Some more Hakka boxing.

 

Here another view of Sifu Cheong Hon Heon’s Geok/Ngok Gar kuen.

Perhaps, this clip will give you a better idea of why I smell “Northern” when I look at this style.

In fact, I was going through some of my other Hakka materials, from Penang and Sarawak, and I am starting to distinguish more and more of “Northern” indications.

A while back when I was chatting with Sifu Liew Joon Mew, Chu Gar Praying Mantis, and I popped the question “Why are so many Hakka styles name Chu Gar”?

His answer was that “Chu” family name was a big name right about the time of the Ching dynasty and many from this family were employed by the government.

So it was convenient, when asked, to just name yourself as “Chu” if you want to secure a government job….hmmmmm…..

That aside, the more I look outside Hong Kong’s Hakka styles, the more variations I see as far as Hakka boxing is concerned.

One thing that I really got to do, to get more answers, is to make another trip to see Sifu Kong Shu Ming, the Hakka Suppressing Tiger master.

The last few times that I was watching him demo, could have sworn that he was doing long-limbed White Crane…..

I had wanted to name this entry as “Hakka Yong Tau Fu” – the famous Hakka dish that uses a mix of vegetables, toufu, beans, different meats and spices to make a “salad” soup.

Didn’t want to be misunderstood as trivializing Hakka fighting traditions but I really do think that Hakka boxing is a very fascinating mix of many flavors.

Just like their delicious Yong Tau Fu…..got to run….hungry…..

 

More on TCMA training.

Again to naysayers who are putting down TCMAs, my argument is this; how much of TCMAs training have you experienced?

 

I think this is a legitimate question right?

 

I live in Sarawak and for the past years, have been traveling up and down this country visiting old schools and masters and tasting, first-hand, TCMAs training and I am still learning “new” things.

 

Before this journey, my sum total perception of TCMAs comes primarily from experiences in Singapore, the US where I was teaching for a couple of years, books, magazines and to a certain extent, videos and movies pertaining to the arts.

 

I remember one life-long practitioner here commenting that there are hundreds of styles/systems and to think that they have all outlived their relevance is a very pompous view.

 

A personal experience; I was permitted, some time back, to sit through a Silat testing session.  Was pretty routine at the beginning, you know, forms, breaking, 2 men and then it was the seniors’ turn.

 

And I wasn’t prepared at all for what followed (after all, it was at a school test); a scenario that looked exactly like a bar room brawl, anything goes and the chap being tested ended up all bloodied.

 

When I spoke to the Guru later, he said that was testing “courage”.

 

So different races, different arts but fighting is still fighting, no matter what.

 

And apparently that Malay Silat style also subscribe to “First train your courage”.

 

Beat your opponent spiritually before all or to put it the Japanese way;

 

“Conquer the fear of death and you shall conquer all”.

 

A clip here of 2 players doing “White Crane sticky hands”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TCMA training outmoded?

Common to run into views like TCMAs are outmoded; need to be revamped, too many shortcomings against contemporary challenges etc etc…

 

And everybody got an opinion, starting with “I have all the right answers”..

 

Personally, a fight is a fight is a fight and I am not talking about “guns” fight here.

 

Bare hands, knives, sticks fights etc have been around like forever maybe.

 

MAs is all about training to win in such kind of fights and to argue that “traditional” wisdom is no longer applicable anymore, to me, is presumptuous and flawed.

 

If you are involved in a traditional fighting form that have survived the last few hundred years, chances are it has been battles and time proven, that or it would have been buried in the corridors of history.

 

So why all the negativism?

 

For promoters of a particular genre of fights, it is self-serving to portray others as ineffective.

 

One misconception is that TCMAs are about forms and learning to perfect them.

 

Forms are just one component but other essential components are reflected in maxims like:-

 

“Training only techniques and not gung will get you nothing”.

“First courage/guts, second power/strength and third methods”.

 

Will be posting more on these but for now, a little short 2 men drill from WuZu designed to train not only techniques but some of the other attributes encapsulated in the above maxims.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sibu TCMA – dawn of a new era ?

left to right Ting Tiong Kong, Ting Huat Yion and Kong Xian Hua

It was over a year ago that I first visited Sibu, Sarawak to garner support from CKF folks there to congregate and present TCMA in our event, as part of an overall effort to revivify interests.

 

Slowly and steadily, there are signs that this happening and the situation is most inspiring.

 

None of these would be doable if not for the enthusiasm and hard work of some key peoples, namely:-

 

Edmond Wong – Hakka Praying Mantis Fan Zhuang Quan.

Xiong De Lu – 5 Ancestors Boxing

Ting Huat Yion – Fong Yang Quan.

Kong Xian Hua – Hakka Fan Zhaung Quan.

Ting Tiong Kong – Shaolin White Crane

Lam Chee Keong – Hung Gar.

 

Our event is just but the start, these folks there are coming together to form a centralized training facility with a syllabus that assimilate forms/methods from each individual styles.

 

Tentatively to be named “Sibu Zhong He Quan Shu” or “Sibu Combined MAs” training center, this project is projected to kick off in the New Year.

 

This is all music to my ears, exactly what we hope to achieve when we first started out our venture.

 

I like to wish them all the best and the company will lend them support whenever possible….

 

 

 

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Zhou Jia Lee Kuan’s family.

Like I explained in my other entry, this Penang event was put together with big-time help from my Zhou Jia Sihing, Peter Lum.

 

Peter also took me around and introduced many Penang’s Zhou Jia elders to me and do we have a big family there…

 

Not surprising, taking into account the fact that my GM, the late Lee Kuan, was based there before moving on to Singapore.

 

Talk to anyone in Penang Wulin and you are liable to hear of his many exploits and the high esteem folks there still hold.

