1) http://www.buksing.com/history/lay_w...g/l_w_s_1.html
2) http://members-central.optushome.com...lf/clfsifu.htm
"DAVE LACEY
"LAI DAI WAI" - Buck Sing Choy Lay Fut's Unrepentant "Black Panther"
Interview by Karl Longley for Impact International martial arts magazine (NEWLY UPDATED!)
IMPACT: Could you please enlighten the readers of Impact International as to when you initially started to learn Buck Sing (northern) Choy Lay Fut?
LACEY: It was at the age of seventeen in early 1959 that my twin brother Vince and myself commenced our long and dedicated study of Buck Sing Choy Lay Fut. One day while discussing various kung fu styles, a Chinese friend of ours advised us to learn Choy Lay Fut, a fighting art renown for its aggressiveness and effectiveness against multiple attackers. Fortunately for us, our friend told us of a well known Choy Lay Fut fighter whom he knew by the name of Lai Hung, whose fierce and eccentric character earned him the nicknames of "Crazy Jung" and "Dare-devil Hung". Additionally, we were told that Master Lai Hung had gained immense fame in the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts circles. After the Kung Fu championships in which he displayed great skill in defeating four top fighters to claim victory Lai Hung's Si-Hing (Senior fellow student), Chan Woo Leung who was a fellow member of Lai Hungs' at the Lee Chow Buck Sing Choy Fut Gymnasium, also won 1st place in his middleweight division, so our minds were made up immediately that Choy Lay Fut was the fighting style for us.
Our friend informed us that he would arrange for us to meet Lai Hung, and after a formal introduction at our home after school, we were accepted as his students.
IMPACT: What was it like training under the auspices of Master Lai Hung? As I have heard much about him.
LACEY: It did not take us long to understand what Lai Hung meant when he said to us our first meeting, "Choy Lay Fut is an offensive fighting art developed purely for combat", the training is very tough and strenuous - those who are weak minded, timid or lazy orientated can never hope to properly master the style! The first two weeks of training under Lai Hung were the hardest for Vince and myself. Our bodies were aching from the strenuous workouts and my legs were so tired and sore from squatting in the low horse stance for long periods, that when I returned home after school, my legs hardly had the strength to climb the stairs to the 3rd floor, in fact, I had to use my hands on the wooden hand-rail to help support myself.
The initial stage of training was bad enough, but what made it even more agonizing was that we had to also persevere with physical punishment, especially when sitting in the horse stance, Master Lai Hung had arms and legs of steel (he practiced the old Thai boxers method of hardening the limbs by shocking his shins and forearms with an iron pipe) and he would come up behind us whilst we were in the horse stance and if our backs were not straight or if we were not squatting low enough in our stances, he would slap us on the back or kick us in the thigh and from time to time, he would check to see if our stances were firm by tripping us with his foot.
After weeks of initial training in the basics, Master Lai Hung commenced teaching us fighting techniques. In his method of teaching, Master Lai Hung placed the utmost importance on training actual combat techniques and applying them in free sparring and though his method of teaching was rough and often brutal, it was most effective as it enabled the student to get a thorough grasp of the technique by actually feeling the force and body dynamics behind it. The aggressive approach Master Lai Hung used when demonstrating a technique often sent me sprawling across the room or being knocked down to the ground - but I was never seriously injured as he was always careful in controlling his power when he executed a technique. Sometimes we wondered if he was actually enjoying inflicting pain upon us, for he often had that hostile look in his eyes - when he talked he had the habit of shouting "indirect" abuses at us...
Lai Hung's speed and power was frightening - it scared the hell out of me. An example of his remarkable ability was when he would stand in front of me and execute a front crescent kick over my head without moving his body - his foot would have returned to the ground before I even knew what had happened. Master Lai Hung's speed was such that he could, from a distance of 8 feet, take one leaping step and strike you with his fist before you could attempt to block or evade it telling you before hand precisely where he was going to strike.
The most noticeable thing about Lai Hung was his aggressive character and his rather defiant and irrational behavior - even when he talked he has this habit of shouting. His thick eyebrows, high cheekbones and fierce piercing eyes, made him look a hostile and menacing figure. Lai Hung's almost sadistic approach to teaching techniques made it easy for Vince and myself to understand why he was nicknamed "Crazy Hung". His other nickname, "Dare-Devil Hung" was given to him on account of his bold and brash criticisms and outspoken remarks he made when reproaching injustices in the martial arts circles. Though this made him un-popular with some martial artists, it won him commendations from many people in the Chinese martial arts circles of South-East Asia.
In my 37 years of continual martial arts involvement, I have known and seen many good martial artists, but I have yet to come across anyone that could surpass Lai Hung's speed and incredible fighting skill, except for one man - brilliant young Kung Fu fighter who commenced giving us further private instruction in Buck Sing Choy Lay Fut in 1959. The name of this brilliant and outstanding young master was Kong Hing.