ghostexorcist
04-10-2007, 11:41 AM
(I contacted Gene Ching about this and he said that he would ask one of his acquaintances. He also suggested that I post a question here.)
I am trying to find someone who is willing to contact a martial arts master in China for me. My Chinese language and literacy at the moment is embarrassing to say the least, so I lack the skills necessary to conduct an interview with them. This person is Master Fan Keping ( 范克平) and he teaches so-called Wudang skills out of Nanjing. He is also known as a collector of rare kung fu manuals. You can read the following page for more details:
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-2-16/38268.html
The reason I want to reach him is because I've read that he claims some of his "golden bell" exercises were passed on from the Song Dynasty by Zhou Tong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Tong_%28monk%29), the archery teacher of Gen. Yue Fei. There is even a set of instructional VCD's about said skills:
http://www.plumpub.com/sales/vcd4/coll_WDtaihe.htm
(This page latonizes Zhou's name: Zhou Tong = Tong Zhou.)
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/xwzy.htm
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/page13.htm
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/page15.htm
(These Chinese pages present Zhou's name correctly and mention how the skills were passed along until the Ming, when a Daoist priest recorded them in a manual. There is, however, no historical evidence to support the claim that Zhou knew any kung fu at all, but I would like to record any legend of how Zhou came to be associated with Fan's gate.)
I've been corresponding with one of Master Fan's Chinese disciples who just recently immigrated to Toronto, Canada. He gave me the telephone number to Master Fan's kung fu school in Nanjing because I'm guessing he doesn't have an email account. The disciple explained to me that Fan of course doesn't speak English and so a person fluent in Chinese is needed to talk to him. He also cautioned that the person who speaks with him be knowledgeable about the martial arts and Chinese culture. This is not because Master Fan is arrogant and doesn't like Americans (he’s got an American student), it's because he doesn't like to explain the basics of either. I would ask the disciple to do it, but he is very busy trying to secure a job at the moment. Does anyone on here know a knowledgeable person that would be willing to correspond with Master Fan? I would pay for any and all phone charges incurred and possible packages needing to be shipped from China to the U.S.
Master Fan has an American disciple that teaches English in a local university near his school. The disciple in Canada didn't have the American's contact info though. Maybe a person could get his contact info from Master Fan? I would like to get his number myself because he should be able to explain everything I want to know clearly.
I asked Sal Cazonieri and he works with a woman who could translate any questions I have. The disciple would have to ask these questions to Master Fan over th phone, but, again, he just moved and is very busy getting situated in a new country. If no one answers here, I'll go with Sal.
I am currently gathering material for a research paper on Zhou Tong. It will analyze Zhou's mention in historical records, folklore, literature and martial arts legends. I will not publish it until my Chinese vastly improves and I've had time to do more in-depth research. I figure it will attract history buffs and martial artists enamored with Yue Fei and fans of the Water Margin novel (since wuxia novels and folktales cast Zhou as the teacher of the bandits Wu Song, Lin Chong, and Lu Junyi). Needless to say, that will not be for many years.
I am trying to find someone who is willing to contact a martial arts master in China for me. My Chinese language and literacy at the moment is embarrassing to say the least, so I lack the skills necessary to conduct an interview with them. This person is Master Fan Keping ( 范克平) and he teaches so-called Wudang skills out of Nanjing. He is also known as a collector of rare kung fu manuals. You can read the following page for more details:
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-2-16/38268.html
The reason I want to reach him is because I've read that he claims some of his "golden bell" exercises were passed on from the Song Dynasty by Zhou Tong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Tong_%28monk%29), the archery teacher of Gen. Yue Fei. There is even a set of instructional VCD's about said skills:
http://www.plumpub.com/sales/vcd4/coll_WDtaihe.htm
(This page latonizes Zhou's name: Zhou Tong = Tong Zhou.)
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/xwzy.htm
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/page13.htm
http://www.cn-wushuschool.com/page15.htm
(These Chinese pages present Zhou's name correctly and mention how the skills were passed along until the Ming, when a Daoist priest recorded them in a manual. There is, however, no historical evidence to support the claim that Zhou knew any kung fu at all, but I would like to record any legend of how Zhou came to be associated with Fan's gate.)
I've been corresponding with one of Master Fan's Chinese disciples who just recently immigrated to Toronto, Canada. He gave me the telephone number to Master Fan's kung fu school in Nanjing because I'm guessing he doesn't have an email account. The disciple explained to me that Fan of course doesn't speak English and so a person fluent in Chinese is needed to talk to him. He also cautioned that the person who speaks with him be knowledgeable about the martial arts and Chinese culture. This is not because Master Fan is arrogant and doesn't like Americans (he’s got an American student), it's because he doesn't like to explain the basics of either. I would ask the disciple to do it, but he is very busy trying to secure a job at the moment. Does anyone on here know a knowledgeable person that would be willing to correspond with Master Fan? I would pay for any and all phone charges incurred and possible packages needing to be shipped from China to the U.S.
Master Fan has an American disciple that teaches English in a local university near his school. The disciple in Canada didn't have the American's contact info though. Maybe a person could get his contact info from Master Fan? I would like to get his number myself because he should be able to explain everything I want to know clearly.
I asked Sal Cazonieri and he works with a woman who could translate any questions I have. The disciple would have to ask these questions to Master Fan over th phone, but, again, he just moved and is very busy getting situated in a new country. If no one answers here, I'll go with Sal.
I am currently gathering material for a research paper on Zhou Tong. It will analyze Zhou's mention in historical records, folklore, literature and martial arts legends. I will not publish it until my Chinese vastly improves and I've had time to do more in-depth research. I figure it will attract history buffs and martial artists enamored with Yue Fei and fans of the Water Margin novel (since wuxia novels and folktales cast Zhou as the teacher of the bandits Wu Song, Lin Chong, and Lu Junyi). Needless to say, that will not be for many years.