Lau Bun Stories

[5thBrother]

Any there any more interesting stories or happenings regarding Lau Bun of Choy Lay Fat?

this one posted in the cts stories thread for example, made me interesed.

"For example, Lau Bun was an assassin for the hop sing tong and was known to carry throwing darts in his shirt pocket, butterfly knives in his waistband, or even a pair of double steel whips. one time-even with eye witnesses- lau bun killed a rat in the dark with one of his throwing darts and precisely hit its target killing the rat. there were eye witnesses, but try telling that story and instead of absorbing the information everyone says thats fantasy, or not real. Why? because they can't say that about their own teachers."

[Green Cloud]

Frank cool stuff tell me more, oh yea I forgot to ask whou did your sifu train with?

[Green Cloud]

Frank I'm curious how your lineage tyes into my lineage, did any of you ancestors train at the Clear Cloud monestary AKA Green Cloud monestary?? I've also herd CTS talk about Lao bun. Just wondering if there was a connection.

[5thBrother]

hskwarrior

great stuff.



thanks!

[hskwarrior]

oh well, they say the photo is too big to post here.

sorry. Just check out his website.

[Green Cloud]

Wasn't Lao Bun wanted by the police after he killed those imigration guys???

[lkfmdc]

TTT for the stories

I forget how Sifu Chan knew Lau Bun.... other than they have similar lineage somewhere along the way... Sifu Chan studied with Chan Sai Hung, a Hung Sing teacher

[hskwarrior]

i'm sure they got to know each other somehow. but i'm sure they would have share something being that they both came from toi san.

Here is the link to the site i made for my sifu. hope you like it, some pictures i need to fix-mean reset, some are stretched out.

http://www.tienloong.zoomshare.com

[hskwarrior]

yeah, thats a big reason why people like ed parker ralph castro and wally jay kept him a secret so no attention would come his way. he was very protected in chinatown.


frank

[Green Cloud]

That's pretty cool

[CFT]

hskwarrior - nice websites and photos.

How can Lau Bun and Jew Leong be "professors"? You're not talking about an honorary academic post at some University are you?

[hskwarrior]

oops the post doubled up, sorry.

[hskwarrior]

I would love to hear what Chan Tai San had to say about Lau Bun. No matter what i love to hear about him, so you guys could also be contributing to this thread as well.

[Vajramusti]

"
student, teacher, grand master, great grand master or Professor. People like the late Lee Koon Hung, Jew Leong, Ralph Castro, Wally Jay, y.c. wong, Chan Tai San etc etc can be considered "Professors". ""
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That is a major corruption of language and meaning. Major/reputable universities
apply fairly rigorous criteria for the rank of a professor of physics, chemistry, philosophy etc in specific disciplines. And they dont accept degrees from degree factories.

The greats in martial arts deserve every bit of recognition possible for their achievements in their field of activity and achievement.However, I am not sure that adding the term "professor" adds anything to their achievement or to their prestige. Knowledgeable people in any field know the greats in their field in their own way...
be it chemistry or TCMA. Importing titles from another field could actually cheapen
the reputation of great masters and to some give the appearance unecessarily and undeservedly of an inferoriority complex.

There is enough corruption in 3 rd rate universities giving an honorary degree to a finacial contributor and people being given honrary black belts. Why add to the rot.

Rectification of names is much better IMO.

[WanderingMonk]

just one note, I was told a lot of bjj black belts are called "professors" as well. so, there is some circulation of this usage for ma.

[hskwarrior]

V,

you really should explore the martial arts world a little more. the term "Profesor" is widely used and to name drop a few are Professor Wally Jay, Professor Rick Alemany, Professor Ralph Castro, Professor Lau Bun.....Need i go on?


its really an injustice to the world when you hold on to a simple word that represents a level of achievement and clutch it to your bussom (?) and say no one could ever use this title outside of academics.

Its a pretty petty argument. not to mention one YOU or anyone else in the world could ever win. thats not a dis, that's reality. like it or not. listen or change the channel. you get what i mean.

no hard feelings.

