Ng Yim Ming - famous Tibetan Hop Gar leader and Chinese Army General

[diego]

Lawrence, welcome to the forum and thank you for the info about your grandfather.

I practice his version of Hop Ga as taught by his student and business partner, Tse Cheuk Tong. Tse sifu knew your grandfather from his Hong Kong days and still owns two swords that belonged to Ng sigung (I was priveleged to be permitted to hold one and help repair the green snakeskin hilt wrapping. I know it's silly, but I felt as if I could feel a little of the old man's personality in the sword).

When your grandfather was killed, my sifu was teaching in Hawaii so he avoided most of the violent repercussions. I never knew the name of the kid who did the shooting, but of course he was only obeying someone else's orders. That mentality is not completely gone from the SF region as witness the Leung shooting a few years ago, but I hear it's a little safer. I lived two blocks from the Golden Dragon during the infamous shooting in the 70s. Chinatown gung fu students were wary of even going out for noodles after classes. We always made a point of covering up our "colors" or uniforms in order to avoid being mistaken for gang members.

Your grandfather's death was a tragedy for America's gung fu heritage. But he has a legacy and you have an extended family.

Sincerely,

John Howland

Hello John, I'm wondering if you can give me some tips on TWC kicking combo's?. I've been at the beach almost every day for the last three months studying fitness and shadow boxing and recently got my stand up kicks down pat on my power leg...I like to do right roundhouse counterclockwise, switch the legs and then right back hook kick clockwise spin around into right shuffling steal step side kick or tiger tail kick, pull that leg back and spin around and right front kick to face with full power. There is a few Brazilians at the local beach so i had to get some Capwera footwork tips to get my spin kicks down...what do you know after making the spin hook heel kick natural all of my spinning long fist hand are tight and crisp like the Bak Hsing Panther Fists...You tube is a godsend to better understand one's southern style basics...I'm stuck on the round kick, back kick, side kick to front kick combo using basic Capwera staggering steps...Do you have any video of advanced white crane kicking combo's?. It seems Capwera may be more advance when it comes to flash and spinning...most the Kaido kicks are solid power steps...I need some momentum drills, like if you do double tiger claw to the sides of your shoulders and hold your arms there with chi centered and then start spinning it makes your kicks completely effortless!.

[ljeung]

He was in the Army so you would think heavy discipline would be the key I know there is closed door Gung Fu and performance Gung Fu I was lucky enough to see home video of Kaido's closed door methods before I even started to take training seriously. It seems Hop Gar has a bit of a curse on it...it's picked up by people who live in places not filled with peace because it kicks butt...I'm curious what body guards think about Gung Fu training, because fighting is fighting it's very simple, but the power you can build from Chinese Martial Arts can make you an ******* so I can see some oriental-fighting-man-body-guards turning the power drills into a way of life...see Kaido got shot, and supposedly he learned from your grandfather who was also shot...I'm getting better at my drills and it makes you feel very self righteous where I'm like wow I better not argue with people as I'm getting stronger I may get shot... The long fist punches with the spinning footwork really make you hyperventilate and walk around like an ******* on steroids...I can see why they promote the Bhuddism in the Hop Gar fighting forms just to create some Tai Chi like tranquility while dancing like a savage...

Hi diego,

When my grandfather served in the military the second time from 1933 to 1949 (the first time was only for several months some time between his first acting tour in the U.S. in 1924-1925 and his second one in 1932-1933), he served as an aviator for several years. In a previous post, I mentioned that he flew under a bridge upside down. According to the book "Advanced Aerobatics" by Geza Szurovy and Mike Goulian, this kind of flying, which is called aerobatics, as hinted by the book's title, requires the pilot to have good physical conditioning in order to pull high G's and to coordinate visual cues and flight control movements. It also requires him to have good mental training in order to concentrate on flying and manage the mental stresses of flying. Would this conditioning and training also be key to kung fu?

Anyway, please take care of yourself and do not get into any arguments. I do not want you to get shot.

By the way, you mentioned that Buddhism is promoted in Hop Gar. How are the teachings of Siddharta Gautama incorporated?

Lawrence

[ljeung]

Hi diego,

I have hundreds of family photos, but you are probably only interested in the ones with my grandfather. Unfortunately, I only have a few photos of him: one when he was a teenager; one when he was young man, with three of his buddies; one when he was in his Chinese Army Air Corps. uniform, with my grandmother, oldest aunt Virgilyn (his stepdaughter - my grandmother was previously married, too), and oldest uncle (the rest of the family was yet to born); one when he was an old man, with my grandmother, the two uncles, two aunts, and my mother (Aunt Virgilyn, sadly, had died of what my grandmother said was leukemia in Macau around 1940.) All of these photos were taken in China or Hong Kong, and all, except the last one, were taken in studios, so unfortunately, I do not have any photos of vintage Chinatown. My parents might though, unless theirs were lost, when moisture leaked into their storage place and destroyed their photo albums. To my family, all those lost photos were priceless, so losing them was really, really heartbreaking.

