For Part 1 - 2019 Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship Part 2 – Here Comes the Rain CLICK HERE.

The Afterparty

In my mind, the best stuff comes out at the informal Wulin gatherings and our Afterparty is a perfect space for this. It’s invitation only, but just chummy up to me and I’ll get you in. The staff (largely my Dragon Crew because they not only stock the room, but they love to party), judges and VIPs stop by and we never know quite who will show because it’s after a very long day. This year, Master Jack Fu Xueli was giving out free acupuncture treatments, mostly to the other judges and masters (note that this is not part of TCEKFMC – it was strictly between Master Fu and anyone he saw – I have to say that for liability reasons).

A little while later, after acupuncturing on Master Zou Yunjian, the two of them got into some friendly Push Hands. Now Master Zuo is one of the most decorated Tai Chi champions in the world. And Master Fu is a leading expert on Emei Push Hands, so much so that he is the master behind our 3 DVD Instructional series, Emei Tai Chi Push Hands. So when these two masters started to push, it was just fascinating to watch. But then it got even more intriguing. Grandmaster Liang Shouyu was watching some MMA matches on TV from the sofa, and he got up to school Masters Fu and Zou with the craziest takedown technique. Just like the night before with Master Grace, I was reminded of the power of the Wulin. I’ve known Grandmaster Liang for years, even taken some workshops with him, but he’s always so pleasant and gentlemanly, like a favorite uncle (actually, Grandmaster Liang’s grandson is my younger martial brother - he discipled under my master Shi Decheng at our 20th Anniversary and inaugural KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY). To see Liang move into this absurd takedown so quickly and efficiently – well, like everyone in the room, we were awestruck.

I finally got to bed at 2:20 AM. That was after cleaning up after the Afterparty - and this time, there was some blood. It wasn't blood from the Push Hands. It was from the acupuncture. After volunteering with Rock Med for over three decades now, cleaning up blood is well within my skill set. It wasn't like there was blood spilled everywhere, just a few needles to discard, but it amused me enough that I thought it worth mentioning here. I think that was the first time I actually had to clean up blood after the afterparty. That went quickly for which I was grateful because I had to rise by 6 AM the next morning to check out of the hotel and be on site for Sunday.

 

Sunday – Internal Divisions, WildAid and the Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship

Sunday morning I woke up to a gorgeous rainbow. Now that’s auspicious.

But Sunday was also weird because there was this street fair – Viva CalleSJ, a community event that closed down miles of San Jose streets including Market Street in front of South Hall. That made it very difficult for our attendees to find parking. It also rained. It poured actually. It was an unseasonable downpour that made us all wonder again about what is really happening with our climate. But it worked to our favor because fewer people attended Viva CalleSJ. No one wants to go to a street fair in the rain. It worked against my Dragon Crew however because our station got flooded. A small pond emerged, several inches deep, right where the Dragon Crew and Rock Med were situated. Fortunately, the fundamental criterion for being part of the Dragon Crew (aside from being a personal friend of mine) is being able to deal with unexpected adversity. Usually we put out fires, so floods are just another element. The South Hall team were on it, mopping up the Dragon Pond as best as they could between deluges. And the thunder that came with the rainstorm added drama, punctuating KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY with claps from the heavens.

I was called up to stage to participate in the Ribbon Cutting ceremony. I had been avoiding the stage this year, knowing full well that I'd be there for a lot of Sunday as MC of some showcase championships and to hand out awards for photo-ops. Apart from matting it on Friday, I was only up there for the National Anthem on Saturday. That was awkward. The Tiger Claw Elite Taekwondo Championship had picked up a last-minute sponsor. I didn't really know that much about them, but I was told they were going to hand out free dental kits - toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss - to anyone who came in while supply lasted. That seemed odd to me, but they were actually nice little kits. The sponsor was a political group connected to the "Comfort Women" Memorial in San Francisco. It was established by private Chinese and Korean Americans, and erected in Chinatown, but it nearly ruptured the sister city relationship between San Francisco and Osaka, Japan. Political sponsors can be delicate because the martial arts crosses all political positions, but this was awkward for different reasons. The Tiger Claw Elite Championships are family friendly, and questioning children were overheard in the crowd asking "Mommy, what's a comfort woman?"

