The history of I-Liq Chuan as a martial art is cryptic. Chin Lik Keong is the founder of the Kung Fu system. He studied martial arts and Kung Fu with various masters, including Sifu Lee Sum training Lee Style, Sifu Len training Phoenix Eye Kung Fu (meridian point striking), and his last Kung Fu Sifu was Lee Kam Chow training Feng Yang Lu Yi. Some people called it Lu Yie Pa Kua, Hsing-I Pa Kua or Liew Mun Pai (nomadic clan). It was a hidden martial art skill used by these nomads to protect themselves on the open roads and it was not open to the public, and this Kung Fu was only passed down in secret. The highest levels of martial arts skill were held only for family members. Through his years of kung fu training, he realized and dissolved all the martial arts from his previous training into the basic movement in accordance with the nature of the human structure.
Grand Master Chin continued his research and expanded on what he had learned. He concluded that it was a kung fu art of self-recognition and self-realization of both the mental (I) and the physical (Liq). Feeling uncomfortable naming the martial art under any of the kung fu styles, he called it I Liq Chuan. In 1976, Grand Master Chin formed the I Liq Chuan Association in Malaysia. Grandmaster Chin Lik Keong’s eldest son and co-founder, Chin Fan Siong (Sam Chin), inherited his father’s family martial art from him and improved on the fundamental nature of I Liq Chuan Kung Fu.
In 1992, Master Sam Chin moved to the small town of Carmel New York (United States). He had the opportunity for daily exposure to the teachings of world-renowned visiting monks, which furthered his study of Buddhist (Zen) philosophies. This opportunity helped Master Sam Chin gain a deeper understanding of the concept of Consciousness. He realized that Awareness was the heart of I Liq Chuan and this insight resulted in the tremendous improvement of I Liq Chuan as a complete martial art. In order to reach Western students and preserve the purity of the system, he created and implemented a complete educational structure including a teaching guide and rating system for students and instructors in order to promote and introduce I Liq Chuan to the world.
After years of hard work, Master Sam Chin has successfully spread the art in many different countries, including the United States, Russia, Australia, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, and England. Master Sam Chin has instructed countless students and promoted a few to the level of elite instructor. Master Sam Chin’s hard work has resulted in increased interest in I Liq Chuan martial art throughout the world.
