The ballot please...

[robertwilliam]

Please confirm this and I will forever shut up about 8 step lineage... Forgive my spelling -
#1 Master Chaing Hua Long - seven star master/originator incorporated pa kua footwork, #2master Fong Hua Yi - added, throws and joint locks to 8-step,
#3Master Wei Hsaio Tang - Added Tai chi (Wu style - later modified as Shyun)
#4Grandmaster Shyun Kwan Long- spread 8-step to the united states, and
#5Master Shyun Ten Long -master Economos...(Shyun Ten Long)

[8stepsifu]

Chiang Hua Long came from Plum Flower Lineage and added ba gua, hsing I and Tong Bei footwork to eightstep. The names of the ba gua and hsing I masters are on the web site.

Feng Hua Yi-exactly correct

Wei Hsiao Tang- Wu style Tai Chi and Oriental Medecine. Our Wu style tai chi is old wu style before it got standardized to it's present form, so we can't and won't call it wu style out of respect for the Wu familly and their ownership of the system. So the name is Shyun Style Tai Chi.

4)Shyun Kwan Long-Had nothing left to add, so he spread it to the United States. He created a public face for the system, a ranking order and federation of schools to promote the fighting/medical art. Master Shyun Kwan Long is the current Grandmaster, the rest below this line are generation diciples and the number is by who taught who to sifu level and not whom they currently learn from.

5)Shyun Tien Long- Master Dean- Lot's of students and taught many Sifu's. Most of the sifu's are from his lineage.

6)Shyun Di Long(Kevin Loftus) and 6)Shyun Di Hu(Jack Skutnick)

7)Shyun Yuan Long (Richard Mesmer)

If your not bleeding, your not having enough fun.

[on-jer]

The lineage of 8 Step Praying Mantis is detailed in Master Wei's 2nd book, "Practical Praying Mantis Boxing".

You are correct insofar as Master Chaing Hua Long practiced Seven Star. He, in collaboration with Wond Do (who added Ba Gua) and Wong Chon Ching (who added White Monkey)created 8 Step. Fong Hua Yi was the true first practitioner of 8 Step and passed it on to Master Wei. Master Wei never spoke of any other student of Fong Hua Yi.

As a result of the Communist revolution, Master Wei fled Mainland China and eventually ended up in Taipei. He had many students, some of them pictured in his book.

My teacher, Master Chun-fu Lin spent 33 years with Master Wei and saw him on a daily basis. He teaches the 8 Step as originally taught to him but will add variations of Hsing-I and Shuai-Chiao. Master Wei said, "If one could learn 8 Step and Shuai-Chiao, it would be like teaching a tiger to fly".

I have a 8mm film, transfered to VHS, of Master Wei, at the age of 78, doing several of the moving steps and forms. Also included are a couple high school students doing the 2 man forms. I would like to make excepts available on the net. Any suggestions?

[8StepStudent]

Is there any way that you can make a copy of that tape or something? I'd very much like to see it.

[on-jer]

I'm not at liberty to distribute the entire tape. But I would like to be able to post MPEG segments somewhere on the Web. I'm not sophisticated enough to digitaize it etc., unless someone can give me some suggestions.

The tape is very interesting. I hope I can move like Master Wei at that age.

[8stepsifu]

I've seen some grainy footage of him doing some mantis grabbing in the air, but I haven't seen him in action and I would love to.

If your not bleeding, your not having enough fun.