Originally Posted by
Wilson
I ended up buying the book he helped author - "Mastering Kung Fu: featuring Shaolin Wing Chun". I've skimmed the whole book and have just started reading it but can already tell it will be very enjoyable, worthwhile, and informative. I would recommend it to others just for the historical section in the beginning.
I brought that book when it first came out. Just to give an alternative viewpoint - for someone with no prior experience of HFY I found the book a curious mixture of modern military jargon (battlefield arrays, perimeter defences etc.) and obscure (i.e. poorly explained) chinese terms (like wandering bridges, 3 points one line etc). No doubt were I face to face with a HFY prac they would be able to show me exactly what they meant but *purely from the book alone* I was left none the wiser.
Of course this may point to a weakness in the medium (i.e. the written word) rather than the quality of the explanation but comparing it to some other wing chun texts (Dave Ps book on WSL, Renes book on YKS) as well as other MA books (Li tianjis Xsing I, Mastering Ju Jitsu, Aikido and the dynamic sphere) I would say its the poorest MA book I own.
The history part just seemed like a story. Maybe true, maybe not but no evidence presented either way (no footnotes and some very weird artists pictures of HFY practitioners including a computer generated one (WTF?!!!).
*This is my honest opinion of the book alone* and is no reflection on HFY or the people who practice it. I would not recommend people spend their money on it.
'In the woods there is always a sound...In the city aways a reflection.'
'What about the desert?'
'You dont want to go into the desert'
- Spartan