When I began studying Shaolin Kungfu with Johnny F. Chiuten, I was told by him that the style was Hung Ga or Angka or Hong Cha, depending on the dialect. This was in the mid-1960s when we did not have the internet and there was really a paucity of information about martial arts. Then when I settled in the US I learned in the 1970s that there were several styles of Hung Gar, each claiming authenticity and bragging rights, with different forms and techniques that “evolved” from the original ancestor in the Southern Shaolin in Fujian back during the Qing Dynasty.
Continue reading “Diary 3/2/25: Dragon Tiger Video Ching See San”Year: 2025
Diary 1/18/25: Daoism Study
Diary 1/18/25: Daoism Study
I often receive questions from students. A student told me that, in response to my advice, she is taking lessons in Daoism with scholar Livia Kohn twice a month. I gave a few suggestions for her and those who are interested in studying Daoism. Studying Daoism is a long, difficult and possibly costly education.
Continue reading “Diary 1/18/25: Daoism Study”Diary update 11/29/24
We just got back from a Thanksgiving Party at the Billingham’s (Joe and Claire) in the woods in Erwinna, Bucks County, PA. Just relatives: Al, Laura, Laura’s parents, Isabel and her husband Jay and Ava, Lolit and me. It was such a pleasure just being with family, chatting updates, what everybody was doing. Ava, now 23, is employed in New York City. Isabel, now 25, is doing her doctorate in bio-engineering at Penn. Even the time spent stooped over the jigsaw puzzle of Gustav Klimt’s The Woman in Gold was a pleasure.
Continue reading “Diary update 11/29/24”