http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/m...p?article=1081
The gym is a four story walkup, overlooking a highway in Tainan, the ancient capital of Taiwan. Here, 37 year old Al Haroun Hisham, a German born Syrian is one of the last keepers of the traditional monkey fist. After several hours of forms and body hardening exercises, Hisham begins his daily ritual of bag work, running, weight lifting, and wrestling with a 50 kg dummy. This the training that won him the International San Da Wang championship last year, and the one which he hopes will carry him on to a repeat win of San Da Wang, followed by the Art of War in China, and eventually landing him in the UFC or K-1.
Hisham weighs over 80 Kgs of rock solid muscle and carries very little body fat. At first glance, his routine looks like a mix of East and West, new and old, but, Hisham says that most of the techniques he uses were developed in China centuries ago.
“The ancient monks ran. They hit the bag. They did everything that we do today. But, they also used meditation and Chinese medicine to harden the body both inside and out.” Explains Hisham. He doesn’t believe he is brining something new to the MMA world. Instead, he believes he is helping the world to rediscover something that was lost.
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“I did a lot of research which said that there were three major migrations of Chinese Kung Fu masters to Taiwan. The first was in 1644, during Ming and Ching Dynasties.” Next, the Boxer, after their failed rebellion in the summer of 1900, escaped to Taiwan. Finally, during Mao’s cultural revolution, when all masters of ancient arts were being killed, many Kung Fu masters took refuge in Taiwan.
According to Hisham, “The real martial art is not found in Mainland China because of the communism. But, I thought it could be found outside of china, in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
Hisham used money he earned from his school in German and from his work as a bodyguard, to finance his trips back and forth to Taiwan, seeking the masters. Eventually, in 2005, he settled permanently in Taiwan. He is married to a Taiwanese woman, who shares his vision of rediscovering the ancient Chinese arts and showcasing them to the world by winning the K-1 or UFC.
“I am not a snake. I am not a tiger or a praying mantis. My body looks like a monkey. So, this is a style that works for humans, and the animal inside you can come out. I traveled all over Taiwan to find masters. I heard some legends that they didn’t pass their knowledge because monkey is a special technique which they didn’t want to teach just anyone. They taught some bits of monkey and incorporated it into existing animal styles. But no one wanted to teach the real monkey because it is so deadly.”
Hisham feels that the Hanaman boxing practiced in Thailand should also be included into Monkey Kung Fu. After all, it is the same monkey god in both countries. Therefore, he used flying knees and elbows.
Eventually, Hisham found an 88 year old master, who was practicing monkey, but teaching crane. This master was one of only two which Hisham found, and he has since died.
Next, Hisam went to the monkey temple. “They had a Dao oracle, who meditates then goes crazy, gets possessed, and people ask him questions. I was watching and he called me in and asked what do I want what is my wish. I asked him some questions he couldn’t know, things about Germany. And he gave me some answers which were correct. I don’t really believe but my family does some Sufi things so I asked more about monkey fist.’
Eventually, Hisham was given permission to meditate in the temple. After 12 days, something happened. I started to move in a strange way, I couldn’t open my eyes, and I nearly collapsed.” Then came the visions. “People told me they saw me and knew the Monkey King was in my body. I saw monkeys jumping around. I was very afraid. Afterwards, I created some new techniques which I learned from the visions and I made a new monkey form.” “I believe this because it happened to me. If I tell westerners they don’t believe. But I have a different background so it is different for me.”
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