The spirit of MAs Gathering 2007…..

Got to confess that on many occasions during this last year of preparatory work, I paused and asked myself – is it worth it?

 

Hopping from places to places to convince and discuss the gathering with the masters and schools; especially those who have never been exposed to event of this sort or explicitly explained their skills in front of an audience. It was indeed an arduous task; one that I am not sure I will revisit….

 

But now, in my hotel room, with more time to recollect and reflect while going through the hundreds of shots and hours of video, one picture stood out.

 

Not prearranged, no posing but just an early morning scene in the lobby of the hotel; a group of masters and teachers getting ready to be ferried to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast.

 

In the picture, you’ll see (starting from left of pic) :-

 

• Sifu Peter Tan – Hakka Praying Mantis Sarawak
• Master Liew Joon Mew – Chu Gar “Internal Jin” Praying Mantis Sarawak
• Master Lew Kao Chye – Hakka Tiger Boxing Sarawak
• Sifu Edmond Wong (back) – Hakka Fan Zhuang Quan Sarawak
• Master Ku Choy Wah – Ban Chung Wing Chun Singapore
• Master Ruan Dong – Whopping Crane China
• Sensei Russ Smith – Okinawa Goju Ryu USA

 

And to think that I am somewhat guilty for bringing them together; “Wu Lin Yi Jia” personified …………

 

So, will I do it all over again?

 

Well, we say in Chinese; when you got a head, you must have a tail ……

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the “Pearl of the Orient” 4.

Now after a short break, it’s time to get back to work.

 

All the foreign invited masters, Ruan Dong, Liu Chang I & his student Robert, Singapore masters and those from Sarawak are properly sent off, I got Russ Smith, Ku Choy Wah and the local Penang masters to work with on some unfinished business.

 

Russ and Ku Sifu will be doing a separate video session on Goju Ryu karate and Wing Chun and there are some courtesy calls to be made still with the local schools.

 

Got a clip here shot, on a raining day, during one such call to Por Suk’s temple.

 

That day we had Sifu Teo (Grand Ancestor), GM Lee Kam Yuen (Zhou Jia), Evert, and Russ spending a couple of hours drinking a lot of tea and playing kung fu.

 

Liu Sifu is really something else. Prior to this, my impressions came mainly from watching him in videos but this physical encounter was really eyes-opening.

 

His speed, power and co-ordination – you got to touch hands with him to know what I am trying to describe.

 

 

From the “Pearl of the Orient” 3.

Arrrrgghhh, it’s has been a punishing week here in Penang; starting the day at 7 am and hitting the sack at 1 or 2 am every day.

 

With some 70 peoples invited to participate in the show and workshop and a skeletal team, everyone was stretched to the max.

 

But, it’s all worth it. Everyone was happy with the show and the seminar yielded more than expected; so much information to digest.

 

We presented the show in a thematic manner; first it was the Hakka styles then Cantonese and ending with Fukien/Fuzhou boxing. Along the way, we added some contemporary routines and chi-gung stunts that really got the crowd excited.

 

Need to take a little time off to recharge; I will be posting clips and pics from the event for all to see.

 

For now, a photo slide from this past week …..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz