NGO CHO KUN ARCHIVE
Remembering one of the most influential figures in the preservation and
transmission of Ngo Cho Kun in the Philippines and the Western world.
Excerpted from the book INNER GATE by Mark V. Wiley.
1953 — 2016
Alexander Lim Co (許景偉, Co King Wei) (1953–2016) was born in Manila on June 3, 1953. So passionate was he about kung-fu that his name became inseparable from martial arts in the Philippines, especially from the Beng Kiam Club and the Chin Wu Association. In 1968, the fifteen-year-old Co entered the Beng Kiam Athletic Association and began his dedicated study of Ngo Cho Kun under the guidance of Sifu Tan Ka Hong, who would remain his teacher until his passing in 1990.
Over time, Co’s introspective nature led him to question and contemplate the deeper principles behind what he was learning. His understanding deepened further when he became an indoor disciple of Sifu Tan in 1980. He soon came to realize that there was one form of training for the general public, and another — more refined, specific, and demanding — reserved for the inner disciple. The grandmaster accepted only those he believed capable of upholding the name of Ngo Cho Kun with dignity and integrity.
During the period when he was inspecting more deeply the things he was studying, Co decided to study other systems of Chinese martial arts secretly. In 1972, Co started studying Seven-Star Mantis, Hung-ga, and Tibetan Llama kung-fu under Sifu Shakespeare Chan. In 1975, Sifu Chan founded the Philippine Chin Wu Athletic Association in collaboration with Alex Co. In the 1980s, Co further expanded his knowledge by studying Hsin-I Liu Ho Pa Fa under his friend Sifu David Chan. In 1989, Co, along with four others, started a small private Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan group under Sifu John Hu Chuan-Hai, the son of Sifu Hu Chin-Hua.
In 1973, Co and his high school friends started JAFAHA Publications, taking the first letter of each of their first names: Joseph Sy, Antonio Ong, Felix Tan, Alexander Co, Henry Co, and Alejandro Co. They began their enterprise with the publication of Martial Arts Magazine and then continued in 1981 with the first ever kung-fu book published in the Philippines.
In the late 1970s, Sifu Alex Co and Sifu Shakespeare Chan visited Hong Kong and Taiwan to meet various masters. Alex was starting his Fighting Arts magazine.
He went to meet Liao Wu Chang (廖五常), the famous Monkey King and master of Tai Cho. Daniel Duby took him for the introduction, but said he was expensive to train with, saying, “You have to give him Fukien Dim Sum.” That was code for “a girl.” Alex laughed it off and said, “Just bring me to him.”
“When I met him, Liao was off-putting,” Co remembered, “until I said the following: ‘Sir, I am a student of Master Tan Ka Hong. He told me to give you his regards.’ Then suddenly he changed and said, ‘Oh, yes, yes, Master Tan. Compared to him, my kung-fu is just like a copy without opening my eyes yet.’ Then he served me tea and showed me several ground-fighting techniques.”
Daniel Duby remarked that he had never seen Liao humbled as when hearing Tan’s name. When Co returned to Manila, he asked Master Tan why Master Liao was so humbled when he mentioned his name. Tan just laughed and would not say a word about it.
The Praying Mantis Style of Kung Fu was written by Sifu Shakespeare Chan and Alex Co. In 1983, Co went on to publish The Way of Ngo Cho Kun, a translation of sections of the seven-volume manuscript set Sifu Tan Ka Hong had written on the art.
In 1995, The Way of Ngo Cho Kun was re-edited and expanded by Mark V. Wiley and published for a wider audience by Tuttle Publishing as Five Ancestor Fist Kung-Fu. This began a close relationship between Co and Wiley that lasted some twenty-five years. During that time, they filmed instructional videos for Unique Publications, including The Essence of Ngo Cho Kun and Secrets of Seven-Star Praying Mantis, and produced a number of magazine articles on Ngo Cho for publications such as Inside Kung-Fu, Martial Arts Illustrated, Martial Arts Legends, Kung-Fu Tai Chi Magazine, and Masters Magazine.
Co’s other writings appeared in New Martial Hero, Inside Kung-Fu, and Rapid Journal. His final and largest project was the first English-language translation of the Chinese Gentle Art Complete, the so-called “Ngo Cho Bible,” with editors Mark V. Wiley and Russ Smith. It was published in 2014 by Tambuli Media.
A peacemaker and visionary, Master Co was instrumental in bringing together different martial arts groups for the successful Martial Arts Festival ’88, held at the Rizal Theater in Manila, and the 1993 Metro Manila Grand Exhibition of Martial Arts on July 31, 1993, at the Metropolitan Theater, Manila.
Alex Co’s endless journey as a martial artist was interspersed with numerous travels abroad to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States to attend gatherings, conferences, clinics, exhibitions, and related events. He met masters and practitioners, researched the true essence of the different styles he embraced, and built one of the most impressive personal collections of martial arts books, magazines, materials, and videos in the region.
After Tan Ka Hong’s passing in 1990, Alex Co began supervising training at Beng Kiam and became one of the vice chairmen of the association, under the leadership of his teacher’s son, Sifu Benito Tan. He was largely responsible for keeping the club active, bringing students to the club, spreading awareness of Ngo Cho and Beng Kiam through his writings and demonstrations, and speaking with prospective students at his martial arts supply shop in Green Hills, San Juan — the infamous Squadron Shoppe.
Over the decades, Alex Co served as chairman of the Philippine-Chinese Beng Kiam Athletic Association, the Tsing Hua Ngo Cho Kung-Fu Center, and the Chin Wu Athletic Association; vice chairman of the Hsin-I Society of Internal Arts; and advising grandmaster of the Beng Hong Martial Arts Society.
It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of our mentor, dear friend, and Ngo Cho master, Sifu Alex Co, who left us on April 12, 2016, at 10:34 PM in Manila. Despite enduring years of illness — including heart trouble, kidney failure, diabetes, and multiple amputations — his determination to document and share the martial arts he loved never wavered.
Sifu Co’s kindness, generosity, and boundless passion for all martial disciplines touched everyone he met. A unifying figure among the Philippines’ martial arts masters, he bridged styles and traditions with respect and openness. A devoted scholar and voracious collector, his personal library of martial arts books remains one of the most remarkable in the region — a reflection of his lifelong pursuit of knowledge and his enduring spirit.
Also read: Ngo Cho Kun Close Body Strikes
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About The Author
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The leading disciple of the late Sifu Alex Co, Mark V. Wiley is a martial arts researcher, publisher, filmmaker, and field documentarian whose work spans more than four decades of training, travel, and cultural preservation across the martial arts and healing traditions of Asia and the West. Through Tambuli Media, Wiley continues to build a publishing and media platform focused on martial arts culture, oral transmission, historical preservation, and the documentation of embodied knowledge across generations. |
About Tambuli Media
Tambuli Media preserves and presents rare writings, field research, interviews, books, and archival materials from martial arts, healing traditions, philosophy, and embodied culture.