On the 5th March, 1981 (the 64th day of that year), I became a Master, or 'Si-Fu' (師父) (pronounced: See-Foo), which is equal to a 5th Degree Black Belt, which is worn as a 'Red Belt' in Chinese martial art.
And, on the 22 February 1981, I graduated as a Doctor in Chinese Acupuncture and Natural Therapies.
By becoming a Si-Fu, gave me the right to become the Master of my own school. . . and I named my school Wu-Chi Tao (無極道); after the great principle 'Wu-Chi', which is over 5,400 years old. Wu-Chi translates in English to 'Unlimited Ultimacy' – and when coupled with the word "Tao" to form Wu-Chi Tao it represents "the road to the epitome of excellence" in any field of achievement.
Red Belt is the last 'gradable' belt in Wu-Chi martial art. After a Wu-Chi student has attained the level of Red Belt (5th Degree Black Belt) they are no longer graded by anyone, for they are the Master of their own school.
To attain the next level (a 6th Degree Black Belt), a Wu-Chi Master must train a student from scratch, to become a 1st Degree Black Belt, or of an equivalent rank; and likewise, by training a student to the level of 2nd Degree Black Belt proves a Wu-Chi Master to be a 7th Degree Black Belt; and so on, until a Master takes someone all the way through to their Red Belt (5th Degree Black Belt) wherein they too become a Si-Fu, and Master of their own school, totally autonomous from the Wu-Chi school in which they were trained.
Any Wu-Chi Master who trains a student to also become a Master like himself, becomes a 'Grand Master' (Lao-Fu) (老父). And the rank of a Grand Master (or Lao-Fu) is a 10th Degree Black Belt, which is worn as a 'Gold Belt'.
By October 1987, I had trained ten 1st Degree Black Belts, and two 2nd Degree Black Belts in Wu-Chi (as seen in the photo above).
In September 1996 I become a Lao-Fu (Gold Belt), which made me not only a Grand Master (a Lao-Fu) (老父), but a proven Yuan-Fu (源父) Originator of my own Wu Chi Tao (Wu-Chi way, or system). And, this is how it is meant to be in the "Tao" (or the way) of Wu-Chi... as it continues to be, with all those who have been taught to the level of Si-Fu in our school.
Hence, our school is called: Wu Chi Tao.
As it stands today (Sept 2008), Wu-Chi has produced five Si-Fus (Neil Cameron; Wipere Ngata; Rob Wright; and recently, Bob Margets and Barry Thomas), and it has another three students moving up through its upper ranks, who will also become Masters of their own schools in the very near future.
In addition to training students to become a Si-Fu, before a Master in Wu-Chi can become a Grand Master, they must have command of (be able to teach) what is called the 'Five Excellencies':
Philosophy (which
simply translates into: learning how to
utilize all things in life to obtain a
higher level of personal development and
integrity).
Martial Arts
(obtain 1st Degree Black Belt, or the
equivalent, in at least three (3) "other"
forms of Martial Art).
Medicine
(Acupuncture; Herbs; Bone Adjusting; and
Muscle massage with applied
kinesiology).
The four essentials
(Public speaking; Writing; Math; and
Science).
10 Talents (any of
their own choosing, eg: Sewing, Cooking,
Carpentering, Horticulture, Art, etc.,
to name only a few).
FYI: The Wu-Chi School of Arts "martial art content"
I made up from eight Chinese 'mother' martial
arts (classically called the 'eight ultimates' -
Pa-Chi); which in the Wu-Chi School of Arts, are
learnt and used both collectively and
separately. The eight arts are (in no particular
order): Wu-Hsing;
Tan-Tui; Hsing-I; Chi-Kung; Nei-Kung; Shuai Jiao;
Pa-Kua; and Tai-Chi.
Arn, the day that I became a Si-Fu
The day I graduated as a Doctor in Chinese Acupuncture.
WuChiTao WeightShift (which is Nei-Kung) being used inside the Tai-Chi form
WuChiTao Weaving Hands (Which is part of our Hsing-I)
WuChiTao Wu-Hsing Basic Hit Combinations
How I started, some 40 years ago...
Please Note: In writing this account of
what has been such a big part of my life over
40yrs, I have only touched lightly on the major events.
. . detailing a few of the more memorable times; and
adding a few funny things
that came to mind, in an attempt to make it all somewhat
palatable.
Many things I have glossed over, or left
out altogether, because I felt that they are either
better not mentioned, or they involved people that I did
not feel I had the right to speak about publicly.
However, having said that, writing this has been one of
the more enjoyable things that I have done lately -
bringing to mind so many good times and great people.
From my boyhood days...
