Pangai-noon

Pangai-noon (traditional Chinese characters: 半硬軟) was a style of Southern Chinese kung fu taught by Shu Shi Wa. It became the basis for Uechi-ryū karate. The name Pangai-noon literally mean that the art's techniques are "half-hard, half-soft," referring to hard strikes and soft blocks.

Etymology

The exact provenance of the romanization "Pangai-noon" is not clear, and it may be from the lesser-known Min Chinese language. It is not a Japanese, Okinawan or Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the original characters. The standard Japanese pronunciation of the three characters is han kō nan (はんこうなん), while the standard Mandarin pronunciation is bàn yìng ruǎn. The Cantonese language pronunciation is bun ngaang yun. In modern times, the katakana version of pangainoon (パンガイヌーン) has been used in Japanese writing rather than the kanji (半硬軟).

Founder

Shū Shiwa (Chinese: Zhou Zihe 周子和 1869-1945) was a teacher and Chinese medicine hawker in the Fujian province of China. His life is not well documented because of his probable connection with the secret societies which worked for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the restoration of Ming dynasty.

Pangai

Pangai is the administrative capital village of the Haʻapai Group in Tonga.

The Town

The village is on the western shore of Lifuka and has about 2,000 inhabitants.

The village center is around the Catholic Church (Siasi Katolika) and Holopeka Road by the harbor. There are only a few shops and markets and one bank.

There are few historic sites besides some churches, a few Colonial styled houses and cemeteries.

Transportation

The island's Pilolevu Airport (Lifuka Island Airport, IATA code "HPA") is situated about 5 km north of Pangai.

There is a ferry dock, called the Pangai Ferry Terminal.

History

The Methodist missionary Shirley Waldemar Baker, who was prime minister of Tonga under king George Tupou I, died in Pangai on 16 November 1903. His grave and monument in the cemetery still stand as a tourist attraction.

References

External links

Coordinates: 19°48′12″S 174°20′56″W / 19.80333°S 174.34889°W / -19.80333; -174.34889