[hskwarrior]

v,

embrace the word. it exists, and can scientifically be proven it exists.;)

come to the light.........walk to the light..........you want to be in the light.......there's love in the light.


hsk

[hskwarrior]

v,

you said the title of professor can actually cheapen the reputation of great masters?

that confuses me. why would you say that? :confused:

[brothernumber9]

I think he meant in instance(s) of self agrandizment or promotion. When someone more or less names themselves "Professor", in contrast to someone like Lau Bun who was given the name by his peers and/or students. You (Sifu McCarthy) are the de facto historian of your lineage on these boards so you would know, but I'm willing to bet that the late Sifu Lau Bun never called himself "Professor".

On the flip side many or even most people here have probably come accross a crop of people who promote themselves "GrandMaser" or "GreatGrandmaster", or "Great GrandPubaShortyMoneyGripZipTightJeans" especially after "creating" their own version of Jeet Kune Do, or just flat out BS.

[cerebus]

Hello hskwarrior. I'm enjoying all the Lau Bun stories (I love martial arts history), but I'm confused about something you said. You refer to Bruce Lee's "student" the "green hornet". Are you referring to Van Williams, the actor who played the Green Hornet in the TV series (in which BL co-starred as Kato)? That wouldn't make any sense. Williams wasn't a student of Lee. He also wasn't a fighter or martial artist, he was an actor. Could you provide any clarification on this? Thanks in advance.

[hskwarrior]

that was according to my sifu, who was there, and he said at the time van williamas did learn gung fu from bruce.

im just recallilng the stories.

[5thBrother]

if any one knows.

what was training like at lau bun's school?
what did a typical training session consist of?

great stories on this and CTS thrreads!

thanks

[5thBrother]

very motivational these stories (of all the diffenert masters and teachers)...

i was just about to ask if Lau Bun had dit da healing skills.. but ur post beat me too it..

do u know what areas of healing he was proficient or majored in eg needling, herbs, massage, cuppingm moxa, etc or all of the above?

any stories related to healing skills also welcome....


good luck with your book and thanks for sharing these interesting stories. i know u have to keep stuff in reserve for the book so double thanks :D

[5thBrother]

http://www.jewleong.zoomshare.com/

thanks!

nice website and great photos

im not choy lay fat but love martial arts and historical stuff...

well i did clf for about a year as it was the only decent school in the town i was staying.. i like clf though.

anyways just saying good site! and good stories :)

PS:

"The American Hung Sing Kwoon. copyright 2001."

has this been published already then? do u know the isbn?

[CFT]

how could any one ever dispute something so trivial as a title in the first place?hskwarrior, I think you're being contradictory here. You can't ask someone to respect the title and then say it is a trivial matter at the same time.

In my opinion, the English terms like grandmaster are an inadequate translation of the Chinese terms.

sifu = master/teacher (OK)
si-gung = grandmaster (not OK), grand-master (OK, IMO!)
tai si-gung = great grandmaster (not OK), great grand-master (OK, IMO!)

jung si (zhong si) = Grandmaster

The first 3 indicate lineal (family) relationships, whereas the 4th is a term of respect accorded you by your peers.

Both "sifu" and "jung si" can be used by the general public with reference to the person, but to call someone "si-gung" or "tai si-gung" when there is no relationship make no sense. That subtlety is lost in the crude English translations grandmaster and great grandmaster respectively.

I get what you're trying to say, but I think "Grandmaster" is a better term than professor because there is less confusion with academic titles. Grandmaster is the "top of the tree" in the chess world (I think).

Anyway, keep up the good work promoting CLF. I like to hear stories of the "old" masters. Life must have been very different for a Chinese person in the USA back then.

[5thBrother]

sorry i didnt actually read most of ur post CFT...

BUT...

"Professor" seems to be a term come into popul;ar use via hawaii and America.. then much later eurpoe prolly copy america...

1. use the terms of ur art.. ie. chinese martial arts sifu, sigung, tai sigung etc...

the whole english terminology to me is a waste of time.....

