So Hark Fu was a legendary Kung Fu master and one of the Ten Tigers of Canton.  He studied 10 animals Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple before then going on to formulate and teach Hark Fu (Black Tiger) kung fu.  After leaving the temple So Hark Fu set up his own gym at GuangZhou, Wong Sa Road  (located near the White Swan Hotel at present date). 

The style was eventually passed onto another Shaolin Monk called Fung Wing-Pai, who later left the temple and returned to "worldly life". Fung had studied under a disciple of the founder of Black Tiger Kung Fu. Fung Wing-Pai had moved to Hong Kong and found work as a gardener for a wealthy European family. One of his co workers was a young martial artist called Wong Cheung. Wong Cheung would practice his Kung Fu during breaks and was noticed by Fung Wing-Pai. They became friends and Fung Wing Pai taught young Wong Cheung Black Tiger Kung Fu for the next three years before they were parted. During Wong Cheung’s life time he also studied other styles such as Hung Gar, Hop Gar, Choi Lee Fut, Snake, and Drunkard to name but a few. Certain aspects of these styles were incorporated into the Black Tiger style, that Master Wong Cheung then went onto teach.

In the late 1940's and early 1950's, Bob Johnson was serving in the military police in Hong Kong and witnessed a street fight involving Master Wong Cheung. Bob Johnson was so impressed with the way that Master Wong handled himself that he persuaded Master Wong to teach him. Several years later Bob Johnson returned to England and started to teach Kung Fu. While on his travels, Bob had also learnt other things and incorporated these to form his style, which he called White Tiger.

A friend of Bob Johnson called Tom Carey was studying Karate, but when Bob showed him the kung fu that he had learnt, Tom decided that he also would change to this style. Tom Carey called his style Tiger Ripping, which was then passed onto Ken Hyland, Ted Harris and then John Holden. John Holden also studied other styles including Feng Sau and in 1982 formed the Shaolin Fist style. In 1986 Paul Burkinshaw started his martial arts career studying under John Holden and then later in the 1990’s other styles including Praying Mantis and Wing Chun. During this period Paul met and trained with Iain Armstrong of the Nam Yang Pugilistic Association. Iain has kindly helped Paul with the finer points of the arts over the years, and has been instrumental with training and introduction of the Lion Dance and Shaolin weapons within the club.

Paul took over from John Holden in 1997 and renamed the style Sil Lum Kune (Cantonese for Shaolin Fist) wishing to return to a more traditional manner and syllabus.  Following many years of research, Paul was finally given the facts about the origins of the style and was able to establish links with the Black Tiger instructors in Hong Kong and the U.S.A.  Paul is now in the process of studying under Master Eric Tsai in Hong Kong with the aid of Jerry Davis in the U.S.A. In December 2006, Paul and his instructors renamed the club back to its original title of Sil Lum Hark Fu Mun and reorganised the syllabus incorporating the Black Tiger forms and techniques.

Since January 2008 Paul and his advanced students have also been training with Master Bob Johnson's senior students, Si-Gung James Bedford-Stradling and Si-Bok Pete Smith in the White Tiger style. Much of these teachings focus on the practical side of fighting and self-defence. These teachings have been incorporated into the Sil Lum Hark Fu Mun style Paul teaches to complete the practical application side of the system. With these self-defence techniques and the traditional routines the club has now returned to all of its original teachings.

The red trim on the training suits is symbolic of the Tiger style from which we originated and have finally returned to.