Chan Tai San stories

[Starchaser107]

Great thread lkfmdc.
thank you for sharing these stories with us.

[FatherDog]

Originally posted by SifuAbel
Just to add a bit and not derail the thread. A "what do you do" thread came up over there. A majority of memebers revealed that they were college students.

That's the case with most internet fora, because those are the largest group of people online/tech savvy with enough free time to surf the net a lot.

When the current generation that was raised on the internet gets to retirement age and suddenly has no jobs to occupy their time, the 'net's going to be a weird place.

I predict a lot of forums dedicated to how back in the day we had to carry the bytes back and forth from our computer to the modem in a bucket, uphill both ways in the snow.

[cerebus]

LOL! I hadn't considered that before FD. Man, and I thought the i-net was already dam weird!

[Becca]

NONONONONONO!!!!! STAY ON TOPIC! Go mess up another thread- this one is solid and needs to stay that way, please!

[cerebus]

True. Let's hear more about GM Chan! (Maybe coax Sifus Innocenzi, Kapros, and other of his students to come on & share? That would be cool too! ).

[Dale Dugas]

Ross Sifu,

Any stories related to your Iron Arts within Lama-pai Kung fu?? I have heard some fun ones from others and wanted to pose the topic to you.

I can only imagine what it was like to train Iron Palm, Iron Vest/Iron Body, etc.. under Chan Sifu.

In Boston,

Dale Dugas

[MonkeyBoy]

Originally posted by cerebus
True. Let's hear more about GM Chan! (Maybe coax Sifus Innocenzi, Kapros, and other of his students to come on & share? That would be cool too! ).

FYI, it's Sifu Kaparos.

[fiercest tiger]

Hi Ross

Is there any footage of Chan around love to see him move?

Also Ross, who did he learn Bak Mei from?

Cheers
FT

[lkfmdc]

My training brother Gus Kaparos.... not an easy name to spell but it also reminds me of a funny story...

we sponsored a big tournament in NYC and one of the cable TV martial arts shows came. the guy who ran it was a well known pot head, a real crack pot, he kept calling Gus "Doug"

Gus, and the rest of us, kept correcting him... but when the segment aired, the caption under Gus' section read "Doug Kapieroz" ... Gus was pizzed....

I know, that's not really a Chan tai San story, so here is another one....

My Cantonese was often touch or go... if it was a common topic, I'd have vocabulary... if it was something new, I often had to guess...

Sifu Chan never taught kids, but one day, in the park, these kids ask if he will teach him... I don't know what "children" is in Cantonese at the time, I improvised, basicly I took a guess...

Now, Sifu Chan knew full well I had made a mistake, but he capitalized on it, so it sounded funny to him... this is what basicly what happened

"uh, sifu, do you teach MIDGETS?" (I used the wrong words and instead of kids I said "midgets')

Sifu Chan (amusing himself)... "do I teach what?"

"do you teach MIDGETS"

"oh, midgets, is that what you're asking me?"

"why yes sifu, do you teach MIDGETS" (dumb me, I actually thought I had stumbled on the correct word so I kept repeating it)

Sifu Chan (amusing himself to no end) - "why yes, I teach midgets."

"how much"

"how much to teach midgets?"

"yes, how much to teach midgets"

He kept leading me on, having me say it over and over again, later, Stephen Laurette told me what I had actually asked him and the joke was obvious....

[Vash]

Midgets, children, no difference?

[cerebus]

DAM! It's a good thing I wasn't drinking a soda when I read that or I would've had a serious mess to clean up!
Midgets....

Sorry for misspelling Sifu Kaparos' name. I was going by memory, which as I become an increasingly old man, becomes increasingly... um, increasingly.... what was I saying?

Fiercest Tiger, Sifu Ross has already posted a bunch of film clips of Master Chan in action (earlier on this very thread I believe), check and see.

[ngokfei]

hey dave warn us. I almost wet my pants!!!!!

I know that pot/crack head well, he's always being sued for not paying off on his contracts, etc. (i'll say no more)

[WanderingMonk]

Originally posted by lkfmdc

"uh, sifu, do you teach MIDGETS?" (I used the wrong words and instead of kids I said "midgets')

Sifu Chan (amusing himself)... "do I teach what?"

"do you teach MIDGETS"

midgets?

you mean "small man" like "xiao ren" in mandrain?

if that's what you said, it ain't midgets, it is usually the chinese codeword for "backstabbers", "ingrates", etc.

[lkfmdc]

in different dialects it means very different things

in Mandarin, it means a "small person' as in small of character, a petty person, a bad person

in Cantonese it means "midget"

but, as I learned later, in Shanghai dialect it DOES mean "children"

go figure

[Pork Chop]

Coach Ross,
Know this probably ain't the best avenue, but not sure how else to go.
Sent you an email a lil while back.
Hope yah got it.
If yah missed it, no biggie.
If yah got it and didn't feel like replyin, cool beans there too.
Just checkin.