A True Definition Of MMA: A Very Unpopular Opinion

[boxerbilly]

Hello back.

He studied under Fook Yueng in the US.

http://www.tienshan.net/yueng.html

There is a lot of misinformation propagated by those that do not want to believe he was in fact fairly well school in WC. But he was also influenced by and learned other arts or past from other teachers. Some believe he was one of those gifted few that picked things up sometimes as easily as first view.

But regardless ones opinion of him. Lets do our best to get the facts right.

As for it being a good system for the military ? I think it has its massive benefits and some massive negatives. I don't care to get into the whys and why not's. Its apples and oranges .

[boxerbilly]

Also, I believe it was Jesse Glover in his book, Bruce Lee - Between Wing Chun and JKD. To first notify people that Bruve Lee did in fact study with Fook Yeung. Jesse was there. Maybe not at the actual lessons. But who do you think Bruce practiced on ?

[boxerbilly]

That dastardly white dude James Keating who has very close ties to Fook Yeung may be able to expand on what he knows about that time if Fook shared anything with him. He is still around and was gifted a very rare video from me through another party. Blade stuff.

[boxerbilly]

Perhaps hearing from Bruce's wife would sway you and others ? Shhhh. it was a secret. Lots of his teachers were in secret. Mutually beneficial perhaps as the article above suggests. But that's at best informed and deduced speculation on my part. Not a fact.

http://www.kaizentao.com/linda-lee-c...r/#prettyPhoto

[Jimbo]

Wiki isn't always 100% accurate. BL started Wing Chun at age 13, which would have been around 1954. He left Hong Kong at 18. He had about 5 years of WC. However, Ip Man was forced to expel him from the school at one point, because some of BL's classmates who disliked him found out that he was a quarter German, from his mother's side. Ip Man would not teach non-Chinese.

As to BL being a gangster, yes, he was a young street punk. That he could be an a-hole is common knowledge. Historically, long before BL came along, MA society in China was often considered disreputable, often considered at a similar level as gamblers, prostitutes, actors/traveling performers, criminal groups, etc., with whom many CMAists of the past mixed. It was considered to be a part of the lower/outer strata of society. In Taiwan and elsewhere, many parents were OK with their kids studying Taekwondo, karate, judo, etc., while not approving of kung fu. I know for a fact that some schools of certain styles definitely had gangster connections.

So the idea that all kung fu masters were held in high esteem, or were benevolent wise men, or monkish and meditative is a far cry from reality. Even some of the famous, high-level masters were opium addicts. Many were also not good people, but that alone doesn't mean they didn't have good kung fu. The fact of somebody having been a gangster does not automatically disqualify them from having very real MA skills.

Back to BL, IMO he was NOT as great as many believe, NOR as bad as many others believe. But I will say this: There are some people who make much better progress in a couple years than many others can in a decade or more.

[Hakaider]

Interesting points all around.

About CMA teaching and accepting some gang members. Well, I am currently in Asia. I don't want to reveal too much about myself. However, it is not true that high level CMA will encourage or even accept the idea of teaching bad people. As a whole, it is frowned upon and not generally tolerated. The core of CMA is not only external and internal. There is also a spiritual development as well. No high level master wants to see years of development wasted because their student murdered someone or went to prison. No combat scientists wants to experience the shame of seeing their prodigy break their wives bones and bully the weak. It's the equivalent of painting a masterpiece for decades and then losing it because I painted it on sand: something with a weak foundation. Deeper skills are usually reservered for those who will not *******ize the lineage by being villians. Masters of high level science are quite selective with what they teach to who here. We have something called "Wu Wei." Anyway...

A simple example is this interview from Yip Man:

Yip Man, smiling: "You're right. When I learnt under Wah Kung, he was already 70. He was a bit weak at that time. However, he still corrected my mistakes with great patience. Futhermore, he also told his other students to teach me. As a result, my techniques improved at high speed."

