Sifu Michael Manganiello wrote an article at his website http://www.lingnamsiulum.com about his journey through martial arts. I wanted to include the section where he discusses meeting, training with and finding inspiration from my teacher Sifu Robert Chu.
Around 1982-83, I was introduced to William Cheung (Cheung Cheuk Hing) by Victor Parlati. Victor had worked for my father at our family business in Brooklyn, and had been a student of Sifu Moy Yat for a number of years. (Many years later, Victor would go on to become the point man for Cheung’s headquarters in New York). Cheung had built quite a reputation as a fighter and was surrounded by quite a bit of fanfare at the time. He had been Grandmaster Yip Man’s houseboy, and was a boyhood friend of Bruce Lee, who he introduced to Yip Man. Years later, Cheung would be a mentor-like figure in Bruce Lee’s early development. As the story goes, Cheung, while living with Yip Man, learned an alternate version of the Wing Chun system that had never been exposed to the public. That he would now do so, by giving a full-length seminar on the Bil Gee (thrusting fingers) form, the third and most closely-guarded set in the system, caused quite a stir in the Wing Chun community. The turn-out was fairly large, and the hype that preceded Cheung turned out to be fairly well-founded. His skills were exemplary, and his version of the art was very different from the status quo at the time. Unfortunately, the P.R. surrounding Cheung’s claim to having the only “true” version of Wing Chun tended to alienate a lot of people, myself included. Although I would go on to learn Cheung’s entire system right through to the Wooden Man and weapons, let me state for the record that I lay no claim to his lineage and or methods. Like many others, I gleaned what I could, keeping what I felt was useful. Other than that, I mention the incidents only as a chronological point of reference, as it was while attending the Cheung seminars that I would meet the man that would become my Wing Chun Sifu, Robert Chu.
Nicki and I first noticed Robert during the Cheung seminars, as he was very vocal during the question and answer sessions. He was very talented and stood out from the crowd, not only because of his skill, but because of his stature (well over six foot, ~180 lbs.), which was unusual compared to most Chinese people that I knew at the time. He looked very familiar, but we could not place the face. It was not until he walked into Yee Sifu’s one day that we put two and two together. Sifu Yee introduced us, and explained that Robert was one of the senior members of the academy. We all played it very low key, as if meeting for the first time. Yee Sifu was a very old fashioned teacher, and would have looked down on the fact that we were engaging in “outside” study. It might well have been grounds for expulsion for all of us.
We struck up a friendship with Robert and found out that he was running classes out of a dance studio in Chelsea. We asked to study with him, but he turned us down. SEVERAL TIMES. He had been taking a lot of flak from Sifu Yee over his practice of Wing Chun and did not want to be perceived as a fifth column, much less as “poaching” students from Sifu. Yee Sifu knew he was a WCK Sifu already, but wanted him to give up WCK for Hung Ga. However, we were persistent and eventually he relented, allowing us to join his school provided that we remained training with Sifu Yee.
Where Sifu Yee was a taskmaster, Sifu Chu bordered on fanatical. Each succeeding class seemed to push us more and more to the limits of endurance. The classes were highly structured, spending equal amounts of time on form, Chi Sau, San Sau drills and endurance training.
About a year later Sifu Chu invited us to take part in additional private classes at his residence in Jackson Heights, Queens. This consisted of a small group of his most serious students, who met up to two nights a week plus Sunday mornings. Along with Sifu Yee’s classes twice a week, this had us training six to seven days a week. Training consisted mostly of Chi Sau and San Sau drills, with Sifu Chu being very hands on. During training, he would constantly be touching hands with everyone in the room.
Sifu Chu was a firm believer in the “live hand” school of thought. Form was merely a vehicle for transmitting concepts cohesively down through the generations. It also provided a constant source for self-discovery for the practitioner. Although I would learn a great many things in my years with Sifu Chu, one of the most important was how to “read” and interpret form, and the proper mechanics of issuing force throughout the Southern fist sets he taught me. Everything was based on proper alignment and twisting into the form. All the “secrets” or concepts of a system are contained within the forms, quite often in a “coded” manner. Each style tends to have its own “language.” One must learn the vernacular of a given style in order to unlock these secrets. There are often many levels of interpretation, (subduing, crippling, lethal) to any given technique within a form. Quite often the literal or obvious translation represents the lower level techniques (subduing). The higher level techniques, (crippling, lethal) are usually much more conceptual, thus hidden from the casual observer.
Sifu Chu’s background was extremely broad, encompassing many styles of Kung Fu, and in many cases, several different versions of each. He had studied with Moy Yat’s top disciple, Lee Moy Shan, as well as Koo Sang, for several years in the classical Yip Man style. He had also studied the Gu Lao and Yuen Kay Shan styles of Wing Chun under Sifu Kwan Jong Yuen. Then there was the aforementioned training with William Cheung. Many years later he would study with Hawkins Cheung. Needless to say this all had a profound effect on Robert’s teachings. Where Sifu Yee had been more of a “historian,” transmitting the art faithfully as he had learned it from his masters and their masters before them, Sifu Chu was more of a maverick, constantly re-assessing and reorganizing his art to suit his needs. Throughout his writings, the quote “Let application be your Sifu, let function rule over form” comes to mind. His art was in constant flux, evolving continuously, which in a sense is the heart of all Kung Fu and Wing Chun in particular. The ability to change, to adapt, and to evolve through a process of self critique, trial and error is the only way we can achieve a higher level of learning.
As I had mentioned earlier, Sifu Chu was also one of the senior members of Yee’s Hung Ga. In addition to the Tang Fung system, Robert had also studied the Lam Sai Wing system of Hung Ga. I would eventually learn the Lam Sai Wing minor forms from him. These consisted of: Lau Gar Kuen, Gow Duk Kuen, Wu Dip Jong, Small Five Animal, etc. During the mid-80′s, the late Lama Pai Grandmaster Chan Tai San took up residence as a guest teacher at Yee’s Hung Ga, teaching both Lama Pai and Bak Mei to some of the advanced members there, among them Robert, James Tsang and Thomas Lee. Many years later I would learn a good portion of these systems from both Sifus Robert and James, as an adjunct to my repertoire. ( For example; Sifu Chu taught me the Siu Lo Han & Dai Lo Han and then many years later, Sifu Tsang would combine the two as well as teach me Chut Ya Bo.)
Around 1984-85 (shortly after opening LNSL) I began training with Sifu James Tsang on Sunday mornings. Sifu James often worked out at Sifu Chu’s on Sundays, and quite often would assist Robert in coaching me, eventually, at Robert’s urging, I began to train more with Sifu James on Sundays. It was all quite casual at first, I was still a member of Yee’s Hung Ga, and so James trained me appropriately in the Tang Fung style. Through the grapevine, I had learned that Sifu James was in the process of synthesizing the Lam Sai Wing system along with his father’s “Village Style” of Hung Gar. I had seen James training some of the techniques with Robert and Thomas on a few occasions, and had noted how explosive the techniques were, as well as the intricacy of Jame’s footwork. Robert had intimated at some point that James was looking to take on a single student to pass his art onto. As I was the most likely candidate, I should just be patient and above all diligent.
This arrangement lasted a little over a year, until one day, Robert pulled me aside and told me that I could now approach James and ask to formally be his student. I was now at a true crossroads in my martial career.
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