system, known for its powerful, sweeping movements. It draws from the best of southern and northern Chinese martial arts -- the fists of the south, the kicks of the north -- giving it a distinctive place within the world of kung fu.

"I found it was very physically demanding, which I wanted in terms of my own personal health," says Robert Hayes, 36, who has been training for 18 years. "And I found it has a lot of practical applications, which are really good out in the real world, such as obviously self defense."

But what keeps him coming back is the bond he found here. "There are a lot of challenges that come with that, and the way that the school supports each other to be better really creates a sense of community."

Sifu Chen is both a strict master and a caring father figure to the students. Instead of the traditional teaching method -- years of basic training before learning forms, he reversed the order when he realized that his Western students needed a different approach: teach them the exciting moves first to spark their passion, then drill them hard on the fundamentals.

And it worked. Over the years, he has attracted an increasing number of students, including doctors, lawyers, civil servants, and finance professionals. In return, they share Western perspectives and offer advice on running the school.

"Our school stretches back five generations, and throughout those generations so many different things have been added to the curriculum. So many things have been worked on and improved," says Joanna Fogarty, an accountant who has a particular love for weapons training, especially the guandao, a traditional Chinese heavy blade. "It's a dynamic curriculum that's always advancing."

"So it's suited to all ages, all styles, all capabilities. It doesn't matter if you are old, young, tall, short, you can change this style to the best of your ability," she adds.

FINDING ROOTS

Chan Heung began his martial arts journey at the age of seven, training under his uncle, Chan Yuen Wu. But when the time came to name the style he would create, he chose not to honor himself. Instead, he honored his teachers -- Choy, after monk Choy Fook who taught him fist techniques; Lee, after Lee Yau San who taught him kicks; and Fut, meaning Buddha in Cantonese, to commemorate the Shaolin Temple origin of all his three mentors.

This act of honoring one's teachers and respecting tradition lies at the very heart of the art.

Every year, Chen Yongfa leads his disciples from around the world on a pilgrimage back to their source -- Jingmei Village in Xinhui, where Chan Heung was born and set up his kung fu school. There, they perform traditional ancestral rites, paying respect to the founder and reaffirming the values of humility and gratitude.

Whelan made his first trip back in 1985, becoming the first foreigner ever to visit Jingmei Village.

"Sifu always tells us, if you want to learn Chinese kung fu, you must understand Chinese culture. You must know your roots," he says.

What began as a journey for just one student has grown into something much larger. In 2024, some 250 disciples from home and abroad gathered in Jingmei Village. They visited the ancestral home of Chan Heung, offered incense and bowed before his portrait. Then, under the fluttering flags of their home countries, regions and schools, they took to the training ground, trading forms, testing their skills in friendly combat, sharing the art that binds them together.

For Paul Nomchong, who has made the journey around 20 times, it feels like completing a circle. His paternal ancestors left Xinhui for Australia in 1877. Four generations later, he managed to learn the martial art from the very same soil.

"A lot of other lineages may not last as long as us because of their broken relationships," he says, "That's why we classified as a family. Doesn't matter what you speak, where you come from, your ethnicity, we're still part of the one Choy Lee Fut family."

"I appreciate a lot how this particular school upholds a lot of the Chinese traditions, particularly where the school comes from, and for me that's really important because it gives a sense of roots," says Hayes.

"Where it comes from and what we are trying to maintain, that comes in a set of principles and values, which are very important to me personally," he adds.

NOURISHING LEAVES

Jude Davenport, 24, started training at the age of five because his father is a Choy Lee Fut disciple and now runs a school.

"My ultimate goal is to carry the style, and make sure that the new generations can also learn Choy Lee Fut," he says.

He is not alone. Today, about 30 percent of the students in the adult's class and half of the children's class in this Sydney school come from families with Choy Lee Fut ties.

"My sifu is the fifth generation. I'm the sixth. The seventh and eighth are here too," Whelan says proudly, gesturing toward the younger students training in the hall. "And the kids practicing over there? That's the ninth generation."

Jude Needham, 12, has been training for five years. "I've become stronger," he says, "I've become more disciplined."

His goal is clear: "To become one of the highest disciples, and I'm willing to give it 100 percent."

"Trees will always grow new branches and new leaves, and those branches grow off of existing branches," reflects Hayes, "We are certain branches of Choy Lee Fut in this particular tree, and we need to make sure that the ones that grow off of us are strong, healthy, and will grow their own branches one day."  ■