DEADLY ART WHITE EYEBROW: The Deadly Art You Can't = Pak Mei kung-fu has been around for centuries, but only a select group know its techniques. Learn why the art is considered too dangerous for the general public. By Jane Hallander Irorb «blow asf you are cotton and returit ike you ‘are steel typifies the fighting theory and practice of Southern China's legendary pak met (white eyebrow) stm. The sytem is named ater mari artist whose tech- Ties wer so deadly he refised to accep stidens. Like thir name- Sale, white eyebrow isirtors are secretive and can nly be Found in the dep recess of large city Cinatowns, They guard ther Kung System with preat cre because white eyebrow Sone ofthe most Drctcal and lethal empty Aand methods of fing avaiable Every Flow i designed to decply penetrate winerble pressure poi, eating havoc within the opponent. Not only are the strikes poten- tal fata, bot the syle shaped around high itensty, highspeed bows making it dticol to practice with a pater. Pak mei sss tack witout regard to personal safety, since they know their Blow vl be the fist and lt. White cyebrow isa shorcrange, formar Punching se that employs power developed from complete bay Eonnecton ad explosive reathingtechniqos nike wing chu, the otbeestrightling sor-range ile, white ejebrow practones Kept bucks ih rounded and the chests Concave fo push power forward atthe moment of impact. Wing chun ‘stylists operate with their backs straight and chests slightly out, which teubles them to make thei charateatc igh sks. Als, while Wing hun wes litle waist acon to develop power, 60 percent of white ‘jer powers gneatd from the was. "White eyebrow practioner like to it lower than ng chun st ls, preferring the solar plus and treat rther than the Bead. Every vite eyebrow strc is aimed at csbling gresure points, Therefore, the throat and ches area provide excelent target. “The phoenix eye ithe orl Hx technique i white eyebrow. Ii formed by projecting the ist joint of the dex iger above the cer losd igs The index finger is then eld flyin place and sup pore by the thumb, The projecting fist joins the striking surface, {Ereted into sensitive presse pints inthe neck slar plexus and ribs. Phoenix eye strikes are considered advanced techniques in other maria ars Pak mel spi almost tke them for ranted they belive that osrke and not do considerable damage isa wast of tine. The fit punch of other martial ars requis fall body power t ste @ larger impact area, making contact pressure more spread out and es destructive. White eyebrow’ phoenix ee strikes wit es power, hts {far smaller area, creates greater pear and leads o more intra‘The phoenix eye strike (tp) s the only st eehaique In whi Ninety percent of all white eyebrow fists are single phoenix eyes. ‘The other ten percent are double phoenix eye fists, where the index and middle fingers rejoined and protrude asthe striking area. Double phoenix eyes are reserved for blows to the head, because the boney area requires fore for penetration, Phoenix eye fists are developed by repeatedly striking hard surfaces with the fist joint of the index finger. White eyebrow practitioners become so proficient at these strikes they can easily puncture a tough ‘wooden packing rate witha single blow. ‘White eyebrow also uses palm and finger attacks. Should a pressure point be dificult to reach, «knife-edge palm strike to the side ofthe ‘ck or ribs will usually top the opponents. White eyebrow stylist ‘use a chopping action with the outer edge ofthe palm. Fingertip strikes are another popular technique with pak mei stylists Pressure points again are the targets. There are two kinds of fingertip, blows — four-finger and two-finger. The fingers are kep tightly together to form a single penetrating weapon in both types. Fourfinger strikes, ‘are usualy targeted to pressure points in the neck, while two-finger ‘lows are sent to pressure points within smaller striking surfaces such asthe rb cage Because it lakes more strength and conditioning of the fingers to ‘administer two-finger blows, four-finger strikes are considered begin- ning techniques. Two-fingeratacks are reserved for advanced levels of pak mei. Eventually the phoenix eye fist is discarded by advanced White eyebrow stylists, Two fingers are used exclusively to penetrate an enemys vital pressure points. Considered to be basically an animal imitation martial art, white ‘eyebrow also employs two versions of eagle claw hands. One is a five-finger grab and the other a more advanced three-finger grab ‘These are not ripping claw hands like the tiger claw of other styles; rather, they are presure-point grabs designed to cause immediate ps and injury. Also, unlike the spread-inger tiger claws and eagle claw ‘Continued on page 105 White Eyebrow: A Brief History ‘White eyebrow kung-u is sid to have originated with a Taoist ‘monk known as Pak Mei during the revolutionary wars against the (Ching dynasty. Pak Mei was among several prominent revolution- aries secking to overthrow the Manchurian-roled Ching dynasty. It ‘was decided that one member of the revolutionary force would infiltrate the Manchurian royal palace. Pak Mei was chosen forthe task Unfortunately, both the revolution and his infillration were ‘unsuccessful. To escape certain death from his Manchurian captors; ‘Pak Mei became an informer forthe Manchurian. ‘While operating within the Ching government, Pak Mei taught ‘hs martial art to many Manchurian solders, gaining a large folow- ‘ng in northern China, The betrayed southerners tumed against hin {or becoming a traitor. The few Buddhist and Taoist monks who ‘knew Pak Mel's white eyebrow kung-fu were reluctant to teach ‘anyone a trator’s martial art. Finally a monk named Jok Fat-Won received permission from his master to teach white eyebrow kung-fu. Jok wandered through ‘out China looking for suitable student. While in Guandong (Can- ton) he found Cheung Lai-Chven. Cheung was already an accomp- lished martial artist, and was to become the fst student of white eyebrow in southern China who was not e monk. Cheung also bbocame the fint acknowledged grandmaster of pak mei (white eyebrow) kung-fu, He taught first in Guandong, then in Hong Kong ater World War II ‘White eyebrow came to the United States through one of ‘Cheung’s most advanced students, Lai Hung. Lai started his pak ‘mei studies with Cheung atthe tender age of eight in Guandong. He continued in Hong Kong when the turbulent Pacific war period eyebrow. It is formed by projecting the first joint ofthe index finger was over. Typical of white eyebrow sifu, Lai Hung now teaches only a select few who learn tis rae fighting atin a large ware- Fhouse that also houses his import/export business. — Jane Hallander tbove the other closed flagers. The two-fn Feserved for advaneed levels of pak mei be strength and conditioning. Two fingers are penetrate an enemy's val pressure pola. attack (above) Is eit takes more exes