Master who combined 8 fighting styles to create S'porean martial art called Singa Fist dies at age 84

You've probably heard of Singa the Lion.

But what about Singa Fist? Likely not.

As multi-cultural as its country of origin, Singa Fist is a Singaporean martial art that combines silat, taekwondo, karate, northern Shaolin kungfu, southern Shaolin kungfu, judo, aikido and silambam.

Stomper Mark alerted Stomp that the man behind Singa Fist, Mr Teo Choon Teck, died on Feb 3 at age 84 after a battle with cancer.

Born on April 3, 1939, Mr Teo represented Singapore in the first Southeast Asian Leitai Tournament held in Gay World Stadium in Kallang in 1968.

He founded the San Cheen Do Institute in 1972.

In 1985, the masters of the eight different traditional martial arts from the Singapore Martial Arts Instructors’ Association decided to combine their respective styles into one.

One of them was Mr Teo, who was tasked with learning the eight fighting styles and unifying them, thus creating Singa Fist.

In 2015, Singa Fist was featured in the History Channel programme 10 Things You Don’t Know About Singapore, where Mr Teo was interviewed about the martial art he founded.

Mr Teo's son told Shin Min Daily News that his father retired from martial arts after a stroke in 2014. Although he recovered, he was diagnosed with cancer. He then hit his head in a fall in 2022 and was bedridden until his death.

The late Mr Teo leaves behind a martial art that has inspired younger Singaporeans who discovered it.

A 2020 local comic book anthology called SingaHeroes has a story called Singafist!, a "fictional take on the martial art with a pastiche myth behind it", written by Tan Guan Hao with art by Tasha Leah Santiago.

Also in 2020, YouTuber Jaze Phua made a 14-minute short film called Singafist – A Singapore's Martial Arts Action/Comedy Short.

Mr Phua told The Straits Times: “It’s inspired by the story of Singa Fist and more of an action-comedy. Singa Fist is meant to be a skill, it’s to instill respect and to honour the spirit of having unity.”

View more photos of Mr Teo in the gallery.