Mark Horton (HONG YING) began his martial arts training age 8 in Malaysia where he grew up.
After returning to the UK, at 15, Mark began to train under theprivate tuition of Past-master
Huang and also became an active member of the British Lau style organisation.
The first Hong Ying School was opened in 1982 in Chester, England when Mark was 22 years old. He was a very active competitor at that time (and still today !) ....taking part in literally thousands of tournaments all over the world in the past 40 years.
After his old Sifu,Master Huang,had unfortunately passed away in 1985,Mark began to follow the teachings of ,Choy Li Fut's most respected teacher, Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong. He took Mark's skills to a new level in Kung Fu and Tai Chi,and is still Mark's teacher in 2012......
The HONG YING school kept going on from strength to strength and then one evening in 1995 a meeting was called of all Senior students. At this meeting Mark Horton announced that he was going to move to The Netherlands where he hoped to open further schools and train with certain friends/teachers who were very strong in the Dutch Wushu/Kung Fu world.
In Holland the first school was opened in late 1995 and today is a full timke Chinese Sport & Culture Centre, open 7 days per week!
In late 1996 Mark was appointed to select and coach a Dutch National All-style Team who then went onto the WKA World Championships in Prague to win 7 medals!
For more than 40 years now, Mark Horton has continued to study Choy Li Fut Kung Fu & Tai Chi Chuan ,for the past 20 of those years, following the teachings of Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong
Mark Horton won 2 medals at the 2004-2005 World Traditional Wushu Championships held in Henan,China and in 2006 was appointed Chief Advisor to the Indian Traditional Wushu/Kung Fu Federation and in 2008 was awarded the Honorary Vice Presidency of the Beijing Peoples Kung Fu Association.
The new Hong Ying Shaolin Centre in Leiden is now (2010) open 7 days a week,covering everything from Choy Li Fut Kung Fu to Yang Tai Chi , Lion Dancing , Qigong, a huge assortment of Shaolin weapons and Full Contact San Shou.
Even though he has been training for over 40 years, Sifu Mark continues to learn as much as possible. He trains and teaches 6 days per week.
Some of Sifu Mark's high level students have now gone on to open their own schools in various countries (see Locations in Menu-Bar) and so there has been a steady growth of the Hong Ying Association across the globe !
In the beginning of 2010, the Hong Ying Association team, who are taught and coached directly by Sifu Mark, have won four major international Championships in Europe and have placed 4th in the largest Kung Fu competition in Hong Kong !
In March 2011, Tai-Sifu Mark Horton led a select team from Holland to compete at the worlds' largest championships in Hong Kong. The team did very well and came home with 13 medals ! Mark won 4 of those himself and ,together with his top students,went on through the year to win more international events.
Also in 2011, Mark was one of the teachers in Holland involved in organising and co-ordinating the 100 Lions on the Dam Parade, which set a European record for Lion Dancing. In addition there was expansion within the Hong Ying Association ,with new schools opening in Ireland, Holland and India.
Travelling constantly and teaching in many countries Hong Ying Sifu remains very active in 2012,constantly expanding the network of good friendships and Hong Ying schools around the world.
