Master Yip Shui And My Father
After my first meeting with Master Yip Shui, the Head of Chow Gar Praying Mantis School, I was accepted as one of his students. He told me to go to his home three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
SiFu Yip treated me well and taught me many things. In the first two lessons he taught me The Foot Steps then the beginning 8 Foundation Movements followed by the first form called "Three Step Arrow". In the third lesson he started to teach me "36 Kinds Application Hands" and he started to give me Chinese pills that he made called "Power Pellets". I had to consume 64 of these tiny pellets every two days for several months. Later he would give me "Shock Powder" which was pink in color. During the fourth lesson he taught me the second form "Three Arrows and Swing The Bridge" and in the fifth lesson he showed me the final 8 Foundation Movements.
There is a Kung Fu notebook in my home where I wrote, "April 29th, seventh class learned 'Down Wing' and 'Wrap Up Hands' ". That day was a meaningful lesson. It might be said that, because of this lesson I can officially learn the Kwong Sai Jook Lum Temple Praying Mantis from my father.
On that day my SiFu taught me "Down Wing" followed by "Wrap Up Hands", both are a part of "36 Kinds Application Hands". This was my SiFu's famous move. He taught this application with lot of patience and corrected me many times. He felt so confident about it that he told me to attack my father with it.
When I arrived home that night I told my father what my Sifu had asked me to do. My father immediately moved into the fighting position and he said that there was no need for me to tell him how I would attack. I didn't feel good about fighting with him, I also knew there was no chance for me to win, but I had no choice, so I stepped forward quickly with "Wrap Up Hands" application. When our arms touched I felt my body shake, then my arms lost control. I wasn’t sure what had just happened. From there my father's fists were suddenly at my chest. It all happened in about one second. It was so impressive. My father was happy and wanted to tell me what he did to me. He told me that he used elastic power to make me lose control of my arms. Then he moved his arms and fist in a small circle (around and above my arms) and attacked my chest. He said that the key to this movement is that when both arms touch and the opponents arm pressure is coming towards you, one has to measure and control the strength from both sides and return the power from the opponent with your own power. It took me a few years to fully understand this artistic split second technique.
My father also taught me how to make changes to "Wrap Up Hands" to break the joints in an opponents hands. My father had several decades of experience and this technique was taught to him by the old generation of Kung Fu Masters. During the time that my father was learning Kung Fu they only taught these high level things to important students.
A few days later it was time for me to return to my SiFu's home. When I arrived my SiFu asked how things had gone with my father. I told him what had happened. He wasn't happy and seemed to blame me for how it turned out. He said that I should have made adjustments to my moves, he then showed me how to attack back.
Through my father and my Sifu, two great Masters, I was able to learn a lot about Chow Gar Praying Mantis and Kwong Sai Jook Lum Praying Mantis Kung Fu.