A Few Good Monks

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
41

just spreading more rumors :wink:

The way I remember the Shawn Liu vs. Monk story, was that at Taiji Legacy SL got in an arguement with one of the monks(possibly over Shawn Liu’s calling himself a monk when he’s not) and at some point SL started kicking the monk, to no effect. Probably not an entirely acurate telling though, because I read it off a message board(http://www.beijingwushuteam.com) and it was a few years ago :stuck_out_tongue: People thought it was kind of funny, but I don’t remember anyone making a big deal out of it.

Southern Shaolin would have come from a different temple entirely(asuming a Southern Shaolin Temple existed at all).

42

Re: just spreading more rumors :wink:

Originally posted by Brad
[B] … at Taiji Legacy SL got in an arguement with one of the monks(possibly over Shawn Liu’s calling himself a monk when he’s not)

[/B]

BINGO, they got into an argument over the “monk” thing, but Shawn didn’t kick anyone. He simply sputed off with his big mouth and the monk responded by slapping the heck out of Shawn. Funny thing, monk felt so bad he got on a plane immediately and went home to make amends for falling to his emotions :smiley:

I was present at yet another time when somone got into an argument with Mr Liu, he once again opened his big mouth, and the person he was arguing with charged him. In that case, Shawn got lucky, a bunch of guys grabbed him before he reached Shawn and the coach, a mainland San Shou guy, was removed from the building

These however were not as funny as Shawn busting his own nose trying to demonstrate a basic technique… :rolleyes:

43

These however were not as funny as Shawn busting his own nose trying to demonstrate a basic technique…

LMAO!!!

Oh my God, I’m having hard time typing lol How in the fuk did he manage that?!

44

I really shouldn’t but I have so many funny Shawn Liu stories at times they just lead out :stuck_out_tongue:

45

C’mon tell me more of them. I’ve only heard cool stories about him from Duncan, nothing like these. I’m going to tell Duncan about some of this the next time I see him LOL.

46

I didn’t actually witness the Taiji Legacy ‘fight’…

…But I was with the other Shaolin monks immediately after. And lkfmdc is right, the offending monk left right after, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about it. The other monks were rather non-plussed about it all. That sort of thing happens around Shaolin from time to time. Push comes to shove.

Now personally, I like Shawn. He is a disciple of Suxi, one of many, and we once had a wonderful dinner with Suxi in the temple after hours. I thought is was poor form of him to publish that article about being beat up by the Tagou school. That was such an odd story and it’s certainly something that I wouldn’t have published myself, if it happened to me. Actually, I take that back, maybe I would publish it, but then again, I’m not a master and have never made any claim as such. I’m only peripherally involved with sanshou as you know, so I’d be interested to hear your stories, lkfmdc. Shawn has always been good to me, so I won’t fault him here.

47

I probably shouldn’t, but then again, I say “I probably shouldn’t” every time I log on to the internet. Shawn Liu and I have butted heads for more than 10 years now, so be warned I am no fan of his. However, I stick to the facts, which always makes for the best arguments.

I first met Shawn, appropriately, in the bathroom. I was one of the coordinators of the first USA WKF event in NYC and Tai Yim introduced Shawn to me during a break. As was my habit back then, I talked to Sifu Yim in Cantonese, which sort of freaked out Shawn. But it got worse :smiley: Tai Yim turned and started translating our conversation to Shawn in Mandarin. Once I heard Mandarin, I just switched dialects to Mandarin. Shawn had that Scoopy Doo look on his face and Tai Yim just laughed and said “oh, yeah, I forgot, you speak some Mandarin also”

At that time, Shawn Liu was introduced to me as a wushu coach. A coach who hadn’t done well in China (ie failed to secure a steady position) and was trying to get something started in America. Tai Yim, typical nice guy he is, had brought him to the event to introduce him to the major players and school owners. Anthony Goh had done him one better, he’d gotten him a paying gig as Xia Bahua’s translator. Xia Bahua, then president of the CWA, was in the US and doing seminars/speaking engagements promoting San Shou. Since he spoke no English, Shawn was suppposed to translate.

Give me a minute to type more

48

OK, I’m back, anyhoo, did I mention that at this time there was NO MENTION, absolutely NONE, as in ZERO mention of Shaolin, being a monk, being raised there, or of any of the other more “colorful” claims that have circulated :rolleyes:

I’ve said it before, and I guess I’ll say it again, it was almost two years after I met Shawn that he “remembered” he’d been raised in Shaolin…:eek:

Back to Xia Bahua and the first time Shawn and I butted heads. Shawn told everyone, incorrectly I later found out, that Professor Xia would be conducting a seminar to certify San Shou officials, so we all coughed up $50 and the Shuai Chiao (Chinese wrestling) folks were kind enough to offer their school as the location.

I need to make something perfectly clear, Xia Bahua is the MAN. As I sat there, listening to HIS WORDS, I fell in love with teh guy. He’s a great character, has great skills, reminds me a lot of Chan Tai San, just a different dialect :smiley: His direct students, like Michale Li, I’ve also gorwn to love and appreciate and respect.

The problem was, for 99% of the people sitting in the room, they were not hearing Professor Xia, they were hearing Shawn Liu and his agenda. Professor Xia had shown up to talk about the history of San Shou, tell old stories, share his personal thoughts and show technique. All excellent stuff. But basicly, he’d speak for a few minutes, and then Shawn would “translate” with stuff that had nothing to do with what Professor Xia had said!

