Budo international Martial Arts Magazine Jul.-Aug. 2014 | Seite 200

to it in the modern Western medicine. Without a heart,
creatures would simply not be able to live, as all organs
are being provided with vital substances via the bloodcirculation, which is prompted by the heart. As already
mentioned in my article about the five elements in general,
Hung Gar Kung Fu does not know techniques which are
“exclusively hard” or “exclusively soft”; techniques can be
both. The nature of fire techniques can be described as a
straight and unerring kind of power, techniques that can
strike like a destructive flash, but also move softly like a
flame in the wind and encompass its obstacles. It is
important to understand that the element fire consists not
only of mere fighting techniques but also knows various
different strategies or forms of power, always depending
on what the Hung Gar student needs or aims for in a
certain situation. The connection between the element fire
and the tiger style is probably the easiest one to make for
Western students and often it is the first connection made
between the various principles in Hung Gar. Furthermore,
the association of fire and tiger with the organ heart,
which represents strong emotions like joy or love, seems