White eyebrow schools????

[Raptor]

I've been looking for quite a while and can't find anyone in the San Diego area that teaches White Eyebrow. I need help in finding a school. Any suggestions??
THANKS

[kfson]

Man, I don't know why they are so few and far between.

[TAO YIN]

I don't know about BM schools. What about Soujourn Past? That is a school in San Diego. They teach Dragon there, and Mok Gar?

[ittokaos]

I don't know about BM schools. What about Soujourn Past? That is a school in San Diego. They teach Dragon there, and Mok Gar?

I think that you are talking about Sifu Steve Martin. To the best of my knowledge he has moved his school to either Arizona or New Mexico. I can't remember which. The school that is there now teaches Baguazhang last time I heard.

I know that they have White Tiger in the San Diego area.

Also there is pretty good CLF/Five Animals/Five Family out that way in Oceanside if you don't mind the drive. The Sifu's name is Mario Figueroa and while I have never seen him teach, his understanding is quite good. Food for thought.

If you are still set on BM and dont mind the drive. We are two hours north of SD in Palm Desert(palm springs area).

[Raptor]

I would agree that Sifu Martin has moved his school. I tried contacting him a few weeks ago and no reply. Still looking for White Eyebrow instruction in the San Diego area. That's White Eyebrow, not Tiger. Hoping somebody can steer me in the right direction.

[Frost]

Man, I don't know why they are so few and far between.

its an hakka art and like the other hakka arts its traditionally kept in the family, its actually quite surprising to me that there are so many public schools these days its a good sign.

[Yum Cha]

its an hakka art and like the other hakka arts its traditionally kept in the family, its actually quite surprising to me that there are so many public schools these days its a good sign.

Frost, I don't think its just the Hakka thing. In the past, perhaps, but currently, less so.

There is a tradition in Pak Mei not to be commercial, to pass the art only to people who have demonstrated commitment and diligence. Thus, not a lot of advertising.

Also, in the US you have mostly Futsan Pak Mei, with the exception of NYC, and some stuff in Florida, and I've heard Chicago, but not much info available to me on that. That branch is much more commercial than others.

Futsan style centers around Zhoung Luo in SF and Eddie Chong in LA (or the surrounds). Both have trained a lot of students over the years, and they have likely dispersed into smaller schools...

Perhaps if you contacted Luo Sifu's school, they might have someone down in San Diego.

You also have the 'mixed' schools, where somebody has some level of Pak Mei training, and mixes it with something else, and adds it to their 'product range'. This is pretty suspect in most cases, as would be buying a Ferarri at Joe's Used Buicks. We should have established by now that just memorising a form or two is not learning Pak Mei.

Canada, due to its commonwealth relationship with Hong Kong, has the best Pak Mei in North America, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and perhaps more - some are obviously better than others, but these come from the mainstream line.

Vietnam, Taiwan, Holland, Belgium, Spain, South America, England, NZ, Australia all have at least one school, some have now begun to add more as students have matured.

Pak Mei is being lost, there were a lot of Sifu's who thought they knew better and added their stuff to the style, but they didn't.

There are a lot of students that started teaching before they had the skills or understanding.

There are a lot of teachers that closed their hands because they couldn't get students who showed the commitment or the discipline, or their students abused the art.

I've heard it said that even in China, it is lost in all but a few locations as the Chinese embrace both capitalism and MMA with equal fervour.

In a nutshell, its a hard style to find because its a hard style to learn, and most people want a quick fix for fighting, or a beautiful style for forms. A lot of people like the idea of learning Pak Mei, but very few have what it takes.

[Lai See]

That's well put Mr Cha. :-)

I agree about the hakka 'thang', overplayed, overhyped and not necessarily true.

I am also of the school that dictates Pak Mei can only be learned by the learned.

[kfson]

Pak Mei is being lost, there were a lot of Sifu's who thought they knew better and added their stuff to the style, but they didn't.

There are a lot of teachers that closed their hands because they couldn't get students who showed the commitment or the discipline, or their students abused the art.

I've heard it said that even in China, it is lost in all but a few locations as the Chinese embrace both capitalism and MMA with equal fervour.

In a nutshell, its a hard style to find because its a hard style to learn, and most people want a quick fix for fighting, or a beautiful style for forms. A lot of people like the idea of learning Pak Mei, but very few have what it takes.

Very unfortunate.

[kfson]

I'm assuming that since the White Eyebrow style group is so small, there must be a leading (orthodox) school in Hong Kong or someplace in China. If it's possible, without stepping on anyone's toes, could someone post the leading school(s) in China and any associated schools in North America? If not, a pm would be appreciated, although public info would be better for others to see.