Bak Mei (白眉) — "White Eyebrow," the explosive short-power art

Bak Mei (白眉, Báiméi, "White Eyebrow") is one of the most distinctive of the Hakka short-bridge arts — a close-range system famous for explosive, whole-body short power issued through a compact, sophisticated structure. It is named for a legendary monk, but its real history is the work of one documented twentieth-century master, Cheung Lai-chuen (張禮泉).

How it moves

Bak Mei concentrates everything into a small space. Its hallmarks:

• The phoenix-eye fist (鳳眼捶) — the protruding-knuckle fist for driving force into small, vulnerable targets;

• The four energies — swallow, spit, float, sink (吞吐浮沉) — the characteristic way Bak Mei gathers and releases force, drawing in and issuing out, rising and dropping;

• Whole-body short power (寸勁) — power generated by the coordinated body and waist and released over inches, not feet, often with the breath snapping audibly;

• A compact, defensible frame — upright posture, short bridges, hands working at and inside contact range.

The feel is sudden and percussive: little wind-up, enormous close-range effect.

Founder — legend and record

The art's documented history begins with Cheung Lai-chuen (張禮泉, 1882–1964), a Hakka master who learned from several teachers in the Hakka short-bridge tradition, synthesized the system now known as Bak Mei, and spread it through Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the early-to-mid twentieth century. Essentially all living Bak Mei traces to him. His page tells that story:

Cheung Lai-chuen (張禮泉) — the documented founder of modern Bak Mei

See also

The Hakka Short-Bridge Arts — the family Bak Mei belongs to

Southern Dragon (龍形) — its closest technical cousin

Southern Shaolin & the Five Elders — the legend behind the name

Sources

[1] Bak Mei, English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bak_Mei) — the art, the short-power method, the legendary founder, and the Cheung Lai-chuen lineage.

[2] Benjamin Judkins, "Cheung Lai Chuen: Creator of Pak Mei (White Eyebrow)," Kung Fu Tea (chinesemartialstudies.com) — the documented history of the modern art.