Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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Greetings,
Does anyone know where Bruce learned his Shaolin from. It has been said on this forum that he went looking for instruction after his match.
mickey
Last edited by boxerbilly; 10-26-2016 at 11:14 AM.
Greetings Billy,
I was referring to the Northern Styles of Shaolin. I should have been more specific. I do believe, as others have shared, that he did pursue such instruction.
mickey
mickey,
I heard that BL learned some forms, including some N. Shaolin, in Hong Kong. He traded with some teachers (and/or advanced students) for cha-cha lessons.
Last edited by Jimbo; 10-26-2016 at 12:56 PM.
Willem Reeders was Northern Shaolin . It is said he trained there 100 days out of every year from 12-21. Beijing area. His mother was Chinese. I forget if born in China or not but there was family there.
Reeders is a funny history in the states. He taught many different systems depending on where he was. Here in NY it was Kuntao and karate. He was friends with Sam Wong of Mu Dong but had a falling out over something. This was while he lived in Canada I believe. Funny both Reeders Kuntao and Wongs Mu Dong have been here in the Roch area for maybe 40+ years. Canada being only an hour away.
Side note Rudy Terlinden used to teach Kung Fu San Soo for Jimmy Woo. He was Silat.
Leo Fong also had studied Northern systems. Not sure which. One could email him and just ask I guess.
Last edited by boxerbilly; 10-26-2016 at 01:15 PM.
I do know that Leo Fong studied some CLF and maybe some Fut Gar. He wrote books on them; I believe he referred to the Fut Gar (or whichever other style it was) as 'Sil Lum'. I wasn't aware that he studied any northern styles. Must have been later, because in the 1960s into the '70s, instruction in northern styles was less common in the States. WJM was a novelty when he arrived with his N. Shaolin.
Last edited by Jimbo; 10-26-2016 at 01:11 PM.
Greetings Jimbo and Billy.
Jimbo, I remember reading about Bruce learning some northern forms before coming to the USA.
Billy, during the '90's, I was told about the existence of a Beijing Shaolin existing during the time frame you gave. I have not seen nor heard anything about it and it was definitely on my mind last week. Your mentioning it was a real shock for me.
Thank you both for your help.
mickey
This IKF interview with Hawkins Cheung talks a little about BL learning some northern kf from Shiu Hon Sang while in HK.
http://hawkinscheung.com/wp/about/
Greetings -N-,
I knew about Shiu Hon Sang and I thank you for the link. I found something that lines up with what people were saying as a result of the match between BL and WJM; i.e., Bruce looking for instruction in Northern Shaolin. It seems that Bruce was more than just disappointed with his performance in the fight. He may have been very impressed but would never admit it. The following story shared by Hawkins Cheung about his interaction between himself and Bruce with regard to dance establishes a modus operandi for Bruce:
"Our competitive spirit was not only in martial arts, but extended in daily life. Everyone knew that Bruce was good at dancing the cha-cha. At school, I knew some Filipino friends who were pretty good too, so I would pick up steps to show up Bruce. The next time I saw Bruce, he had a bunch of new steps! I questioned my friend to see if he had taught Bruce those new steps, but he denied any knowledge. I later found out that he went to my Filipino friend’s dance instructor to learn more steps! That was our character—to always look for a new source. I later went to the same dance instructor and tried to persuade him not to teach Bruce."
This is something that people on both sides of the BL/WJM fight completely overlooked.
mickey
Last edited by mickey; 10-27-2016 at 08:00 AM.
more.....
What I am getting from all that has been shared from this thread is the composite of a person, Bruce Lee, who was very confident in his abilities found himself in a fighting situation where he really could not handle and subdue his opponent the way that he thought he could; and, despite his best efforts to kill/seriously harm his opponent, Wong Jack Man was still standing. Bruce's top mount to end the fight was one of desperation. I think this was the catalyst for change in Bruce's training and sparked interest in learning/understanding the style of his opponent, Wong Jack Man.
WHY COULDN'T THOSE AUTHORS WHO ARE CASHING IN SEE THIS?
mickey
Last edited by mickey; 10-27-2016 at 08:45 AM.