Martial Arts Gathering 2007.

[Firehawk4]

Thanks Eric I understand .

[Eric Ling]

Hi everybody,

Taking a break from kung fu here ….

We had, here in Kuching today, a special kind of street parade – “deity” parade. Many Chinese temples would do this once a year; they set deity idols on sedan chairs and together with devotees, a street procession follows with much joviality.

The street march would generally entail lions, dragons, fish dances from kung fu schools. Today’s parade also saw marching bands, Chinese-opera groups and even some kids from folk-dance classes making the whole event even more vibrant.

In the clip, you will first see some of these groups paying their respect in front of the temple.

From there they proceed on to the planned itinerary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnxiSd6SYIQ

This being the monsoons season, it rained right after the parade started but this did not put off the participants.

The show went on ……

Me? I was looking for shelter to continue shooting footages…maybe it’s time to source for a water-resistant, all terrains and shock-proof camera.

That or remember to bring an umbrella.

Warmest Regards on a {now you’ll believe me} wet wet wet day.

Eric

[Ozzy Dave]

Hi Eric,

Nice Clip.

Is the first Lion shown a "WuZhu" Lion?

Cheers

Dave

[Eric Ling]

Hi everybody,

Really must talk about this; the future “dragons” of CKF here in Sarawak.

Some of you might be aware that I work closely with Master Liew Kao Chye’s “Chinese Martial Arts Association” here in Kuching.

This school is currently managed by Mr. Chester Lim, a very strong advocate of Chinese culture.

Under Chester’s leadership, the school has produced quite a few Wushu champions in Malaysia.

This school is exceptional in that they place emphasis on traditional and competition Wushu.

Most of the athletics are experienced in both.

At the same time, they are also very active in lion and dragon dancing.

In fact they were at the parade yesterday, marching and dancing in the rain….

I tell you I really admire the kids; full of gusto and always adopting the never-say-die attitude even under challenging circumstances.

To them, I am simply “Uncle Ling” and I love the camaraderie every time I am with them.

Honestly, when I look at these kids, I am thinking there is hope after all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRkpQV7h-V8

Chester, if you are reading this; Well-Done …….

And don’t forget that we got a show to do this September.

Warmest regards on another wet wet wet day (when is this rain going to stop?)

Eric

[Eric Ling]

Hi Eric,

Nice Clip.

Is the first Lion shown a "WuZhu" Lion?

Cheers

Dave

Dave, no lion expert here but that I believe is "Hakka" lion ...

Warmest Regards.
Eric

[Eric Ling]

Now for some really sleek Silat; Penjak Silat from Jawa Timur.

Exactly the kind we want to brng to you this September.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7OpfecaZM


Warmest Regards.


Eric

[Eric Ling]

Hi everybody,

Something else that you can expect to see this September in Kuching Sarawak; Indian Fighting Arts.

Got a clip here showing some stick fighting from Silambam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrftpWU7Zuc

This brings back something that a good friend and fellow MA scholar said years ago; bond between Shaolin and Indian fighting arts is more liable to be found in stick fighting than the commonly supposed “Shaolin Lohan Boxing”.

I am not about to conclude that but the more I look at Indian stick fighting, the more I am persuaded that my friend was right.

Warmest Regards.

Eric

[Eric Ling]

Hi everybody,

Here the photo-slide show of Kuching that I mentioned in my earlier message; most pics taken before the parade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-64N5Exrpu4

Kuching is a lot more than what’s depicted here so over the next few weeks……

Got another clip here of my Whooping Crane’s Sihing; some of you might have seen this in Russ Smith’s (Gojumaster) website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mo8Q3BQoH8

I am getting my Sihing to be here in September even if I need to bundle him and Fedex him over…

Hendrix, if you reading this; I think my Sihing exudes “stillness” better than anyone I know in Whooping Crane.

A splendid practitioner with very deep knowledge of “Crane” fighting, he is someone I really look up to even after all these years…

Anyway, got a few more appointments to meet some Masters here in the next couple of days; looks like my timetable is full again.

Better do some Carlsberg now before I meet them.

Warmest Regards.

Eric.

[hasayfu]

Bagus!

Eric, the footage you are providing is a cultural treasure. Keep it up.

I know what you mean about "exchanging." I remember the first Sifu I met in Johor. It was one of my first trips to Malaysia and my wife's uncle takes me to meet his Sifu. I'm in shorts and sandals (typical Malaysian wear) and he asked me to show stuff. The sandals I was wearing were too big and it was so weird trying to not have them fly off. Not to mention it was 90 degrees and lots of mosquitos wanting to get some tasty American blood.

Your video of you demonstrating brought back fond memories.

