Some of you might be aware that we are about to launch www.wulinijia.com anytime now.
“Wu Lin I Jia or All Martial Arts, One Family” must be one the most essential doctrines in my Kung Fu education. All my teachers stress this continuously when passing down the arts to me.
Could be also why I am so driven to collect materials throughout all these years. I was never really happy with confining my experience to the few styles that I was learning; just needed to see how others are training. Throughout my entire kung fu journey, discriminating was never my way. I’ll learn anything you got to teach and I am still learning to this day.
CKF is all one family is something REAL to me. My behavior is in many ways formed by this belief.
Couple of years back, I met some very good friends in forums etc. Lifelong enthusiasts in their own rights, we spoke often of amalgamating our materials and making them available to anyone who needs them.
Simple to talk about but when we actually got down to making this, we found ourselves confronted with a mountain of work.
Just picture scanning thousands of books/magazine and manuscripts, editing and then uploading them to a server.
Besides offering all the various genres of materials to members, we are also working to achieve a community wherein members can upload their own materials for study and discussion.
A MA tearoom with a projector running…..
So if any of you are keen to join us, please let me know. You can communicate here or PM or email me at white88crane@yahoo.com
If you got any propositions, let me hear about them.
Apologies for the long silence; just got back from Sibu on a video-shooting trip.
This is in preparation of a documentary that we are producing to pave the way for an event to be held in Sarawak next September.
The documentary is tentatively named “In Search of “Hidden Dragons”……Malaysia”
I am lucky enough to have captured:-
Hakka Praying Mantis or “Fan Zhuan Quan”. Got 2 leading Masters to demonstrate forms and fighting from this rare system. Really love their “whipping” manner of execution that I love so much personally.
Wuzu or 5 Ancestors. Most exponents here are from GM Kan Teck Guan’s line which is uncannily close to White Crane. I sat down and interviewed Sidai Luo Yue Lan, possibly the highest ranking Master today. In her 70s and with problems with her legs, she was showing me techniques that could put younger players to shame. From her, I found out the intimacy of Kan’s Wuzu with Yong Chun White Crane….
Fong Yang Quan. This is one style that has always intrigued me. Read about this in many places and even visited the one and only school in Singapore that taught this many years ago. Still, there are very little details available. This trip is a real eye-opener for me. Seeing Fong Yang up close was worth all the efforts. A system to combine essence of Southern tiger, dragon and crane; what more could I ask for?
Hungga. Grandmaster Lam, in his 80s, is the custodian of this excellent style here in Sarawak. Posting a clip of his son, Lam Chee Keong, doing Fook Fu. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeTA4zJyNkU
The documentary will cover other spots in Sarawak like Kuching (the capital city where I am based) and West Malaysia.
So I got work cut out fully for the next couple of months….
Thanks you very much for sharing that clip, I am greatly impressed with her skills. The relaxation and speed with which her hands shoot out in combination with the elbow positioning make her a living treasure. You are a lucky man to meet such people.
Long time no chat, but please keep up the good work. Best regards, Lau
Is this Hakka Praying Mantis or “Fan Zhuan Quan related to the style called Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist that is a old Southern Mantis style ? Have you ever herd of a style that Sek Ko Sam practiced called Hup Gun Phoenix style ?
Lau, thanks for your message. Yes, I am very pleased to be able to meet and touch hands with so many “living treasures” –most humbling encounters I assure you.
Robert, according to the 2 Fan Zhuang Masters, their style is quite independent of the other Hakka Praying Mantis we know of.
They traced lineage back to Southern Shaolin. The “Fan Zhuang” is roughly translated to “Opposing Postures” and this is reflected in the Yin/Yang hand postures that are hallmarks of this system.
I will be posting clips once they are ready. Point to note; all my clips are taken from my JVC handycam. The documentary, however, will be using footages from the 2 high-definition cameras we used during the shoot.
These will take a while to be post-edited….
I am including a still shot of some old photos from Master Kong’s collection. These are pictures of a young Master Kong doing “Fan Zhuang”.
Ven. Sek, according to what I know, taught many different forms during his time. I think folks are beginning to realize just how many recently.
Incidently, Ven Sek’s SiaoLim is on my list when I visit Singapore for more shooting.
Here’s an old gentleman I would truly describe as a “living treasure”. Grand Master Lin (or Lam in Cantonese), the custodian of Hungga in Sarawak.