Throughout my youth (aside from hunting/shooting and
riding motorbikes - both of which I grew out of in my
early adulthood), there were two great things in my life
that I lived for - one was Rugby (especially whenever I
played halfback), and the other was Martial Art.
However, during my high school years I played less and
less Rugby, and I went full-on into Martial Art. . .
mainly due to my being banned from playing rugby as a
disciplinary measure - which in my case, became so
regular that my rugby virtually became a non-event.
When I was 7 years old, myself and five other boys from
Manutuke school, started learning a combination of
boxing, judo and karate from one of the older boys from my
village, whose name was Bo Matete.
I took to combat like a greyhound does to running. From
the very first day I really excelled in it, and as a kid
I absolutely loved it.
I think it would be fair to say that throughout my youth
I was extremely competitive by nature.... And as
terrible as this all sounds now; when it came to
fighting, there wasn't a competition that I didn't
enter, nor a person I wouldn't fight. I just loved
pitting myself up against the next guy. And being full
of youthful ego and vanity, I remember delighting in the
intelligence of my own hands compared to the dumbness of
the hands of those whom I won over. Not that I always
won every fight I fought (far from it), but with those
to whom I lost, my youthful ego ensured a rematch was
inevitable.
Looking back on it all now, I think the thing that drove
me the most in those days was that I hated being afraid
of anything, and whenever I was afraid of doing
something, I would just keep on doing it over and over
until the fear went away. . . which, I guess, in itself
wasn't such a bad thing - however, when applied to being
afraid of fighting or hitting someone, it didn't lend
itself to developing many merciful attributes during my
youth.
I grew up on the outskirts of a little Maori village
about 15 kilometres out of Gisborne, called Manutuke.
The Matete family house was just down the road from
where I lived, and it backed onto the old Manutuke
riverbed. There we trained under the willow trees, from
which we hung the boxing bags & kick dummies. Bo was
about 17 years old, and from an early age had learnt to
box properly in Gisborne, and he went on to learn Judo
and Karate during his high school years. At 17, Bo was
6ft tall, and one of the better street fighters amongst the young men
in the East Coast Region of New Zealand; and that is
saying something, for the Maoris from the East Coast
were, and still are considered to be some of the best
and most fearless fighters in all of New Zealand. (Not
that I am wanting to dramatize it, but for those of you
from outside New Zealand, if you have seen the movie
“Once were Warriors”, you would have some idea of what
that would mean.)
About 6 months after I started learning from Bo, his
uncle, Sammy, came and stayed at his house. Sammy had
been in the army and had learnt Chinese Karate (Kung-Fu)
from Chinese martial artists in Malaysia and Singapore,
where he had been stationed for 6 years. Sammy loved
martial art combat. He was slightly smaller than Bo, but
his knowledge was broad, and his techniques were fast
and executed with absolute precision, for which Bo was
no match. Needless to say Sammy naturally took over our
little training group. This was great for us kids, as
now we could watch and copy two big people training
together, whenever Sammy trained Bo.
Sammy was essentially a good guy. He introduced values
into our training and ran the classes with army type
discipline. He took a real shining to me, and he always
took extra time to teach me the technique behind every
move. By the time I was 8 years old I was just
enthralled with the whole science of it all. (I don’t
have any photos of us in those days; none of us had
cameras, but oh boy how I wish we did - for in my
memories of my boyhood they were such grand days, of
which I wish I could show you.)
Anyway, our small training group was soon to be brought
to an end. A little after 12 months from Sammy's
arrival, came what seemed to me to be, in my youthful
life, an extremely sad day - Sammy went to Canada to
live and work in the forests.
After Sammy's departure I lost interest in training
under Bo. Aside from missing Sammy's caring method of
teaching, Bo was now 19 years old and was into girls and
parties 'n stuff, and had lost any real interest in us -
and as a result he had little patience with us and was
starting to treat us roughly. Plus, through Sammy, my
eyes had seen better things than what Bo was now
starting to focus his combat skills upon. Anyway, soon
after Sammy left, Bo also left, and went to live in
Auckland with his girlfriend, and that was the end of
“The Little Willow Tree Company”, as Sammy called us - a
name which "us boys" all thought was sooooo cool!
But, soon after Bo left, as opportunity would have it,
my martial art training took off. Early one
morning, my Dad and I were checking the cattle troughs
at one of our farms, which was located across the road
from a large Chinese market garden, when I noticed in
the front room of the house in the garden, a Chinese man
training Chinese martial art. (I recognized many of the
moves as being very similar to those that Sammy had
taught us.)
