Hakka are one of the main Chinese cultural groups in southern coastal China together with the Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hailufeng (“Hok Lo”) of the Chaozhou-Shantou regions. According to Prof. Lo Hsiang-lin, the Hakka originally came from northern China and migrated to the south through several waves of migration over the past two millennia. As a result, they have preserved archaic aspects of Chinese culture from the Central Plains, such as their spoken dialect, unicorn worship, and lineage-based social organization. On the other hand, the name “Hakka” is relatively recent, having been coined in the early Qing dynasty as they migrated from their adopted home in the Wuyi mountains where Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces converge. It was in origin a label the “native” communities used to describe “outsiders” (their name literally means “guest people”) who were just then moving into their territories.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties southern China was infested by social violence. Embattled by coastal disturbances, bandits, as well as continuous armed conflict between militarized villages competing for scarce land and water resources, the Hakka’s early social history was characterized by endemic conflict. The popularity of martial arts among the Hakka was, therefore, due largely to the need for survival in this chaotic and violent social milieu.

After over three hundred years of development, Hakka kung fu became one of the most distinctive and important martial art systems in southern China.

客家人與閩系福建人、廣東人，及聚居於潮汕地區的海陸豐（鶴佬）人，同為南方沿海地區主要族群之一。據羅香林教授的研究，客家人來自中國北方，經長達兩千年數次大規模的遷移而形成現時的客家文化。由此，他們保留了古代中原文化的一些特徵，如方言、麒麟崇拜、按血緣組成的社會結構等。另一方面，「客家」這名稱的出現是相對近代的事，自清初客籍人士從福建、廣東及江西三地相接的武夷山脈，再度向南播遷，進入福建及廣東省定居，當地居民為了識別這群從外地遷入的移民，便以「客」稱呼他們，意味其「作客」的身份。

明清時期，各種危機紛至沓來，華南沿海區域及閩、粵、贛交接之山區戰事連年，加上面對海盜和山賊的侵擾，以及村落之間因爭奪水源和土地等資源所引發的械鬥，長期的紛亂以致客家人的發展歷史，基本上是由抗爭、武裝戰事交織而成。因此，客家人習武的風尚，很大程度是由生存環境及劇烈的社會動盪催生出來。

經過三百年的發展，客家功夫成為中國南方武術系統中極具代表性，同時又獨樹一格的重要組成部份。