# Who first introduced the style of NORTHERN SHAOLIN (bak sil lam) in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Shaolin Kung Fu\ **Tags:** wushu, northern-shaolin, kung-fu\ **Created:** [December 29, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442 "2016-12-29T14:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zui\_Quan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ed655f/32.png) [@Zui\_Quan](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/Zui_Quan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/1 "2016-12-29T14:27:54Z")
Don’t have any more details,that is my question.So,who? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Jamieson](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.kungfumagazine.com/david_jamieson/32/19_2.png) [@David\_Jamieson](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/David_Jamieson)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/2 "2016-12-29T14:59:55Z")
It could be argued that Lee Ying Arng: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytQBOT\_8Pq0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytQBOT_8Pq0) was the first to introduce aspects of Gu Ru Zhang’s North Shaolin by way of his Iron Palm teachings. The wide spread of it through books, instruction, distance learning etc would have to go to Kwong Wing Lam though. ---
**Author:** ![Jimbo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.kungfumagazine.com/jimbo/32/8_2.png) [@Jimbo](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/3 "2016-12-29T15:06:42Z")
I don’t know if he was the first, but Wong Jack Man would certainly have been _one of_ the earliest. He was already here by 1964 and maybe earlier. I think he was already teaching in '64. And from what I’ve heard, his style was seen as something different in San Francisco’s Chinatown at that time. OTOH, I heard that Wing Lam started teaching in the U.S. in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Jamieson](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.kungfumagazine.com/david_jamieson/32/19_2.png) [@David\_Jamieson](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/David_Jamieson)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/4 "2016-12-29T15:24:04Z")
[QUOTE=Jimbo;1299096]I don’t know if he was the first, but Wong Jack Man would certainly have been _one of_ the earliest. He was already here by 1964 and maybe earlier. I think he was already teaching in '64. And from what I’ve heard, his style was seen as something different in San Francisco’s Chinatown at that time. OTOH, I heard that Wing Lam started teaching in the U.S. in 1967.[/QUOTE] Wong Jack Man was indeed teaching early on, but wide spread introduction as a whole would be proferred by Wing Lam. ---
**Author:** ![Orion\_Paximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bb73d2/32.png) [@Orion\_Paximus](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/Orion_Paximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/5 "2017-01-02T21:31:21Z")
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1299097]Wong Jack Man was indeed teaching early on, but wide spread introduction as a whole would be proferred by Wing Lam.[/QUOTE] Definitely Wing Lam gets credit for proliferation, but this is like trying to figure out who first boiled an egg. Someone could have came to the USA and only taught their family for all we know. ---
**Author:** ![mickey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mickey](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/mickey)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/6 "2017-01-03T04:43:01Z")
[QUOTE=Orion Paximus;1299168] Someone could have came to the USA and only taught their family for all we know.[/QUOTE] Yes. This factor makes it very difficult to pinpoint things for purposes of history. They may have taught only their family, or their family association, or at the association they belonged to, or simply exclusively within the Chinese community. mickey ---
**Author:** ![David\_Jamieson](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.kungfumagazine.com/david_jamieson/32/19_2.png) [@David\_Jamieson](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/David_Jamieson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/7 "2017-01-03T16:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=Orion Paximus;1299168]Definitely Wing Lam gets credit for proliferation, but this is like trying to figure out who first boiled an egg. Someone could have came to the USA and only taught their family for all we know.[/QUOTE] Well, that would just render the question moot. the USA isn’t a family or a closed door. I assumed it meant widespread notification of availability, which would mean that “keep it in the family” practitioners are irrelevant to the whole. ---
**Author:** ![Lokhopkuen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.kungfumagazine.com/lokhopkuen/32/296_2.png) [@Lokhopkuen](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/u/Lokhopkuen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://forum.kungfumagazine.com/t/who-first-introduced-the-style-of-northern-shaolin-bak-sil-lam-in-the-usa/58442/8 "2017-02-24T06:54:53Z")
Wing Lam is a student of Wong Jack Man who is certainly the pioneer of BSL in North America. (((David you usurped my tag line))) [[i approve]]