Wong Yan-Lam
Wong Yan Lam was the son of a Shaolin Kung-Fu master known as Wong Ping. Wong Ping was something of a local legend, known as "the bronze foot", and was fond of demonstrating his kung-fu in public. Because of this he came to the attention of Sing Lung. One day Sing Lung came down from the mountain and had an opportunity to observe Wong Ping's kung-fu. He was impressed by Wong Ping's skill and tried to tell him so but because Sing Lung's Chinese was not very good there was a misunderstanding. Wong Ping attacked Sing Luhng with a powerful leg sweep but the Tibetan monk utilized a technique known as "GAM GONG HONG LUHNG". He leapt up into the air and landed on the leg, breaking Wong Ping's knee.
When the misunderstanding was corrected Sing Lung offered to heal the leg using special Tibetan medical techniques and the two became friends. Wong Ping was so impressed by Sing Lung that he asked the old monk to teach his son. Wong Yan-Lam studied for many years and achieved considerable skill under the direction of Sing Lung. In addition to Lama Pai, Wong Yan Lam also learned the Lo Han Myuhn (Boddhisattva division) and Gam Gong Myuhn (Diamond division) internal methods and the Tibetan medical techniques.
Upon the death of his teacher, Wong Yan-Lam left Guangdong and worked for many years as an armed escort in Shan Xi province. During this period Wong Yan-Lam met and exchanged techniques with a great number of martial artists. Wong Yan-Lam also became involved in the revolutionary movement pledged to overthrow the Manchurians. Because of the numerous goods deeds attributed to him during his lifetime, Wong Yan-Lam earned the nickname of "Haap" (Knight or Hero).
After many years, Wong Yan-Lam grew homesick and decided to return to Guangdong. He also decided that he finally wanted to accept students and teach Lama Pai. Upon arriving in Guangdong, he erected a large wooden stage and announced that he would accept any challenger to prove the effectiveness of Lama Pai. For the next 18 days, 150 of the area's best fighters were punched, kicked, thrown or strangled into submission. According to David Chin, "Either the challenger was maimed or killed. Wong never let one challenger leave his school without injury. He was a master of using the technique of cruelty."
It was an unprecedented display of fighting ability and as a result Wong Yan-Lam was subsequently ranked number one among the Ten Tigers of Guangdong and considered the best fighter in southern China.
One of his fellow Tigers was Wong Kei-Ying, father of the famous Wong Fei-Hung. Father and son, both masters of Hung Kuen, exchanged knowledge with other martial artists, including Wong Yan-Lam. According to Lama Pai oral history, Wong Fei-Hung learned from Wong Yan-Lam the long arm techniques found in the Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist and the Five Element techniques found in the Five Animal Five Element Fist in return for the Five Animal techniques found in the Small Five Animal Fist of Yan-Lam and his descendants. By contrast, "village" styles of Hung Kuen do not show signs of influence from Lama Pai/Hop Gar/Tibetan White Crane and are more characteristic of Southern Chinese martial arts.
Read more about this topic: Lama (martial Art)