This Chinese New Year’s I skipped out on the Chinatown parades and instead headed to The Fighthouse on West 27th Street. Resident school Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw Fist) was holding it’s annual New Year’s Celebration and Kung-Fu Demonstration. Featuring primarily forms, the school demonstrated the range or their techniques as well as showing some Yang style Tai Chi, Brazilian Jiujitsu from fellow Fighthouse residents and demonstrations from the Brooklyn Chapter of the Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut school.
the school
Since 1974 Grandmaster Leung Shum has been teaching Eagle Claw Kung-Fu at his Ying Jow Pai school in Chelsea. According to his school’s site Shum began studying Kung-Fu and Tai Chi at the tender age of eight under his godfather. He studied for 8 years before co-directing his godfather’s school for while the Master was teaching abroad. After an unspecified amount of time Shum came to this US and 3 years later with the help and encouragement of a private student opened the first Eagle Claw school in the US. Since then, the school has been regarded as a premier venue for studying traditional Chinese martial arts in America. Shum has been featured in magazines and television shows and published several books, most recently The Secrets of Eagle Claw Kung-Fu: Ying Jow Pai.
The school teaches traditional Northern Style Eagle Claw Kung-Fu. While Eagle Claw has many striking techniques and one can see the hallmarks of other northern styles- long, low stances, jump kicks, etc. it is set apart by its emphasis on chin-na techniques. Chin-na or Chinese grappling is characterized by seizing, locking, holds, chokes, pressure point hinting and takedowns. The school also teaches Yang style Tai Chi.
the venue
Fighthouse is an interesting place in that plays host to several different martial arts schools at once. A sizable loft with multiple training areas, Fighthouse is home to teachers of Western Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Russian Systema, Ng Mui and Kendo in addition to Eagle Claw. Ying Jow Pai’s website points out that this arrangement is similar to the Chin Woo gymnasiums in which Ying Jow Pai was first taught to the public in China. In addition to a full size ring, and a plethora of equipment and weapons lining the walls, there is ample central floor space which was used for the performance.
Fighthouse is an interesting place in that plays host to several different martial arts schools at once. A sizable loft with multiple training areas, Fighthouse is home to teachers of Western Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Russian Systema, Ng Mui and Kendo in addition to Eagle Claw. Ying Jow Pai’s website points out that this arrangement is similar to the Chin Woo gymnasiums in which Ying Jow Pai was first taught to the public in China. In addition to a full size ring, and a plethora of equipment and weapons lining the walls, there is ample central floor space which was used for the performance.
highlights
The show opened with a traditional southern lion dance with live percussion courtesy of Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut. A powerful show opener this obviously grabbed the audience’s attention and thrilled the children seated front row. From here the announcer welcomed us and informed the crowd that there was a very long program scheduled for the day and introduced several guests of honor including Shum who sat with the audience, dressed in street clothes. From there the demonstration began with six people performing a Yang Tai Chi set. This was followed by another dozen or so different forms, one brief, light sparring match and the afore mentioned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu demonstration.
At this point the MC for the day’s events began to dismiss the crowd when some comments from the back reminded him that there were more performances. From here the Choy Lee Fut school launched into several forms, concluding with one by their head instructor. The half dozen or so members of this group preformed with an intensity and precision that was impressive. Techniques were sharp and powerful and delivered with an intent that conveyed an understanding of their meaning.
The crowd favorite was certainly the performance by a girl, perhaps 7 or 8 years old. They enjoyed her form so much that she preformed an encore at the end of the show.
The show opened with a traditional southern lion dance with live percussion courtesy of Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut. A powerful show opener this obviously grabbed the audience’s attention and thrilled the children seated front row. From here the announcer welcomed us and informed the crowd that there was a very long program scheduled for the day and introduced several guests of honor including Shum who sat with the audience, dressed in street clothes. From there the demonstration began with six people performing a Yang Tai Chi set. This was followed by another dozen or so different forms, one brief, light sparring match and the afore mentioned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu demonstration.
At this point the MC for the day’s events began to dismiss the crowd when some comments from the back reminded him that there were more performances. From here the Choy Lee Fut school launched into several forms, concluding with one by their head instructor. The half dozen or so members of this group preformed with an intensity and precision that was impressive. Techniques were sharp and powerful and delivered with an intent that conveyed an understanding of their meaning.
