After the burning of the Shaolin Temple in southern China during the Ching Dynasty, loyal monks of the Ming Court took refuge in Kwantung (modern day Guandong) and secretly trained numerous groups of secular disciples in the Shaolin Martial Arts in an attempt to regain the throne.

Among that group, a disciple named Hung Hay Kwun taught the art openly for many years and formed his own school and a system that bore his family name — Hung Gar. Three generations of masters later, the legendary Wong Fai Hung added the Tiger Crane form and name to the system that is currently taught worldwide.