Kung-Fu SAN SOO, as taught by Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo, had it's origins in the very basics of Chinese feudal life over 2,500 years ago in the temple of Kwan Yin. This is the oldest martial art as we know it. For many hundreds of years, China was divided and sub-divided into various warring factions, and each produced many different types of fighting styles. Chinese systemized warfare predates the arrival of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, thought to be the founder of Shaolin Ch'uan, who appeared some 2,500 years ago.

Exactly how and when these fighting tactics were begun in the Kwan-Yin (Goddess of Mercy) monastery, in the village of Pon Hong, Guangdong Province of Southern China is still unclear, and is in the process of being researched. The main reason the martial arts were perfected by this group of monks was to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as the monks returned with supplies and donations from nearby villages.

One of these monks, named Leoung Kick, an orphan who had lived in the monastery since age ten, (Jimmy H. Woo's Great, Great, Great Grandfather) decided to leave the monastery when he was approximately 30 years old. He took with him two of the Buddhist training texts which probably date back to the late 1500's, during the Ming Dynasty. These books have remained within the Chin family for five generations and are extremely fragile and rare. All the techniques and forms taught to and by Jimmy came from these two manuals.

Young Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy's Chinese name) was taught by his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung who was nicknamed Chin Neow Gee, which means "Crazy Devil." Hung was an extremely large man, at 6'5" and weighing well over 320 pounds. Following in his father and grandfather's footsteps, Hung became a well-known fighter, teaching in his own SAN SOO school. He was an overlord for the entire province, which at that time, the late 1800's and until 1941 was about the size of Orange County, CA. He had complete control over nearly every aspect of the lives of the people in that area. No one, started a business, moved, or made any other major decisions without consulting Hung.

From the age of four on Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy H. Woo) was to be his Great Uncle's prize student. He learned extremely fast and loved the contact and grueling workouts on hard floors. In his teens, Dek became a travelling teacher of Tsoi Lee Ho Fut Hung, the five family names of the martial art perfected hundreds of years before in the monastery very near his small village.

When anyone in the province needed someone to come and settle a grievance, Dek was the enforcer. When village elders decided it was time for the young men to learn to defend themselves, Dek would be sent to live there for months at a time to teach them.

In 1933, at the age of 19, Chin Siu Dek left mainland China under the passport name Jimmy H. Woo and sailed for the United States. During his early years in this country, Jimmy lived in Chinatown, Los Angeles CA.

Chin Siu Hung was aproximately 74 to 75 old when the Japanese invaded mainland China and took over his beloved province. In 1933 or 1934 he was forced, against his will, to answer a challenge to fight to the death the regimental Karate champion of the Japanese army who was in his 20s. This was to be a public display of power of the Japanese conquerors in front of the poor villagers of the surrounding area. Under the threat of death to his people if he did not comply, Hung fought and defeated the Japanese champion. In fact, he killed the Karate warrior in less than 20 seconds. Chin Siu Hung with the all the other San Soo fighters in his school were immediately killed by machine gun fire. This basically ended San Soo in mainland China.

 

It was extremely fortunate that Jimmy had left mainland China when he did, for the Japanese would have awarded him with the same fate as his Great Uncle and the other San Soo practitioners rather than allow a possible resistance corps to remain.

Jimmy carried the art to America and kept it alive while many of the other early Chinese fighting systems were destroyed by the Japanese. Mao Tse Tung later eradicated many of the other martial art styles, training books and monasteries when the communist Chinese took over power from the Japanese at the end of WWII.

He left on the steamship Queen Elizabeth II and arrived in Mexico, stayed for a year of two, and got into America in 1935 after getting married. He worked many varied jobs as he became acclimated to his new home in LA's Chinatown District. He originally learned produce from his mother and father and his love for fresh fruit and vegetables stemmed from his long hours as a produce manager in a market. He loved to cook and owned 3 restaurants, one of which was his fathers in Glendale, CA.

But his first love was teaching SAN SOO. He began teaching privately to close relatives and friends. Later, he was the instructor for several years at the Sing Kang "cousin club" - a social/recreational organization. He also acted as security/police for the residents and business owners in the area and some times as a body guard, the only unarmed one in the area.

In December of 1962, Jimmy officially held the grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway Shopping Center in El Monte, CA. In the early years, he called it "Karate-Kung-Fu" because no one knew what kung fu was at that time. In January of 1984, following his retirement from daily instruction, Jimmy H. Woo became Grand Master (Lau Sifu) when his Grandson J.P. King, earned his black belt.

J.P King marks the seventh generation of a SAN SOO instructor-level practitioner in Jimmys family. J.P. reached the level of SAN SOO Master in January of 1993. Jimmy H. Woo taught his instructors' class two Saturday's a month until his death in 1991 totaling nearly 46 years of teaching Kung-Fu SAN SOO in America.

For instance, when an opponent is hit in the groin, his head will fly forward in response to the pain causing him to bend or double over. This is an involuntary movement and if you were to strike simultaneously to the place you know he'll be, for example a forward strike with either hand, his movement could cause you to shatter his throat as well. It's very logical how the body reacts. These reactions get learned not only by the mind, but through training they get ingrained in your cellular memory as well: which is much more efficient.

In other words, these movements and attack sequences become second nature. The SAN SOO fighter has been trained so that the mind/body knows the targets before they appear bypassing the rational mind. Every move is maximally destructive because it capitalizes on the opponent's involuntary reaction to the pain of the preceding move (i.e. stretching the ribcage for easier breakage or sending a face flying into a waiting palm or foot.) That move then sets up the next tissue-shattering step in the whole sequence of destruction with the end result being the opponent lying in a broken heap at your feet. An advanced practitioner is able to make these things happen all at the same time!

You can see why it just isn't practical to spar with SAN SOO because you would quickly run out of training partners! This is also why SAN SOO isn't about strength or athletics. Rather, it is about physics, momentum, economy, and destruction. Specifically, it is about street fighting, imobilizing -- in a grave and permanent way -- someone who wants to do you bodily harm! It is probably one of the most brutal systems of hand-to-hand killing ever devised by man.