Ip Man in Martial arts hero magazine interview: "It's a good question. Let me tell you why. In olden days, people were very strict concerning the teacher/student relationship. Before they admitted a student, they had to know the character of this would-be student very clearly. This is what is called 'to choose a right student to teach'. Secondly, it also depended on whether the student could afford to pay his school fees or not".

Grandmaster Yip stopped for awhile. He then talked in a rather low tone: "The fact is, not too many people could afford to pay for such a high school fee. For example: at the time I paid, the red packet for the 'Student-admitting Ceremony' had to contain 20 taels of silver. And I had to pay 8 taels of silver each month as my school fee."

Character plays a huge role in the culture of CMA. While there are some bad people who don't care about who they give dangerous skills to, this is not the norm. I attended a meeting with several masters from around the country where I am. We talked about this very issue. We can't help it that there are people using the CMA label to cash in and teach the lowest of the low. My master threw out a student 2 years ago because of his behavior and some problems he had.

Bruce Lee was beating up his classmates and instructors. He was fighting with gangs. He did the exact opposite of what made Yip Man so well respected. He was a bully. Yip Man was not a fool. Why did he make William Cheung promise not to teach ANYONE all of Wing Chun, including Bruce (a person with great potential). Why didn't Yip Man continue teaching Bruce afterward even when Bruce came back to visit him? Bruce came back to China as a huge star and Yip Man refused to get in a car with him. I highly doubt Yip Man was simply racist. Bruce Lee was a loose cannon. While he was proud of Bruce, he was a moral man as well. He often reduced tuition for students and took his time to guide them. I could be wrong, but something doesn't seem right about this "Yip Man racist" picture. While his students may have had a problem with Bruce, it could have been associated with him being a rage addict who tried to beat them up and not only his German ancestry. If Bruce was a great person and not a thug like gangster, I am sure the story would have been a lot different.

Have you heard of Robert Ho Tung Bosman (何東). The Ho Tung family was one of the wealthiest and powerful families in Hong Kong. He was the RICHEST man in HK by the age 34. He was knighted by the british government. Was all of this power clean? This I don't know.... But, that kind of power doesn't come without a backing that is very complicated.

I don't think I should be talking about this... But, here it goes. Have you heard of the Tung Triad family 東字頭? They still have power today. You can draw your own conclusions. There is a very odd coincidence in the connection between Mr. Tung's wealth with a rise in triad activity especially around the time his family gained great power. A bounty was placed on Bruce's head by a powerful triad leader before he escaped to the US.

Grace Ho was Bruce Lee's mother. The daughter of Robert Ho. You don't just say no to people like this. Bruce grew up spoiled and was extremely egotistical. They sent him to Yip Man because they were worried about him getting hurt in a gang fight. It is highly possible that it wasn't favorable for Yip Man to go to Bruce parents (One of the most powerful families in HK whose influence can still be felt today) and say, "Your son is growing up to be a hooligan that will bring trouble to our school with his gangland antics and I can't teach him anymore." I don't think the matter of stopping Bruce's study was simply because he was 1/4 German and Yip Man was a racist who was willing to walk away from a large amount of money because of some western blood. This comes up again when Bruce said WJM challenged Bruce because he taught white people. WJM's history proves that's not true as he also taugh a wide range of nationalities. Unfortunately, WJM was vililanized as racist due to Bruce Lee's lie. Especially in the Bruce Lee story film. Many people in CMA were angry with Bruce because he was arrogant and a jerk. His reaction was to call them racists who didn't like him because he taught "real kung fu" to white people. I do believe those close to Bruce may have covered for him as well due to the benefits they could get as well.

