Written by: Dirk Alvarez
03/29/05
Title: Aikido: Mok Kwei Lan, Tigress of Kungfu


She may have been a woman but she sure wasn’t a pushover.

Madame Mok Kwei Lan was recognized as the "Tigress" in Mok gar Kung Fu and this is not because she was a shrew.

The wife of Grandmaster Wong Fei Hung who was nicknamed "Tiger" for being one of the "Ten Tigers" of Kwantung (Guandong) province, Madame Mok started giving instruction in kung fu and osteopathy when she was barely out of her teens.

Taught by her uncle in the family art of Mok Gar Kung Fu as a child, she was trained in the "stripping the iris" technique practiced by her clan. In the time that Chinese society that women refrain from studying martial arts in preservation of their femininity, Madame Mok would continue training in secret with her uncle becoming an excellent exponent of Mok Gar kung fu and osteopathy at the age of sixteen.

She met Wong Fei Hung through her uncle and became his wife two years later.

Continuing her training and eventual teaching of martial arts and acting as guardian of the gymnasium’s equipment, Madame Mok found herself in the roles of Kung fu instructor, shop keeper, osteopathist, physician, and cook for the twenty employees of her husband’s gym.

Training with Wong Fei Hung

Madame Mok would often relate how her husband, Wong, was skilfull in the art of striking at vulnerable points all over the body and how those skillful with the art could literally have the lives of their enemies at their hands.

After learning and perfecting the technique together with her husband’s "shadowless kick," Madame swore that such knowledge would be reserved for members of her family alone due to the murderous potential of these techniques.

In Pursuit of Justice

Known for her strength of character and intolerance for injustice, stories of how Madame Mok would fight and be challenged by bullies abound.
One such story was how she beat up and punished a member of the notoriously ill-disciplined "Red Head" soldiers (soldiers designated by their red turbans.)

The story goes that during one of Wong’s performances for the Lion Dance, Madame Mok came upon a member of the "Red Heads," abusing and attempting to rob a young woman assigned to take care of the weapons used in the performances.

At Madame’s intervention, the furious soldier picked up a staff and struck out at Madame who promptly seized the stick and proceeded to hit the soldier until he bled.

Running for his life, the soldier was horrified when Madame, who had no intention of letting him of easily, overtook him and gave him a kick that sent him sprawling to the ground.

The incident made the headlines for all Canton newspapers the next day.

Another story relates how Madame took on four burly guys at a Hong Kong market place.

Apparently, while Madame was buying food from the market, she spied upon a fisherman who was being bullied by four big men.

Never one for abuse, she tried to prevent the roughing up of the fisherman thereby enraging the four men who picked up poles fully intending to do her harm.

Madame, however, managed to snatch away all their poles and proceeded to knock down the four amidst rounds of applause from the bystanders.

The next time you hear of a woman referred to as a "tigress," don’t be so sure you know what they’re talking about. She may just be another Mok Kwei Lan.