Feedback on Sifu Steve Cotrell

[woodendumby]

Does anyone know Sifu Steve Cotrell...he teaches at Authentic Kung Fu in the dallas ft worth area....(texas). just lookin for some feedback.

He teaches wing chun and northern mantis...

thanks

[woodendumby]

Sifu Steve Cottrell
Sifu Steve Cottrell began studying Kung-Fu in 1966. He has trained in several styles of Chuantong (traditional) Gongfu but reserves teaching to three fighting arts: Wing Chun Kuen (Everlasting Spring Boxing) in the Yip Man tradition, Bei Tanglang (Northern Mantis Boxing) in the Wong Hon Fun tradition and Taiji Quan in the Yang Banhou tradition. He has trained in both the United States and Asia, where he served as a law enforcement and investigations officer, as a liaison to foreign police, as a representative for the humane treatment of U.S. prisoners abroad, and in refugee resettlement operations.

Not merely a theorist, Sifu Cottrell's martial experience ranges from full contact matches to actual combat while executing his duties with the United States government. Sifu Cottrell has also been an instructor for military counter terrorist and special operations units. These experiences have been instrumental in the development of the unique approach to training used at Authentic Kung-Fu. The real-world lessons learned have been condensed into Authentic Kung-Fu's Hard Target PDS program, the only personal safety program ever to be endorsed by a Health Maintenance Organization in the United States.

Sifu Cottrell and his students have trained with some of the world's foremost authorities on Kung-Fu. Sifu Cottrell and his Wing Chun students train with respected instructor Sifu Alan Lamb. Sifu Cottrell and his Tanglang students have trained in the United States with Sifu Henry Chung, under the guidance of his father, the venerable Grandmaster Ho Yin Chung. In China, they have trained with Li Dalin of Shanghai Qixing Tanglang; Yu Yongsheng of Yantai Qixing Tanglang; and Qingdao's great master of Shaolin Jingang Qixing Tanglang, the late Kang Zhiqiang. Sifu Cottrell has trained extensively in the more advanced aspects of Northern Mantis and was a student of Grandmaster Chung's Kung-Fu brother, the late renowned Tanglang Quan master Sifu Brendan Lai.

In 1998 Sifu Cottrell became the first Westerner to win first place at the Traditional Wu-Shu competition held in Jinan, China. He stands as the U.S. representative of the Yantai Boxing Association as a recognized sifu of Northern Mantis in the Wong Hon Fun tradition. Sifu Cottrell and his students have been featured in Master's Demonstrations at prestigious martial arts events in the West and Asia, and Sifu Cottrell was privileged to perform at Grandmaster Chung's retirement ceremony in 1998. In 2002 Sifu Cottrell won two gold medals in traditional Gongfu competitions in Yantai, China.

Having a master's degree in education and language skills in seven languages, including Chinese and Korean, Sifu Cottrell brings a unique perspective to the study of Kung-Fu that truly combines both the Wen, or liberal arts, and the Wu, or martial studies.

A published author, Sifu Cottrell is also the principle performer in a 13-tape series, "Wing Chun For Combat" and co-hosts a tape series with Sifu Alan Lamb, "The Wing Chun Master's Series." Both series have been distributed internationally and stand as two of the most thorough treatments of Wing Chun to date. In 2003 he began publishing Mantis Quarterly, a newsletter featuring technical, cultural and historical information on Tanglang Quan written by some of the world's best Tanglang practitioners. In 2005, Sifu Cottrell held a meeting of Mantis Boxing teachers in Cleveland, Ohio. This meeting, the First North American Mantis Boxing Conference, was a unique event in the history of Mantis Boxing, as it was the first time instructors from many different families of Mantis Boxing came together and shared with others how they fight. A DVD of this event will be available to the public in December 2006. In 2007 Sifu Cottrell will publish a Chinese language course that will teach practitioners to read the extensive works of his Si Gong (martial grandfather), Wong Hon Fun.

A warrior and a scholar, Sifu Cottrell's personality has been defined by the arts he has practiced and the real world venues in which he has lived out their philosophy and techniques. His desire is that the benefits of Authentic Kung-Fu be made available to all who wish them.

[houstonwriter.c]

His school is excellent and he is a superb teacher and leader.

William Dylan Powell

[woodendumby]

I seemed to have answered my own op here....but I thought I'd post what I found after the op.

thanks for the input !

[jesper]

Dont know the man, but be carefull about making any assumptions based on a marketing text.

Go visit him and see if you like it. Doesnt matter what anybody else feels.

[ChangHFY]

Hey woodendumby,

I think its important that you get a perspective of someone outside of his Kung Fu
family.

So to give you my opinion.

I have always had great encounters with Laoshi Cottrell.
He has always been kind and seems to be exceptionally knowledgeable.
So I would say its definitely worth the time to make a trip to meet laoshi.
But as what was stated before its best to meet him for yourself rather than listening to other peoples opinions.


I wish you the best.

[southernkf]

I don't know much about him really. His Mantis teacher wasn't too far away from me and as I was first searching martial arts years ago Steve's name came up frequently and rang a bell due to the mantis connection. I beleive I had some discussions with him long ago briefly and nothing bad stuck in my mind.

What strikes me, now that I think about it, he is probably one of the few I havn't heard any one slander. Not sure if that is accurate or a good thing. But it seems to me that he isn't doing things too controversially as to attract unwanted attention. Check him out and see if it is what your interested in.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Steve once killed a man in Reno, just to watch him die...

This many not be true, or it may, either way....

[southernkf]

Are you sure your not mistaking him for a guy named Sue? Hmmmm.. was it Henry?

[AndrewS]

I bumped into Steve Cotrell at a tournament many years ago. He was very pleasant and without attitude though quite senior to me. His students seemd to have their heads on straight and were fun to stick with. I understand he started Wing Chun with Leung Ting long ago. He's one of the few people to depart the WT organization who I have never heard an unkind word about. While I can't speak to his skill, I've heard nothing bad about his character.

Andrew

[martyg]

Steve's a great person and a wonderful teacher. Known him personally through our involvement with the chi sao tournaments at the Great Lakes Kung Fu tourney in Cleveland over the years, and his students have always shown great skill and humility.

[AndrewS]

Hey Marty,

I think I met Steve at the same Great Lakes tournament I met you at many years ago, or were you at the Wu Tan tournament where Phillip Nearing had his little spat with some guy?

Andrew

[martyg]

Hey Marty,

I think I met Steve at the same Great Lakes tournament I met you at many years ago, or were you at the Wu Tan tournament where Phillip Nearing had his little spat with some guy?

Andrew

That wasn't the Wu Tan, that was at the Great Lakes tournament I also met you at. That was the year Phillip was running the Chi Sao section. Remember, he wanted non-wing chun people judging to cut down on arguing and bickering? Then there was the melee between Phillip/Phillip's people and Carl's after words. So I guess it didn't cut down on anything.

Anyways, I don't know if Steve still goes to that tourney. I stopped back in 2003 I think it was, after we got a "raw deal" (that's putting it politely) in their full contact portion. Phil Redmond was there, and he couldn't believe what was going on either. He went to clarify, and they suddenly stated these rules (which they did not cover in the pre-competition fighter rules explanation meeting) that a) You can only punch 3 times to one area and b) you can only punch 1 punch a second. As Phil pointed out to us at the time, even a boxer couldn't enter then because his jabs would come faster than that.

I'm much happier with the Madison tourney.

Marty