From the Martial Arts World to the Battlefield: The True History of Choy Lee Fut 蔡李佛 Practitioners and the Anti-Japanese Dadao (Big Sword) Teams

In the historical record of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the “Dadao Dui” (大刀隊, Big Sword Team) is undoubtedly one of the most legendary symbols. Most people picture the famous night raid at Xifengkou by the Northwestern Army. But in South China and on the Guangdong front, practitioners of the Lingnan martial arts world — represented above all by Choy Lee Fut (蔡李佛) — likewise turned traditional Chinese martial arts into practical combat skills and threw themselves into the fight against Japan.

Drawing on local gazetteers, sources on the War of Resistance, and research on martial arts history, this article reconstructs the true history of Choy Lee Fut practitioners’ involvement in the Dadao Teams and close-combat training during the war, setting aside the overly mythologized folk legends to restore a real and weighty chapter of blood and tears.

I. Historical Background: The Predicament of Cold Weapons and National Martial Arts Defense

In the early years of the war, Chinese forces were at an absolute disadvantage in heavy weapons, aircraft, and ammunition supply. Local units and civilian self-defense corps in particular often could not achieve “one rifle per man,” and ammunition was severely scarce.

Against this backdrop of extreme material shortage, the dadao (大刀, big sword/broadsword) — cheap to produce and easy to forge — became a supplementary weapon for close combat. The question then was how to enable soldiers and civilian self-defense corps, who lacked modern military training, to fight in close quarters against a well-trained Japanese army equipped with Type 38 rifles and bayonets. Simplifying traditional martial arts into practical military bladework became a common emergency measure at the time.

II. Fusion of Technique: The Practical Combat Transformation of Choy Lee Fut Broadsword Methods

Choy Lee Fut, a leading school representing Lingnan (South China) martial arts, is built on the principle of “wide, sweeping movements, surging power, and agile footwork.” Its broadsword and single-blade methods — such as the nine-ring dadao (九環大刀, gau waan daai dou) and the two-handed dadao (雙手大刀, soeng sau daai dou) — were already strongly oriented toward real combat.

However, traditional martial arts forms were too elaborate to be handed directly to ordinary soldiers once war broke out. Choy Lee Fut practitioners who served as military instructors or leaders of self-defense corps carried out a crucial practical simplification of the school’s bladework:

• Breaking the thrust first, using the opponent’s own force: Japanese bayonet technique emphasized the straight thrust. Choy Lee Fut practitioners drew on the school’s “press-blade, hook-blade, and coil-blade” (壓刀 aat dou, 掛刀 gwaa dou, 纏刀 cin dou) movements, using the heavy spine of the dadao and leverage to first knock aside the opponent’s bayonet.
• Closing in to chop and slash (long bridge, big horse-stance): Following Choy Lee Fut’s agile footwork — such as the bow stance (弓步, gung bou) and evasive stepping (閃身步, sim san bou) — practitioners would surge into close range the instant the enemy’s bayonet was deflected, closing the distance within effective range for a cold-weapon chop or slash. This drew on Choy Lee Fut’s signature “long bridge, big horse-stance” (長橋大馬, coeng kiu daai maa) approach.
• Simplified moves, drilled into muscle memory: Ceremonial, performance-style postures were stripped away in favor of two- or three-move combinations — “one deflect, one chop” or “one hook, one slash” — so that new recruits could develop close-combat instincts in a short time.

III. Historical Record: The Anti-Japanese Armed Forces and Actions of Choy Lee Fut Practitioners

The involvement of Choy Lee Fut practitioners in the war was not a matter of individual initiative — it was organized local militia activity tied to the broader national salvation movement.

1. The Hung Sing Kwoon (鴻勝館) of Foshan and Ng Kan’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit

The Hung Sing Kwoon (鴻勝館, Hung Sing Guan) of Foshan was a major cradle of Choy Lee Fut, with deep roots in the working class and a long revolutionary tradition.

• Joining the army and forming a guerrilla unit: After the full-scale outbreak of war in 1937, Ng Kan (吳勤), a leading figure of the Hung Sing Kwoon and a Choy Lee Fut practitioner, answered the call to resist Japan. In 1938 he organized the “Guangzhou Suburban Anti-Japanese Volunteer Corps” on the outskirts of Guangzhou (later reorganized as the Guangzhou Suburban Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment).
• Close combat and raids behind enemy lines: Large numbers of Hung Sing Kwoon disciples joined this force. During the fall of Guangzhou and Foshan, this militia used its familiarity with the local terrain to carry out night raids and ambushes against Japanese strongholds and patrols across the Pearl River Delta, armed with dadao broadswords and handguns.

2. Serving as Military Martial Arts Instructors

Within the National Revolutionary Army’s South China garrison units and Guangdong’s local forces (including formations linked to the 19th Route Army and local units of the Fourth War Zone), a number of Lingnan martial arts masters — including practitioners of Choy Lee Fut and Hung Ga (洪拳, hung kyun) — were engaged as military “combat instructors” or “physical training coaches,” responsible for training soldiers in close-quarters combat and dadao slashing techniques.

IV. An Objective Historical Assessment

Any account of Choy Lee Fut practitioners and the Dadao Teams must be approached with objectivity and rigor:

1. The limits of cold weapons: The existence of the Dadao Teams was born of necessity in the face of inferior equipment. Against modern heavy artillery, machine guns, and interlocking fields of fire, charging with a dadao often meant extremely high casualties. The broadsword was effective mainly in specific settings — night raids, mountain close combat, or urban street fighting.
2. The spiritual value of the civilian martial arts world: By “turning traditional martial arts into combat skill,” Choy Lee Fut practitioners converted their conviction to protect home and country into concrete action. They did not shrink back in the nation’s moment of crisis, and their conduct reflects the integrity and national spirit of the Chinese martial arts world.

Sources and References

1. “Guangdong Provincial Gazetteer — Sports Volume” (《廣東省志·體育志》): Records the development of modern martial arts schools in Guangdong, the founding of guoshu (national martial arts) academies, and the martial arts community’s participation in the national salvation movement during the war.
2. “Foshan Municipal Gazetteer” (《佛山市志》), Vol. 38 (Sports/Biographies): Contains the historical development of the Hung Sing Kwoon of Foshan, the activities of its disciples, and records of Hung Sing Kwoon members enlisting during the anti-Japanese war.
3. “History of the Foshan Hung Sing Kwoon” (《佛山鴻勝館館史》): Details how Choy Lee Fut practitioners Chin Wai Fong (錢維方) and Ng Kan (吳勤), among others, organized anti-Japanese volunteer units and taught close-combat techniques during the war.
4. “Guangzhou Historical and Literary Materials” (《廣州文史資料》), compiled by the Guangzhou Municipal CPPCC Committee on Historical and Literary Materials: Contains memoirs and specialized historical sources on the founding of the Guangzhou suburban anti-Japanese guerrilla units and armed resistance behind enemy lines in South China.
5. “Studies in Lingnan Martial Arts Culture” (《嶺南武術文化研究》): An academic paper analyzing the role and evolution of Guangdong’s indigenous martial arts schools (Choy Lee Fut, Hung Ga, etc.) amid modern social change, military training, and the nationwide war of resistance.

Glossary of Key Kung Fu Terms (Chinese — Jyutping — English)