Kung Fu Tai Chi 20 years Anniversary and HKB Wing Chun trip to SF, SJ and LA trip 6/8/12 to 6/18/12
by Benny Meng on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 12:04pm ·
Sifu Aaron drop us off at the airport in late Friday afternoon on June 8th.We did not get to the hotel until 2:00 AM. Saturday morning I and Vincent got up early for the competition registration. The tournament committee members were professional and very helpful. The is one of the largest tournaments in the West Coast. It consists of two major systems; Karate and Kung Fu. I highly recommend this championship. Representing HKB Meng's of Dayton and Houston were Vincent Meng, Julian Habib, and Andrew Nurre. Grand Master Lin, myself, Master Ryan, Master Ahmed and Sifu Duran were there as coaches.This was Vincent's second time competing in a Wing Chun division, and a first for Andrew. Vincent ended up 2nd in Forms, Andrew placed 1st in Wing Chun Forms and 3rd in Youth Kung Fu Open Forms.
After the competition, the Kung Fu Tai Chi 20 years Anniversary celebration started with VIP photo shoots, a GALA Banquet, an awards banquet and dinner, and Master's Demonstrations. I was also pulled aside for an interview on my perspective on Kung Fu for the last 20 years. Grand Master Lin, my family and I were at the same table as famous fighter and actor Cung Le. He's currently focusing everything on his upcoming fight in Vegas in July. At the same time, he's working on 2-3 movies. Due to his training schedule, he actually had to leave the dinner early. We'll all be rooting for him in July. It was a great time to meet new friends, as well as catch up on old friends. I believe this was the largest gathering of Kung Fu Legends in one place, at one time. I salute TC Media for organizing such an amazing event in celebration of their 20th anniversary. The tournament and banquet were first class! The crews at TC media ran out of their way to make sure everyone gets a first-class treatment. As a cover issue martial artist, they really took care of me and my family, giving me the VIP treatment! We finished the night with an after-banquet party. It was an honor for me to perform side-by-side with Grand Master Lin, in front of such an honorable and knowledgeable audience. I believe Grand Master Lin and the rest of our team had a great time. It was a wonderful opportunity for photos and making new friends among the elite who's-who of the martial arts community.
Sunday was Kung Fu Tai Chi Day, hosted at the Cesar Chavez Park, adjacent to the San Jose Convention Center. The morning's activities included a Lion Dance and Master's Demonstrations featuring many excellent martial artists. I was honored to be selected as one of the Grand Master's to go through the ceremony to awaken the Lion, called the Eye Dotting Ceremony. We paint the Lion as a way to bring the Lion's energy to life. We had an opportunity to interact with members of the Wing Chun Community, and went through a mini-workshop right on the spot... including an impromptu demonstration of Wing Chun's Evolution, with a demonstration of Ip Man Wing Chun then moved backwards in time to older systems, from Fatshan to Secret Society to Shaolin Wing Chun (which is known as Hek Ki Boen Eng Chun today). The performers of the demonstration included Master Ryan, Master Ahmed, Instructor Duran, and me. We also demonstrated four special unique skills of Wing Chun. After Sunday's demonstration and workshop, we headed out to the Golden Gate Park to practice HKB on the beach, rehearsing for the DVD to be recorded the next day. We took many photos on the beach, and there were UFO in most of the photos. People always say that HKB Black Flag Eng Chun is out of this world. I think the UFO were checking us out. Making sure that this art is not watered down after more than 300 years.
When we arrived early Monday morning at TC media, Gigi and her crew were ready for us. The plan was to make three DVDs. The first one was on the HKB system, covering the basic fundamentals: stances, footwork and hand methods. This first HKB DVD key pairs you for the second DVD. The participants of this DVD were Master Ryan from Houston, Master Ahmed from Chicago and Junior Instructor Vincent Meng from Dayton Ohio. Overall I was the main person on this first DVD, acting as host and MC. The second DVD featured Grand Master Lin as host and MC, and was primarily on the topic of the Shaolin HKB 18 Lohan Hands. The Shaolin HKB 18 Lohan Hands was the genesis to the Eng Chun system. It started as Saan Sik, separate and loose movements for fighting. This material should not be confused with the 18 Lohan Fist system of the Northern Shaolin Temple. This second DVD was quite historical - it was the first public video on this topic. Grand Master Lin covered solo, partner, and application training for the Shaolin HKB 18 Lohan Hands. The third DVD was the first of the Baat Jaam Dao in the VTM Ip Man Wing Chun Instructional Series. This first DVD covered Sections 1-4 of the double knives, which are the sections dealing with countering with long weapons. My partner for this DVD was Master Brad Ryan. This DVDs contains many 1st in the Ip Man lineage, with never-before available information including unique training methods and strategy and tactics of the knife. Overall, it was a very successful day - but don't kid yourself: filming is a difficult business. However, we did receive a compliment - we were the most efficient to work with. Normally it takes 2-3 days to shoot one DVD, but we shot 3 DVDs in one afternoon.
After everything was completed on Monday, we had the opportunity to have discussions with the TC Media team, including the always interested Gene Ching. With their excellent service, genuine interest, and top level professionalism we discussed many topics to continue to grow our long-term relationships. Gene also had a chance to look at the latest article and it will be coming out soon. I'll keep the topic to myself for now, but I promise that it will be very informative. After a great weekend with TC Media, we ended with a celebration dinner in a special, Muslim Chinese restaurant.
Everything up to this point was great. I want to again acknowledge and thank all the professionals at TC Media - Gigi and her crew were fantastic hosts. I also want to acknowledge and thank my students and instructors, without their support trips like this wouldn't be possible. And I would like to thank Grand Master Lin for his tireless effort in promoting and teaching Shaolin HKB; as the successor of the system, he took every opportunity on the trip to teach us and improve our skills. Finally, my undying thanks goes to my Wife, Sunmi P. Meng - this trip was made all the more special by sharing it with you and our sons. Thank you to everyone who came on this trip: Grand Master Lin, Sunmi, Vincent, Spencer, Derickson, Master Brad Ryan, Master Sajid Ahmed, Instructor Daniel Duran, Julian Habib, and Andrew Nurre.
After the exciting weekend in San Jose, Grand Master Lin, Master Sajid Ahmed and my family we all drove down to Los Angeles. We visited many martial arts school. Vincent had the opportunity to train with Master Jimmy Kim. He is a formal gold medalists heavyweight in the Tae Kwon Do 1988 Olympic game. The most important thing is that we discovered that there were many interests on HKB Black Flag Eng Chun in the West Coast. We will definitely address that the in the near future. From Disneyland, to the beach, to good eating was on the agenda. Of course training with Grand Master Lin everyday!
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