About his time spent learning Wing Chun, you are correct about it being around 5 years. From age 13 to 18. I remember it being about the same amount of time. (I wasn't too sure, so I checked wiki. Meh...I read some old interviews and confirmed my intitial thought. Thank you btw) I do believe the power of Bruce's family definetly influenced everyone in HK and may have brought trouble to those who didn't comply. Regardless, 5 years is still quite short in CMA. The age of 13 to 18 is also a very developmental time. The system I am learning takes years of scientific study. I couldn't have dreamed to call myself a master in 5 years, let alone open a school behind my masters back named after myself like Bruce disrespectfully did. The more I stay in my system, the deeper the puzzles get. For high level CMA, the conditioning itself and internal practice takes lots of rigorous scientific study. The MA I study is very old and is divided into 4 systems with 8 subsystems that each have their own variety of sets and sciences. Especially, in terms of mastery some spend years focusing on a part of it. Very few can high level in all of it. From age 13 to 18, Bruce never mastered a science or MA, period. His behavior when he started disrespecting "flowery" TMA was not viewed favorably for this reason. He couldn't understand certain knowledge, so he dismissed them as rediculous. Especially calling older masters, "tigers without teeth" in front of the CMA community.

I do agree that people can learn very fast, but science has layers. I can say from doing CMA that it is a lot of mental and physical work. The layers only get peeled back with time and patience.

[boxerbilly]

Well that may help explain is success ?

Why he is so hated even among the Asians is beyond me. He proved a Chinese man could become important and popular and respected and admired by all in a place that still gave him lots of guff for looking different. He did not fight the system. He found a way to work in it. Sadly, he did not live to see his own world wide impact. Hero in my opinion.

He was The American Dream for everyone.



I forgot LOVED !

[Jimbo]

Hakaider:

Well, I am only telling you what I have personally observed and experienced (and not only heard about), which I won't be discussing. Anyone is free to believe or disbelieve. You can also look back at many masters in history. Also keep in mind that 'bad people' or 'mean people' generally don't consider themselves 'bad people' or 'mean people'. There were also a LOT of famous masters who, while they weren't necessarily part of a criminal element, simply had VERY bad temperaments. I'm not saying 'all', I'm saying 'a lot of'.

As you said earlier, we don't know the entire CMA world, or every CMAist in history. To deny my personal observations, or to imply that it was extremely rare that it happened, is to assume that you know all about CMA history, and what is happening in the CMA world everywhere. That is OPINION. Perhaps it's a certain way wherever you are, or among those whose company you are in. If so, you're very fortunate, and that is a good thing. But I know what I know.

As for Ip Man/Yip Man being 'racist'. Maybe, maybe not. Among CMA teachers of his generation and earlier, any willingness to teach anyone of non-Chinese extraction would have been EXTREMELY rare and in most instances unheard of. We want to think of history as being very open and progressive; maybe some people take the image of Ip Man from the Donnie Yen movies literally. But even in the movie he was very conservative. I'm betting the real Ip Man was even more conservative than that. Among many early 20th-century CMA masters, there were still hard feelings due to war, colonialism, as well as the Boxer Rebellion.

Until very recent history, a high percentage of people of every race and nationality were what we would now refer to as 'racist'. We can deny until we're blue in the face. It wasn't unusual; it was the way it was. Whether through a real or perceived need for self-protection or through ignorance, it doesn't really matter at this point.

[boxerbilly]

Hakaider,

I've read Yip Man was also a trouble maker in his youth. Getting into lots of fights as a youngster. Perhaps a loose cannon as well.

Also from a well to do family.

Science has sequence. Perhaps as Lee went on he concluded certain sequence's were not needed. But perhaps , in fact some things he discarded were useful learning blocks for others understanding ? But then again, it may depend on ones point of view as to what is the most efficient way to end it instead of perhaps busting the guy up before ending it ? As to more esoteric practice. I simply do not understand enough about them. Which he may have learned and if he thought they where all garbage or not. He once practiced Iron Palm but seems to have dropped it or did not pass it on. It may have been time factor considerations and is it needed type stuff ?

More or less is it worth the effort for the gain. Is there a faster way that is equal or close and less time consuming. The man lived by the clock. We can judge by his meticulous record keeping.

