Attn: firepalm

[iron_silk]

Do you know a student of Ku Yu Cheung?
I have heard of a grandmaster by the name of Ma Gim Fung (I think the characters translate to "Horse Sword Wind") but my canontese is really bad so...

I hear that he was a later student of Ku Yu Cheung and obviously learned Northern Shaolin. Ma Gim Fung also taught at Chin Woo or something like that?

Thank you.

[firepalm]

Ma Kim Fung passed away a few years back, you would best visit his son's school (Danny Mah - Mah's Athletic Group) located at 1st Ave. & Rupert. Mah did Northern Shaolin La Hon Men, can't remember his teacher's name but believe the surname was Yim, that also taught Lam Kwong Wing (of San Fran) but could be wrong.

His teacher Yim, if I am correct, was a student of Ku but not 100% on that.

Do know that teacher Mah Kin Fung immigrated to Alberta, Canada back in the seventies and subsequently moved to Vancouver in the late eighties / early ninties. He started first with Chinatown's Mah Society & later set up his own school in Vancouver. His son Danny Mah carries on the mantle for his father, while other students like Jun Ng & Stephen Mah teach at other societies in Vancouver's Chinatown teaching Northern Shaolin La Hon Men.

Stephen Mah teaches (or was teaching) at the Shon Yee Society on Jackson Street on the opposite side of Hastings from your teacher's Wong Ha Athletic Ass'n.

Hope that provides you enough info.

Oh wait & by the way the Kin Fung Athletic Group is holding it's 50th Anniversary Jubilee celebrating the life & legacy of Mah Kin Fung at the Massey Theater in New West on Feb 15, Saturday @ 7:30 pm.

One more thing if you are looking for desendents of Ku Yu Cheung there is Marquis Lung teaching in Burnaby that is the son of Hong Kong instructor Lung Kai Ming, who was a student of Ku Yu Cheung & Tam Sam of Buk Sing Choy Lee Fut. Marquis's father Lung Kai Ming is well known in the Hong Kong martial arts community. You would have to some research regarding Marquis as I couldn't tell where he teaches except that I know he teaches out of some community centers & church halls.

Cheers

[iron_silk]

firepalm Thank you so much!

So is Stephen Mah a son of Kin Fung Mah as well?

Thanks

[firepalm]

No Stephen Mah is not a son. Stephen became a student of Mah Kin Fung through the Mah Society of which he was a member.

[iron_silk]

firepalm

You are generous as you are a fountain full of knowledge.

I recently heard of some political dispute between the students of Ma Kin Fung, would you know anything about that?

Thanks, and if this is too many questions please ignore.

[firepalm]

Couldn't tell you really. I know that several of the students of that group have gone on to teach on their own (ie; Stephen Mah @ Shon Yee Society & Jun Ng @ Hoy Ping Society), whether there is a dispute don't know & would probably not want to get too much into it.

As to political disputes there are a lot of factors yet they seem to reoccur a lot. Any Chinese club with a long enough history eventually has some sort of 'political' like disputes. When students of the same club go onto become instructors they often decide to do things in perhaps different ways & this will often lead to disagreements. If two or more instructor clubs are centered around the Chinese community or Chinatown or just the same local then once classmates can become competitors competing for students & this will lead to rivalries. A lot of instructors in the Chinese community teach for these private societies (ie; Freemasons, Lee's, Mah's, Hoy Ping, Yue Shan, Hon Hsing, etc...), I know of a couple of societies that have had an instructor of one style, dismiss him & then bring in one of his fellow stylists/classmates to take over the instructor position. This of course will not sit well with most. Then of course add to all of that the old Chinese 'face' factor & you have the makings of some unpleasant possibilities.

Most of the many CLF instructors in Vancouver, which all come from one club, can't stand each other. Several My Jong La Hon classmates now instructors don't get along too well. There was the well documented Yau Kung Mun dispute in the Chinese newspapers, where several YKM classmates squared off against one another in a Karaoke bar ending in several arrests.

For the Mah Kin Fung group it seems as if they are putting aside any differences, if in fact there were any, as this 50th anniversary of theirs looks as if it is including all the prominent instructors from their group. Check it out, next weekend @ the Massey theater in New West.

