Jow Ga (or Zhou Jia) is one of the most popular and practical fighting styles of Kung Fu. It has practitioners all over the world, including in the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, England, Canada, Malaysia, Poland, Germany and Australia. Like so many popular styles, Jow Ga is a hybrid system combining both Southern and Northern styles of Chinese Martial Arts. Speed and power are combined with the grace and beauty of flowing circular movements. Its Northern influence can be seen in its full range of kicking techniques, sweeps, and fast moving footwork. Its Southern influence can be seen in a wide variety of long and short range hand techniques including open hand strikes, as well as animal techniques imitating tiger, crane, panther, snake and dragon. Jow Ga also includes the use of a wide range of traditional Chinese martial arts weapons such as staff, spear, sword, chain whip, double weapons and many more.

There were five Jow Ga founders, known as the Five Tigers (photo): Jow Lung, the fifth son in the Jow family; Jow Hip, the sixth son, Jow Biu and Jow Hoy, the eighth and ninth sons were twins; and Jow Teen, the tenth son.

The main founder was Jow Lung who was born in 1891 on the eleventh day of the third lunar month in Sa-Fu village of the Guangdong Province. His father was Jow Fong Hoy and his mother's maiden name was Li. Finding love and security in the warmth of his parent's home, Jow Lung grew up nurturing very ambitious goals. As a youth, he liked practicing Kung Fu and learned the art from village masters. With strong determination and perseverance, he perfected the Choy Ga and Hung Ga systems (two of the best known Southern Shaolin Kung Fu styles). Choy Ga is noted for its complexity in kicking, footwork, and stance, while Hung Ga is reputed for its hand techniques and powerful stances. In 1910, Jow Lung together with his brother Jow Hip went to Indochina for business, but he soon found himself in a Buddhist temple learning the Northern Shaolin style from a high priest who was also a master of the system. After five years of intense practice, Jow Lung mastered the Northern Shaolin system just as he had perfected the Southern Shaolin system in his youth. Jow Lung decided that he would now combine the best of the Southern and Northern schools of Kung Fu. The system which was later called Jow Ga after its founder, is referred to as Hung Tao Choy Mei or literally translated, having the head of Hung, and the tail of Choy. This refers to the upper body emphasis from Hung Ga style and the lower body or legs and footwork from the Choy Ga style.