Just had a funny thought. The wing chun wall bag, okay its cross art. It was invented as a in home heavy bag substitute for children that did not shake the house or ruin the ceiling. Because no matter what we look like your mom did not care what kind of kung fu you knew. She was going to beat you butt for making so much noise and ruining the house.

[boxerbilly]

I just cant help myself. Staying on topic but this is such a great ending.

[Hakaider]

Great thoughts guys,

I understand your experience shapes your outlook of bad people being in CMA. Since you don't want to talk about, I will not press on.

I am very sorry to hear that in your experience you met enough bad people in CMA to justify the idea that teaching immoral or unjust individuals is a commonly accepted thing. Well, I currently live in the birthplace of CMA and every 3 months I travel to meet different masters. I have never heard them support your idea. While we all agree that there are bad people who enter into CMA, just like some bad people enter into being a doctor or pre-school teacher, it is not generally accepted at all here. Again, studying the historical development of wushu and it's cultural foundations is important. I would have to disagree that these rotten apples represent or are respected in the CMA community. The purpose of kung fu is self mastery and styles have historical connections to taoism or buddhism for a reason. The idea that some bad people don't know they are bad is true, but a master who represents the face of his style should have a moral compass unless he wants to bring ruin to his lineage and style. Villians can appear in everything, that doesn't mean it is an acceptable part of the culture. If you think training immoral or evil people to have high level skills is apart of CMA culture or an accepted part of CMA as a whole, then you don't really understand the meaning of kung fu or wushu and I suggest you travel more and get to know it deeper. We always stop those who are into dark things from getting certain knowledge for reason...

I don't think Yip Man was a gang member who bullied and beat up people. Based on his interviews, he wasn't a hooligan who had triad connections. Young guys rough each other up a bit. Youth are often misguided. It is up teachers to teach and guide them toward a better path. He became a very great individual and skilfull master. His master was a great person who guided him well. Again, CMA does not have an open door policy to teach selfish and immoral people high level skills just for money. Character always plays an important role in CMA development. Hence the phrase, " wood without knots become pillars that are placed at the forefront of the temple, wood with a few knots are placed in the back but still hold up the temple, wood with many knots becomes firewood."

About racism. Yes, it existed in many places around the world. But, Chinese philosophy such as taoism or buddhism do not allow or accept racism ideaologically. At the core of these philosophies were the ideas of longevity by stripping away self-centered existence. These core concepts became the root of CMA. Racism has never been a root of CMA. Do you have any collective evidence to support CMA being a racist culture? Kung Fu masters have always been selective with high level science. Many didn't even teach those with even the same skin color. High level knowledge isn't meant for everyone. There is a respectful process of passing down knowledge. When I open my school, I will give respect to the values my teacher taught me and share those principles with my students. I will give respect to him and the many people who sacrificed for our system. This is our lineage. Carrying on the system will require a difficult process of finding someone with great character to carry on our tradition in a moral way. If not, we are ruined. The i ching is ancient text that expresses these values and how to avoid calamity. This is the CMA way. Opening a school behind my masters back, slapping my name on it, collecting students to grow MY fame and not preserving lineage/values is a huge sign of disrespect in Chinese culture. When others come to call me out, simply saying they are racists who won't let me teach is rediculous. That's what Bruce Lee did with his "Bruce Lee Wing Chun School" and then some...

If I did the same, I would have a lot of unpleasant encounters. His insults, brash behavior and gangster mind didn't help.

Also, with the bad historical relationships with some westerners nations and asia, of course people became a bit weary of teaching certain knowledge widely. A small example is the opium war... Western imperialism was a flourishing business. That doesn't mean CMA is racist or founded with racist ideas. It also doesn't mean the east was not without it's problems.