The crowd favorite was certainly the performance by a girl, perhaps 7 or 8 years old. They enjoyed her form so much that she preformed an encore at the end of the show.
low lights
The members of Ying Jow Pai, with one exception seemed to be “marking” their forms rather then truly executing. The movements never became techniques as most were performed with low energy and a seeming lack of intent, like a dancer finding her marks on the stage before a performance. This included a flawed display of a two man weapon set that featured Brooklyn Eagle Claw head instructor Sifu Julio Perez. While somewhat lethargic throughout, the performers had to stop at one point and discuss verbally and with hand motions where the next movements were.
The above mentioned exception was a seemingly “hard chi kung” inspired form by a young Hispanic man. His form seemed based around heavy breathing and intense, prolonged muscle contraction. At one point he dropped on his back and banged his forearms on the floor repeatedly. Unfortunately this too proved disappointing as the irregular pattern and chest driven breathing betrayed a lack of true control. Additionally, after the forearm hitting, the gentleman’s arms were bright red and appeared slightly swollen. This seemed to indicate a lack of proper conditioning and internal development, a topic discussed earlier in this blog.
The members of Ying Jow Pai, with one exception seemed to be “marking” their forms rather then truly executing. The movements never became techniques as most were performed with low energy and a seeming lack of intent, like a dancer finding her marks on the stage before a performance. This included a flawed display of a two man weapon set that featured Brooklyn Eagle Claw head instructor Sifu Julio Perez. While somewhat lethargic throughout, the performers had to stop at one point and discuss verbally and with hand motions where the next movements were.
The above mentioned exception was a seemingly “hard chi kung” inspired form by a young Hispanic man. His form seemed based around heavy breathing and intense, prolonged muscle contraction. At one point he dropped on his back and banged his forearms on the floor repeatedly. Unfortunately this too proved disappointing as the irregular pattern and chest driven breathing betrayed a lack of true control. Additionally, after the forearm hitting, the gentleman’s arms were bright red and appeared slightly swollen. This seemed to indicate a lack of proper conditioning and internal development, a topic discussed earlier in this blog.
Finally I was disappointed by the general lackadaisical nature of the event. It began fifteen minutes late and the MC seemed to have little idea what he was doing in front of a crowd. He was did not identify himself, was uncomfortable, informal, quiet and gave little or no introduction to what we saw. As well, I would have enjoyed a least a few words from Shum.
final thoughts
Personally I would have enjoyed more variety then from a parade of forms. There was only a glimpse of fighting, no application, no discipline techniques and no original anything. Truly it seemed that this performance was a bit of an after thought to most of those involved. As forms are what this, and many other traditional schools obviously emphasize I remitted on this point, but I would have appreciated some insight into what I was seeing. The names of the forms were only given in Chinese with no indication of what we were seeing- is this a beginner or advanced form? Is it intended to train anything in particular? What does the name mean in English? Instead, it was a matter of watching uninvolved performers go through the motions of a pre-rehearsed dance. Not so inspiring.
Giving the benefit of the doubt it could have been an off-year and the school may be preoccupied with other issues, problems, upcoming events, etc. Maybe it was intended more as an internal show, for friends and family. Either way, my advice to the students of Ying Jow Pai is to take a lesson from their brothers at Hing Sung Choy Lee Fut and show more passion in their public displays. As long as the public face of Chinese Martial Arts is either modern Wushu or disinterested displays of traditional forms, the uninitiated will continue to flock to MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And why shouldn’t’ they?
final thoughts
Personally I would have enjoyed more variety then from a parade of forms. There was only a glimpse of fighting, no application, no discipline techniques and no original anything. Truly it seemed that this performance was a bit of an after thought to most of those involved. As forms are what this, and many other traditional schools obviously emphasize I remitted on this point, but I would have appreciated some insight into what I was seeing. The names of the forms were only given in Chinese with no indication of what we were seeing- is this a beginner or advanced form? Is it intended to train anything in particular? What does the name mean in English? Instead, it was a matter of watching uninvolved performers go through the motions of a pre-rehearsed dance. Not so inspiring.
Giving the benefit of the doubt it could have been an off-year and the school may be preoccupied with other issues, problems, upcoming events, etc. Maybe it was intended more as an internal show, for friends and family. Either way, my advice to the students of Ying Jow Pai is to take a lesson from their brothers at Hing Sung Choy Lee Fut and show more passion in their public displays. As long as the public face of Chinese Martial Arts is either modern Wushu or disinterested displays of traditional forms, the uninitiated will continue to flock to MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And why shouldn’t’ they?
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