Some old pictures

Some photos of me from way back in the 1970s practicing LHBF forms. If it was done now, these probably would have been videos:

• On the top right is a rare picture of me performing for a fundraiser at UBC. I still don’t know why I said yes but I did. My sifu as well as my parents told me not to brag about my training and to keep it as a hidden weapon of last resort. That line of thinking played a huge part of why only close friends of my university days know about my training. While I was staying in the university’s residence, I use the shower as my private training room and I often go out late a night to train to avoid watching eyes of others.
• The older gentleman (second from the left) in the bottom right photo is my sifu – Chan Yik Yan 陳亦人 (Chen Yi Ren) 1909-1982. The rest were my classmates and training partners. We were the youngest bunch at the time and therefore also the trouble makers. To get sifu to teach us long staff, we goof around with his steel staff until he couldn’t stand it and showed us how to do it properly. None of us were there for health or fitness, we want to learn how to actually use it. I always offer myself to be the guinea pig for demonstrations and never once complained about it. The impression was lasting even if I don’t understand it at the time. Some of those tactile memory/impression was the key to later understanding.
• The two pictures on the bottom left was done at the roof of the apartment complex. I did a lot of my drills that require space there. I also sparred bare knuckles with a good friend of mine that was trained in praying mantis. After sparring, we go down to my house to use ‘dit-da’ for our bruises and injuries. I did gain some irreplaceable insights into actual bare knuckles fights during that period but trust me, it was stupidly dangerous too – one of my front tooth almost got knocked off during one of the sessions and wasn’t properly repaired until 30 years later.
• The background of the top 2 pictures on the left is from my living room. Given how precious space is in Hong Kong, there just isn’t enough space to do the whole form without adjustment but I don’t let those constraints stop me from making the best out of what I was given. I remember using the reflection from the windows as well as the shiny surface of the piano as mirrors to check the placement of my arms, etc. The floor was wood and in the summer months, I trained and sweat so much that some of the floor tiles were bleached.
• Yes, I did the sword form. It is more for completeness than for real practical use. The old adage that weapon is an extension of the arm is only true within a certain context but in general, I think it is seriously flawed – each weapon has its characteristics, if you treat them as one and the same, you have not maximized the potentials as well as put yourself in serious risks. My most valuable weaponry knowledge came from outside LHBF – 1) my uncle who was trained in Wing Tsun (a different sub-branch that specializes in the long staff), 2) Dan Inosanto who is a specialist in Filipino stick fighting as well as in JKD, 3) Kendo (Japanese sword) where they use protective gear as well as bamboo swords with full contact competitions. All of those shaped significantly how I look at traditional weaponry training. If you see me cringing when I watch some self-defense demo against knife attacks, now you know why. 🙂

Exercise
Share one story of how you got (or almost) into a fight, a serious argument, bullied, target of a crime or witness a fight first hand. Share not just what you did but also how it felt and affected you.