Kung-fu

1958 · 99775 — Ipoh Perak Malaysia: 1958. So deadly even a Judo-Karate expert fears First editions a complete set of Kung-Fu Karato Atado training cards by the school's founder Leong Fu a 1950s wrestler who pivoted toward selling his brand of fighting to capitalise on growing Western interest in martial arts. The early life of Edward Leong Lee Fu 1932-1991 is somewhat enigmatic but it is believed that he learnt Ju Jitsu as a teenager in Malaysia from Japanese officers stationed there following the invasion. By the 1950s he was a professional wrestler touring Britain for three months and then travelling to Singapore in 1957 for a much-anticipated showdown with Emile Czaja better known as "King Kong" with the match ending in a no contest. Shortly after the Singapore bout Leong Fu released this set of training cards for his patented Karato style to tap into a growing Western fascination with Asian martial arts - a trend reflected in sports but also in cinema and literature. In the United Kingdom the British Judo Association was founded in 1948 with the British Karate Association following in 1964. Several years later Hollywood's "Kung fu wave" began to gather momentum with the films of Bruce Lee. For Leong Fu the West represented an expansive market. His adverts appear in the 1960s in a wide range of American and British periodicals such as Popular Science Popular Mechanics and more unusually British Homing World the official magazine of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association. These adverts signed "Asia's Greatest Karato Master: Leong Fu" promised readers a chance to "learn direct from the Orient" a technique that "paralyzes aggressors within seconds". For an enthusiast dreaming of karate mastery the present cards were ideal. In one final twist in the tale of Leong Fu following retirement he opened a restaurant in Malaysia and grew it into a national franchise. 21 red and white card wallets containing loose sheets front wrappers printed and illustrated in black rear wrappers illustrated with a photographic portrait of Leong Fu. Illustrated front wrappers to each number photographic profile of Leong Fu to rear wrapper of each number illustrated and photographic figures to loose sheets throughout numbers 1-21. Housed in grey archival box. First number front wrapper almost split but holding with a small chip to front top fore-corner otherwise general rubbing and creasing to extremities generally the set in very good condition. unknown