Kou Sze: The Founder of Monkey Kung Fu
By Luke Walden

The unusual and powerful Northern Chinese art of Monkey Kung Fu (Ta Sheng Pek Kwar) was developed around 1911 by a Tei Tong (Great Earth) kung fu practitioner by the name of Kou Sze. Oddly enough, Kou Sze did not form this unique fighting method out of necessity, by a strike of ingenuity, or to counter another style of kung fu; this highly respective and traditional art of Monkey kung fu was created as a remedy for boredom.
Convicted of killing an evil villager, Kou Sze was fortunate enough to have friends who were financially successful and were influential enough to bribe the local judge into reducing his term from death to imprisonment. However, these eight years were spent in solitary confinement, and so Kou Sze spent all of his time alone in a small cell. To occupy his time, Kou Sze would work on perfecting his Tei Tong kung fu techniques and forms, stretching his body to become more fluid, trying to keep up his strength or just staring at the wall. His cell’s only virtue was that it contained a small window that faced a jungle of trees inhabited by a large colony of monkeys.. Day after day he stared out the window and watched the monkeys living within their own environment, playing and interacting with each other.
“In the art of Tei Tong kung fu, the movements are very low to the ground and required a great deal of ankle, leg and body flexibility,” points out sixth generation Monkey Master Michael Matsuda. “The techniques are very strenuous so being mobile in the legs is a necessity. After all his years of practicing I have no doubt that Grandmaster Kou Sze probably felt his flexibility was quite good, however, I believe he was completely astonished as he watched several of the monkeys put one leg over their head and still be able to hop around. He was even more bewildered when he saw a monkey lay flat on its back and still be able to peek through its legs. Monkeys are extremely flexible creatures, it’s obvious that you will see this flexibility in the artform.”
Eventually, Kou Sze realized there were a lot of similarities with the monkeys’ movements and the art of Tei Tong kung fu. The monkeys would perform a lot of flips and rolls, movements that are used constantly in Tei Tong. The monkeys kept low to the ground and sometimes leap upward to attack, which was also a maneuvering technique widely used in Tei Tong. While Tei Tong also required a high degree of flexibility, it looked comparatively stiff to the amount of elasticity used by the monkeys.
It would take Kou Sze time to study the movements of the monkey and fit them into this Great Earth style – a luxury he had plenty of.
Matsuda points out that it “usually takes decades to put together a unique artform, however, when all you have is time on your hands, you can channel that time into your art. The main factor however, was that Grandmaster Kou Sze was already halfway there because the art of Tei Tong is extremely similar in many ways to Monkey. He was able to apply the low maneuvering from Tei Tong, the internal breathing from Chi Kung and flexibility of Taoist Yoga into the Monkey art. Each of these were vital to creating this unusual, yet powerful fighting art.”
Over the years Kou Sze was able to visually document how certain monkeys acted differently in similar situations, and how each monkey had its own unique personality.. Some monkeys always looked as if they were frightened; continually glancing over their shoulder and jumping at every sound; others were more strong and intimidating and stood their ground. Some monkeys were very sneaky when it came to fighting while others yelled and screamed so much they literally frightened their opponents away. He attempted to fit them into separate categories but it wasn’t easy because all of the monkeys shared similar traits in regard to walking, rolling and ground maneuvering. Each monkey performed the same types of movements when playing with each other; however, it was when the monkeys were attacked that brought out their unique characteristics.
Kou Sze was even more amazed when he noticed how the monkeys were able to use a stick against each other either playfully or in a defensive situation.
Since the jungle was infested with every type of animal possible, it wasn’t long before Kou Sze was able to see the monkeys in action to defend itself for fear of being eaten.

Characterization of the monkeys

Upon observing the monkeys day and night, Kou Sze was able to distinguish a similar pattern of attack used by the monkey colony. Some monkeys fought their opponents aggressively – toe-to-toe. Others were able to devise an individual ambush to lure their attacker into a false sense of security then turn their tables and became the attacker. While some monkeys were so frightened they fought their opponents wildly and somehow became the victor. Amazingly, a few of the monkeys became came across some alcohol and became intoxicated and were still able to fend off their attackers.
After tracing related patterns, studying each unique personality and examining the different fighting techniques, Kou Sze decided to mentally divide the monkey’s movements into five separate and distinct categories:

The Tall Monkey The Lost Monkey
The Wooden Monkey The Stone Monkey
The Drunken Monkey

The Lost Monkey represents a little monkey who became separated from the other group of monkeys. After being lost for along period of time, the little monkey becomes extremely frightened and startled by the noises all around him. Appearing scared and alone, the lost monkey appears to be an easy prey, however, when confronted by a larger beast of prey. The monkey moves with such speed and quickness that he is able to defend itself long enough to escape.
The Drunken Monkey was developed by the curiosity of a monkey who came across a bottle of wine. Though the monkey staggers about, he is somehow still able to defend itself by throwing off-balance kicks and falling punches. The Drunken Monkey stumbles in one direction while applying a move in the other.
The stone monkey is best represented by the alpha male of the group. He is very strong and powerful. The body must be conditioned to be tough especially in the knee and elbow area. The Stone Monkey is known to use his knuckles against the ground and fall to the ground on his side. His kicks must be just as crushing from both a high and low position. The Stone Monkey is always first to a fight and never backs down.
The Wooden Monkey is often called a crafty or sneaky monkey. Though he may resemble the Lost Monkey by appearing scared and frightened, the Wooden Monkey deceives he attacker by causing his opponent to chase him, however, just as the beast is about to catch the monkey, the Wooden Monkey suddenly spins around and becomes the attacker. The wooden monkey, in a sense, individually sets up his opponent then turns the tables on him. “The Wooden Monkey and the Drunken Monkey require a great deal of flexibility,” points out Matsuda.
The Tall Monkey resembles the fighting style of the tallest monkey in the clan. He takes advantage of his long legs and arms. He is able to strike out at an opponent from a greater distance than his cousins. The advantage of the Tall Monkey is that he is able to appear small and low, but just as his opponent comes near, he springs out tall and large outsmart his attacker.
Upon completion of his eight-year prison term, Kou Sze had completed forming the Monkey kung fu art. He handed down his art to his best friend’s son, Ken Tak Hoi. Ken Tak Hoi traveled throughout mainland China with his friend, Cho Chi Fung. They both moved to Hong Kong and opened the school together. Cho Chi Fung soon left the school to teach on his own and passed on the entire artform including Chi Kung and Taoist Yoga to his nephew, Cho Chat Ling. Cho Chat Ling passed down the complete artform to Paulie Zink. Zink passed on the entire art to his student and boyhood friend, Michael Matsuda.
“This is an artform that has traditionally been passed down to only close friends and family members. Master Zink and I owe a great deal of gratitude to Grandmaster Cho Chat Ling for taking this bold step in passing down the Monkey art to the Western World,” concludes Master Matsuda.

Luke Walden is a five-year student of Monkey Master Michael Matsuda. For more information on Monkey Kung Fu, visit www.monkeykungfu.com.