9 Dragons Kung Fu

The Five Elements

The Five Elements Theory (Ng Hong Lei Lun) appears in many facets of Chinese culture including martial arts. The Five Elements of Hung Gar has its roots in traditional Chinese medicine, which relates metal to the lungs, wood to the liver, fire to the heart, water to the kidneys and earth to the spleen. The health of these organs is revealed externally through the conditions of the nose, eyes, tongue, ears and the philtrum (the trough between the nose and the mouth), respectively. Proper training of a particular element is thought to lead to the nourishment of the chi of the associated organ.

The elements are interrelated by a constructive cycle and a destructive cycle. In the constructive cycle (sheung san) earth creates metal, metal creates water, water creates wood, wood creates fire and fire creates earth. The elements also counter each other in the destructive cycle (sheung hap), in which earth restrains water, water suppresses fire, fire burns metal, metal destroys wood, and wood restrains earth.