2. who cares... call the teacher "great super supreme with extra cheese grand grand master" ... its "TERM" thing"....... worst case its an 1 upmanship thing... its better to use the chinese terms or if an okinawan arts master okinawan terms or if and indoensian arts master the indo terms.... best case it just shows english speakers tryingto sho respect...

lets forget termin0ology,,,


and get back to the stories

professor
associate professer
director

who cares its "just a name" the skill is in the hands

"professor" william chow - "hawaiin kenpo" appears to not be a well educated in academic sense... but he had the "martial arts" i guess westernes are using terms they can relate too.. and for them "professor" means some one HIGHLY skilled and knowledgeable and achieved in there art etc...

back to da stoires...

of which..


there is a Yang Taiji Quan Sifu.. i cant recall his name... Kuo.. ???? (maybe)

was said to have been a body gaird.. and carry darts and whip chain...

any connection???

or stories

if stories can start another thread on him

having done many years of security including high risk securoty.. i LOVE hearing stories of masters that actually applied theire martial arts in reality and such...

"does it work?" ... "well im alive" :P

thanks all

[hskwarrior]

Like 5thbrother Said,

[hskwarrior]

Like 5thbrother Said,

[hskwarrior]

cft,

are you practicing foshan wing chun still?

if so our gung fu styles come from the same place.


are you yuen kay say wing chun?

[CFT]

hskwarrior,

I would say nothing surpasses the "Grandmaster" title in the same way that nothing surpasses the "professor" title. So what happens to great great grandmaster, etc.?

At some point you don't need to note the relative generations, you want a title to reflect someone's standing that would be valid no matter what time period you look in. So for example, Chan Heung is a grandmaster (and founder) and so is Lau Bun. Chan Heung is not such a good example since he is CLF founder, and I am unfamiliar with CLF history. But you can probably pick out a few exceptional individuals in CLF history and say these people really stand out as fighters, teachers, both, etc. All worthy "professors" or "Grandmasters" in their own right.

In Cantonese, we would say "yut doi jung si" - a teacher in a generation. This is the "jung si" that I translate as "Grandmaster".

Yep still practice Foshan Wing Chun, though I'm really what you would call a hobbyist (but hey remember the story of the turtle and hare!). Not Yuen Kay San lineage, but via one of Yip Man's Foshan students: Lun Gai --> Derek Frearson --> David George (both UK based).

[5thBrother]

"so they stayed silent during practice."

nice :P


inter-racial marriage is still some problems for many peoples... black people - white people, chinese peopels - white people etc are among classical scenerio among other.. even sub groups in the same race group... even today!.. very sad...

as my teacher taught us as children... "we all bleed red" red blood.. we all humans... cut the skin and we all bleed red...

at the same time.. i still respect people's choice.. lau bun never teach white people i belief? why was that? if any one knows?

please any racial debate another seperate threadi. but if anyone knows what was the reasons he was against teach white people? it may be as simple as persecution against chinese but .. ?clinically ( i don't know the corrent english word) and comment on his choice. im guessing in that time frame it was ... so that chinese can protect themselfs against gwailo (excuse any whiote peoples dun like that teerm) hope u know what i means - dun let the enemy know ur skill kinda thing...


sorry for off topic questions...

(V) - all rights violated! :P that way cannot offend any 1 group :P mayeb (N) - Neutral is better :/

PEACE

[CFT]

I posted a comment online a while back noting how Foshan (Fatsan) seems to be some kind of kung fu Mecca. I know of:

Wing Chun
Choy Lay Fut
Bak Mei

But I'm sure there are more. What makes Foshan so special?

[5thBrother]

thats an interesting point FutSan like ToiSan and several other places seem to be a Mecca... even Macao also..

i wonder why is that!?!

or is it just that these places are well known in the west?

to add to list... hung gar (i think) have futsan major point of influence?

maybe its geograhpical?

interesting question

i hope to learn also

yumseng~ :D

[CFT]

to add to list... hung gar (i think) have futsan major point of influence?<Slaps forehead> Of course Hung Gar!

The legendary Wong Fei Hung hailed from Foshan.

[5thBrother]

DOH!

i should of know that! re: the -i think- ... i blame the friday night beer! :/

:X

[planetwc]

If that is the case, then how did GrandMaster Dino Salvatera learn CLF?