Bruce Lee was a problematic and impulsive person. He brought a lot of problems on himself with the way he behaved. Even his development of Jeet Kune Do was a selfish business decision. After "getting winded" with WJM, he had to show others he was the best. Instead of him realizing that it was him not just WC that made him a fail, he quit and made a new methodology called JKD in order to maintain the illusion of still having superior way. Conceptually, since JKD has no way as way... it becomes vague and thus hard to argue against. But the ideaology of adaptation in his book are mainly unfleshed out CMA scientific concepts. The ideas of becoming one with one's opponent and not relying on a constricting combative way existed long before JKD. At it's highest level, Xing Yi Liu He for example, expresses becoming one with one's opponent and utilizing great internal force to do great damage. Never contrict one's methodology. Many CMA arts express much deeper aspects. I am not disrespecting any JKD guys reading this, but it's important to understand that he didn't create all this knowledge.

Keep in mind, he wasn't a philosophy or physiology major as he claimed. He was a drama major. That does say a lot, when placed in the context of the way he carried himself.

In terms of usefulessness, one cannot discard things simply because they don't understand them. Only when you learn something in it's scientific depth and entirety can you make selective/adaptive choices. Sciences must be understood before they can be expanded or adapted. Since he never really completed any kung fu system or stayed in it very long, it's quite hard to vouch for his decisions. A good example is music. Learning to play an instrument and studying music theory methodically takes lots of time and dedication. One could skip over all of that because they don't think it's useful and use computer software/autotune to design it all. It's faster, but it leaves much to be desired, lacks depth in skill and reduces real control over one's expression.

As to why Bruce Lee isn't liked by everyone... I think he is idolized by many. However, I don't believe in liking someone just because he/she gained financial succes or look the same as me. I think the big issue is seperating the man from star. He was not a very decent individual. If someone can achieve the American dream through decent character and hardwork, they are my idol. They don't have to be rich or famous... black or white... There are many asians who gained their success in America through hardwork, without being egotistical gangsters. They opened doors for their community and are still opening doors today. Bruce became so over-hyped to the point where he represented a cause that out grew reality and even himself. He was a great actor.

[boxerbilly]

Although he may have been in a gang and I can't recall if so he was 13-18. Likely most of the fights were the roof top matches all those kids watched or participated in because of my school is better than your school that kids love so much. Not that us adults it seems worldwide do not advocate this regardless or local it seem. Heck my home town school has a football team. So does most everyone in the US, Your kids on the team. You don't tell him to go be nice out there on the field Timmy. Say you are sorry for knocking into that opponent. No, more along the line you guys better crush those p---ssies. They suck. You are way better. So, they learn it from us. As we did. Just go hang out at any football game and watch the irate irrational parents that can be there. So, I am really unsure how that made him a gangster ? Where they running numbers at St. Francis Xavier's College ? In involved in extortion ? Was he and his crew pimps ? Muscle for whatever ? Or just doing what all the other kids were doing around those blocks ? Was it traditional ?

You mention him being in the Triads. You mean as a teenager ? Or when he went back ? Or just had connection because it is widely believed and maybe proven now that they were deeply involved in the film industry in China. Is that the connection ? So, of course there is a great chance he encountered them and maybe often. Did they put a bounty on his head ? Ive read that too. Is there actual proof ? I don't think anyone could have projected his massive rise to fame at the time but he was a earner so regardless the disrespect. They would be killing their cash cow. Yes, he was going to migrate back was the word on the street or whatever. Would none of them think well he still may come back and do movies here. Its just seems really bad business to kill the thing one is making loads of cash on. I could be wrong but were not his low budget films making amounts never seen previously ? No one expected Kung Fu films to gain that much momentum .

Think of it. One man rolls into town with his bare feet and fists. With only 5 years half assed WC training he beats an entire village all at once and shuts done the local ice factory. There will be no more ice until we are paid decent wages ! Heck they all rushed him and they stood not a single chance in hell. You would think every American or elsewhere would have scratched their heads and said. What is this sh--it ? Doesn't anyone one have a freaking firearm to take this aberration
out ? He is possessed and now no one can get a cold drink anywhere for weeks until parts come in. It was at ebst a niche idea likely everywhere but China.