I will think about putting the existing photos online.

Since you mention Bruce Lee, some of these photos included friends of my grandfather and mother, including the man who portrayed the villain in "Enter the Dragon", Shih Kien. In fact, my mother and oldest uncle told me that my uncle and Bruce Lee used to roam the streets of Hong Kong to get into fights on purpose. I was shocked when they told me that.

While my family knew Bruce Lee, I personally never met him. And unfortunately, I do not have any classic pics of him dressed up as the Green Hornet.

Lawrence

Hi diego,

I just remember today that my mother had photos of my grandfather gripping the midsection of a vertical pole, with his body stretched out perpendicularly from the pole. Unfortunately, I do not know if any of these photos survived the water damage.

Lawrence

[diego]

Hi diego,

When my grandfather served in the military the second time from 1933 to 1949 (the first time was only for several months some time between his first acting tour in the U.S. in 1924-1925 and his second one in 1932-1933), he served as an aviator for several years. In a previous post, I mentioned that he flew under a bridge upside down. According to the book "Advanced Aerobatics" by Geza Szurovy and Mike Goulian, this kind of flying, which is called aerobatics, as hinted by the book's title, requires the pilot to have good physical conditioning in order to pull high G's and to coordinate visual cues and flight control movements. It also requires him to have good mental training in order to concentrate on flying and manage the mental stresses of flying. Would this conditioning and training also be key to kung fu?

Anyway, please take care of yourself and do not get into any arguments. I do not want you to get shot.

By the way, you mentioned that Buddhism is promoted in Hop Gar. How are the teachings of Siddharta Gautama incorporated?

Lawrence

In the physical postures lies the prayer hands and soft yoga influenced stretching movements...when you go through your spinning fist drills when you finish you stand at attention and the muscle pump you feel naturally puts you into the monks prayer hand position. Let me reverse it. I can see how Bhuddist meditation postures came from calming one's fighting forces. The prayer hand is the perfect posture to keep the martial pump while relaxing the senses and letting the heart breathe...if you walk around like a boxer with your fists clenched all day you can grow into an *******...You read many stories about the one family member in the household mastered Gung Fu and used it to get his way with his family and in life. If you just practice mastering your opponent without learning to relax and how to lose the martial art can possess you and all of your arguments are dealt with from a fighting posture. I find if I don't maintain a zen like mind state while doing form my power is hindered by my thoughts and my limbs don't fly out of socket with proper control like they are supposed to. On that note I'm jealous of your grandfathers flying skills, I'm laughing visualizing a crazy Gung Fu guy pretending the plane is one of his hand held weapons flying around spinning crazy blowing **** up like a video game.

Most martial art in the popular media is fancy legends to inspire people to lose weight, it would be very useful to the public if the real masters legacies were made open to the public...90% of the population since JFK was president are overweight and all these "Kung Fu" fads aren't helping. once the 60's hit the kids got into electronics they lost that war time discipline and it sucks when you want to talk about proper "Kung Fu" to the average joe...like the other day i was shadowboxing at the beach and this chubby drunk guy comes up asking if i was doing the Brazilian art of Capwera not even knowing Capwera has no long fists... I was just like "nah, it was "Kung Fu" you can't tell the average guy what style it's just movie talk to them, so you tend to just generalize and keep it moving I'm not gonna spend 3 years breaking down all of the links for the guy...

Also, I'm a student right now I don't go into environments where I will get into trouble, it's just the stronger you get the more like a hero you tend to feel, and that's just dumb besides when you first learn Martial Art you are scared and want to defend yoursefl, so the bigger you get the more the ego comes into play and we all know when it comes to fighting it's best not to think too much...look more!.

Nice chatting Lawrence,

Cheers

James

[jdhowland]

[QUOTE=diego;940963]Hello John, I'm wondering if you can give me some tips on TWC kicking combo's?. QUOTE]

Hop Ga has the same kicks as TWC, but since it's not really a topic of this thread it might be enough to note here that Hop Ga and TWC both emphasize simplicity in execution with multiple applications for simple techniques rather than elaborate series of moves.

I'm in Seattle, now and don't get to a computer often so give me a little time and I'll either pm you or start a new post. Hop Ga combos would be a good subject.

Be well.

jd

[mpstaples]

Nice to see all the interest in Hop Gar. I have a short section in my latest book.. Focusing Emptiness...which isn’t technically a gong Fu book this time around, about White Crane and Hop Gar in San Francisco at the time. If interested, it’s on Amazon. Type in a search for Michael P. Staples. Don’t forget the “P.”

[windwalker]

Nice to see all the interest in Hop Gar. I have a short section in my latest book.. Focusing Emptiness...which isn’t technically a gong Fu book this time around, about White Crane and Hop Gar in San Francisco at the time. If interested, it’s on Amazon. Type in a search for Michael P. Staples. Don’t forget the “P.”

A good book, with pictures in a short section
detailing aspects of the style.