This was the real beginning of my training under
'Chinese' teachers in the martial art world. After
approaching Kee and showing him all that I had learnt,
he agreed to teach me, as long as I agreed to adhere to
certain stipulations. We met every other evening in the
old tractor shed by the bamboo plantation at the back of
the garden. . . and I trained everyday at home - on the
river bank along the back boundary of our home property.
Soon after I started training with Kee, he introduced me
to a small group of Chinese with whom he trained; and I
became a fellow student with him, as well as continuing
my training under him, for about six years.
I went on to train
in every good martial arts school that I could find.
'Kitsu-Go' under 'Owen Pool', a top student of 'Pop
Adams' who was a European raised in Okinawa, a Master of
Goju Ryu - an Okinawan form of Chinese Karate; Tai-Chi
and Tan-Tui - which is Chinese kick-boxing, from Mrs.
Leoung, a famous teacher in Wellington; Tong Long
(Southern Praying Mantis) from the Lee brothers in
Auckland; and Southern White Crane from Master Fong in
Auckland (naming only the major ones).
Owen Pool
Mrs. Leoung
However, in the background throughout all my training
within the Chinese community was Mr. Chin. (In fact, I
became known as Chin's 'Martial-Art-Godson' throughout
the NZ Chinese Martial Art community.)
Chin was a tall man with big hands, and he was loved by
every kid in the neighborhood. He was, without
doubt, the greatest Chinese martial artist ever to come
and live in New Zealand. He was looked up to by all the
other teachers with whom I trained.
Apart from his
Martial Art skills, he was a brilliant man, and a great
helper to the NZ Chinese community; especially with
their legal matters.
He essentially was a Finance lawyer. He spoke seven
languages fluently, loved English poetry (Rudyard
Kippling especially); and he was a doctor of Chinese and
Western Medicine.
He was born a twin.
Before the communist takeover in China, he was a
Professor of Foreign Law at the Peking University. Upon
Mao taking China he fled to live far away in New
Zealand, after the extensive counterintelligence role
that he and his twin brother played for the West against
the communist up rise.
At one stage I moved to Wellington and lived with Chin
for almost 2 years - learning from him one-on-one for an
hour and a half every morning at first light, and 2
hours every evening, as well as attending both his
private and 'very' private class during the weekends.
Both of which he often allowed me to teach in; which I
remember, at the time, was the greatest privilege ever.
(The only photo I have of Chin is one taken at his
Master's tomb in China, before he came out to New
Zealand, as he avoided having his photo taken while he
was in NZ, being fearful of communist reprisal - which
was rumored to be a real threat in those days for people
like Chin. In fact, for his first 20 years in NZ, Chin
went under another name.)
Chin, centre front
I loved training under Chin, and I hold the highest
regard for all that I learnt from him, and I am still
thankful for all the time he had for me. He had a
profound influence upon my life. Apart from him teaching
me martial art and medicine, he taught me to love law,
and opened my eyes to its place in building and
maintaining modern societies.
I still have the uniform that Chin made me when I was 10
years old. It was all hand sewn. He even
made the original buttons for the top out of layers of
canvas soaked it a white paint-like substance that dries
very hard.
The pants are called 'Elephant Pants' because when they
are laid out flat they look so big - however they are
crossed over and the tops of them are rolled down when
they are worn. (Can you imagine how proud I was when he
gave them to me.)
I designed all the pants for the Wu-Chi teacher's
uniform from the ones Chin made me, in honor of him.
Plus, I have made myself a sort of 'Hip-Hop street
version' for everyday wear - because they are just so
darn comfortable.
I would have to say, aside from Owen Pool, Chin is the
one teacher who had the most influence in lifting my
mind above my natural desire to study martial art as a
means of fighting or gaining advantage over others. He
was the one who showed me how to use it (along with
everything else in life) ultimately as a tool for
obtaining mastery of self, and teaching others how to do
likewise - the former of which was a very big thing for
anyone to accomplish with me at that time, especially
considering the young, competitive and egotistical
nature I had in those days.
To give you some idea - the core of Chin's philosophy
was simple: he maintained the use of conscience at the
point of every decision (which essentially was the same
as that which was upheld in my home by my father. My
father was a great believer in living unto all that is
in your conscience.) Chin also believed that despite
what any individual knew, or didn't know, it is the
values that they hold within that make them into the
person they really are; and he taught that the
experiences that one has in one's own life are better to
draw guidance from than those found in the scripts and
scrolls from some distant teaching. . . . However, above
all else, Chin was the one person who taught me to
re-evaluate and appreciate the love and wisdom of my
parents, which I had lost sight of for a period during
my adolescent years. In fact, looking back at it now, I
realize that I was so well received by Chin largely due
to how I was brought up at home.
The training uniform Chin made
for me when i was 10yrs
Chin had learnt the larger part of his martial art in
Peking under a man affectionately known as 'Old-Man
Arn'.
