Inflated Lineage

[djphrenzy]

so here's the story...

As most of you know, I have been looking for someone teaching good kung fu in my area for quite a while. A few weeks ago I came across a school not far away called Three Internal Heavens. It sounded like something interesting so I went to check it out.

I went down to meet the Sifu, Mr. Eric Knight and to get a free lesson. Mr. Knight and I sat down for some time, and we discussed some things. I asked him about who he learned from, and he informed me that he was the senior inner door student of Dr. Fred Wu of Columbus, Ohio. He also told me that he was the sole teacher of Dr. Wu's Huang Gua Mountain Pakua, and that Dr. Wu had also taught him the techniques of various other styles including Seven Star Mantis.

Needless to say, I was intrigued by Mr. Knight's claims and I thought on it for a couple days. After deliberating I decided to study under Mr. Knight so I signed up. A week or so passed, and I began to notice something strange. When I would ask about Dr. Wu's other students he would avoid the subject. This made me curious so I began to do some research.

I came across a thread on here posted by Dwid stating that his teacher, Sifu Steve, was Dr. Wu's Senior student. I emailed dwid, and he and I began looking into the matter.

After some digging, I found out that Sifu Steve is in fact the inheritor of the Huang Gua Mountain Pakua system, and that Mr. Knight's claims are greatly exaggerated...enough so that they were pretty much outright lies.

Mr. Knight had only studied under Dr. Wu sporadically at best, and Dr. Wu did not want to teach him his family pakua system for one reason or another. Eric persued the system from Dr. Wu's students and was turned down on most occasions. So where ever he got what he's teaching from, it wasn't Dr. Wu or his students.

Once again this is a great example that beginning students must be wary of who they study under. I consider myself to be extremely careful, and better informed than most beginners. I was still mislead, quite easily too.

Steve "Phrenzy"
Kali/Pentjak Silat
http://www.djphrenzy.com

[Lost_Disciple]

Sorry that happened to yah.
Events like that, that test your dedication, may be the thing that makes you a dedicated student.
I'm sure when you do finally find your sifu, you'll appreciate it and probly be less likely to quit.
Good luck in your search. I know it's taking a long time and not going so well, but it's a life long commitment and you wanna do it right.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

[Scarletmantis]

Geez, that s@cks. You know, I remember your old thread on this guy, and most of what you talked about was his strict training methods and his skill which seemed very high. It's too bad he couldn't have been honest with you. Do you think you would have stayed with him if he'd told you the truth from the get-go? :(

"The essence of life is struggle and it's goal is domination. There are higher goals and deeper meanings, but they exist only within the mind of man. The reality of life is war."

- The Way and the Power

[nobody]

;)

[EARTH DRAGON]

unfortunatly in this day and age anyone can open a school and call themself a sifu! one thing that a begining student may look for is a certificate of authorization allowing that person rights to teach a certain style signed by the master of that particular lineage! another way is to look for the traditional master/sifu picture, in which the student is standing next to his seated master. these proud credentials should be displayed some where in the kwon, and should be observed when you are invited to the first class to look around, or at least in his office when you are disscussing enrollment. Many times new students ask me what are all those certificats for, I answer them as I point them out. I have a school down the street that the owner was my student for about a year and now tries to advertise that she is a sifu in a different style but has no formal teacher just books and magazines, so BE CAREFUL

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