More pic from Seattle.

Finally, got Chas to help out with the downloading of pics from my camera …….. got more, lots more to come……

Sleeping in Seattle ?

Noooo…… these last couple of days, I visited Bruce and Brandon Lee’s graves, they are buried side by side, been to the “Experience Music Project”……

Seattle is home to Jimi Hendrix and there is a exhibition going on featuring his guitars etc.. at “EMP”.

I also spent the day training with Chas and his students in a park that used to be a gas work plant. Non-operational now but the city decided to keep the plant standing; this place got to be seen to be believed.
Perfect weather, training in a park right next to water and with a group so “in-tuned”; pardon me if I start feeling like a “crane”……..

Sleepless in Seattle……..

After 2hrs or so in the air, I got in to Seattle and found my student , Chas Fisher,waiting at the airport.

Folks in Colorado were telling me to expect wet, cold and soggy days but so far, I find the weather more “agreeable”; yes it’s cold but it’s not dry-cold like in Colorado. At least I don’t find my nose bleeding and mouth drying in like every other minute.

Plus I get to see more colors here; flowers, apple trees….. I was a landscaper in my other life remember ? I pay attention to stuffs like these everywhere I visit.

Chas took me to the waterfront area and Pike Place Market – simple lovely and so full of “life”. I also got to see the first “StarBucks” coffee shop in that neighborhood.

You know I got to constantly remind myself that I am not here as a tourist and last evening I was over at Chas’ school to present White Crane to his students.

2 plus hours of almost non-stop playing. no wonder I am “sleepless”………

I am using Chas’ Mac to do this entry and frankly, being a PC man all my life, I am finding this new fruit a little hard to navigate………. arrrrghhhh where is the “right” click on this machine!!!

Bob Orlando’s school.

What an exceptional day –  bright and sunny; the kind of day that you want to just get out and do stuff.

The day is also splendid because I got to visit Guru Bob Orlando’s school and play with his guys.

And folks, these are very polished players – top notch!

So there we were, a bunch of us ignorant of time and just so totally engrossed in what we were doing and next thing you know, 3 hours just flashed by…….

Wayne had planned a little gathering in his place and we had to leave Guru Orlando’s to prepare foods etc….

And that’s how we spent the evening, a bunch of MA friends, sitting around eating and having a blast……

I know I said this before but really, it doesn’t get any better than this ….

So tomorrow I’ll start packing to get ready to fly to Seattle.

Home of Grunge and StarBucks – here I come……..

Cranes, Cranes, Cranes ……

Rich sent me some pics of his family ….. ooops wrong, pics his son found during a project research!

Gotta watch the Coronitas…..

Beautiful pics of cranes – thanks Rich.

One last session at Wayne’s school.

Whoa, before you know it, I am preparing to leave Colorado for Seattle in a few days time. I am really happy that the last couple of weeks worked out really well.

Wayne and his students worked hard with the White Crane and TaiZu I was teaching and I feel good, really good, with their progress.

The next time I visit, I am sure I will see “cranes” flying…….

So today, I did a “wrap-up” session at Wayne’s and took some pics:-

Britney.

Brexton & Chad

Stacy & Britney.

Rich & Jeff.

Hanshi Ron Carlson – Kempo First Foundation.

My first trip to the US has absolutely nothing to do with the martial arts.

I want to debunk a myth; I was not born in a cave, live on a mountain-top and just did Kung fu.

Like everyone else in Singapore, I went to school and was trained as a computer engineer. After graduation and serving in the army (compulsory in Singapore), I worked for American companies like Seagate Technologies, Control Data Corporation and Conners Peripherals.

It was in Conners that I became a manager and finally got promoted to “New Product Launch” and that required me to travel to Longmonth, Colorado to work with R&D folks.

During on of those stints, I met a gentleman by the name of James Meek – a close friend of Hanshi Ron Carlson. (on my left in pic).

One thing led to another and some 8 years back, Ron invited me out to his school to  teach White Crane.

So the myth actually started only 8 years ago – I had a life before that hahahaha……

Today I was at Hanshi’s school  to conduct a short White Crane seminar and Uncle Wayne and Guru Bob Orlando were there – just like old times………

Well folks, I owe plenty to Hanshi for all his help when I first started teaching in the US. For a period, I was even living in his school for free.

What can I say?

All martial arts ONE family…………………….

Rasa Sayang – Singapore.

Thought some of you might like this one – Singapore’s version of “Rasa Sayang” done by Dick Lee…..

Eeerrrh, if you hear me talk my style of English, it’s just like in the clip ….. ho say liao !!!

For the record…..

Friends who know me will tell you that I hate “monkey suits” – regardless if it’s office, social or kung fu.

If it was entirely up to me, I’ll say “everybody must get stoned” (ahem), I mean tees, bermudas and caps finished off with a pair of “crocs”….. soooo comfortable, no lace ….. nothing……

So when Wayne said to me “Sifu, we want some pictures taken with you”, I instantly replied “no sweat”. Then he tells me in “proper” Kung Fu costume …..

Not traveling with one, we had to go out and get a set. I wanted white top with short sleeves but ended up with black with long sleeves; well, no biggie… close enough!!!

So here are the pictures with some of my students (Wayne, Chad and James) and some of Wayne’s……

Another good old friend – Bob Orlando.

So almost everyday of the week I have been working out with Wayne and his students…and now with about a week to go before I fly to Seattle, we are stepping up on White Crane and Tai Zu forms, drills etc.

I am putting extra effort into the White Crane staff form because this is their first encounter with this weapon from Fuzhou Crane.

When I arrived at Wayne’s school today, I was very pleasantly surprised to see Guru Bob Orlando there.

Most folks probably got to know this gentleman through the books that he had written about Indonesian Silat systems. Bob is another longtime student of Uncle Bill.

This is one serious MA “scholar” and I remember the many sessions I had with him comparing notes about Chinese and Indonesian fighting skill sets – always stimulating working with Bob.

I had to conduct class so we couldn’t really talk much but before Bob left, we set up appointments to meet again.

So here’s looking forward to more good weather and even better MA exchanges ……..