Eight Immortals Style / Email Replies

First of all let me say thank you to all who emailed me concerning the post I did for Mr. Arthur Yip, who recently took a trip to China to investigate historical accounts of Chinese martial arts. Arthur had the pleasure of meeting my Sifu before his death and has been a very valuble friend to me since my Sifu's passing. Now to give some answers to some of the questions that were sent. First of all the name Lau Family Eight Immortals Style is the result of my teachers family name "Lau" who learned the authentic teachings of Wu Tang "Mo Dong" Eight Immortals System from Master Yue Ho Lung. With respect to various schools of martial science and their respective drunken skills, let me emphatically state, the eight immortals style is a by product if you will of the martial arts of Wu Tang, for such taoist characters as liu dong bin, the taiost swordsman, chung guo lo, han sing tu, cho gwock kau, ho sen ku, lam choy wah, tit gwai li and han jeung li are of the taoist sect not buddhist. I challenge anyone to find in the martial tradition the eight immortals of the "shaolin" school, unlikely but one will find the 18 lohans though. Eight Immortals style unlike other schools of drunken boxing is a complete system housing hand and weapon forms, sparring sets, wooden dummy and the reknown eight immortals chi gong form. One of the primary features of the eight immortals style is the unique hand and foot posturing that makes up the form of what resembles the chinese character for the number eight. The eight immortals style has its base laid down in the eight keyword formula and its relationship to the bot gwa. Eight immortals style is neither internal or external yet encompassing all, it is truly one of the most unique schools of traditional choinese martial arts. The eight immortals style has always been around, now being taught is another story, I was fortunate enough to meet Sifu Lau and become his last disciple although I have two senior classmates here in the states who followed my sifu from China to the U.S., although having no desire to instruct or conduct classes. To the question of Am I teaching? The answer is yes, I teach a few dedicated students although in the process of starting www.joybotsin.com a website totally devoted to the Eight Immortal System which will be loaded with information about this system. As a fighting system, as sifu Lau used to state, drunken boxing is like a liar and a cheat you must be very concerned with a skilled exponent of this style. Drunken boxing is a style that takes total committment and maximum efforts, if truly was and still is the most rewarding, invigorating and complexed martial system i've ever endured. However one of the important factors to this school is relaxation and knowing how to manipulate various types of force. Hope I have justly answered your questions, and thanks again for your emails.

Troy Dunwood
Ying-Hung Kung Fu Club
Lau Family Eight Immortals Style
"The Original"