Originally Posted by
Shaolin Wookie
No. and Yes.
If history has taught us anything, it's that no art, be it martial, visual, musical, performance, can ever escape cultural influences, especially in a third world melting pot like mid 20th C. Indonesia. Traditional CMA has been irreparably changed by the advent of contemporary wushu, since "looks" have become a standard criterion for skill. I rarely see an old, very traditional non-SD master do a form that I'd call "pretty" where he's stressing practicality. It has a different kind of beauty--that of simplicity, effectiveness, etc. Look at Brendan Lai, then look at some modern sevenstar teachers. There's a huge gulf between them. Lai was a badass; contemproary-traditional sevenstar teachers, they've got the look of the mantis, but no mantis striking/fighting ability. And you can see it in how they perform, and in how they talk about their techs.
Sure, the Indon. school was all CHinese, but the Japanese influence, even as a cover, did influence the art. GGM IE was well-traveled, so I'm positive he wasn't doing pure CMA by any means. CMA itself is a cultural melting pot, since teh coutnry wasn't 100% Chinese. Different tribes, languages, etc. Our 30 short forms are a blend of Shuai Jiao techs, Tan Tui, and Lohan. We can see it all in the postures and apps. Even as such, it's none of those arts.
GM The' was active in the 60's-70's Karate community. I'm sure that changed his perspective some, and I know it has to have changed some of his practices, even if we aren't aware yet, or won't acknowledge it.
We have basic brownbelt forms Lian Wu Zhang and Jie Quan (Chie Chien), which comprise the basic curriculums of established arts (Jie Quan, anyways). Our Jie Quan is not Chin Woo's, Chin Woo's isnt' the Ying Jow Pai form exactly. Ours is more in keeping with our short forms, but they have the same basic model or pattern (look at kick/sweep sequences, spinning smash kicks, circles, bows, etc.). The only dude I know of that taught Lian Wu Zhang was the Tiawanese master Su Ke Gang, and his form is just as circular. He pushes with one hand on his back sweeps (like we do in street fight tech #2), while we do more of the Shuai Jiao traingle backsweep I posted a few pages earlier. But teh same basic princples, even if the forms are different. We do a Tiawanese Yang Short Form (CMChing's); so a lot of our material is non-Chinese geographically, but Chinese MA based. It's teh Malaysian CMA, not mainland CMA. Not karatiefied to the point of Vovinam, or something. Just not completely mainland.
I kind of like that, since much of CMA is kind of foofy. But that's just my opinion. Doesn't mean much.