GM Lin is the father of the young Sifu in the earlier Hungga Fook Fu clip.
The plan actually calls for shooting of his son and some of his senior students only. GM Lin was kind enough to put in a short impromptu partial performance of a form. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSVW2mJo68
At almost 90, I am really inspired and impressed by his zest.
Sort of affirming that I picked the right thing to do with my life…..
Master Francis Ling (Master Ling is Henghua – another dialect group) doing Hakka Praying Mantis “Fan Zhuang” 1st form.
This system does a total of 5 forms, “108” Sanshou techniques and stick forms. The Sanshou techniques are based on the principles of the system and many came across as intricate “quinna” style execution. A little like Wing Chun “Chi Sao” but ending in a trap….
Well, I did manage to capture 3 of their forms and a few sessions of their “sanshou” in action.
Like I mentioned earlier, I really like the way they “whip” throughout their form and Master Ling makes it look so simple; completely relaxed and “wham”….
At one point, he sank his forearm into his student’s forearm (like in a cross-bridge engagement) and he nearly drops his student! Again looking nonchalant throughout….
This is one system that I intend to examine closer and report in my website.
Well anyway, this is the “Fong Yang” or “Phoenix Sun” style CKF I was talking about.
Fong Yang is the name of a place in China.
According to the 2 Masters I met, this style fuses Dragon, Tiger and Crane fighting methodologies. The clip shows basic Dragon drill.
I recorded quite a bit of their training and forms and I just got to say I love their “flow” from one style to another.
Oftentimes these are done so quickly and smoothly that they appear as double hands techniques much like mother-son hands methods found in some Fukien/Fuzhou boxing.
The other distinct characteristic is their multiple gates striking using all 3 styles and I was having a tough time playing with them when they do that….
This is another style that I am planning to properly record and present to all.
Just been to check www.wulinijia.com and I am happy to say that things are in order and we should be fully operational in December.
Thought I take a little time here to talk about this project:-
• Been asked frequently why “Wu Lin I Jia” and not “Wu Lin Yi Jia” which is standard Hanyu Pinyin. I deliberately spelled it with an “I” and not “Yi” initially because I wanted to use the number “1”. Sort of playing around with design until someone pointed out that the number “1” would be easily confused with “I”. So to keep the URL in alpha only, I substituted “I” for “1”. I really like the result because it’s “1” of a kind ……. hope I make sense here…..
• This is a joint-effort project involving quite a big group of CKF folks at my end here in SE Asia. The other major participants are Evert Van De Meulen (Holland), Russ Smith (USA) and “sometimes you see him, sometimes you don’t” Martin Watts (England). Those of you who are familiar with Evert and Russ must know what collection of MA materials they’ve accumulated over the years. Together with mine, we are transferring everything on-line, old magazines, books, and manuals, old and new video clips. Martin is working on tying his project (www.jabbalist.com) with our website.
For me, the fun and most meaningful portion is the on-going works to record and archive as many traditional fighting arts (not just Chinese) as possible and storing them in the site for reference.
That’s why I will be traveling extensively throughout SE Asia to meet and interview/shoot MA Masters and their arts.
So pardon me if I feel and talk like a kid lost in a giant candy store…..
Thanks for all the great clips and information! I look forward to your clips and research into the hakka praying mantis especially. I envy you! I wish I could have joined you on your journey and met all these masters. A great way to document and continue the posterity of these arts. Anymore stuff on southern mantis and you will officially be “da man”.
Kismet, thanks. Just doing what I love – no biggie.
Shaolin Master, never. I will never forget any of my teachers. Ah Joo will always remain a “Dai Xia” to me.
I wish I could spend more time in Singapore and visit my other teachers, Ah Teck and Li Wen Shi, more often. Now that I am teaching, I appreciate fully how much they put into teaching a dumbo like me.
I wanted to write you about us working together; been to your website and see the kind of work you are doing – very admirable.
The way I see it, you are concentrating on mainland and me and my friends are paying more attention to “Hua Chiao”.
2 sides of the same copper coin maybe?
Already I got Robert Hui (our Mantis and Hakka high hand) agreeing to be one of our advisors, so what do you say?
Watching him during the shoot, I began to understand why old Masters like to say – “Everything is found in SanChiem. You start with Sanchiem and you do SanChiem until you die”.
