Jozev Kiu Ching-Fu (; born 6 February 1969) is a Hong Kongese

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

novelist, lyricist and

Eskrima Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines ("Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which emp ...

coach. His magnum opus, '' Blood and Steel'', had received widespread acclaim and Kiu is regarded as one of the leading figures of the post-

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), pronounced "Gum Yoong" in Cantonese, was a Chinese wuxia (" martial arts and chivalry") novelist and essayist who co-founded the Hong Kong d ...

Hong Kong Wuxia fiction genre.

Early life and education

Kiu was born in Hong Kong on 6 February 1969. He had his secondary education in

Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School ( zh, 長沙灣天主教英文中學, abbr. CSWCSS) is one of Hong Kong's leading English boys' schools. It was established on 20 November 1970 by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. The school is situa ...

and was classmate with lyricist Chow Pok Yin. He began to learn

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

while he was 15 and he spent most of his secondary school life on basketball, gaming and reading

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. He later attended

The City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Career

Writing

Kiu began to write Wuxia fiction and completed his first novel, ''The Unparalleled Statesman'' (Chinese: 國士無雙), during his university years. Kiu published his debut novel ''The Blade of the Phantom Kingdom'' (Chinese: 幻國之刃) in 1996, and he began to receive public attention. He later also wrote ''The Vampire Hunter’s Diaries'' (Chinese: 吸血鬼獵人日誌) and ''The Killing Zen'' (Chinese: 殺禪), of which the latter took Kiu ten years to finish. The lengthy writing process earned him the nickname of “Hong Kong’s greatest procrastinating writer” (Chinese: 香江第一遲筆). In 2008, he started another novel series, '' Blood and Steel'' (Chinese: 武道狂之詩), and published it online. The series was generally perceived as a milestone of the reformed Hong Kong

Wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

genre as it differed from the traditional Wuxia fiction which put emphasis on the code of chivalry and Chinese traditions. Besides, Kiu was also one of the few Wuxia novelists who possessed a martial arts background, and the realistic action sequences in the novel series received universal praise. After the success of ''Blood and Steel'', Kiu was widely regarded as a leading figure of the New Wuxia genre in the post-

era. Kiu had also composed lyrics for

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

songs since 1998. He won the Yearly Best Lyricist Prize of the

Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd.(CASH) is a copyright society in Hong Kong established in 1977 which aims to administer and enforce collectively the rights of composers and authors of musical works subsisting under the copyright l ...

in 2000 with

Candy Lo Candy Lo is a Canto- rock singer-songwriter and film actress from Hong Kong. Formerly the lead vocalist of the band Black and Blue, Lo launched her solo career in 1998 and is best known for the singles, "Trash" () and "Please Break Up" (). Ca ...

's '' Dark Blue'' (Chinese: 深藍).

Martial arts

Kiu is skilled in

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is ...

and

. Kiu began to learn karate when he was 15 and obtained a brown belt. He began to practice Eskrima in 2009 and participated in several international competitions. He had also received professional training in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 2012, and served as a guest host of the

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

martial arts documentary series, ''Kung Fu Quest'' (Chinese: 功夫傳奇), for several years. He also co-founded and taught at ''Kalis Brotherhood'', an Eskrima coaching school.

Personal life

Kiu was married in March 2011. Kiu was a supporter of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement. He wrote essays to express his political views and had compared the protests with

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

’s philosophy of errantry.

Bibliography

*''The Blade of the Phantom Kingdom'' (Chinese: 幻國之刃; 1996) *''The Vampire Hunter’s Diaries'' (Chinese: 吸血鬼獵人日誌; 2004) *''The Killing Zen'' (Chinese: 殺禪; 2007) *'' Blood and Steel'' (Chinese: 武道狂之詩; 2008–2018)

References

External links

Jozev Kiu’s personal blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiu, Jozev Hong Kong novelists Wuxia writers Hong Kong columnists Hong Kong songwriters Alumni of the City University of Hong Kong 1969 births Living people