At the end of the performance, the lion bows three times before the dancers remove the costume and return to the mundane world. However, at the end of the dance, the lion's bows are interrupted by a scuffle in the crowd, and Wong Fei-hong, appearing from under the lion's head, intervenes. As Wong clears the chaos, a new recruit Leung Foon emerges and asks to become one of Master Wong's pupils. With Leung Foon (Walter Cho Tat Wah), the film goes behind the lion's mask and into the world of the martial artist. Initiation into Po Chi Lam, Wong's martial arts studio, medical clinic, and guest hall, does not involve any elaborate ceremonies. The film does not even present the traditional serving of a cup of tea to the master as the pupil submits to the authority of his teacher. Rather, Foon's initiation involves an introduction to Hong Gar's history and forms.

Prominently displayed on the wall is a picture of the Shaolin monk Gee See/Chi Sim (Zin)/Gee Sim Sum See, who taught the founder of the Hung Gar system, Hung Hei Goon (Gung)/Hung Hsi Kuan. Both the monk and his pupils came from the Southern Shaolin temple in Fujian Province —an offshoot of the main temple in Hunan. Although not pictured, legend has it that Hung's wife, Wing Chun (not to be confused with the founder of the Wing Chun kung fu system), taught her husband and son crane style which Hung combined with Southern Shaolin tiger style into what evolved into Hung Gar. [In Shaw Brothers ' The Executioners From Shaolin (1977), Hung Gar practitioner/director Lau Kar Leung (Liu Chia Liang), who can trace his kung fu lineage back to Wong Fei-Hung, tells the story of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple in Fujian and the pursuit of survivors by Bak Mei—the traitor monk, who gave his name to a system of kung fu “White Eyebrow”-- in league with the Qing conquerors to root out Ming supporters among the rebel monks' followers. The film also features the marriage between Hung Hei-Goon and Wing Chun that evolved into Hung Gar. In fact, Lau Kar-Leung made several features on Hung Gar, including sketches of historical figures like Wong Fei-Hung .] Another practitioner of the style, Luk Ah Choy, taught Wong Tai and his son Wong Kai-Ying, who became one of the famous Ten Tigers of Guangdong. His son was Wong Fei-Hung (1847-1925). Wong's disciple Lam Sai-Wing (1861 - 1942), a butcher by profession, popularized the style in Hong Kong , and Wong Fei-Hung became a figure known within martial arts circles as well as among the general public.

In Confucian China, lineage is extremely important. The pupil needs to respect those who came before in the kung fu system, and the master gains authority through the reputation of these kung fu ancestors. Foon needs to feel a part of an established kung fu “family,” and bowing to the system's ancestors forms an important part of his initiation so that he can know his own “place” within the system. He must call Wong “si fu”—teacher-father and the masters' other pupils become his kung fu siblings. The film viewer receives the same authentication of the system with this display of the founders' portraits and visual documentation of the line of descent. Again, Kwan Tak-Hing establishes his authority as Master (“Si-Fu”) Wong Fei-Hung by appearing in the same frame as Wong's Hung Gar ancestors. This scene also provides a condensed moral lesson. Given that martial arts can be used to intimidate others and may be linked to various underground activities (from political rebellion to criminal behavior), the film needs to reiterate Wong's links to Buddhism as well as Confucianism, so that his moral righteousness remains above question.

The next stage of the initiation involves an introduction to the art through a demonstration of one of its most characteristic sets--the Tiger-Crane form, which celebrates the incorporation of the Tiger and Crane systems into a whole greater than the sum of its respective parts. Kwan Tak-Hing was a White Crane aficionado and not a practitioner of Hung Gar, so he does not do the demonstration. Rather, one of the older members of the academy—also, clearly a senior practitioner of Hung Gar in his own right--demonstrates the form for Foon and for the camera. While the incorporation of martial arts forms into the kung fu film genre is not rare, this rendition of Tiger-Crane stands out for several reasons. Not only is it practiced by a non-actor who plays no significant role in the narrative, it is presented as part of an initiation into the academy as a student. Rather than offering a flamboyant version of the form, the master-teacher sticks to a speed used for pedagogical purposes—not for competition, formal demonstrations, or even advanced training. The moves are deliberate, and the camera lingers on the performance that clearly displays the tiger footwork, tiger claw hand postures, crane stances, and use of the crane's beak hand movements.

