Troy Dunwood
03-30-2005, 04:44 AM
Hello, my name is Troy Dunwood, I make no attempt to hide or conceal my identity concerning this matter, since the year 1994 I've been fortunate to become the last student of my teacher Lau Yee Chan of the Eight Immortals system. Concerning the name, our style have never been titled the Lau Family Eight Immortals Style, it was I who pre-Lau Family in front of Eight Immortals as a gesture of respect and admiration of my teacher. I received an email today stating I had boldness to proclaim I was the only person to teach eight immortals style and that I was too young to be considered a grandmaster of the style. The email went on to state, that I was a new kid on the block trying to make a name for myself. Here are some things I thought i'd share and if anyone care to respond I'd respect and accept your contructive criticism.
In 1994 I bcame the last student of my teacher( granted I've been involved in kung fu since 1969), my senior Man Sing who rightfully is our teachers heir, has no desire to teach, as a result in the year 2000, I was given the title of Grandmaster as well as permission to teach and promote this system. Man Sing lives in San Francisco where we meet at least once a week, he can verify all the words I write..
Concerning Eight Immortals Style, I've always proclaimed that other schools have their respected version of Drunken Fist, but what I've also stated was that their drunken fist forms are built around the core skills of those system, for example most traditional kung fu styles that teach a drunken set lays some level of identity within their drunken set which makes it identifiable as so and so drunken set.
The Eight immortals Style that I was taught has three level of training, fighting technique, drunken shape and internal cultivation. Fighting techniques are perhaps sets that are fairly straight to the points sets, although we use cup hand(drunken claw) skills, the movements flow in a standard form structure, this allows the student to learn and understand the eight keyword theory as well as perfect their fighting skills.
Next there is the drunken shape, where now movement is a bit exagerrated going more into character, this level introduces some intricate footwork patterns as well as advanced hand combination skills and short explosive power (Inch Force).
Finally there is the first two levels combined and internalized much like tai chi yet more alive and rounded.
Our style was originally a form of Chi Gong, that later got translated into a system of fighting, the two original sets were Eight Immortals Fist and Eight Immortals Palm, that we still have in the curriculum. These sets were based upon observation of one of the rebellious monks of Wu Tang who managed to get wine into the temple, after being observed playing his kung skills while under the influence of wine others thought how deceptive this would be in fighting thus the eight immortals system had it's beginning.
Concerning my boldness, well, our style was created at Wu Tang (Mo Dong), when observing this kung fu one cannot state it's this or that version of drunken fist because it was created as it is from the beginning. With a verifiable lineage and with proven techniques, now why wouldn't I be bold, as if to say i'm not going to have confidence in what my teacher has shared with me. Peace.
In 1994 I bcame the last student of my teacher( granted I've been involved in kung fu since 1969), my senior Man Sing who rightfully is our teachers heir, has no desire to teach, as a result in the year 2000, I was given the title of Grandmaster as well as permission to teach and promote this system. Man Sing lives in San Francisco where we meet at least once a week, he can verify all the words I write..
Concerning Eight Immortals Style, I've always proclaimed that other schools have their respected version of Drunken Fist, but what I've also stated was that their drunken fist forms are built around the core skills of those system, for example most traditional kung fu styles that teach a drunken set lays some level of identity within their drunken set which makes it identifiable as so and so drunken set.
The Eight immortals Style that I was taught has three level of training, fighting technique, drunken shape and internal cultivation. Fighting techniques are perhaps sets that are fairly straight to the points sets, although we use cup hand(drunken claw) skills, the movements flow in a standard form structure, this allows the student to learn and understand the eight keyword theory as well as perfect their fighting skills.
Next there is the drunken shape, where now movement is a bit exagerrated going more into character, this level introduces some intricate footwork patterns as well as advanced hand combination skills and short explosive power (Inch Force).
Finally there is the first two levels combined and internalized much like tai chi yet more alive and rounded.
Our style was originally a form of Chi Gong, that later got translated into a system of fighting, the two original sets were Eight Immortals Fist and Eight Immortals Palm, that we still have in the curriculum. These sets were based upon observation of one of the rebellious monks of Wu Tang who managed to get wine into the temple, after being observed playing his kung skills while under the influence of wine others thought how deceptive this would be in fighting thus the eight immortals system had it's beginning.
Concerning my boldness, well, our style was created at Wu Tang (Mo Dong), when observing this kung fu one cannot state it's this or that version of drunken fist because it was created as it is from the beginning. With a verifiable lineage and with proven techniques, now why wouldn't I be bold, as if to say i'm not going to have confidence in what my teacher has shared with me. Peace.