 

He must have an immense following in Penang.

 

One Zhou Jia elder who is extra supportive of my activities is my Sisok, Foong Yee Yen. From giving me a lot of details to showing me some of the most advance forms of Zhou Jia for videos, he was downright giving.

 

On many occasions, he had to take time of from his day business just so he could help out in expediting some issues that I was facing to get the act together.

 

And folks, I am really a nobody in Zhou Jia….

 

So to all my Zhou Jia family in Penang, a super size “thank you”.

 

I owe you guys a big one…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thru’ the eyes of Nicole Smith.

Arrrrgh, wet soggy Sunday – the kind that makes you feel really lethargic.

 

Decided to leave kung fu aside for awhile and I was going through my computer and found some pictures that Nicole, Russ’ wife, took in Penang.

 

Did a short clip to share some of these…..

 

Some pics of the participants, temples, butterfly farm, parks and other places they visited.

 

Nice..

 

 

 

 

The gentle expert.

Top – Cover of Master Cheong’s DVD. Bottom – Master Cheong and Sifu Liu Chang I.

Like many others, I suppose, my first impressions of Master Cheong Cheng Loong, come from reading the books he co-authored some years back.

 

So when I arranged to meet him in Penang, earlier this year, I was a little uneasy. I mean here’s a Sifu who is somewhat of a personality in the international scene and from the little I heard of him through friends, a strictly no-nonsense man.

 

That evening, climbing up the steps of Kek Lok Si to reach his school, I was mentally prepared to face the “been there, done that” attitude.

 

Boy, I couldn’t be more wrong.

 

Master Cheong is one of the nicest peoples I’ve met in Penang so far. So genteel that it hard to perceive him as a CKF man. Not until he starts cracking the air with his phoenix eye fists of course.

 

And I mean CRACKING – you really hear the “swooshing” when he executes that single-knuckle punch.

 

Plus he has that cat-like deftness that makes you doubt he is in his 70s … this is not real!

 

Here’s another man who has basically stuck to one “plan” all his life – the same profession (running his family nutmeg products business), the same kung fu and still teaching in the same school featured in his first book.

 

Now already a grandfather, he is showing no sign of slowing down as far as his kung fu commitments are concerned.

 

To be able to co-operate with a Sifu of this skill level and stature is really the best part of my “job”.

 

We need more of Master Cheong around ………..

 

 

 

 

 

Descendant of a unsung hero.

Sifu Peter Tan is the result of a 5 years search …. so to speak….

 

Okay, okay, from the beginning:-

 

When I first came here from Singapore, I visited some CKF elders to pay my respect.

 

Many of these calls entail display of CKF and I usually find myself “playing” with these folks.

 

One comment that I heard, quite a bit, about the way I “whip” with my White Crane is that it looks like something that a Hakka Praying Mantis master was prominent for.

 

This Hakka master, Chong, was originally from Indonesia and later fled to Sarawak after a racial fight that ended with deaths.

 

Chong became very celebrated in Sarawak for his very fast “machine gun” like hands and was frequently challenged but never defeated.

 

A local legend with a baffling ending; one account had him ambushed and killed (by Indonesians) and then there are those who spoke about an illness that took his life.

 

Anyway, I got really piqued and start digging and for years, couldn’t hook up with anyone who studied with Chong in his lifetime.

 

Many leads given turned up zilch. Was about to quit until my assistant told me about Peter – a friend of a friend of her dad.

 

Peter is based in Miri, an oil-town 11 hrs away by road and about 1 hr by air.

 

One phone call to him one evening and we arranged to meet that week.

 

Hearing Peter’s recollection of his training with Chong ended my 5 years’ search.

 

My only regret is that my time spent with him is too short, even in Penang with so many things on my plate; we were only able to chat briefly in the hotel lobby etc…

 

You can count that I will be talking to Peter again real soon to get more about his teacher; the “unsung” hero of Sarawak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fighting mantis.

Aha, weather was good today, slight drizzle and then we got the sun…

 

So instead of staying cooped up in my study, I decided to drive up to Master Liew Joon Mew’s home/TCM clinic for some tea and kung fu chit chat.

 

Did not get a chance, after the Penang trip to talk to him; he left for a TCM convention in Singapore a couple of days after the show.

 

Custodian of his family style, Hakka Chu Gar “Internal Jing” Praying Mantis, Master Liew is another one of the “old guards”.

 

A staunch believer of Kung Fu is all for fighting, Master Liew and his father (late) who taught him the art, had many opportunities to put their skills to the test.

 

They were in Kalimantan, Indonesia before they were coerced into resettling in Sarawak. And in Sarawak, during those days, racial riots were commonplace; all in the name of territory ownership.

 

Kung Fu was a mean of survival; no 2 ways about it.

 

Master Liew’s mind-set has not changed one bit even now where everything is properly regulated and peace prevails.

 

Talking to him about CKF is, more often than not, about “overpowering” opponents.

 

We discussed, extensively, methodologies rather than techniques per se.

 

I am trying to persuade him to join us in a training center that we are launching here in Kuching and hopefully “steal” some of his methods.

 

Whatever the case, we will be working together, for certain, to document his very unique style of Hakka Praying Mantis.

 

 

 

 

“An Evening of Martial Arts” – The DVD.

Another trailer for the Penang show’s DVD.

 

 

Note that trailer is done with clips from a handy cam and then minimized for youtube uploading.

 

In English; the actual DVD is of far more superior quality – footages shot with a high definitions analogue camera and then digitalized for post editing.

 

To purchase, please go to:-

 

http://www.martialartsgathering.com/index.html

 

Need your support to sustain our ongoing research/preservation projects.

 

Thank you.