Seems like a contradiction if neither Lau Bun or Bing Chan would teach non chinese.

What gives?

[5thBrother]

hi all.

Leo T Fong made a book in the early or mid 80's called "choy lay fat" its stored away at my family home somewhere so i dont have it here...

but i recall somewhere in theback of my mindthat leo t fong studied lau bun 's hung sing clf?? if so.. there is a form in da book lin wan kune i think or maybe that was his sil lum book :x .... what ever the case is the form in that book Lau Bun line lin wan kune (or what ever the name of it is) form? ie. is that an example form of lau bun choy lay fat?

thanks

[hskwarrior]

5th brother,

Leo Fong did learn from Lau Bun, but somewhere went on to do his own thing. the set he was doing in the book was Cheung Kuen (long Fist). I've only seen the book, and i wasn't impressed at all. I've never seen him perform the set so i cannot comment on his execution of the moves, but in no way shape or form is leo fong to be a representative of Lau Bun's Choy Lee Fut.

The name Wah Keung was the name of his school, which means roughly "strong Chinese".

Leo Fong is one of those types of guys you say....oh, he too learned from Lau Bun?"

but again, please don't let the leo fong book be some form of representation of our lineage.

hsk

[hskwarrior]

ttt:D :D :rolleyes: :D

[hskwarrior]

i just found a website of Ed Parker's Kempo karate and have tried to contact a Master Hawkins. Now always knew that ed parker used lau buns choy lee fut as a model to create his kempo, but from what the forum said was that their forms 3-5 were from lau bun.

Im interested in finding out what their forms look like.

[TenTigers]

Was Lau Bun ever living in Hawaii? On William Kwai-Sun Chow's original patch, there were the characters Choy Li Fut on it. Also, who did James Ibrao study with? James Ibrao was also instrumental in the creation of the kenpo forms, especially Tracy's Kenpo, which was from Parker, and shared many forms.
Many people had said that William Chow;s father, Chow Hoon, studied Hung Kuen, but I see alot of CLF as well, especially some techniques which utilize been choy, sow choy combinations, as well as many techniques using jit fu(?)

[Michael Dasargo]

Hello Sifu McCarthy and all,

I am not a CLF boxer, however I am very intrigued by the legends of Lew Bin (Lao Bun). I look forward to the book! Just out of curiosity, how are you listing your sources in the book? Sounds like it's going to be a collector's item for Scholar Boxers.

This may or may not be of any help, but it would be interesting to cover the story of the Taoist woman who scarred Lew Bin's hand. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Lew Bin migrated to LA via Mexico through San Diego. He came over during the "Paper Sons" era, and took up a job washing clothes (a job delegated to minorities only). It was here where he became good friends with the Fire Chief, who in turn gave him a ride to SF after ducking from the police. Lew Bin never visited Hawaii, because "he didn't have a passport" (Lew Bin initially thought Hawaii was another country).

I beleive it was Ed Parker who first referred to Lew Bin as "Professor" due to the term's popularity in the Kenpo system. During that time, foreign language was not respected at all, so Caucasian Americans simply used english terms to describe their rank (non-Asians thought words like "sifu" and "Sensei" were "cheenky" and alien). "Professor" was much easier to pronounce, and was at the time, more respected than foreign tongues.

It may be difficult to dig for info., because asking about Lew Bin to the Chinese is like asking about a Yakuza to a Japanese person, or a Mafia boss to the Italians. It's a small, tightly-nit community, and no one wants to "snitch" or tarnish someone's public reputation.

Again, my information may be inaccurate because I'm simply regurgitating the "word on the street". Anyway, keep us posted on the book's progress.

Good luck to you!
M.Dasargo

[hskwarrior]

michael,

thanks for the info. i never knew that lau bun was scarred by a taoist lady.

the fire chief is something no one in hung sing talked about.

but there is a story about Lau Bun saving the life of a LA police officer.

Lew Bin, wow, there's only a few people (and they're all from southern Cali) that call him lew bin.

if i may ask, where did you get your info from?

thank you for you input.