Old-Man Arn's family were professional trainers of
hand-to-hand combat and weapon fighting skills for over
15 generations in Peking; and were often called upon to
train members of the Imperial Guard and Army.
Old man Arn's school
Now, if you can follow this through, hopefully I can
reveal some further points of interest:
Old-Man Arn had a son, who was simply called 'Arn', to
whom he taught all that he knew about Martial Art and
the ways of training of the Imperial Guard. Arn
was a great Martial Artist, in many respects far greater
than Chin (taking nothing away from Chin, as Chin was a
senior student to Arn in his father's school. In fact,
Arn's middle name was 'Chin' named after Chin).
Arn was a Captain in the Cavalry, and fought for the
entire duration of the war against Mao. Therefore, he
had to flee China to live in Taiwan after Mao's
takeover.
And, Chin had a younger half-brother (who was much
younger than him), called 'Little-Chin', who also fled
China, and lived in Taiwan at the event of Maoism.
Now, NZ-Chin had written extensively over the years to
both Arn and Little-Chin about me and my training with
him in New Zealand; and before NZ-Chin died, he made Arn
and Little-Chin promise that, if ever the opportunity
came about, they would finish my training.
Side Note: Soon after I
left high-school I had business dealings (both
in NZ and overseas) that afforded me time to
pretty much pursue any interest or opportunity
that I desired. . .
Anyway, due to my business interests I traveled
extensively between Auckland and Wellington during my
late teens, and by the time I was 18 I had my own public
martial art schools in both Wellington and Auckland;
plus, I taught private classes, one of which was an all
Chinese class, in South East Auckland, comprising only
of members from the New Zealand China Society - many of
whom were very good friends of NZ-Chin's. (Looking back
now, I think that they kept me teaching them in order to
keep my interest alive, and thereby keep NZ-Chin's hope
alive - in that one day I would finish my training after
his death.)
Arn
Little-Chin
So, in 1978, when certain members of the NZ Chinese
Society heard that the 'Taiwanese Kou-Shu (Martial Art)
Association' were sending out scholarships to western
countries for select martial artists to come and learn
in Taiwan (as part of a Taiwanese international
relations campaign) I was instantly nominated. And, in
all honesty I would have to say that it wasn't so much
my martial art ability, but more the correspondence that
took place between NZ-Chin's friends here in New Zealand
and the Heads of the Taiwanese Kou-Shu Association (many
of whom were friends of Arn's and Little-Chin's), that
ensured my selection (true to Chinese style!).
At the time, my offshore business ventures had just
started to take off, and as much as I relished the
opportunity to have what would be termed 'the ultimate
opportunity' of anyone's Martial Art pursuit, I remember
I initially looked at going to Taiwan as being more of
an opportunity to expand business, rather than anything
else.
However, once I got to Taiwan, my childhood love for
martial art, coupled with the respect I held for all
that NZ-Chin had taught me, quickly changed my
priorities. Not that I didn't pursue business interests
in Asia while I was there, but once I met Little-Chin,
and then Arn. . . I realized that this was a 'once in a
lifetime opportunity' to learn such things (and to
complete what I had begun years ago), and therefore I
really threw all that I had into it.
Lucus and I training together;
we taught each other all we knew and were good
training partners
Lucus and his family are very
good friends of ours still today
I would have to
say that the time I spent training in Asia was truly the
most fulfilling years in my youthful life.
I lived with Arn for the first 12 months, and I trained
with both Arn and Little-Chin every day that I was in
Taiwan, in addition to the everyday instruction provided
by the teachers from the Kou-Shu Association; many of
whom were truly great teachers. However, having said
that, on the other hand there were some weird and
colorful characters from the Kou-Shu Association who
were not so great . . . ranging from those who were
devout practitioners of bizarre religions, to those who
were into any and every form of supernatural or esoteric
ideology imaginable - needless to say, these schools I
spent little energy in.
Oh yeah! Get this - I was even introduced to a school
whose Master advocated that one could increase one's
so-called 'vital-energy' (chi) by hanging a brick from
one's testicles for varied lengths of time everyday. I
gained exemption from his school, and courteously
ventured on my merry way without my vital-energy being
increased under his auspice - "There aint no way anyone
was going to hang a brick (or anything else for that
matter) off this puppy, I can tell-ya!"
Then of course there were those teachers within the
Kou-Shu Association who didn't agree with a foreigner
being given so much access to instruction . . .
And then there was the day when they found out (through
some of them going to the cinema) that Howard and I had
been staring in martial art movies - to which my counter
argument was - that if it was alright for them to watch
the said movies, then surely it was alright for us to
act in them, which pretty much went down like a lead
balloon!
