Training under my sifu

When I first joined the Tien Loong Gung Fu club under GM Dino Salvatera, I had no idea of what kind of  training that took place in this martial art club.  There wasn't a formal setting like you saw in typical Karate schools.   Most of the students were Asian (mainly Chinese) and the day I walked into the school their faces had the look of "what is this white boy doing here?"

As a kid, I was hard headed and liked to fight.  I was looking for something to give me an edge for those just in case moments in life.  Since I was raised in San Francisco's Mission district I was already accustomed to doing what it took to fit in since my neighborhood was mostly NON-WHITES.  The day I met my Sifu I could tell he was from the streets too.  He was in his mid 30's and by the way he carried himself I could tell he'd been in a few fights.  This was what I needed, a teacher who knew how to fight that can teach me a real martial art.  

On the days i'd go to class, I recall my sifu heading out for Chinatown to train with his sifu while he left the senior students to look after the class. It was those seniors who started out new jacks like myself.  At the time, I was only taught a few moves at a time and expected to find a corner and practice them over and over until Sifu decided to add on more to what i just learned.  

 As I look back on it, true traditional training could seem a little boring to the average American.  Sitting in static Horse stances until you can barely hold yourself up while learning just a scant few techniques at a time is enough for the impatient individuals to leave and find another school.  But, I'm not a quitter and if my class mates were doing it, then so was I.  It was then that i realized that boring basic training was also used to weed out weak links. So, I stuck in there and the rest is history.

I found my corner and practiced my few moves over and over again regardless of how boring it got. I believe it was like 3-6 moves in about 3 months.   The whole purpose was to teach you good training habits and to teach you patience; not forgetting that its giving you a chance to perfect those few moves.  I completely understood that if this was the process then just go with the flow. 

The usual method of learning under Grand Master Salvatera was to learn the techniques and then practice them on your own, unless I was learning two-man spar forms. One of the things my sifu constantly reminded me of was to practice my techniques as if i were in a real street fight to get the proper mindset over robotically repeating the moves without soul, passion, LIFE....whatever you want to name it.  

What my Sifu taught at his school was serious self defense.  Some of the things we put heavy emphasis on wasn't proper for competition so we tried to stay away...eventually competition drew us in and we changed our focus to deal with the sport side of things.  In those days (80's) if you were a tough gung fu student who'd been in fights or is known to be a fighter the outside martial art community looked at you as if you were nothing more than a gangster.  I mean, we trained for realistic street combat, the true purpose of gung fu in the first place.  

One of the things sifu always taught us was gung fu was an individual experience because everyone is different in so many ways.  He taught us to focus on what works best for us out of the Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut style.  He also told us to choose about 5-6 favorite techniques and MASTER them. When it came to actual combat, he encouraged us to perfect our basics because those are what we will depend on in combat.  He also taught us that the combo's found in the form isn't set in stone.  Yes, it was a guide, a blueprint so to speak, but it wasn't the only possible application and that we should explore them in depth first.  This is how we came to OWN our gung fu.

One mistake i made in my early days at the Tien Loong Kwoon was asking how a technique was applied.  I should have known better by the look on his face when he said to me "kick me here."   He used the move on me FULL BLAST sending me to the floor screaming in pain.  Needless to say, I never asked again how to use a move, I just had to figure it out for myself. the price I had to pay for being a newbie.  

Since i already knew how to fight as well as throw some kicks, I jumped into the mix  right away and started sparring.  I knew I'd be an open target for my Asian classmates who wanted to try their gung fu out on the Bak Gwai.  We also didn't spar with gloves on because they limited our techniques but it taught us to be more on our toes because we could black eye, lose a tooth, have your face busted open and so on. The reason why we sparred with no gloves was because we felt that each person had a job to do and if either one wasn't doing their job someone was going to get hit or even hurt.  

When i look back on this type of training, i can't help but smile.  Because when my gung fu light bulb turned on, everything my sifu taught me completely made sense.  I saw things in a totally different light than prior to the light bulb turning on for me.   Personally, I feel that's a good way to practice.  Sometimes you get a few bruises here and there but out on the street it's way more violent and way less predictable.  Therefore, I've chose to honor my sifu by teaching, transmitting and preserving it all to keep this great legacy alive and well prepared for the next millenium.  

Thank you Sifu.

Is the concept of "MASTERING" gung fu LOST on the current generations?

When i first started learning Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut back in the early 1980's I can honestly say i was trained the old school way.  That's the right way, in my opinion.  For example, although i knew how to block kick and punch prior to learning Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut my sifu had me start out with the basics.  First it was horse stance training.  There was about 5 different stances i needed to learn and develop since this was the foundation to everything  I was going to learn.  After that I'd learn the first few opening moves of a hand form.  I was then expected to go find a corner and practice those few moves over and over and over and over and then practiced them over again.

I can't lie, at first it was boring as all hell.  Practicing the same few techniques repeatedly over the next few months till i could do them in my sleep.  At times i'd even wonder if i was wasting my time.  For a beginner it could be a little rough because he can see what the others are learning and wants to learn that too.  Unfortunately, he's not there yet so he has to keep practicing those moves.  it really can try a persons patience and make him question why he's learning it in the first place.

it was always a great feeling when Sifu would give you some new moves.    then it starts all over again and before you know it, you're done with the form. It usually took about a year to complete a form and a student is expected to perfect it over the next year before learning another one.  This was the kind of training you get from a true old fashioned non commercialized gung fu school.  In a commercial school you'd learn it all on a timely schedule and students usually were promoted regardless of the fact if they deserved it or not.

Today, the current generation of young individuals are undisciplined, have no loyalty,  impatient and possess a sense of entitlement.  These people have no concept of what true gung fu is even if it bit them on the butt.  What the don't realize is that the true meaning of gung fu is skill earned through hard work over time.