[hskwarrior]

i see where your information came from. is this right, Share Lew is your nephew?

i tried to contact share lew a few years back, now i heard that sifu lew learned from Lau Bun, and i also heard that Lau Bun had a nephew, but i was never told it was share lew.

another chinese guy from Southern LA came down with his student ( a black guy) up to our school and vistited, he claimed to be Lau Bun's nephew.

michael, pls feel free and jump in to share some of the stories of Lau Bun. I personally would love to hear what you have. it's a blessing to lau bun for us to remember him. so jump on in. if you know about the police officer he saved let me know the story.


thanks,

frank---hsk

[hskwarrior]

Professor lau Bun was more than just a fighter, he not only knew how to kill, but he knew how to heal as well.

One of my escrima students who was once a student of Professor Lau Bun would always tell me how when he was a kid he broke his ankle and his father brought him into see Professor Lau who reset roger's bones then slapped on some black tar plaster around his ankle and roger was able to walk out of the school on his own.

i believe he passed his dit da medicine recipe's down to my sigung Jew Leong. Our Dit Da Jow is some of the best stuff out on the market. but my sigung limits me to how many gallons of it i can buy. but the stuff is off the hook. this is the same stuff Ed Parker used to buy from Professor Lau.

i guess you can say he was a perfect example of ying and yang.

hsk

[hskwarrior]

ttt;) :D ...

[htowndragon]

ttt :D :D :D

[Rockwood]

Hi,

I was lucky enough to train in the method of Wing Woo Gar in northern and southern california. The creator is James Wing Woo, now in his mid 80's. He is semi retired and is located in North Hollywood.

Sifu Woo was a Hop Sing Tong guy as a youth and trained with both Lau Bun and Wong Tim Yuen. I interviewed Sifu Woo for the book I did about martial arts teachers, it's called Nei Jia Quan: Internal Martial Arts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556435061/qid=1137605959/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1232721-3771002?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

There's only a little bit about the Hop Sing Tong in the book, but Sifu Woo told me a number of other hair rasing stories about collecting gambing debts with Lau Bun and the other triggermen of the Tong. Apparently San Francisco in the 1940's was a much tougher town than today and gang wars were a common occurance.

Sifu Woo met Ed Parker at Lau Bun's school and went with him to LA. It was Sifu Woo who created the Chinese material that is a part of Parker's Kenpo to this day. However, he broke with Parker early on and went on to teach his own style which is a mix of all the martial arts he learned in Canton in the 30's.

-Jess O'Brien

[hskwarrior]

you're right about the 30's 40's and 50's were a tougher place to live in the sf.

thanks for the input on Lau Bun, it's moments like this that people come up with forgotten material or even just never repeated.

but i i will have to beg to differ with you, but a good majority of ED Parkers kempo is from Lau Bun, and on Master Hawkins website, they mention that their forms 3-5 came from Lau Bun, not jimmy woo.

Isn't jimmy woo the founder of Choy Lee Ho Fut Hung?

anyways, if you remember the stories i would love for you to post them.


hsk

[iron_silk]

Frank

I found this link http://www.sanjosekenpo.com/creationofforms.htm

and it kind of details the creation of the Chinese flavour to Ed Parker's Kenpo.

So although it may be similiar to Lau Bun's CLF and possibily taken from Lau Bun himself, it sounds more plauseable that it was taken from Jimmy Wing Woo.

Given how the story in the link portray's Ed Parker I am surprised Lau Bun would even have anything to do with him.

Still just based on the story sounds like it is more likely (or at least out weigh in terms of involvement with Jimmy Woo) to take something you have time to study and learn rather than just by watching...or maybe both had an influence on his kenpo.