Beyond the aesthetic beauty of the movements, the form may be of little interest to the uninitiated, since, like all martial arts forms, the fighting applications remain embedded in what appear to be a series of dance-like exercises. However, for the initiated and those being initiated into the system like Foon (and, perhaps, some of the film's viewers), the form provides a wealth of information on grappling in close quarters, countering kicks and punches, blocking and evading blows, and counter-attacking with eye gouges, take downs, chokes, and joint locks. By imagining an opponent, the shadow-boxing form provides a compendium of fighting techniques without directly stating their actual combat applications. The form encapsulates a history of the system, which needed to be occult to survive, but organized into movements that could be memorized and mastered efficiently. By lingering on this performance, the film imaginatively draws the viewers into the martial arts world. The master presents the movements to be imitated and appreciated, not questioned, and their applications may not be readily apparent, but emerge as the practitioner gains proficiency as a fighter or the film viewer recognizes movements in the staged combats.

Later in the film, another form is demonstrated—again not by Kwan Tak-Hing. If Tiger-Crane represents one of the most distinctive and best known empty-hand forms of Hung Gar, then the Ba Gua Staff (a.k.a. Eight Diagram Pole) serves as the most characteristic weapon set of the system. Again the demonstration is not at a pace expected of a form meant to be part of the entertaining spectacle of a kung fu film. Rather, the deliberate pace and carefully accentuated movements of the staff stress its pedagogical significance. Typically, the staff is the first weapon an initiate learns, and, through mastering it, develops arm and leg strength, speed, as well as the ability to use a weapon offensively and defensively against an opponent armed differently. The form takes into account opponents coming from a number of directions and includes counters to weapons coming at various angles. Foon, and the viewers, must use their imaginations to see the opponent and make sense of the form's movements.

The Story Of Wong Fei-hung : Part I provides a contrast between these “authentic” roots of kung fu in a system widely practiced in Hong Kong and Southern China and the spectacular display of choreographed fighting. The deliberate demonstration of the Tiger-Crane and Ba Gua Staff forms contrasts sharply to the eclectic fight scenes that make up the bulk of the film's martial choreography. The sources for the fight choreography can, indeed, be found in Southern Shaolin systems of fighting and in the traditional weapons associated with those systems. Unarmed combat emphasizes joint locks, parries, and short-range punches associated with these systems (including Hung Gar). The angle of the attacks, blocks, traps, and counter-attacks come from work on the “wooden dummy,” a training apparatus associated with these martial arts styles. The low “shadow-less” kicks accompanied by a fake blow to distract the opponent also become a staple of the series' choreography. Several of the weapons featured in the film series—including the staff, Kwan (Guan) dao, double broadswords, double butterfly knives, daggers, steel darts, and steel whip—are common to Hung Gar and other Southern martial arts systems. However, the theatrical presentation of the combat comes directly from Chinese opera—specifically Peking Opera ( Beijing opera) acrobatics. Particularly in the scenes that feature group combat or Wong Fei-Hung against several opponents, the architectural elements of the set work with Peking Opera choreography to create a dynamic display of aerial techniques—specifically, the cartwheel from an elevated platform adapted from an acrobatic technique common to Peking Opera. Within this acrobatic tradition, height serves as an important element, and the vertical levels that characterize the sets in The Story of Wong Fei-hung : Part I, from balconies to basements hidden beneath trapdoors, provide the physical space for the combat. The mixture of North and South is striking, and, given Hong Kong cinema's development into a popular entertainment mixing the skills of filmmakers from the Pearl River with talents from Beijing, Shanghai, and other parts of China into a cinema industry using both Mandarin and Cantonese, the roots of this film about a legendary Cantonese figure in a physical spectacle that blends North and South indicates an ability to absorb elements from outside the “authentic” traditions so carefully recorded in the initiation scenes.

Moreover, Wong Fei-Hung/Kwan Tak-Hing picks up elements from Hollywood swashbucklers —including swordplay on staircases reminiscent of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn movies. Kwan Tak-Hing spent considerable time touring the United States with his opera troupe, and he became a fan of Hollywood film stars like Douglas Fairbanks. While the steel whip can be found in Southern martial arts, Kwan Tak-Hing, who adored the American West and frequently dressed up as a cowboy, adds a dimension to his use of the weapon that goes beyond tradition. In addition, Kwan Tak-Hing became the master of the “found object,” using suitcases, walking sticks, and other props as weapons, and inspiring future Hong Kong martial arts choreographers to do the same.