The day before I left NZ for Taiwan.
Photo taken for local newspaper article.
at Arn's
My Villa in Taipei
Favorite fellow students and training
partners Chou and Wong
friends over
Very good friend Howard Lee, an Amercian
born Chinese - from New York.
22 Feb. 1981 the day I graduated as a
Doctor in Chinese Medicine.
Celebrations
Anyhow, after making it through all the controversy and
politics coupled with all the personal differences
within a multi-faceted organization such as the Kou-Shu Association; and after sitting my final grading, which
was a 3 1/2 day long event. . . on the 5th March 1981, I
became a Master (Si-Fu) and thereby gained the right to
be the Head of my own school, and to develop it as I saw
fit - totally autonomous to any other school or teacher,
master, or system, etc.
That was a very special day for both Arn and I. It
finished with him giving me his family name - which was
a special request of NZ-Chin's, to both honor Old-Man
Arn, and to repay Arn for carrying his (NZ-Chin's) name.
So my Chinese name now is, 'Arn Chin Sheng' - signifying
'the Life of Arn and Chin' (Sheng means -
spirit).
However, I did not take this
name up until I became a LaoFu, as I did not feel worthy
of it until then.
Previous to this day my name in the Chinese martial art
community was 'E-Bai Ma', which means, 'One Hundred
Horses'; but the old ladies in the Chinese community
called me 'Kan Chin Tsun' which means 'Sweet Piece of
Gold', which sort of stuck when I lived with NZ-Chin.
A little of the History of the Wu-Chi School of Arts
This photo was taken in 1985, and is
of the first lot of students in the 'Teacher Training
Class' (Shao-Men Sarn) Plus a young Clint
In 1975, in New Zealand, I started part-time experimental courses using
martial art as a vehicle to teach moral values and
ethical conduct.
By 1980 I developed the ‘Wu-Chi’ concept into a working
module, and a year later I founded the Wu-Chi School of
Arts, while in Australia.
In 1981 I opened the first public classes under the name
of Wu-Chi, teaching an initial group of approximately
180 students.
In late 1984, I set up the first teacher training course
(named Shao-Men Sarn) which, in the first three years,
48 initial trainee teachers learnt how to use martial arts as an
agent to teach character development.
During the following years I opened over 60 classes in
different communities in Australia and New Zealand.
Shao-Men Sarn
Shao-Men Sarn
Shao-Men 1987
In 1981 I opened
the first public classes at the Burleigh State School on
Sunday mornings. I also ran a private school, with
classes on Saturday night, and selected nights during
the week, in a little 'Do-Jo' (training hall) that I
converted out of an old bakery at the back of number 1969 Gold
Coast Highway - behind what used to be the 'Hot Stuff'
surf shop then, just north of Burleigh Heads.
Adjoining my
Do-Jo I had a little acupuncture and natural
therapies clinic.
When we (Waimarie - Clint's mother, Clint and I) first lived in Australia, we
rented a flat upstairs, behind Hot Stuff surf shop (which
was great, because it was close to the
Do-Jo and my initial clinic).
Later, I had a work office
upstairs in the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade, which is in
Burleigh township itself.
My acupuncture and natural therapies clinic soon grew
into a college, which caused me to rent extra units in
the Old Burleigh Theater Arcade, - which doubled as the
administration and private training center for the
Wu-Chi School, due to it being fitted with removeable
screens.
Wu-Chi Centre front
door
From its beginning in Burleigh Heads (QLD Australia),
the Wu-Chi School of Arts expanded, first in Australia
and then back to my home town in New Zealand (Gisborne);
and lately into USA, Germany; and this year we open our
first school in Japan. (Selling martial arts to Asians -
Not to bad for a Manutuke-boy.
November 1981, teaching
Tai-Chi at Burleigh State School.
This is where the school initially
started.
Teaching in our first
Dojo
Horsing around
Burleigh Arcade
Sunday morning training
classes; SiMu in Red
Goofin' off!
Wu-Chi Development Team
We worked on developing the Wu-Chi curriculum and the
plans for Wu-Chi
expansion project in the upper floors
of a block of shops in the main street of Gisborne, which we painted
out and converted into offices and facilities to suit
our needs.
Our guys couldn't decide what color to paint its
interior, so I ordered up white - and thus the place was
given the nickname 'The Whitehouse'; and the
brain-storming board room (depicted in the photo) was called
'The Boardroom' because of the wall-to-wall blackboards.
We all gave whatever spare time we could afford in the
evenings and the weekends to develop the project. . .
And for those of us who could afford it, worked
full-time on the projects. At the end of the day, it was a whole lot of
'fun-work' for us all.
