Gary Lam

[Mojo]

A friend of mine has the opertunity to study under Sifu Gary Lam. I was wondering if anyone can tell me anything about him ?

[PaulH]

Mojo,

I have studied with various WSL students including my latest favorite coaches Jean Marc and Chan Keo. Everyone of them excel well in certain aspects of the WSL system, and for that I'm truly grateful for their early guidance on my WC path.

I think one of the main reasons that Lam Sifu is so very good as a teacher and fighter is due to the fact that he had good experience, deep knowledge, and long exposure of learning and training with WSL Sigung. When I touched Gary's hands, I can only see his 1st hand, the rest are silence as my mind blanked out into the comforting blanket of eternal darkness and serenity. Ha! Ha! Ernie can tell you more as he has more technical knowledge of Gary's system.


Best wishes,

[Mojo]

thanks, Paul.

ps. that was pretty funny !

[Ernie]

mojo,
been with gary for years what would you like to know

[Ernie]

mojo
here is his bio
http://www.garylamwingchun.com/teachers.html

[Mojo]

Ernie
Thanks, that's exactly what I've been looking for.

Are there any cool stories you can tell us about yor time with Sifu Lam ?

[old jong]

Great site Ernie !... Are you the little girl in shorts in that pic?.... (http://www.garylamwingchun.com/class_99.jpg) ;) :D

[Ernie]

well ,
there are a lot , wing chun wise and just plain cool friend wise ,
they guy is a riot and a bad a$$ and deeply spiritual all in one .

he has dropped me , knicked me out , sent me flying through the air , controlled me like a little baby , he is the most powerful wing chun person i have ever come across never needs to chain punch in the five years i've been there he has always dropped people in the first or second action .
and i have seen him tested quite a bit . i myself have taken it to him just to see what it feels like , something primal happens , he dials into you and man your just a piece of meat .
you have to remember gary has been a professinal fighter and one a few titles , he has the experience of useing wing chun and understands what it can do . he has dropped alot of people and at his 50 plus years he still is faster and more powerful then most young people and he doesn't even train any more .

he has a extremly deep understanding of wing chun and the skills you need to pull it off , no fluff , no dragged out forms , you get in the mix under pressure right away ,
he encourages you to test your skills against anybody and everybody , experience is crucial .

but at the same time he is real easy going and funny as hell . even if i stopped training i would always keep him in my life as a friend and mentor .

it's hard to pin point a specific story since he is such a coloful person, you just have to be around him to get it , as you can tell i have a deep admiration for him to the point i can't consider him my sifu he is more then that he is my friend ,

[planetwc]

I was fortunate enough to meet Lam Sifu very briefly down in Monterey Park many years ago. He was quite the gentleman. I think that is another aspect to look for in a teacher is their personality and outlook. If you couple that with his training under WSL, along with his experience in HK teaching fighters to compete in Muay Thai you get the sense of a very well rounded person and instructor.

So you have a great combination in Lam Sifu, and if you have the opportunity to train with hiim I would say it is a great one.

regards,

[Ernie]

old jong d amn you you you found me
:eek:
nope but i'm in there quite a few times

[old jong]

Are you the guy who has his wrist twisted?.... (http://www.garylamwingchun.com/P5040059.JPG)

[Ernie]

ha ha yep htat's my unshaven getting tweak self , also in the group shot and gary is kicking me in one and one of the guys in the kali stick seminar.

oooohhhh nnnnooo you found me

[Ernie]

the red hat ............. not the full beard that's my partner howard , another nut bag like me:)

[old jong]

Ouch!.... (http://www.garylamwingchun.com/P5040065a.jpg)
We can clearly see that he could kick your knee backward on that pic.

