Linking/Connected Fist

Hello Joseph!

My Teacher...Lee Wing-Wah Sifu...learned Pa-Kua Chang, Hsing-Yi Chuan, Sun Style Tai-Chi Chuan and Wu/Li/Hao Style Tai-Chi Chuan, and Wu-Tang Shan Chi-Kung from Sun Lu-Tang Sifu...and learned Old Yang Style Tai-Chi Chuan from Yang Chien-Hou and his son, Yang Shao-Hou.

I learned these methods in turn from Sifu Lee...and all of my Rank Certificates in the Shen Men Tao System...Initiate Disciple Instructor...Master of Five Excellences...and Grand Master Lineage Successor...are from Master Lee, who now lives in secluded retirement at 105 years of age.

Prior to my recent forays to online martial arts forums...the Shen Men Tao System has always maintained a more secretive, closed door, traditional kung-fu format not generally accessible to outsiders. With Sifu Lee's consent and approval...I am attempting to publicize this fine traditional Taoist System so that more people may benefit from it's teachings and practices. Thanks for inquiring!

Thanks for the info!

I didnt know Sun Lu Tang's xingyi was considered Shanxi....i guess i learned something today. Thanks again. =)

__________________
...someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out.....fight is over....

Mr. Alb:

I was told that Master Sun's first and primary style was the He-Bei Hsing-Yi Chuan learned from Master Guo Yun-Shen...but like many martial arts enthusiasts...Sun learned and practiced a number of different methods during his lifetime...combining what worked best for him into a uniquely personalized fighting method.

Additionally...he taught different methods and material to different students according to their mental and emotional temperament...physical size and attributes...and previous martial arts training experience. It wasn't a 'one size fits all' teaching regimine since Sun had a wealth of material and experience to draw upon.

My primary teacher and mentor, Master Lee Wing-Wah, followed Master Sun's example in this regard...and so have I. This is one of the primary reasons for combining multi-style practices into one training System such as Shen Men Tao. It allows all students to have exposure to each of the major Taoist Internal/Soft Style Boxing Arts within established, compatible parameters so that Master and student both can identify that which is most suitable for each. In this way, a more personalized training program is established for each student...instead of trying to 'force square pegs into round holes' as in the 'one size fits all' manner of teaching.

Light To All!

Sifu Stier

Dr. Stier,

When you say he practiced different methods, are meaning within xingyi alone? Sources other than Guo Yun Shen? If this is so...what sources?


If it was Lee Wing-Wah who studied other sources other than Sun himself (xingyi only), wich sources?

Please understand that im not being skeptical, im genuinly curious and interested. Thanks in advance for taking the time to adress these simple details.

Jose Alb

__________________
...someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out.....fight is over....

Wow - that's an impressive martial pedigree!

Sun Lu-Tang died on December 16, 1933.

Yang Shao- hou (1862-1928)

Yang Chien-hou (1839-1917)

If your teacher is 105, then he would have been 17 when Yang Chien Hou died, 28 when Shao hou died and 33 when Sun Lu Tang died.... crazy!

Has the Yang form of Chein Hou been passed down within your organisation? Are there any pics of it anywhere or video clips? (not that I hold out much hope )

Dr. Lee told us that during the last 25 years of Sifu Sun's life...there was a previously unprecedented friendship and association among many of the top Kung-Fu Masters...especially the Internal/Soft Style Masters of various Tai-Chi, Pa-Kua and Hsing-Yi Styles. Several Masters accepted invitations from various Organizations and Associations in Beijing...Shanghai...and elsewhere... to teach their respective Styles via public classes to larger groups of people at the same location....particulary during the time period between WWI and WWII. Prior to this period...most Masters taught only immediate family members and a small number of 'Indoor Initiate Disciples' privately and exclusively at their own homes and schools.

However...Sifu Lee says that as more frequent and friendly meetings occured among the various Masters at these 'neutral' sites...regular comparison of styles and trading of styles took place between them and their students. As a result....many of those present during this time...such as Sun and Lee...learned other styles of their primary arts in the exchange. In some instances...I am told...the alternate style of Hsing-Yi, Pa-Kua or Tai-Chi proved to be a better 'fit' for some individuals....and thus became an integral part of their personal practice and teaching. This is all I know about this.

Light To All!

Sifu Stier

Hello quanping:

Thank you! It is a Lineage which I am honored to have received, and very proud to perpetuate. These older styles are rarely seen nowadays...and others who present what they claim to be the same material are doing something different than what I was taught by someone who actually studied with the Old Masters. As a result...the Shen Men Tao System is committed to teaching and practicing the same Sets that these older generation Masters taught and practiced. We believe that practicing the same methods in the same way as they did yields higher martial art skills and greater auxilliary benefits in a shorter period of time than do any of the newer modified and shortened Sets created by Masters of lesser skill than the Old Masters.

Thus...the Old Yang Style Tai-Chi Chuan of Yang Lu-Chan, Yang Pan-Hou, Yang Chien-Hou, and Yang Shao-Hou is preserved in the Shen Men Tao System formulated by Master Lee Wing-Wah in the mid-1930's. This material includes the Old Yang Style Large Frame Long Imperial 108 Forms Set, the Old Yang Style Small Frame Combined Forms Fast Set, Weapon Sets, Two Person Application Sets, Tui-Shou, Ta-Lu Sets, San-Shou, and Lei-Tai. I have been working on an official Shen Men Tao website for more than a year to date. Photos, videos and books presenting these practices will be available when it is finally up and running. The Sun Style Pa-Kua material...and the Shansi Hsing-Yi material will also be similarly presented. Whew! It's been tough to find folks that will design the website to do what I envision for it...but it's nearing completion at last. Thanks for your interest.

P.S. Master Lee records Sun's birth and death data as October 29, 1861-October 29, 1932. We record Yang Shao-Hou as born in 1862 and died in 1930, not 1928.......and Yang Chien-Hou 1839-1917 just as you posted.

Hi Sifu Stier,

I got those dates from a Google search, so have no idea of their validity. The birth dates of old Masters tend to be universally agreed upon, but death dates are always 'fudged' - usually so that somebody can claim to have been studying from them longer than they really did. It's hard to get any accurate information on these things. Try to find a death date for Sun Lu Tang's teacher Gou Yun Shen and you'll see what I mean!

Your web site with photos and video clips on preserving the old styles sounds like a great idea. I look forward to it. If you've got clips of the old yang form you could send my way in the meantime I'd appreciate it though.

Thanks!

Hello quanping:

I'm sorry, but "there will be no wine before it's time". Thank you for your interest in this material, but it's not ready yet. The list of people awaiting its availability grows longer with each passing day. So please be patient. I promise that it will be well worth the wait!

Light To All!

Sifu Stier