Wah Lum History from Chinese News Paper

[ngokfei]

finish translating what you got then we'll talk.

[mantid1]

I would think LKS had martial arts training, maybe his family style and trained with a guy who did "praying mantis boxing". He kept what he liked and probably came up with a loose curriculum of his stuff.

Some of his students (who possibly came from other systems) liked the "praying mantis" connection and developed a curriculum to match (as far as naming and structure) main stream mantis styles so it would be accepted as "mantis". They just filled in the blanks with forms.

Seems to me that is what many Chinese styles have been reduced to.......forms...for all I know they could have been that way from the start. Others over complicate the "fighting" so much it is difficult to follow. Sometimes "2x4 to the head" is enough.

Trying to read the google translation of the article is probably similar to trying to pull fighting techniques out of forms without a foundation in the basic fighting principles of a system.....you can get a little of what it is supposed to be but a lot of it is way out there!

We can only live in the shadow of our fathers reputation (good and bad) for so long. Sooner or later as instructors we have to mature and have our own methods. I would like to think that a potential student will look at who I am, what I know, what I teach, how I teach and what type of student I produce......not what some dude from 300 or even 60 years ago did when they make the decision to join my school.

[ngokfei]

yeah basically.

I only provided the goolge translation as a filler for those who don't know chinese. I tend to keep my translations to myself and those who are in the research field.

In the end its basically to give credit where credit is due.

US Wah Lum is the the child of Chan PUi. Much kudos to him. He should get credit for expanding the style to include the various facets of modern Kung Fu/Wushu.

Still there are those who'd like to know the origins and the core of the style. If an individual learns a style in lets say 10 years why should their disciples be made to learn the same material in 15-20 years. Sounds like a $$ game to me.

[mooyingmantis]

If an individual learns a style in lets say 10 years why should their disciples be made to learn the same material in 15-20 years. Sounds like a $$ game to me.

AMEN!!!

Some of the earliest mantis instructors trained less than ten years before starting to teach tanglangquan. We tend to over-complicate things as time goes on.

[mantid1]

I appreciate the google translation wasn't trying to be negative.....just a comparison.

Well, I think one reason students may take 15 - 20 years to learn material may be that the students are not as good as the instructor I know, there are people who hold students back for money. I don't see the need for that.

Personally, I think if a student takes classes three times a week, trains on his/her own and actually participates in the fighting classes.....that student should be able to pick up the essence of the system in one year. that doesn't mean all the material just the what the system is founded on and fighting technique and theories. What more do you need?

If as instructors we do not have a curriculum laid out that way we should step back and re evaluate.