[hskwarrior]

what i think was said, was that there is a split within the ed parker camp.

but ed parker had more dealings with lau bun than your average outsider.

what was posted could very well be the case, but i have been trying to contact master hawkins because it was his students who said forms 3-5 came from lau bun.

when i find out i will post my findings.


peace.

hsk

[Rockwood]

I'm sure it's possible that Parker got some of his material directly from Lau Bun. When I talked to Sifu Woo he said that he created the "Chinese" style forms that are within Kenpo and that he wrote most of what is in "Secrets of Chinese Karate" that Parker published. The pictures in it are drawings of Sifu Woo. Since James Wing Woo was a student of Lau Bun, who taught Parker, it's likely that the majority of the stuff is from Woo. It's hard to copy forms from tape, but not impossible. Either way the material is likely to be related to Lau Bun's, although Woo had many other teachers before that time.

James Wing Woo is creator of Wing Woo Gar, he's not the same Jimmy Woo of San Shou fame, who may also be related to Choy Lay Fut in some way, I'm not sure.

I asked Sifu Woo about world war two. One of the stories he told was that because San Francisco was a central point in sending the US military forces to the Pacific front, many thousands of young guys from all over America started showing up and raising hell. He said that some of these guys hadn't ever ridden in a street car or seen a city before, they were straight off the farm in Kansas or wherever. He declared that some were so backward that they hadn't even worn a pair of shoes before being issued their Army uniforms! This influx of red-blooded youths created numerous conflicts and racist attacks, and the defenders of Chinatown in the Hop Sing Tong would be called out again and again to protect the Chinese citizens in big street fights.

Hsk Warrior, (what was your real name again?), I would recommend that you find the time to go visit Sifu Woo. He is old school and it takes a lot of time to earn his trust. But if you are sincere, I think he may be able to tell you some things about Lau Bun, and Southern style Chinese martial arts that would be useful to you.

Sincerely,

Jess O'Brien

[hskwarrior]

Rockwood,

much appreciated and if you can take that a step further i would love to call him. hopefully you can pm me and send me his number.

see, this was what i was hoping for by opening up and talk about lau bun, people would be more open to tell what they know. thank you.

my sifu agreed about the wwII and the causing of trouble and hop sing guys would go and protect chinatown.

but isn't jimmy woo the founder of Choy lee ho fut hung?


and oh my real name is frank.

[hskwarrior]

Mr Jess O'brien,

are you related to the late Dr William O'brien from San Fran? he was a world class fencing master, ex o.s.s. , and such?

frank

[Rockwood]

Frank,

No problem, Sifu Woo isn't hard to find. http://www.jameswingwoo.com

One problem is that there are two Jimmy Woos. One is James Wing Woo who is alive and in LA. Then there is Jimmy Woo of San Soo. He is the one you are thinking of as the creator of Choy lee ho fut hung. He was Tim Cartmell's teacher, and is well known for his street fighting art of San Soo.

James Wing Woo in North Hollywood teaches his personal creation which is a mix of all the arts he learned over the years in Canton and San Francisco. The 10 forms of the Jing Mo, Tam Tui, Southern Praying Mantis, Northern Shaolin, Mok Gar, Hong Gar, Li Gar, Choy Li Fut and others are all part of it. His favorite is the Yang style Tai Chi Chuan that he started learning before he was even a teenager. His knowledge of Chinese martial arts is vast. There are few alive today that have such a wide range of information. He was young when the golden age of Chinese martial arts at the turn of the century was still in living memory and now he is one of the last of his generation. He fought the Japanese in the US Navy during WWII. Above and beyond the rest, the man is a tireless researcher into kinestheolgy and the workings of the human body, I've never seen so many anatomy books an charts in my life!

And no, I'm not a relation to any of the San Francisco O'Briens. Except perhaps through our ancestor Brian Boru, who won his war with the Vikings in 1014! :)

-Jess O'Brien

[hskwarrior]

as i have said, i have been trying to gather as much info on lau bun as possible, and thanks to mr o'brien i have a few more.

but my sifu has also been helping me by contacting our elders and he called me today with this one. He said he was talking to someone (i;ll leave his name out for now) but this person said "do you know that Lau Bun taught choy lee fut to Anthony Quinn? my sifu's response was "BU11sh1t!!!!! The actor?!!!!?!?!?!

this person said no, it's true and he was there to take a picture of it. so we are waiting to get the picture and i will post it up.

but if this true, WOW!!! He taught the legendary Anthony Quinn, movie actor.

until i get the photo's is still a rumor. and it really focks me up since i knew he never taught now i can say too many white folks.