[iron_silk]

Thank you for yet another informative reply.

I had no idea that we had YKM schools here, in fact I only heard of them through this forum when some was posting about a website. But actually I think I saw them perform a couple of days ago at Oakridge.

But considering the noise YKM students has made I wonder why I haven't heard of them sooner!

Recently I met a friend that is part of a lion dancing club called Tiger Martial Arts or something like that. I never had the chance to learn lion dance and kind of interested but I don't know about how good the club is....have you heard anything about them?

Sorry for bothering you with yet another question, It's just that you are so knowledgable about the area I live in.

Thanks again!

[firepalm]

Yau King Mun has been in Vancouver since the seventies. You had essentially Lee Sing (Simon) & Eugene Cheng (along with his brothers Danny & John). They have taught through a variety of the Chinatown societies (Freemasons, Shon Yee, Lee's, etc...). The YKM people have always been big on the lion dancing & are certainly one of the cities best at it. If you have been to any of the local competitions they often enter the San Shou divisions. The YKM club is however somewhat fragmented now with the past dispute that happened.

Tiger Club I believe is run out of a garage by a couple of young brothers (the Tangs). They have a website @ http://www.tigerkungfu.cjb.net/ they list themselves as teaching quite a lot of different systems (Hung Ga, Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Kickboxing, etc...). The Tiger club has some affliation with the Yue Shan Society & the Kam brothers (Lama stylists) that teach there. From what I understand the older Tang brother has been away in China for some time though.

[iron_silk]

It's so cool to learn about the kung fu community of where I live.

When I've been walking past the giant locked metal gates of Shon Yee since I was 5 years old and had no idea what was going on.

It seems that Shon Yee has masters of all different styles teaching there. Does Shon Yee still have martial arts instruction and if so who teachers there now?

Thanks!

[firepalm]

Last I heard Stephen Mah (Mah Kim Fung student) was teaching Northern Shaolin & Wushu and a female teacher Lynn Wong teaching Tai Chi & some My Jong (she's a student of Paul Ng, a former student of Liang Shou Yu & Alex Kwok). That could have changed though. Many of the societies in Chinatown change instructors from time to time.

A large number of the Chinatown societies have some sort of martial arts class; Lee's, Mah's, Lum's, Yue Shan, Hon Hsing, Freemasons, Hoy Ping, Oi Kwun, etc... however Chinatown is not nearly as active as it was back in the seventies & early eighties (the urban decay basically).

[iron_silk]

firepalm have you heard anything about kung fu community involvement in the up coming Olympics for 2008?

Thanks!

[firepalm]

The Vancouver Kung Fu community? Wushu to my knowledge may not make it, a decision was supposed to be reached in the past November as to the possible inclusion of Wushu in the Olympics. However the IOC (Int'l Olympic Committee) decided that Summer Olympic events will be limited to 28 (the current number). There are three events that may be 'chopped'; baseball, women's soft ball & pentathalon. If one or more of those sports are 'chopped' then there are three sports up for consideration; golf, rugby & wushu. However the IOC has also specified that they would prefer high profile sports (those advertising dollars), so in measuring wushu against golf or rugby in terms of media & popularity wushu doesn't fair well. Apparently there will be further discussion later in the year.

As well China is pushing very hard. In the past host nations were allowed to enter a new sport of 'national' heritage. This is no longer the case nonetheless China is pushing very hard.

As to community involvement the four major organizations in Canada are all part of the CCWO (Canadian Confederation of Wushu Organizations), which is currently officially recognized by the Canadian Olympic Committee. Outside of that it will just be a matter of selecting a Canadian team, which is done every two years by the CCWO.

Hope that gives you something.

[iron_silk]

Why did IOC change their tradition of allowing the host nation of entering a "new" event of their heritage?

[firepalm]

After the Korean Olympics they decided to stop allowing the introduction of new sports by the host country. There apparently has been a directive within the IOC to downsize the Olympics & make it more managable. There is also a move to focus on sports that are high profile & will bring advertising dollars.

That's about as much as I understand of it.

[iron_silk]

Thanks for the info!

it's too bad...I guess we'll just have to see.