The Boardroom at the Whitehouse
A quick look inside the CONCEPTS behind Wu-Chi School of Arts
The School in brief:
I created the Wu-Chi School of Arts to be a non-profit
community aid service, that uses martial art as an agent
to make moral principles and character development
attractive to young men - especially those who would
ordinarily develop an abusive and violent mentality.
The school is designed to attract both the rough and
tough as well as the weak and shy male youth. Its
ability to do this so successfully is attributable to
its hard and fast martial art content, which makes it an
activity young men wish to be associated with. In fact,
young men who want to be tough are attracted to hard and
fast martial art, and therefore they actively seek us
out . . . We then engineer into their lessons aspects
that provide them with opportunities to gain moral
stability and self-discipline. . . And, it is not
considered, even by them, foreign or out of place to
have to become respectful, self-disciplined and highly
principled in order to make it up through the ranks of a
good martial art school. In fact, in such an
environment, they picture themselves becoming quite
profound, and therefore they are eager to adopt high
standards for themselves, both within the classroom and
out in the streets . . . giving us artistic license to
incorporate ever increasing levels of moral and social
virtues in all their classroom material, as well as in
their gradings. Consequently, within a relatively short
time, they become responsible and conscientious
citizens.
More of this sort of talk can be seen in the Wu-Chi
Scenario Document:
click here to open the 'Wu-Chi Scenario'
document
Side Note: After I met
Sheena (my wife), and through her helping me
develop Wu-Chi lessons, it
became obvious to us both that we could create
a modelling and deportment school that would
reach female youth, by using aspects of the
fashion industry (i.e. modelling and beauty) as
agents to provide personal development courses
that would be more appealing and pertinent to
the needs of teenage girls – and thereby reach
young women in much the same way as Wu-Chi uses
martial art to reach male youth. (We call this
organisation 'StudioOne Modelling and Deportment
School'.)
click here to see zzStudioOne
Expansion wise: we are planning to position both of
these Schools (Wu-Chi and StudioOne) in the society of modern day youth, much
the same as the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides were
positioned during the 1950's and 60's.
1994
Now, before I start to talking about the schools history
and some of the hard-core physical
combat aspects of the school, I want to give you
a little more insight into the main aspects that
I constructed to form the core of the Wu-Chi
School of Arts; in order to give you a more
balanced view of the school. So, I have excerpted from the
School's Constitution these next six bullets.
The main aims of the Wu-Chi School are to:
-
Pre-empt the need for
rehabilitation schemes - by providing character
development programs for children and youth
before and during the years when they are most
likely to be led astray.
-
Break the cycle of anti-social
behaviour and street violence - by producing
students who will be positive role models,
having a stabilising influence amongst their
peers in the community.
-
Attract the violent and
potentially dangerous members of society to give
them an opportunity to develop moral stability
via an activity they wish to be identified with.
-
Create classroom environments
where students are confronted with situations
that exercise and develop their ability to make
sound decisions based upon ethics.
-
Have within our course content,
material that will interest individuals in
pursuing physical health, mental well-being and
moral integrity - to the point where they are
able to self-perpetuate their own personal
development - aside from the School.
-
Create and maintain practical
strategies to bring our programs within the
reach of all people - regardless of their social
or geographical position throughout the Western
world.
An initial Pointer
We use our martial art to bring identity to
personal development. As soon as possible we
take our students to the place where they can
stand, independent of the school, having the
strength and confidence to fulfill their highest
ideals and aspirations.
"When you point out an object of great
importance to a friend, your finger has
significance only until the object of interest
is bought into their view and they have gained
their own appreciation of its value."
Accordingly, we use our martial art programs to
draw attention to character development. As soon
as the character development is brought into
view and the students gain their own
appreciation of its value, the martial art loses
all significance.
Hence, we see our school as being only a
stepping stone in the lives of those that we
interest in higher things.
Culburra Training Camp
Sheena teaching
Byron
Illawarra
sitting
around ofter training
Neil Gascoyne putting young
Tyrone to the test during his grading
When it comes to the central core physical moves and
techniques, I have been careful to keep them very
classical. However, there is a large amount of
additional material that I have completely
revolutionized and invented in order to produce material
that is conducive to the aims of the school. And, even
though one of the main principles of the school is to
take the students beyond the point of ever choosing to
fight, the requirement of every physical component
developed in the school is that they must be highly
functional in combat in order for the School to
successfully:
a) Fulfill its identity as being one of the hardest and
fastest "Martial Art" schools in the community;
b) Hold the younger maturing students interest - until
they too go beyond the point of desiring to learn to
fight.
