Most Malaysians would be familiar with the Chin Woo Stadium located at a hillock opposite the iconic KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
The Chin Woo stadium was opened in 1953, while the KLSCAH was opened in 1934.
The name Chin Woo has a mythical place in the Chinese imagination. It is the very essence of Chinese martial arts culture. Why is that so?
According to the book Jingwu: The School That Transformed Kung Fu by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo, 2010, in early 20th-century China, traditional Chinese martial arts were dying due to the rise of modern weaponry and the failed Boxer Uprising.
The Boxers had (wrongly) believed that their martial arts training was sufficient to fight the guns and bullets.
In order to keep the ancient arts alive, the Chin Woo Association was formed in Shanghai in 1909. The funds were donated by three donors. (P 10 and 16)
The Chin Woo Association provided martial arts training as well as other sports and recreations.
Contrary to popular belief, Chin Woo was not set up by the great martial arts practitioner, Huo Yuan Jia. Instead, he was invited by the founders to be the chief instructor. (P 10).
The Chin Woo Association used Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. Huo practiced the Mizong Quan system, which is a form of Northern Shaolin (P. 68).
The Chin Woo Shanghai Association survived only till 1926. But its legacy had spread to countries populated by Chinese, like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
To this day, the building of Chin Woo Stadium remains unchanged. It is a beautiful round building with a big open-air car park.
Inside since 2025 is a famous Cantonese restaurant called Pik Wah Restaurant, originally opened in 1971 at a different location.
Outside on the grounds is a big swimming pool where my classmate, Wong Tuck Ming, as a school boy in 1981 and 82, used to work as a lifeguard to earn some pocket money. According to him, he is the only non-Mandarin-speaking person hired for the job.
Sad to say, although Chin Woo Stadium is just a stone’s throw away from my school, I only set foot on it during the Chinese New Year 2026 when I had CNY dinner in Pik Wah. I have yet to swim in the pool.