Response
List members,
The picture in question was given to me in a digital format as a gift by Sifu Anthony Clark of Oregon and has been on display on my website for about ten years. When it was given to me, I asked Sifu Clark where he had obtained the photo and he said he got it from Shifu Lee Kam Wing. I asked and he gave permission for me to display it on my website. After that, I put it up for everyone to have just as I distributed the first public photos of Wong Long's memorial, the first displaying of the student/ teacher picture of Wong Hon Fun and even as I share rare historical photos every chance I get in the Quarterly and online. You will find those photos on many people's websites, without attribution, and I have no problem with this. I have even seen glossy paper copies of the pictures on our site given as gifts. It is most gratifying.
Shifu Pel and I had this conversation privately about a month ago. At that time he offered no details, as he has here on this forum, for the picture's origin but simply made the claim that the photo was his and some threat that I would be "exposed". I explained the picture's origin as I know it, and he did not respond further or offer any evidence. I guess this is his response.
As for the picture on my site, it has been there for nearly ten years. It has been downloaded countless times and is on display in many schools around the world. It and the other pictures are provided in a format that prints on glossy paper really well. Some even have borders on them so that they look really nice in a frame. If you haven't seen them, you should.
At the time of this writing, I have not even looked at the picture on display at my site to search for the markers Shifu Pel has described. I must admit that having seen this photo over the last ten years on other Lee Kam Wing websites and a very clear version in Kung Fu Qigong magazine in an article by John Chang, I am not very concerned. It, like countless pictures of Bruce Lee, is in the public domain. It has never been anything to me other than a well-composed photo of a respected master.
Shifu Pel asks if someone would display a photo to promote himself. Personally, over the near decade the photo has been on my site, I have never had anyone say, "Wow, you have a great photo on your site! I want to learn Mantis Boxing from you!" Nor have I ever made any claims other than that it was very kind of Shifu Clark to share that and many other photos and information.
The initial idea for my website was that people from around the world would list their schools. I wanted to promote mantis boxing with a mailing list, photos, articles and even a calendar of events. Not all that came to pass. The world-wide listing has been a success, the articles are now in Mantis Quarterly, and that calendar thing...well, I have never been good at keeping schedules on myself much less on everyone else.
If the photo came from Shifu Pel those many years ago, then I appreciate his initially making it available to the public. I will, however, happily make public attribution to Shifu Tony Clark, who provided it to me.
Steve Cottrell
www.mantisquarterly.com
www.authentickungfu.com