Hing Chao, chief executive of the International Guoshu Association, which is building the archive with City University, said it was an effort to safeguard one of the most recognisable entries on the city's intangible cultural heritage list, without relying on the government.
Video: Safeguarding Kung Fu
Although 13 styles of martial arts - including tai chi, wing chun, , and - taught at 22 schools were listed among the 480 items on the first intangible cultural heritage inventory published in June, the government has yet to come up with a policy or funding sources to protect the items on the list.
"Time will not wait," said Chao. "For the majority of styles, important masters are still around, [but] they are ageing. A lot of them are in their 60s, 70s and 80s. A few passed away in the past year. There's an urgency to do it now."
The archive, which has raised money through funding platform FringeBacker, has already documented some of the martial arts styles, and there are 350 to 400 sets still to be filmed in the coming year.
"Data [of physical movement] is documented through motion capture," he said. "Speed, torque, torsion and force can be captured as physical data, not only for mere documentation but also future scientific research."
Law's master, Lee Kong, 70, is keeping a close eye on his protégé's moves. Lee, the only grandmaster and a 20th generation inheritor of weng chun in Hong Kong, has high hopes for the 3D digital archive. He said it was a big leap forward from ordinary photos and videos, which do not provide information about the use of force and precise movements.
"We have been teaching only through word of mouth from master to disciples. With this archive, we will have the data to show the techniques and power, explaining the strain and force of our muscles, reflexes and joints," Lee said.
Chao, who has been studying martial arts since he was eight, said the physical practice was an integral part of Sinology, which encompasses language, medicine, the arts and culture.
Chinese martial arts are often referred to by the general term kung fu. Originally a Buddhist term referring to a pursuit requiring cultivation and dedication, kung fu is often seen as the martial arts of the Canton region, Chao said, and Bruce Lee brought it to a worldwide audience. He added that Hong Kong had a rich martial arts heritage.
"Hong Kong is a place where people have fled from political turmoil on the mainland," he said. Important martial arts practitioners, such as wing chun master Ip Man, moved to and settled in the former British colony.
These masters brought with them their martial arts heritage when they built new lives in Hong Kong, shaping the city's cultural development and communities.
Lee, a former newspaper columnist and a businessman, is a Fujian native. He came to Hong Kong in 1961 after the Great Chinese Famine that killed 36 million people under Mao Zedong's rule.
As a teenager who could only speak Hokkien, the native language of Fujian, Lee found an affiliation with the Hokkien community in North Point and began training with his master Cheng Man-lung, a fellow Fujian native who couldn't speak Cantonese.
But the practice of martial arts was often associated with street sub-culture which degraded its value, said Lee. He said the busy city life in Hong Kong did not accommodate the daily two-hour practice that was common in village life.
Lee said young people found martial arts boring and masters could no longer make a living out of teaching, he said.
, together with many other styles, is not listed in the government inventory.
Chao said martial arts should not be isolated as an individual item on the intangible cultural heritage list because there were many different styles.
"Chinese festivities, food, regional cultures, dialects ... these individual items are all related to each other," he said.
He added that the Hang Hau unicorn dance, for example, was identified as an intangible cultural heritage item and submitted for the national list.
"However ... the unicorn dance and martial arts are interwoven. The practitioners of unicorn dancing are Chinese martial artists and vice versa," he said.
Chao called for specialist research teams dedicated to martial arts and each of the other disciplines to be hired.
His association has published a 723-page "introduction to martial arts": . Chao said his association had pitched research proposals to carry out more work on the city's martial arts heritage and was in talks with the government.
Chao is hoping to raise some HK$360,000 to build the 3D digital archive. The fundraising drive, which ends on October 13, has so far reaped over HK$120,000.
Education will help keep the tradition alive, Chao said. He will begin teaching a course at Poly University this semester and hopes the Education Bureau will include martial arts in the physical education curriculum.
Ultimately, Chao wants to promote a "martial arts lifestyle" - not just the physical aspect and traditional Chinese medicine, but also the spirituality of martial arts practice.
"Chinese martial arts is about becoming a better person, and having a correct mindset to approach life," he said.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Capturing the force behind martial arts
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