Yet it exploded. Fantasy sells !


As to the Taoist or Buddhist philosophies and faith. Gene has a entire thread pages deep of badboy Buddhists. Claiming some sort of religious superiorty because our says we cant do this and expecting me or anyone not in it to believe it when our own says lots of the same ideas and yet we constantly break the 10 co0mmandments or whatever your major rulings are is a joke ! For every single faith. The book is great. The people SUCK!

There are lots here with the insults, brash behavior and gangster mind attitude. I myself am guilty. But for most and generally accurate. It is in jest aside from a squabble here and there. No big deal. But if we base Genes forum on the character of its posters. CMA are loaded with undesirables for any place. We be twisted and demented. Blame Chinas booming film industry . Poor Hollywood cant even fix sign half the time. And we turn out loads of pure garbage that most miss.

Well he did study philosophy but yes his major was different. Id ask Linda or his daughter if you really wanted more accurate information but they likely don't bother with that because people would not leave them alone but maybe today not as many people call ? I don't know.


I agree there is likely usefulness to things he discarded. But some things may have simply been poor fit to him personally. Also his book was not a book. It was a collection of notes he made along the way. He announced he was going to write the book. But never did so. It was compiled after he was dead. We don't know what his book would have consisted of. He wrote 2 book that I know of. That really bad first book and a second book on Wing Chun that he gave to J. Yimm Lee
and took credit as technical editor or something. J. Yimm Lee needed money. Hows that for character ? He did stuff like that for many people who entered into his life. Often while he himself was broke. Of course they also had a very close friendship and Bruce and Linda lived at J. Lee home. Upper apartment and taught out of the garage together.

Idolized is a good word and likely does apply heavily but the guy was LOVED worldwide. He still is. He crossed boarders and religions and made connection that few people ever attain. Pretty good for a guy not peddling religion. Just a lowly actor ? Much more really. One could say he was also an actor. Now as to acting ability. I personally rank him pretty low from the body of work he left behind. But he likely would have improved as he had his direction set on films outside of martial arts. Likely would not be accepted and would have to go back to kung fu film. But who knows ? He achieved impossible more than once.

Anyway. He was Bruce Lee. He looks like he made friends and enemies along the way.

Oh, WJM. Was he teaching anyone yet before the fight ? Any non Asians before the fight ? Just asking because that could have been the belief and reason for it.
Bruce made an open challenge to anyone. WJM accepted. If we go buy the it took 25 minutes than both fighters sucked and neither wanted to hurt the other.
But the body of work they left behind proves otherwise. WJM himself essentially said he was guilty of arrogance. They were both early 20's. I did not grow up until 67 and Im only late 40's still. Just saying.

We are all silly *******s. Some less so than others.

[boxerbilly]

Also thanks for the great thread. Some nice participation in it.

[Jimbo]

Well, I've only been in MA for 40+ years now, and have only trained on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, with 32 of those years total in CMA. Having trained intensively as well as traveled in that time. So maybe I don't really understand kung fu or wushu in your view. Doesn't matter to me, because it's worked for me. If it hadn't, I would not have stuck with it. What I do know very well is that underestimating someone because of their background, because of their personality, formal education (or lack of), or appearance is a big no-no. Did you know that even though many masters came from wealthy families, many who didn't were illiterate? This is a fact. That doesn't equate to lack of intelligence.

I have no regrets for my experiences in CMA, and I didn't say it was all negative. I AM saying there are CMA schools in existence that have criminal connections. I was not a member of any, but in Taiwan I've seen as well as interacted with people who were. They didn't necessarily behave like evil people. Many of them were quite cordial. But you knew what their connections were. I'll leave it at that.