First of all, Shawn Liu told everyone that no one in the US knew any Shuai Fa (throwing) or Ba (gripping). I did mention that this seminar was being held in the Shuai Chiao school? I literally put my hand on the shoulder of our host to calm him down, then quickly wispered in his ear “Professor Xia never said that, this clown (Shawn) is saying his own stuff”

Next, Shawn wanted to show us some techniques so he stood up. Since Professor Xia was talking, and thought that Shawn was just tranlating, he didn’t understand why Shawn stood up. Anyway, Shawn tried to do a spin back fist, hit himself in the face, broke his glasses and bloodied his own nose. By now, all the Wai Guo Ren sitting in the audience were dying laughing, but Professor Xia had to cover his mouth and try and remain dignified.

MORE…

49

As professor Xia spoke, regardless of Shawn’s “tranlations”, it did become pretty obvious that we were not being certified to be officials as a result of this event. I found out later, from Professor Xia, that it had never been the intent. It was something Shawn tossed into the pot. Why you ask? Well, as the audience started to get upset, and asked what about the ceritifcation? Shawn replied that if they came to his new school and paid him another $100 he’d do the second part of the certification. At this point, most in the room already wanted to kill Shawn.

I had already told most in the audience what I had immediately known, that Professor Xia was a cool dude, but that Shawn had not translated at all correctly. The only person who wasn’t in on the “joke” yet was Professor Xia.

The second part of the “talk” Professor Xia stood up and wanted to show techniques, so we were all just standing around and able to walk up to him. Since I don’t think any of the other Wai Guo Ren in the room spoke Mandarin, Shawn had no issues with them walking up to Professor Xia, shaking his hand and smiling. When I walked up to him, Shawn stepped between us and “offered to translate” … I nearly died laughing, literally pushed Shawn out of the way and started talking to Professor Xia.

He heard Mandarin, his eyes lit up and he grabbed me beneath the elbow and took two steps away from Shawn. Even before I had a chance to spill the beans, he asked me if Shawn was at all translating what he said, I of course told him the truth, NO

Professor Xia, through official CWA channels, gave Anthony Goh a lot of grief, Anthony in return gave Shawn a lot of grief, but then, stupidly, Anthony also gave Shawn my HOME NUMBER

Now, you have to ask yourself, knowing what you’ve done and that you’ve been caught, and already in trouble, do you call someone you don’t really know at their HOUSE and try and ***** them out?

Better yet, do you call them at 2 am? No, sadly, I am not joking. Shawn called my house at 2 am. For that alone I should have killed him. Perhaps if I had I would have spared the world all the grief and aggravation of the crap he’s put it through over the years. But I was young and silly then, and thought if I gave him some friendly advice he MIGHT listen, of course he didn’t

More than ten years ago, I told him what I’ve repeatedly told him over these years, which he has repeatedly ignored…

I told him that Americans aren’t idiots, that if he tries to con us, some of us are gonna know better. Some of us will call him on it. But Shawn never listens, and that’s why I have another ten years worth of stories on him…

50

Interesting.

Is there any truth to to this do you know?- (from his website)

“As a Martial Artist and Fighter, Master Liu has fought and won numerous professional fights in both Chinese traditional bare-handed fighting and modern Sanshou. He is one of the few undefeated professionals out of China and has coached martial arts teams in both China and the U.S. - producing many outstanding martial artists and Sanshou fighting National and International Champions.”

51

Let’s deal with the easy one first

[B]

producing many outstanding martial artists and Sanshou fighting National and International Champions." [/B]

How big is Shawn Liu’s competition team? How many members does it have? What titles do they hold?

If you walk into Shawn’s place, how many competition level fighters are in his classes?

Shawn likes to claim Cung Le as his “student”, but Cung has extensive background in many martial arts. Shawn really only facilitated Cung getting a chance to train with the Chinese national team.

Is Duncan a product of Shawn’s program? How much time has Duncan spent in Chan’s Kung Fu as opposed to with Shawn? Or even in Panther’s Kickboxing as opposed to with Shawn?

Pat Barry is a Muay Thai stylist from Anacosta’s gym in New Orleans.

As anyone who has been on a national team knows, the individual team coaches usually coach their own students, Shawn is a figure head as a “team coach”

I can deal with the rest in due time, but let some of that sink in

52

oh, so you have something to compare to…

compare Shawn’s page to http://www.nykkgym.com/nyk/team.html

Boston and Cung Le have similar pages…

53

roflmao lkfmdc

Wow, I’ve never heard these tales. That’s some great stuff. Let it all out, brother, let it all out! :cool:

54

Gene

  1. thanks for the Shaolin info, I passed it on

  2. if you want me to tell stories, we could be here for MONTHS :smiley:

55

Well we’ve both been on this forum for years…

…but fair enough. Maybe we should save some stories for the day our paths cross face-to-face and we can throw back a few beers together. :cool:

56

Re: Don’t miss the obvious

Originally posted by GeneChing
There’s a massive traditional core at Shaolin, but many foreigners never penetrate it.

Well Gene, can you tell me who to reach this 'traditional core" in Shaolin???

57

Is Duncan a product of Shawn’s program? How much time has Duncan spent in Chan’s Kung Fu as opposed to with Shawn? Or even in Panther’s Kickboxing as opposed to with Shawn

yeah I see what you mean. Duncan has told me himself that his skills in San Shou are from over ten years of training in Jow Gar Kuen, Wing Chun and Judo. Chan Sifu is his Sifu and always will be. But he has also said that Shawn has been really good to him, so I’m not going to dis him. Duncan has learned alot from Shawn, Cung, and many champion fighters too.

58

Shao Lin Long

That’s easy. Go to the older monks and ask. But be specific. If you ask a stupid question, you’ll get a stupid answer. It’s a zen thing. :wink: You can’t just say “I want traditional Shaolin kung fu.” They’ll come back with “which one?” Know the traditional forms, training, etc. and ask specifically for that.