We had the fortune to interview Shifu Ho Kim Hung 何剑雄 from Chau Biu Martial Arts Association. The troupe is currently run by 5 brothers, whom are the offspring of one of Jow Biu’s early Hong Kong disciples, Ho Lok Man 何乐民. Below is a brief outline of the sequence of events that lead to Shizu Jow Biu’s arrival in Hong Kong.

1947
Ho Lok Man 何乐民 was elected the president of the Fresh fish association 鮮魚行淡水魚 near Kennedy Town. They decided to approach Chan Gui Zai 陈桂仔 (First few disciples from Jiujiang Ying Yong Tang 九江英勇堂 along with Lee Ngau) who was working in Hong Kong to teach Jow Ga arts.

It began with a bang but soon after, only 3 disciples were left. The key problem was Shifu Chan had required long hours of horse stance practice before getting to start on the forms. After a long day of hard labour, it was difficult for the members to endure the extended hardship so many people gave up. Another problem was the original forms were repeated in 4 directions, making them extremely long. (More than 2min). Lastly, in the old days disciples have to start with Hung Kuen before proceeding to Jow Ga Quen.

The 3 remaining disciples (何乐民，彭東， 鄧揚) then convinced Shifu Chan to modify the forms to be audience oriented. The essence remained, while the repetitions were minimized. That resolved the problem and the troupe membership increased.

Shifu Chan Gui Zai 陈桂仔师傅

1949
Shifu Chan was down with TB. After a performance at Tin Hou Dan, he coughed blood. He then decided that he had to pass on the leadership to his Shifu, Jow Biu who was still in Jiangmen China. During that time, China was in a civil war and the Army that the Jow brothers trained, were the Guo Min Dang 国民党. Eventually the Jow brothers would get into trouble with the communist government. Chan contacted Jow Biu, and he agreed but asked for time to settle his family. During that period, Chan could not continue and asked for Shifu Mak Cing Ching 麦展靖 to stand in for him.

1950
Jow Biu was finally ready and the fisherman Association sent Poon Geng 潘镜 and Lai Hun Hoon 黎煊雄 to fetch him. At that time the situation was already very bad, and Jow Biu’s house had been confiscated. He left China with nothing. Fortunately, they managed to arrive in Hong Kong safely and shortly after, the China-Hong Kong border at Shenzhen was closed. (Jow Tin was arrested, another story to cover).

From then on, Jow Biu started teaching in Hong Kong. During those times, Jow Biu discovered the changes of the original forms, and he made further changes to what Chan did. This resulted in differences of the same forms today, even if it originated from Jow Biu.

Jow Biu got to reunite with his wife and god daughter in Hong Kong but never got to return to China as the communist government banned religion and martial arts until 1979 during the cultural revolution.

1961
Jow Biu passed away at the age of 60 in Hong Kong. The fisherman association troupe had by then evolved with various names and eventually settled for Jow Biu Assocation. There was also a spin off troupe called Jow Biu Classmates (loosely translated). Ho Lok Man was one of the person in charge of Jow Biu Assn.

1974
Hong Kong government required all troupes to change their names to move away from gangster related problems. Jow Biu Assn was renamed to Martial Arts Assn 中外周彪国术体育会. The Ho brothers continued to hold the torch till today.

Ho Brothers (5, 2, 1, 3, 4)