Looking to keep a high degree of combat training within
the school, I developed what we call the 'Electric
Corridor' - wherein, 20 to 30 students stand in two
lines to form a corridor; and each student takes turns
at fighting their way through the corridor, attacking
and being attacked by each person as they travel
through. And upon reaching the end, they then become a
member in the corridor for the other students coming
through after them. The tri-photo here depicts those in
the corridor using leather focus mitts, which is just
for demonstration effect; as usually it is played open
handed. To raise the level of intensity, instead of
meeting a single person at each point within the
corridor, we position 2 or 3 people at each point -
meaning as they come through the corridor they have to
deal repetitively with multiple opponents. For beginners
the choice of hit-combinations are confined, however the
senior grades run freestyle.
We usually train the corridor on a country road, or on a
beach, and run it for 2 or 3 kilometers without
stopping. A good team can have 4 or 5 students following
each other at any one time through the corridor, which
drives the corridor along at about 1 to 1.5 kilometers
per hour (roughly 2k in 100 minutes - giving each
student thousands of encounters per hour). This not only
raises their level of combat fitness, but greatly
improves their techniques and overall confidence.
Sleeper Choke
Electric Corridor
Our whole concept of combat is very different than most.
In a tournament using the style of combat we use in
Wu-Chi, if a fight were to last for longer than 3
seconds, both opponents would be instantly disqualified
for being incompetent.
When developing Wu-Chi I chose not to adopt the 'in and
out' concept ('attack, then quickly retreat' concept)
that is common in boxing and most martial art styles,
and chose to develop the physical components upon a 'in
or out' concept ('attack without retreating', or 'don't
fight at all' concept).
To give you an example of our attack aspects: In Wu-Chi
combat, we face-off anywhere from standing literally
toe-to-toe with our arms folded, and explode into each
other without reserve; to standing at 8 paces away from
each other, and propel ourselves at each other to engage
at about 7 to 10 kilometers per hour. . . either way
results in one standing and the other instantly not.
There are arguments for and against the win-all/lose-all
attack concept that we have developed. Those against it
maintain that, if we were to miss then they will have
us, but my argument is, "Can they afford to take the
risk", especially when considering that all we train
(over and over) in every class is to go forward and take
the opponent right out immediately.
I remember telling Arn once that I had met an exponent
of staff fighting who, if he dropped his staff during
combat, could flick it back up off the ground from any
position with his feet and catch it again. To which he
asked, "How long did the exponent say it would take to
learn this skill of his?" "8 years", I said. To which he
retorted, "Better to spend 8 years learning how not to
drop your staff, rather than how to pick it up should
you drop it."
Over the years I have had a few people come and
challenge some of the students in the school - but due
to our style of fighting, we
have never had anyone come twice.
Another example of our revolutionary inventions is the
'Wooden Pads' - or 'Wooden Focus Mitts'.
When we only had the ordinary Leather Focus Mitts it was
difficult to demonstrate that our method of hitting was
superior to any of the other more widely accepted
methods of punching. So, I came up with the idea of
making focus mitts out of solid laminated timber beams.
After a bit of perfecting we came up with the perfect
model, which most simulated the curves and weight of a
human head in combat. This then gave us the means
whereby we could prove the power and speed of our palm
and hammer type hits, in demonstrations, and in our
introductory classes.
We now use these wooden pads in all our public demos;
and we offer $1,000 cash (in $20 bills) to anyone who
can come out of the audience and punch the wooden pads,
as hard as they could hit the leather ones, with their
bare knuckles for 5 minutes and enjoy it! So far our
$1,000 has been safe. In fact, we haven't even had
anyone try with any real vigor; especially after seeing
our guys lay into the wooden pads full bore.
I found that most of the students that came
into our ranks, were attracted to our unique
methods of entering in on an opponent and our
scientific approach to combat . . . but when it
came to recruiting the real tough male students, it was the
Wooden Pads that produced the deciding factor,
above anything else that we showed them.
Aside from their demonstration qualities, the Wooden
Pads hold a major place in training our students to
perfect all the major hits we use - if they cannot play
them on the wooden pads, then they require further
instruction.
After developing the Wooden pads, we went on to make
'Wooden Dummies' based on them. One called 'Old Bessie',
which is bolted to the wall with 4x2 timber, and is
designed to increase our 'knockdown' hit power; and
R2D2, which is designed to increase the power of our
'finishing-off' blows. Both dummies are seen in the
adjoining side photos.
However, we still use Leather Focus Mitts for the Kids
classes, and the initial classes for women (as seen in
the adjoining photo of a high school girl student
demonstrating)and we use the leather pads for the guys to train a
few selected hits - such as a single knuckle punches,
etc.
