Thanks, excellent video. I have been asking myself why Fat San Bak Mei (as represented in the school that does the Sifu Game) has the leopard fist but Cheung Lai Chuen Bak Mei doesn't, at least as far as I know. My exploration of this subject is not about the advantages of the style, but to create a historical portrait of CLC and understand why he made the choices he did regarding his style. Once I got into the historic period of China in which he lived and what I can verify that he actually did he became the most fascinating character I have found in martial arts and don't have the advantage of studying the documents written in Chinese. He was a Hakka born at the end of the Taiphong rebellion which is the most massive civil war in history. Then lives through the Boxer rebellion and the communist takeover. As a Westerner I had no idea what that period was like. We still haven't seen anything of that scale including our "World Wars". CLC learns Vagabond, then Dragon, then Bak Mei and Traditional Chinese Medicine then recreates everything from his combat experience. This silence about his history is probably due to the "moral" questions which I make no attempt to just because of the place and time. He became something like a "warlord" and he and his school ran a salt trade cartel that networked not only through China but extended into South East Asia. After he starts training the Kuo Min Tang at the Wampoa Military Academy fighting the CCP his most famous students are General Kot Siu Wong who creates the 14k Triad, and Ho Chi Minh who takes over Viet Nam. I'm guessing that is why we see the Bak Mei style movements and brutality there, the Bak Mei pai were like special forces or CIA in those areas and probably cooperated with those US forces in Laos and Cambodia where there were established Bak Mei schools. This is the context of the secrecy of the art, if you could be identified as a Bak Mei you became a target and the schools had to prevent infiltration not just to protect the art, but to protect the network and it's "soldiers". Now, all that is to bring me back to the original question of why he was making the choices he did about the techniques themselves, such as removing the leopard fist? One other interesting bit of this history. The Taiphong and Boxer Rebellions had a huge "Christian" element and in the Taiphong the Hakka were on the "Christian" side. Bak Mei is famous for it's neutral salute rather than Ching or Ming, I think CLC probably created most of the White Eyebrow v Shaolin legend as a myth to explain what was really happening. However CLC was close to Chiang Kai Shek and Shek's wife was Christian, went to school in Georgia in the US and became the first Chinese to speak in Congress. At the same time 14k is moving into Us territory to supply the war effort with cash. Given the respect Chinese have for their Sifu, it's hard to believe CLC was not the "God father". I don't know what you can do with all this information but it gives me much more respect for Traditional Chinese Martial arts and the Hakka people.
🙏
Thanks, excellent video. I have been asking myself why Fat San Bak Mei (as represented in the school that does the Sifu Game) has the leopard fist but Cheung Lai Chuen Bak Mei doesn't, at least as far as I know.
My exploration of this subject is not about the advantages of the style, but to create a historical portrait of CLC and understand why he made the choices he did regarding his style.
Once I got into the historic period of China in which he lived and what I can verify that he actually did he became the most fascinating character I have found in martial arts and don't have the advantage of studying the documents written in Chinese.
He was a Hakka born at the end of the Taiphong rebellion which is the most massive civil war in history. Then lives through the Boxer rebellion and the communist takeover. As a Westerner I had no idea what that period was like. We still haven't seen anything of that scale including our "World Wars".
CLC learns Vagabond, then Dragon, then Bak Mei and Traditional Chinese Medicine then recreates everything from his combat experience.
This silence about his history is probably due to the "moral" questions which I make no attempt to just because of the place and time. He became something like a "warlord" and he and his school ran a salt trade cartel that networked not only through China but extended into South East Asia. After he starts training the Kuo Min Tang at the Wampoa Military Academy fighting the CCP his most famous students are General Kot Siu Wong who creates the 14k Triad, and Ho Chi Minh who takes over Viet Nam. I'm guessing that is why we see the Bak Mei style movements and brutality there, the Bak Mei pai were like special forces or CIA in those areas and probably cooperated with those US forces in Laos and Cambodia where there were established Bak Mei schools. This is the context of the secrecy of the art, if you could be identified as a Bak Mei you became a target and the schools had to prevent infiltration not just to protect the art, but to protect the network and it's "soldiers".
Now, all that is to bring me back to the original question of why he was making the choices he did about the techniques themselves, such as removing the leopard fist?
One other interesting bit of this history. The Taiphong and Boxer Rebellions had a huge "Christian" element and in the Taiphong the Hakka were on the "Christian" side. Bak Mei is famous for it's neutral salute rather than Ching or Ming, I think CLC probably created most of the White Eyebrow v Shaolin legend as a myth to explain what was really happening. However CLC was close to Chiang Kai Shek and Shek's wife was Christian, went to school in Georgia in the US and became the first Chinese to speak in Congress. At the same time 14k is moving into Us territory to supply the war effort with cash. Given the respect Chinese have for their Sifu, it's hard to believe CLC was not the "God father". I don't know what you can do with all this information but it gives me much more respect for Traditional Chinese Martial arts and the Hakka people.
exceptional work as always!
😂😂😂😂 yeah right
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Uussshhh