BTW....I'm feeling better now that I know you're not the little girl!...;)

[old jong]

My turn to show myself (to be fair!)...Me killing an ex student!...(Ex because I killed him of course!) (http://caramelle.dromadaire.com/fr/home/file.asp?$5bUS9sofG+GCNOtK1lh4rw==)
















Just kidding! ;)

[Ernie]

BTW....I'm feeling better now that I know you're not the little girl!...
o.k. that just sounds creepy ha,ha,:D

We can clearly see that he could kick your knee backward on that pic.

remeber he used to be a thai fighter/coach he has heavy kicks , so yea even in demos and under control his percsion and heavy legs hurt .
when he kicks in combination you just drop , i have seen some visiting wing chun people claim there stance was powerful enough to cut through a thai kick and they rushed in on gary he just faded back and pow knocked out both there legs and dropped them on there '' ego's''
when i got there i already had a savate and that back ground , i have very fast kicks and alot of power i went kick for kick with him to the body and legs and after a few exchanges i just fell , my legs were dead .
the old bird is tough and he gets all happy when he gets hit like a little kid ,
if you ever want to check him out in action jong just let me know , you put up with enough of off the cuff and insightful remarks that i'll hook you up with anything i got ......:D

[Ernie]

My turn to show myself (to be fair!)...Me killing an ex student!...(
ah ha i knew you were a bit of a phsyco down deep

[old jong]

You bet and a tough M.F. also but I got to go .I have to do the dishes before my wife come back from work!....
See you.;)

[KenWingJitsu]

I've heard good things about your instructor and about you Ernie. We'll meet soon my friend.

[reneritchie]

Gary Lam sifu is both a warrior and gentleman, something unfortunately rare but truly appreciated. In my (limited) experience, he has a simple, highly effective system backed by real experience.

One note: The day I was lucky enough to visit his class, he was talking about 'big man wck' and since he is a large man (by HK WCK standards) and his students that day were fairly large, I didn't get a chance to see how he teaches smaller students. That I would find very interesting.

[PaulH]

Rene,

I'll leave it to BIG Ernie to fill you the details how Gary teach small paulies like me! Ha! Ha! I'll say this - he seems to customize his teaching by the student's strength and weakness. Every students are different though we are exposed to the same materials. Eventually you will learn to fight naturally with your own characters.

Regards,

[Ernie]

KenWingJitsu


I've heard good things about your instructor and about you Ernie. We'll meet soon my friend.

i sure it was all lies and exagerations :D heard your a lot of fun to man we will work it soon , i can never have enough crazy gung fu brothers .

reneritchie


rene , you always give gary prop's and i think that is very cool about you , and i have passed it on as well .
as for the way gary teaches well it's broken down into 5 sytems a direct reflection of the five elements and i won't get all into the details of the element side cuz it might make hendik to happy:D
lets just look at the five levels
crossing hands = any hand or body contact or route all the positions and flows of tan/bong/and fook in singular and later combination first with out then with footwork , add in three ranges
1.st gate punching range [long range ]
2.nd gate any bent arm range [bong ,quan for exanple]
3.rd gate body on body stand up wrestling for a rough translation lock's take downs , control positions and so on.

nothing fancy all basic wing chun
pushing = po pai any type of projection hand and combination with crossing hands

pulling = borrowing any enrgy given to destabilize a persons momentum or structure and send them flying

closeing = being able to bridge a agressive person and get to the body on body and control positions take downs knee mounts and hip control stuff like that .

footwork = kicking , partner drills , pad work and so on

add in dummy pole and knife and that sums it .
every one gets all the same material but size and personality will dictate what you gravitate to , what it's really al about is experienceing what it's like not just to push and pull and hit and kick but to have it done to you so you can learn to roll with and remain calm under pressure , and most of all feel

but your right gary does know how to use his size when he needs it , but you need to understand your body is a weapon and if you have a bigger stick by all means hit him with it . but we also have the pleasure of hawkins frequent visits and we get to work the other side of the coin to
:)

[reneritchie]

Lam sifu makes it easy to give him props. He earns them.

With both Lam sifu and Cheung sifu, you have the complete Yin & Yang. Lucky bastids.

[Ernie]

rene
With both Lam sifu and Cheung sifu, you have the complete Yin & Yang. Lucky bastids.

you know rene for the longest time i didn't think anything of it since i just stumbled into my situation , until i saw how far people travel and how excited they are to meet and work out with those guys , and here i am seeing gary a few times a week and hawkins a couple times a month going out to eat with them hanging out working out , there just a couple of friends to me .

i guess i am pretty lucky as all of you are with your teachers , just hope the stuff good rubs off
:D