 

 

But back to the Ribbon Cutting ceremony, I’ve always felt this was a superfluous ritual, something more reserved for the opening of a new building, and a bit of a time waster for KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY. We started it when we first held the event and have kept it up ever since. Gigi claims that ‘the Chinese like it’, which she often claims to justify such things. I think she just likes it. It's only been recently that I've been included in the cutting. I'm usually too busy getting things done, especially when it comes to dodging rituals that I don't believe in, but I must 'show face'. I get that. And Gigi is right about 'face' issues. She's much more savvy when it comes to 'face' etiquette than me. Scissors were passed out for all the ribbon cutters but we fell short one, so there I was on stage, holding the ribbon like a fool. Fortunately, I always have my daily carry, my trusty Leatherman Skeletool, however I use it a lot to cut boxes at work so it was in dire need of a sharpening. I had thought about sharpening it prior to TCEKFMC, but honestly, I was so busy with other preparations that I didn’t even have the chance to get a haircut. Maybe that should be part of my ritual. In the group photo, you can see Gigi in some Chinese ribbon-cutting bliss, as I’m being assisted by my Kung Fu elder brother Dr. Johnny Jang, trying to slice through that damn ribbon with my embarrassingly dull blade.

I didn’t take part in the rest of the KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY opening ceremonies, particularly the Group Tai Chi recital, which I usually enjoy. After making a huge push to include the newest Taiji form Bafa Wubu a.k.a. Eight Methods, Five Steps in our Group Tai Chi recital, I wasn’t able to participate because of the flooding. That was a personal disappointment because I actually learned that form when we helped stage the The Belt and Road China Tai Chi Culture World Tour earlier this year. On top of that, Master Zou Yunjian, who usually leads the Simplified 24 Routine was injured, not from the Afterparty impromptu Push Hands, but from a previous situation, so he had his student Judy Liu stand in for him. I’m told it all went well but I didn’t see any of that because I was mopping up the Dragon Pond.

I had managed to stay off the microphone until Sunday when I was called upon to MC the WildAid Tiger Claw Championship and the Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship. Both are my babies, my pet projects, and both had some problems, one of which was totally my fault.

This was the 10th annual WildAid Tiger Claw Championship and Tiger Claw really stepped up by contributing an iPad to the Adult winner and Nintendo Switches for both youth champions, the Tiger Cub and the Teen Tiger. It went really well and I’m very proud to say that through this special Showcase Championship, the Tiger Claw Foundation had donated over $12,500 to WildAid. However, there was a snafu with the Tiger Cub competition. Two competitors tied but that wasn’t noticed until days after the event when one of the competitors brought video evidence of the scoring error. In the interest of fairness, Tiger Claw awarded a second custom trophy and Nintendo Switch, so this year there were two Teen Tiger Champions.

There was a snafu in Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship too, which was entirely my fault. Despite the low turnout of competitors, we had committed to awarding a Qingtong sword to the winner. This is actually my current favorite offering from MartialArtSmart.com’s premium sword collection. It’s has a lovely pattern-welded blade that’s super sharp, and it just feels right in my hand. Maybe that was the problem. I didn’t want to let it go so I forgot to bring it. The winner was a good sport about it though and even agreed to pose empty-handed so we could Photoshop the award sword in later.

 

The real treat was that Rain mission. Peter Kwong was actually doing reconnaissance for this master, Grandmaster Jonny So. Grandmaster So is one of the American pioneers of Bak Sil Lum, someone I had never met in person because he is based on the east coast. We have a large contingent of Bak Sil Lum proponents here, not just because of my master, Kwong Wing Lam, but also due to Grandmaster Wong Jackman. Many of our TCEKFMC judges come from Grandmaster Wong’s school, and they too were honored to finally meet Grandmaster So in person for the first time. Like any clan, Bak Sil Lum has had its internal feuds, but this marked a historic gesture of unification, something I had dreamed about when I launched the Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship last year. We took a photo, but unfortunately we weren’t able to include all the Bak Sil Lum masters in the house that day. Despite the low turnout of competitors, the 2nd Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship was an extraordinary success, and we’ll try to run it again next year, assuming we can get enough competitors in pre-reg.

 

Epilogue

As I said previously, Master Grace Wu-Monnat and Master Helen Liang brought me chocolates, which I took as an uncommon honor. However, when it was all over, I felt strangely empty because no one had brought me any tea. That’s surely the wrong way to look at it all, but hey, I love fine Chinese tea. Hanging out with so many Shaolin monks, many of whom cultivate tea as a Chan practice, well, they’ve spoiled me.

In the wake of the event, Master Scott Jensen brought his students by, specifically River Rudl, the Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship, to pick up that Qingtong sword prize. He also brought River’s girlfriend, Ila Cantor, and his young precocious student Leo Beare, who also competed in Ku Yu-Cheung Bak Sil Lum Championship. Leo, surely under the direction of his master, brought a lovely offering of Tieguanyin to me, making everything right with TCEKFMC 2019.

The 2020 Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship is scheduled for May 16-17, 2020 in San Jose, California. See you there next year!

For the next Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship report, click here: 2020 Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com ONLINE Championship: Sheltered in Place by Gene Ching.