Jook Lum
江西竹林寺南派螳螂拳
Kwang Sai Jook Lum Gee Nam Tong Long Kuen (Kwang Sai Province, Bamboo Forest Temple, Southern Praying Mantis Fist), or just Jook Lum, is a traditional Chinese martial art that comes from the Hakka people of Southern China. Known for its springy, expansive internal power, built on coiled structural tension along with a focus on sensitivity and explosiveness in equal measure, Jook Lum is a close-quarters, bridge fighting art.
The art traveled from Southern China to Hong Kong, then to the United States, where it kept evolving against the pressures of a growing martial arts landscape.
It is here, in America, that the art found its ground in Philadelphia, and also where our chapter of this story begins.
The Jook Lum Philadelphia Branch became known for its commitment to application: fighting realism, structural power, practical pressure-testing, and technique that was sharpened through contact against many styles and fighters throughout the last four decades.
While holding to the core principles, traditions, and internal methodology of the art, this branch deliberately engaged with the fighting systems and cultures around it, including Western boxing, other kung fu systems, Muay Thai, MMA, and grappling. That engagement tested and refined the art's combative integrity without compromising its traditional structure or philosophical depth.
Now under the direction of Phillip Le in New York City, the school carries this dual legacy forward, rooted in tradition and internal richness, pressure-tested for real-world usefulness, and open to evolution while remaining principled. It is a school built for a new generation of practitioners in New York and beyond.
// lineage
Lineage flows through Gin Foon Mark via Joe McSorley and Louie Jack Man via John Clark, both tracing to Lum Sang
// core concepts
The point of contact is where everything happens. The bridge is how you read force, redirect it, and deliver your own. Any part of the body can be a bridge.
Short, explosive power generated from structure and intent — not size or muscle. The goal is to develop it, understand it, and be able to issue it on demand.
Your alignment is your weapon. When your structure is right, you don't need to force anything — the power comes from position, not effort.
The art has to work against real resistance. Bamboo bends — it doesn't break. The principles stay constant. How you apply them has to be alive.
Kwang Sai Jook Lum Gee Nam Tong Long Kuen · 江西竹林寺南派螳螂拳
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