The history books that mention Cobra Kung Fu (Boli Yan She') say that it was lost many years ago.
Turns out that's not true at all!
Cobra was preserved by the Tong. The teachers of it began migrating to the US in 1900. They taught the young men in the Chinese communities because these communities had no police protection.
Eventually, these groups of protectors devolved into protection rackets. Such is the way with humans.
But the good thing that came from that is the art was preserved. It was made illegal in China so lost there. From the stories, my GM told it was then taught in only a few cities in free countries. Thank God for freedom, without it this ancient knowledge would have never been preserved.
The Tong preserved the art because it was useful to them. It gave them strength, as it still does today.
My teacher learned it during the great depression. It was a rough world then and fighting skills were a major asset.
I have a lot of gratitude for those that preserved it. Whether they were criminals or not. Judging them by their actions in a time we cannot understand is simply a waste of cognitive energy.
The guys in this video are learning to be cobras. At this point they haven't even cracked their shells but I am confident that they will be Cobras one day.
Here I'm introducing how to use the energy from a cobra punch to flow into an elbow. The cobra must use the push off energy. he has no legs so must use the opponent to energize his weapons
