SAN SOO as taught by Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo, had its origins in the very basics of Chinese feudal life two thousands years ago. These fighting tactics were begun in the Kwan-Yin (goddess of mercy) monastery in the village of Pon Hong, Guangdong Province of Southern China. The monks developed this form of martial arts to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as the monks returned with supplies and donations from the nearby villages.
One of these young monks, named Leoung Kick, was said to be Jimmy H. Woo’s Great, Great, Great Grandfather. He decided to leave the monastery when he was approximately 30 years old and took with him two of the Buddhist training texts which probably date back to the 1500’s during the Ming Dynasty. These books have remained within the Chin family, where the techniques and forms were taught and passed down from generation to generation. All of the techniques and forms taught to and by Jimmy came from these two manuals.
Young Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy’s real name) was taught by his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung. Hung was a well-known fighter, teaching in his own SAN SOO school. In his teens, Dek became a traveling teacher of Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung; the official name of the martial art perfected hundreds of years before in the monastery very near his small village.
In 1935, at the age of 21, Chin Siu Dek left mainland China under the passport name Jimmy H. Woo and sailed for the United States. During the early years in this country, Jimmy lived in Chinatown, Los Angeles. He carried the art to America and began teaching privately to close relatives and friends; later he was the instructor for several years at the Sing Kang “cousins club” a social/recreational organization. He also acted as security/police for the residents and business owners in the area and sometimes as a bodyguard, the only unarmed one in the area.
In December of 1962 Jimmy officially held the grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway Shopping Center in El Monte, CA. In the early years he called it “Karate-Kung Fu” because no one knew what kung fu was at that time. Jimmy H. Woo continued teaching his instructors class two Saturdays a month until his death in 1991, totaling nearly 46 years of kung fu teaching in America.