Feng Shou (風手) is a self-defence style associated with
Taoist Arts of the
Lee-style as taught by
Chee Soo, President of the Taoist Society. It is an
internal or
soft style.
Feng Shou Ch’uan Shu means literally 'Wind Hand Fist Art'. The name comes from the ‘Earl of the Wind’, who in Chinese mythology was called Feng Po. He is depicted as an old man with a long flowing white beard, who stands on the green grass of the heaven’s highest pinnacle, dressed in a yellow cloak and wearing a red and blue hat. In his hands he holds the open end of a cotton sack, and wherever he points the mouth of the sack, the wind blows in that direction. He can turn a full circle, and send the winds unhindered across the whole world. If he moves slowly, then the wind from his sack will hardly move and it will feel like the gentleness of a morning breeze. But if he becomes angry or is surprised then he may turn very fast, and the wind will hurtle across the universe to create the devastation of a tornado.
According to an interview with Marilyn Soo - Chee Soo's widow and the President of the International Taoist Society - Chee Soo moved to Coventry in the 1980s and trained a group of teachers to continue his work teaching the Lee style of Feng Shou Kung Fu.
Since the death of
Chee Soo in August 1994 there are now several schools teaching Feng Shou kung fu based in the British Isles with clubs in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, each of which emphasize different aspects of the Lee style Feng Shou kung fu.