Large CLF website?

[CLFNole]

What do you mean by gate and double gate? Never heard of that one.

Although Tat Wong came around 1980 I am sure there was CLF here in the states but probably not taught openly. When did Lau Bun open his school in San Fran? I guess it was chinese only until Jew Leong. Did Lau Bun have any sihing/dai that came to the US?

[hskwarrior]

What we call the gate and the double gate is the spear which has a quarter moon sickle shape. the single has one, and the double has one on each side of the spear.

the only choy lee fut that were known to do choy lee fut in the states until maybe tat mau wong, it was us and dof fai wongs group. seriously.

officially, lau bun opened in san francisco in 1939. however going back to the 1920's he was teaching clf in chinatown there under his school name of Wah Keung, then came to sf during to tong wars. our school now technically as lau bun started here is around 80 or 81 years old now.

no one since he took yuen hai in his later years. i think some of his contemporary's were fong yu shu, tong sek (fut sans tong sek) and a few others.

peace

[CLFNole]

Oh okay, the gate is what is known as "gik" sometimes fong ting wah gik.

I wasn't implying that there were other schools than yours just other CLF people. With all the chinese that came here I am sure some where CLF people only they never taught openly.

[hskwarrior]

i am sure that there may have been other choy lee fut people around back then, just no one teaching choy lee fut privetely or otherwise. if there were, im sure they would have contacted lau bun, anyone in chinatown that wanted to open a school all went to ask permission of Lau Bun first. it is pretty customary, and tat mau wong did that to my Sigung Jew Leong. he wanted to open up there, but jew leong said not in chinatown. that is why he opened outside of chinatown.

the san francisco chinese community is a tight knit one, and if something happened everyone would get wind of it.

the same goes for a certain well known master who claims he has had some legendary fights. however, no one in the chinese community has heard about it.

but, clf nole, Ark wong yuey and T.Y. Wong who was a Shaolin Fut Gar master were there shortly after Lau Bun. after that there was a big time span before any new gung fu masters emerged in the bay area. of course we had other styles there too.

[Eddie]

Hi, this is bit of topic, but in the Bruce Lee documentaries they speak of Wong Jack Man and their legendary fight. How Old was Master Wong Jack Man when he fought Bruce Lee? Im tying this in with the story that no one before BL taught Westerners kung fu. Your school seems to have been open since before that.

[hskwarrior]

Im assuming Wong Jack Man was in his early 30's late 20's. Joe Keit and I was there in texas when Hop Gar Master Dean Chin told his account of what happened since he was there.

He admitted that Professor Lau Bun and some of his students had a part to play in that. But I don't want to reveal too much without Sifu Chin's prior approval. I guess i can call him to check. i have his number.

But eddie, yes our school has been around since the early 1920's first starting in L.A. then brought to SF. For a while Lau Bun was the only gung fu teacher in the bay area alone. Then bruce lee came along and wanted to teach outsiders.

I joined the tien loong gung fu school in 1981 and came in on the tail end of that "Don't teach outsiders" mentality. that's why if you notice in a lot of the pictures, i am the only white guy there. some have come around, but none have stuck in through as i have ( not meaning to toot my own horn). basically i am the first caucasian person to make it to Lau Bun's family tree.

its funny, they were so serious about not teaching outsiders, the outsiders could catch them practicing gung fu and ask the person about it and the chinese person will act like he doesn't understand a word. i was crazy then because you didn't know if the chinese teacher was teaching his chinese students the real deal while teaching the outsiders bunk stuff.

but i made it through that period. thank god.

hsk

[hskwarrior]

clfnole, is the "Gik" pronounced with a "guh" or "gee"?

does the lee koon hung lineage teach the gik?

[CLFNole]

Frank:

It is kind of pronounced how it looks basically lick with a "g" instead.

I have seen a set before have pics of sifu with the weapon but I don't think he taught this much. Either that or it wasn't a weapon students were very interested in. Might be kind of like the drunken set most of the HK students didn't care for it.

Peace.

[hskwarrior]

we don't really care about the drunken set either. i mean its nice to have, but that's about it.

did lkh teach the garden ho?

[CLFNole]

Yes we have that set also the chinese name for hoe is "chau tow". This one was also not to popular and is a bit boring if you ask me.

Back on the drunken set. I remember being so eager to learn it then years later realized that the whole drunken concept is somewhat stupid. I mean if someone knows your not drunk and that you are acting drunk whats the sense. People say "when using drunken .... they don't know where the attacks are coming from" Yeah, but you can be unpredicatable with your attacks while sober also.

I think drunken sets were created for visual appeal only and more and more were made when chinese realized that most gwai lo's eat that **** up.

[hskwarrior]

you're right,

your outsider gwai lo does eat that up, and that is why they are so attracted to the esoteric side of gung fu, and believe that nonsense.

however, i feel that if you have a good drunken set, it can teach you a few things about body placement, balance, how to strike from strange angles. aside from the strange angles which you can get being sober, i think there are some benefits, physically, and mentally, but fighting wise.

so what were the other weapons that were not liked all that much?

[CLFNole]

Frank:

I agree the drunken set is good to know and helps with different angles and might work once or twice in fooling someone that your drunk. Overall though I don't think acting drunk will help to achieve any advantage in the modern world.

As far as the weapons go many of the kwan do type things were not that popular, the kwan do or dai do were but things like the hoe, monk spade, gik, crescent moon spade or gold coin lance were not that popular. Also hook swords and I heard we had a double axe set although I never saw anyone perform it. I am not sure these weapons were not liked just not as popular.

I would say staff and spear were most popular considering the number of sets we have. Flexible weapons like 3-sec staff, 9-sec whip and double 3-sec whip were popular as was broadsword & butterfly knives.

Peace.

[Troy Dunwood]

Forgive me guys but I had to speak on this, when considering drunken boxing as a fighting style, consider the mentality of a drunk, this is what was taught by my teacher Lau Yee Chan of the Eight immortals system. Yes there are techniques unique to this school alone. The eight immortals style does not imitate one as if he was drunk in a fight much like Tai Shing Pek Kwar doesn't imitate monkey when they fight, nor does white crane imitate a bird when they fight, but the tactic are very deceptive and relentless. Last but not least because this system originated in Mo Dong(wu tang), consider its energy and sensitivity which is most important, explosive power, inch power, reeling power etc. Most find it hard to learn because to truly understand eight immortals style one must understand the relationship between intent, energy and spirit.

Troy Dunwood