The relationship of Sifu is not an easy one to explain.  Within a kung fu school, sifu means teacher.  But a sifu is more than a teacher.  Sifu also means master.  And the diligent kung fu student accepts the sifu as his or her master, doing whatever is asked of him or her, as any good apprentice would.  But sifu also means father.  And in the traditional kung fu school, a sifu is just that.  When the teacher agrees to take someone on as a student, that student becomes as a child of the master, and the master becomes an adopted parent, a father, a sifu. My sifu, Richard Cunningham, satisfied...

Now that you know how to stand, how to block, and how to strike, you’re ready to learn how to walk. This will involve learning yet another way to stand, as well. You’re making such good progress, grasshopper! Lesson 10: Walking in horse—Short Step: Step 1: Stand in horse, facing the front. Step 2: Turn your head towards the right—look fierce. Step 3: Bring your left leg forward so that your heel is in line with the toe of your right leg. (a) As you move your left leg, make a little crescent move about 9 inches in diameter, as though you were stepping around something. In other...

As promised, here comes the basic punch, called ping chui. I will also tell you about two other strikes, the vertical fist, called ya chi chui, and the tiger claw, called fu jow. Doesn’t this all sound just simply mahvelous? Lesson 7: Ping Chui—You will see in the first photo a sample of ping chui, a basic punch. We make our fist slightly differently, but it doesn’t really matter (sorry slohand). Make sure your fist is tight. The striking point is the first two knuckles of your hand and you use them as you would a gun sight, but you’re not going to be hitting anybody, are...

Today we are going to show you the four basic blocks of the Hung Gar system. Blocks are good things because they keep people from hitting or kicking you. They are also good because they exercise your eyes. Yes, they do. You’ll see. Lesson 3: Mok Sau– Okay, get in horse stance. Make sure your hands are made into fists and at your side. You should be trying to touch elbows in back (you won’t, of course, but this exercises your chest). Now, bring your right fist down kind of along that groove between your abdomen and your upper thigh—you know, where your belly hangs down...

Okay, it’s been a year since I returned to the kung fu club and so it’s time for a progress report.  As you may recall, it was a year ago on Memorial Day that I bumped into a guy giving away free karate lessons during a local street fair.  I took him up on the offer because I knew that I needed to get some exercise and practicing a martial art is a lot less boring than lifting weights and running on treadmills. I had practiced kung fu for a good many years before, but an injury has forced me to stop for a time.  I started to focus my attention in other pursuits, such as music and writing,...

I’ll tell you a little secret about teaching.  And I’ve been teaching a long time now, over 25 years, so I should know something about it.  I never meant to be a teacher.  It was never in my plans.  I wanted to be a rock star, or an actor.  I saw myself standing on the stage taking my bows to thunderous applause.  I told my high school guidance counselor so. I remember well being called to my counselor’s office back when I was a senior in high school.  I thought I was in trouble.  I couldn’t imagine being in trouble with Mr. Milling.  Mr. Milling looked rather like a tall, thin...

Well, we just came back from our annual trip to Big Sur.  With the economy being what it is, I’m not sure we’ll be able to go again next year.  I hope we can.  It would be sad if we couldn’t  go.  We’ve been going up there now for twenty-three years.  We just love that place. For those of you who don’t know California, Big Sur is an area in the Ventana Wilderness about thirty miles south of Monterrey.  Monterrey is the setting for one of John Steinbeck’s most wonderful books, CANNERY ROW.    At one time Monterrey was the capital of California, back when we used to belong to...

It was Memorial Day Weekend when I signed up for those four free Karate Lessons that led to my return to the world of Martial Arts.  I began practicing the Hung Gar style of kung fu back in 1984.  Over the next 17 years, I went from novice to instructor.  And then, I hurt my foot.  And for seven years, I was unable to practice kung fu.  So I put my attention to other pursuits, like music and writing. But then I got fat—very, very fat.  Imagine as fat as you can imagine.  I was fatter than that.  So I went on a diet.  I used the Weightwatchers plan.  It works.  I can say nothing but...

I wanted to tell you what I’ve been doing in my back to kung fu classes, but it occurs to me that without a little explanation, you won’t really understand it. So I’ve decided to give all of Reverbia some basic kung fu lessons in print. Lesson 1—Basic Horse Stance You can’t fight if you can’t stand. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Of course it does. So the first thing you learn to do is to make your legs strong. To do that, you stand in what is called horse riding stance. It makes your legs very, very strong. It’s not easy to do, but it is easy to practice. You can do it while washing...

It has now been about three weeks since I called my kung fu pal, Lee, and started actively practicing Hung Gar Kung Fu again. So here is a little update on my progress. The kung fu road is not an easy road, especially in a hard core school. Not all kung fu schools are equal, but I guess that’s evident. Not all martial arts schools are equal. There are two basic kinds of martial arts schools. One kind of martial arts school is “the business”. This school is supposed to make money. This is an elusive martial arts dream. Hardly any martial arts schools make money. We all knew martial arts schools...