I'm curious if you ever meet any sifu in Perak. I met someone from there and he says that it has the oldest ties to CMA because of the Tin industry. He mentioned a style or type of CMA called Poe-Ket (sp?) It is supposed to be a pure fighting style but I didn't get much else.

Kasih.

[Eric Ling]

Hi everybody,

Hasayfu, terima kasih.

Many older CKF folks around this part refer to their arts as “pok kik” instead of “Gung Fu”.

Strictly speaking, “Gung Fu” means “effort” or generic “skills”.

Equating “Gung Fu” or “Kung Fu” to “Martial Arts” is really a more “Western” thing. But these days, everybody’s doing it so…..

My folks are originally from Ipoh Perak. If you go to “Sitiawan” there, you would find primarily Fuzhou Chinese. I still got uncles, aunties and cousins there.

What’s your Sifu’s name?

Read in your profile that you listed “Hungga” as your style.

Got a clip here for you; I posted a portion not too long ago and here’s the entire “Fook Fu” or “Intercepting Tiger” form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dogeDzBImHs

The young Sifu is Lum Chee Keong from Sibu Sarawak. Sifu Lum (Cantonese for Ling) studied with his dad.

Lum senior did Hungga with 3 different teachers in Canton before coming to Sarawak.

Lum junior, like my Siheng, is small-built and yet, like my Siheng again, they are able to emanate “jin” or “geng” that could only come with years of honing.

Sifu Lum is one of those “doing everything in one breath without changing face color” practitioners.

During one of my trips to Sibu, I visited Lum senior and spoke for hours with him. This old gentleman, in his 80s, is a talking encyclopedia of CKF.

I got so much from him especially the evolution of Cantonese arts and after that session, I realized things about Hungga that I never knew before…. What an outstanding colorful art!

And besides Hungga, he also did a few years of Lama Pai Pak Hok.

All of which, he has agreed to be recorded onto videos.

You know, in the company of someone like Lum senior, I feel like I know nothing about CKF.

Both father and son have decided to grace the September event.

Warmest Regards.
Eric

And dude, mosquitoes are non-discriminatory, equal opportunity blood suckers so don’t take it too hard….

[shinmyouken]

Hasayfu, i believe you are referring to Pok Khek which is the name of a system founded by Master Nip who came over to Malaysia from Hong Kong. It is basically a system that revolves around the training of San Sik and emphasizes a lot on use of weights to train power and speed. Other training includes iron arm conditioning, use of dummy, etc. Pok Khek is a long range system and has a reputation as a tournament style.

[hasayfu]

Excellent!

Both what Eric and SMK sound like what I had heard. I didn't see much of it but he mentioned that it was effective in fighting the thais in kick boxing tournaments. Now SMK says its a single system and Eric says it's a general phrase. The Sifu I spoke with said, if you say PokKhek in Perek everyone will know. Thanks for the info.

My Sifu is Wing Lam. I'm one of his instructors which basically means I've stuck around with him. I love Hung Gar and CMA in general. Hung Gar is very deep. I also like the HaSayFu Hung Gar style my sifu learned.

Hung Gar shares with Fuzhou Bak Hok as well as Lama Pai Bak Hok. Meeting other sifus in these arts has shown me that. I also had a great conversation with Ho Sifu in JB. He is a long time Hung Gar sifu and has many stories of the old days.

You are doing great work.

[FunkySage]

Pok Khek is definitely the name of a system. It used to popular in Malaysia in the 70s around Ipoh and probably other areas. Its a long fist system and is similar in execution to choy lay fut and pak hok although with a much shorter base. Again as shinmyouken has already pointed out it has a reputation for producing good fighters. Not seen it in a long time but I guess some will survive somewhere.

[shinmyouken]

Hi FunkySage, spot on man. Pok Khek was very popular in Ipoh and I heard it even made it as far south as Johor as one of my friend's uncle taught there.

Nowadays its hard to see anyone practicing it. The founder, Master Nip, came from Bak Sing Choy Li Fut background but investigated a lot of fighting styles. Thus you can see the techniques of Lama Crane and Choy Li Fut techniques in the syllabus.

Master Nip also authored a book on Yang style taiji and sometimes his disciples refer to Pok Khek as Tai Chi San Shou! because you can also find taiji techniques inside Pok Khek.

There is a book on Master Nip's taiji written by a Singapore author. Its a slim green color book. There is also a draft manuscript on the Pok Khek system which was not published.

A long time ago I think it was Black Belt magazine had an article on Pok Khek and there is also a listing in the martial arts encyclopaedia by Farkas and Corcoran.

[Firehawk4]

What can you tell me about Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist do you know what style it is i herd it was old Chu Gar Gao shaolin or fujian White Crane ? Are you ever going to get in clips of Chuka Shaolin since it is in Malaysia Pengnang i here that area has alot of kung fu .