I agree that BL's version of the WJM fight was most likely heavily skewed to make him look better than he actually did in that fight. Otherwise, with his ego, I doubt he would have completely overhauled his training and views on MA for the rest of his life. However, it is funny how, after all these years, so many people are still butthurt over the words of a man who was still essentially a kid when he said them. I'm betting if we're completely honest with ourselves, we all said some arrogant and stupid things in our youth. I know I did. Occasionally I still do. Come on, everyone. He was a kid when he said those things, and he died young 44 years ago.

[Hakaider]

I hope you don't mind me expressing that I would prefer not to talk about the Triads. I don't really want to reveal or talk about anything that would get me into trouble. I prefer to live a simple life. Even mentioning their dealings on the board is something I feel is not productive toward anything healthy... About his family wealth and power ties, I mention something interesting about his grandpa in previous posts. That's about as far as I can go without getting into any trouble... Sorry... Let's stay off Triad topics please. What happened to him or his son, or his family power and connections are things that I would prefer to leave alone.

About teenagers in gangs. I lived in a violent area in the past. Teens get into gangs all the time and still do today. It's nothing like the humorous football example you described. In HK in the 1930s - 1950s, it was not the beautiful, peaceful picture people paint. It was a violent and corrupt area. The triad influence and power was immense. Power shifts meant a lot bloodshed and absolutely, teenagers were involved. Teenagers were recruited back then and they are now. If you can draw some conclusions from what I mentioned before, you can see why Bruce was involved in gangs and not having fun with kids. I wrote enough for you to logically put some pieces together. If you don't, ah well... There are plenty of interviews and information you can research for yourself.

The triads still recruit teenagers today and things still get pretty violent. Here is a modern real account:

My involvement began in high school. There was nothing dramatic about it, I just became friends with a bunch of people I thought were cool and one thing led to another.

High school gangs are like triad training schools. They are not part of the triads per se, they're more of a triad Mickey Mouse fan club where a group of young wannabes strut around pretending to be something they're not. You'd be surprised at just how many of these there are.

The leaders of these high school gangs are usually affiliated with a low ranking triad member, called a 49 in triad lexicon. These are the foot soldiers. The 49 functions as big brother whose help the boys would call on in case of trouble, but big brother is also a scout who kept an eye out for promising young talent.

I must've seemed like one, because I was soon introduced to the 49er's tailou (big brother), who was also a 49er. We met a few times at a local disco, snorted cocaine, gargled ketamine, popped ecstasy, and soon he trusted me enough to put me in charge of a few high-school gangs.

The triads are structured like a MLM scheme. At the lower levels, the more followers you recruit, the more powerful you become, the higher up you climb. The people above your rank are referred to as tailou or ____ ko which means elder brother, and your followers are referred to as DauGei, or children.

It's all about the organization. So we organized.

We recruited the same way ISIS and Al Qaeda does: by giving disaffected and disenfranchised young men a sense of belonging. We start off by convincing the kids that we were cool by bringing them alcohol, drugs and other illicit goods. Then when they have issues they'd come to us for help and we'd help them. Many of the kids I recruited were bullied in school and looking for some revenge, and we'd give the kid's bully a thorough trashing.

Some of the kids would naively come to see us as these cool guys who were looking out for them, and they'd seek to be a part of our circle. Once we got the kids on hooked on the illusion of brotherhood and coolness, they're ours to keep. And they'll bring their friends as well.

We went around the schools settling petty disputes such as who stole whose girlfriend - at the high school level, everything is petty- , and we enforced pax triadica with our fists. We demanded discipline from our members, and if one of our own went out of line we'd beat him up ourselves. We were a group of young bullies with our own set of rules and standards of behaviour. My recruits unwittingly traded one bully in school, for circle of friends who bullied one another.

From petty disputes we graduated on to settling disputes between local businesses. Unlicensed bars, moneylenders and illegal gambling dens would pay us a set fee, and in return we'd step in if they have problems. The money was terrible, but for a young kid, having adults and business owners turn to you for help is a huge ego trip.