HSK

[hskwarrior]

ttt...........

[hskwarrior]

no prob bob,

i love recounting the stories of our founder here in the u.s..

Lau bun is truly America's kung fu patriach and its about time the world knows about him.

but i will keep you all posted on the old actor Anthony Quinn, who starred in Lawrence of Arabia.

[htowndragon]

```ttt````

[hskwarrior]

morbid or not, i am posting Lau Bun's grave stone for anyone interested.

check out the attachment.

[chud]

HskWarrior: very interesting thread, thanks for sharing the stories.

Rockwood/Jess: I wanted to send you a PM to ask you a question but you don't seem to have that option in your profile.

[Rockwood]

Hi chuD,

Hmm, I will mess with my preferences, my email is
xingyiquan5 AT yahoo.com

Look forward to hearin from you.

-Jess O

[diego]

As i've said, Professor Lau Bun was THE chinatown godfather, not only packed with his gung fu, from what i understand the man also used to carry around a 6 shooter revolver. Again, the man would never display his gung fu unless he planned on killing you with it.

anyways, Lau Bun and his students had more than one encounter with the legendary bruce lee. In fact, i only recently came to learn (there's a well known person here who was an eye witness when i learned this) Lau Bun school was majorly involved in not allowing Bruce Lee to teach the Gwai Lo.

Even more surprising to hear was the late Bing Chan (my sifu's first sifu) was the one who wrote up the declaration to bruce lee telling him why he shouldn't be teaching Gwai Lo and if it doesn't stop a match was to be set up in which Wong Jack Man ended up fighting him.

I recall my elders telling me that before bruce lee came to know lau bun one of lau buns students kicked the ass of bruce lee's student. bruce came over to the hung sing kwoon yelling and screaming, and Lau Bun came out of his office and asked what the problem was. The moment bruce layed his eyes on lau bun he just put his head down and walked away.

The next two stories have to do with chasing off bruces students. The fisst is my Si-bak Ah Foon and his classmates were practicing gung fu when the green Hornet (bruce Lee's student) came into lau bun's hung sing kwoon starting trouble. Ah foon was the first to get to him but he ended up fighting the green hornet up the stairs and out into the streets kicking that arse.

next, my sifu recalls during chinese new years in 1967 bruce lee's students were all pumped up and came down the stairs in Bing Chan's Lup Mo studio when Kenneth also fought him up the stairs and out into the street beating the heck out of him. Kenneth was a serious bad ass.

My sifu once told me a story that bruce lee rented out the Sun Sing movie theater to promote his style. while on stage he was bragging about how fast his hands were and asked for some audience participation to see if anyone could block his punches. So Kenneth's classmates finally convinced him to go up on stage. Bruce introduced himself and demo'd what he was going to do by actually throwing a couple of punches and kenneth blocked those. Then bruce lee charged and kenneth used our downward windmill blocks and blocked every single punch bruce threw. the crowd must have been ecstatic and i can't imagine kenneth's classmates and what they were thinking. anyways, they went back to bing chan and told him what happened, and bing chan asked one question....."did you hit him back?" Kenneth said NO. From what i hear is that bing chan got hella ****ed about kenneth waisting his time by just blocking, he should have laid into bruce.

I would like to state now, that these stories are in NO WAY intended to insult or offend any of Bruce Lee's descendants and followers. The man was very good for his time, but let's remember, he was still a man.


peace.

why did bruce and his students act up in some one else's territory?...were they high or bruce was used to chinatown being growing up in hong kong?...read in that "Unsettled Matters" e-book bruce was on roids...:)
trying to find links on old chinese gangsters.

[diego]

no prob bob,

i love recounting the stories of our founder here in the u.s..

Lau bun is truly America's kung fu patriach and its about time the world knows about him.

but i will keep you all posted on the old actor Anthony Quinn, who starred in Lawrence of Arabia.


lol, I just rented "Lawrence of Arabia" for the first time, love how dude went muslem...now he does gung fu as well!?:)