Читать книгу Secrets of Phoenix Eye Fist Kung Fu - Mark Wiley - Страница 7

PREFACE

I was first introduced to the rare art of phoenix-eye fist kung-fu in 1986 through a book co-written by the art’s headmaster, Cheong Cheng Leong, and the late hoplologist, Donn F. Draeger. At the time, I was working for Asian World of Martial Arts, one of the largest suppliers and stores of martial arts books and equipment in the world. One evening after work, my co-worker Carlos Aldrete-Phan and I were relaxing in his apartment talking about all the different kinds of martial arts there were in the world. Being well-read and having practiced a number of different systems, I was rattling off a shopping list of names and countries of origin. Carlos stopped me midstream and asked if I had ever heard of the art of Chuka Shaolin. I replied that I hadn’t. Carlos then asked if I had ever heard of a writer named Donn Draeger. I replied that of course I had, as he was quite famous. Carlos then pulled a book off his shelf titled Phoenix-Eye Fist: A Shaolin Fighting Art of South China, by Cheong Cheng Leong and Donn F. Draeger. He handed it to me.

After browsing through the first couple of pages I found that the proper name of the phoenix-eye fist art was Chuka Shaolin, and that it was an offshoot of Fukien Shaolin boxing. What struck me most about the art was its primary use of the phoenix-eye fist hand formation for striking—hence its more popular name. After a few minutes I looked up from the book to see a big smile across Carlos’ face. We were both thinking the same thing: One day we would train in and master the art of the phoenix-eye fist. The only problem was that the master of the art, Cheong Cheng Leong, resided in Malaysia, and there were no instructors of the art in the United States. Well, at least we had the book.

While I never attempted to learn the art from the book, it did give me a sense of the use of the phoenix-eye fist hand formation and of the theory behind its use. Carlos, on the other hand, endeavored to memorize the solo empty-hand form it presented.

It wasn’t until 1996—a full ten years later—that I was able to travel from the Philippines to Malaysia to meet Cheong Cheng Leong in person. And what a meeting it was. Several months prior to the trip, I was given the necessary contact information for Mr. Cheong by Hunter Armstrong, director of the International Hoplology Society. Chip, as Hunter is known to his friends, directed me to a man named Karunakaran, who had been Draeger’s top student and who continues to run Draeger’s jo-jutsu dojo in Malaysia. Upon my arrival in Penang, Mr. Karuna (as I call him) took me to meet Mr. Leong at his kwoon on the steps leading up to the Kek Lok Si Temple in the Air Itam area of Penang.

I was given a full-blown demonstration of Chuka Shaolin, including several empty-hand forms, a few two-person forms, several demonstrations of weapons forms, as well as training drills and technique applications. Wow! There was so much to be found in this art. I had no idea. From reading the book, I had assumed that the art was merely an empty-hand system. How wrong I was. At that moment I knew what had to be done: another book must be written!

Before I was given a chance to present Mr. Leong with my idea for a book, I first had to give a demonstration of my own. So, I stepped onto the floor and demonstrated three empty-hand forms from the ngo cho kun style of kung-fu. I chose to demonstrate this art because it hails from the same area in China as Chuka Shaolin. I thought that any link, even a tenuous one, would make Mr. Leong more amenable to allowing me, a stranger, to co-write a book with him.

After my demonstration I sat down and interviewed Mr. Leong for a possible magazine article to go with the photographs I had taken during his demonstration. Since he did not know me very well, I was a bit reluctant to ask him if I could co-write a book with him, as Draeger had done nineteen years earlier. So I took a minute to gather my thoughts and formulate my argument for the need of such a book. (More than anything, though, my need was to pick his brain and learn the inner workings of his art!) In any event, since his book with Draeger had been out of print for some ten years at that point, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I asked.

Mr. Leong immediately agreed. In fact, he was enthusiastic about the idea. We decided that we would present the information in the first book again, but in an abbreviated fashion, and then present a second empty-hand form, followed by a weapon form and its applications.

Between 1996 and 1999, I made three trips to Malaysia to work with Cheong Cheng Leong on the book you now hold in your hands. During this time, however, the first book came back into print, which was both good and bad news. Since the first book was published by Weatherhill and this new book was to be published by Tuttle, it would be a conflict of interest (and perhaps a legal problem) to present the same information. So, after some discussion, Mr. Leong and I decided to present in the new book a more detailed history of the art, historical photographs that did not appear in the first book, a two-person empty-hand fighting form (so that those interested in learning how to train and apply the empty-hand form presented in the first book would have a means of doing so), the basics necessary to correctly execute the two-person empty-hand fighting form, one of the two pole forms, an overview of all the Chuka weapons, a few applications of each, two-person strength and conditioning exercises, and the chi kung and healing dimensions of the art, which had not been written about before.

This was the rationale behind the presentation of information in this book and how Mr. Leong and I came together to write it. And while both of the books on Chuka Shaolin are good in and of themselves, as a set they are indispensable. The information presented in the two books, when combined, truly gives those interested in learning the art of the phoenix-eye fist a complete overview of the art and the ins and outs of training.

It is truly my honor to have made the acquaintance of Mr. Leong and to have been given the opportunity to write a book with him. While all of the technical information is from Cheong Cheng Leong’s vast knowledge of the art, the actual writing of the book was done by me. I must state, therefore, that if there are any faults with this volume in terms of presentation of material, they are my own. And if they are major, I offer my apologies to Grandmaster Cheong Cheng Leong and to those aspiring to learn this rare and dynamic fighting art.

—Mark V. Wiley

Towson, MD