I was able to grow the organization effectively because I understood the principles of peer pressure and group think. So if you're a parent, I would advise you to obsess over who your teenager is hanging out with; there are many manipulators like me out there.


I must've been a pretty good recruiter, because the boss took me under his wing and introduced me to his boss, Suen Ko. Suen Ko was a hung kwan, or a mid-level lieutenant in the triad hierarchy. This is where I started to get involved with the actual organization. We had a short initiation ceremony in a karaoke room, and I became a 49 under Suen Ko.

Suen Ko owned a few nightclubs and bars, and virtually every night we'd be in one of his fine establishments drinking, partying, and partaking in every drug we could get our hands on. Our sort attracted a certain sort of girl, and there were girls aplenty. The bars were a money maker, but Suen Ko's real money came from selling bootleg CDs.

At the time, bootleg CDs and eventually DVDs were an organized crime gold rush. This was before napster and way before bittorrent, and demand was so high that we filled up entire shopping malls with outlets selling pirated movies, music and software. A common joke was that if Bill Gates ever visited our malls, he'd have a heart attack on the spot.

For about 5 cents in costs for a blank CD, we sold the end product to the consumer for 15 local bucks a pop. Not even cocaine had that kind of margin. We were selling the bootlegs as fast as we could print them, and best of all piracy was perceived by the local cops as a low-impact crime and as such wasn't rigorously enforced. Heck, many of our regular customers were cops. At the time, you could drive up to a police checkpoint with a stash of bootleg CDs on the backseat, give a cheeky grin and a thumbs up, and the cops would just wave you through.

Suen Ko made millions within his first year.

I was good with computers, and I became his IT department. I helped him organize his production, and in return he gave me a handsome cut. I made quite a bit of money in my teens, but I quickly blew it all on drugs and girls.

The biggest eye opener was during the annual company dinner. They had to construct a tent hall on an empty field to fit all 5,000 of us in, and there were local politicians and community leaders on the front row tables. That drove in the impression of just how big the tree was, and how deep the roots went.


If I made the triads sound like corporations, that's because that's what they are. We were even registered with the Registrar of Companies as a multimedia company and we paid our taxes. The big bosses looked just like any other middle aged Chinese uncle you'd meet at the local supermarket. The best way to avoid detection is to be in plain sight and blend into the background. The so-called gangsters you see on the street strutting their stuff are amateurs; many of them are just aping what they see in the movies. The pros keep a low profile and get on with making money.

Once you go far enough up the hierarchy, violence is actually pretty rare. For the most part, being a triad is just like working in any other corporate job.

But when violence does occur at that level, it's freaking terrifying.


Roundabout the end of my first year, there was a war. The politician who Suen Ko worked for was at odds with another politician from the same organization. There were a few shootings, grenade attacks, and choppings, but it didn't affect me directly at first so I didn't give much thought to it. Then a call came one night. All hands on deck. We dropped everything and converged on the HQ.

Pardon the expletive, but it was scary as ****. There were a hundred or so of us milling about an office block, and someone started handing out machetes and sashimi knives. Suen Ko took me up to the office, and there were hard looking ****ers at every corner. The air was so full of cigarette smoke I could barely breathe. Everyone looked grim. Apparently we were expecting an attack.

I was a skinny teenager, and I was out of my depth. Till that point, I'd been involved on the white collar side of things. The guys I saw that night had the word hard etched on their faces. I've never felt more scared than I did that night.

We stayed there overnight, but no attack came so we went back to our branch office. They attacked us there. A dozen or so guys rushed in and we fought back with chairs, clubs, machetes, boxes of A4 paper, everything we could get our hands on. It was a hazy frantic panicky desperate fight for survival. We were cornered and if we lost it would've been game over. One of theirs died in the melee.

The police arrived fairly quickly and I went to jail for a bit. It was in a cell that I resolved that this life wasn't for me. For some miraculous reason, I got off scot-free. I went home, packed my things, and left everything behind to start a new life.