And many of the other training aids we've developed are
not founded upon rocket science, as in the case with
training stick fighting by using an old car tire as a
mobile target.
And, in some of the classes on the other end of the
school (such as in the Tai-Chi classes) there are no
pads or combat training at all.
Wooden Pads
(or Focus Mits)
Pads & Dummies
Soft leather focus mitts for
training young girls
Clint
One of my advertising tactics:
This is a copy of the advertisement that I ran in
Gisborne when we first opened the school in Gisborne, in 1988.
I first open a children's class, and a 'women's only'
class, about three weeks before I run this
advertisement. . . The idea is to open up the kids class
with a minimal amount of advertising, from which I
attract an initial group of kids, say about 50 kids; as well
as a small group of mothers wanting classes - most of
whom are seeking either fitness or self-defense.
Then once the women's only class is up and running, I
proceed with extensive advertising for an 'All men's
Class'. Similar to that pictured here - featuring a
highly masculine image - with the words, 'Men Only' and
other phrasing that clearly states no women would be admitted.
This causes a barrage of phone calls and visits from
women who have strong feminist qualities. Whereupon they
are informed of our all women's classes that are already
running, wherein no men are admitted. . . which they usually join.
And, because of these women's strong tendencies to be
leaders of other women, when they join up they each
bring, on average, four or five other women with them.
Consequently, within 6 weeks, we end up with a full
women's class. And then after teaching them to hit very
hard and fast, they naturally show off to their husbands
and men folk what they have learnt - which causes
exposure of the school to a wide spectrum of the
community, and thereby maximizes the intake in both the
Men's and Women's classes, which results in the kids
class dramatically expanding.
Most of the men folk that join the school at this stage
are generally good guys - most are interested in just a
bit of fitness/self-defense and doing a real guy's
thing. . . and they form the nucleus of the initial
men's class.
Then once we have trained them up for 4 - 6 months, we
go after the really tough and potentially violent guys,
with demos and classes that are highly attractive and
challenging to their type of egotistical mentality.
Once the school's culture has been thus set up, the rest
is just a matter of steering it, which can be easily
managed by steering committees - which are made up from
students, chosen by us to ensure that a good
cross-section of the local community is represented.
From this Ad alone we gained
over 380 students in 21 days
Women Instructors and Students
Women training stick fighting in Electric
Corridor
Growth & Progression:
From here the school branches out into opening up
classes in surrounding areas, and into providing
additional services.
We developed the Wu-Chi School of Arts to have a
smorgasbord of classes so as to attract the broadest
rage of people from within a community. People
ranging from school children, housewives, aircraft
pilots, etc., through to some of the most troublesome
male members of society.
In fact, in Gisborne (which is one of the most
problematic gang areas in New Zealand) we had Police and
gang members training together. It is a rare thing
to have gang members even enter an establishment that is
known to be frequented by Police, let alone to have them
fully participating in a common interest for long
periods of time.
The school always takes extra time to invent different
ways to reach the more problematic groups within a
community. We are constantly repackaging our curriculum
and classroom environment so that we are attractive to
such groups. As in the case with one particular gang, we
altered the uniform for their class to include a black
t-shirt and a special black Wu-Chi gang-rag style
bandana, giving them a new 'Patch' to wear that is
associated to a whole different set of values.
The group in this photo is a gang in the Gisborne East
Coast area, taken during the last section of their
training (under SiFu Wipere).
Regardless of whether students are gang members
or not, in my experience, training tough guys in
a fight school is a little like training wild
animals; if you hold on too tight - they will
fight you back; and if your grip is not strong
enough - you loose them forever, 'cause they
won't give you a second chance. In many ways
it's a bit like breaking in horses or training
dogs - the tougher they are, the greater they
become....
And I find that the changes tough
guys make in their lives are usually are true
and sincere, resulting in them becoming the
loveliest gentlemen of all.
I believe that to be a good teacher in Wu-Chi all you
need is skill, a little luck and a whole lot of love,
and you end up with the magic mix that pretty much works
for anyone.
Gang members training Wu-Chi
Wu-Chi Karate Kids
I would have to say that the Wu-Chi Karate kids classes
were my favorite. On average I had about 100 kids, aged
from 6 to 11 years, in those classes. . . and much to
their parents amazement, you could hear a pin drop for
the 50 minute duration of their class.
For most of the kids, Wu-Chi would have to be the most
disciplined environment that they had been exposed to,
and for most - if not all, it is their favorite
activity.
They are taught that the most important thing to learn
in their life is to know the difference between right
and wrong, and that having pure intent and to be true in
all that they do are the greatest attrubuties able to be
aquired in life.
Often the parents looking-on from the sideline enjoy the
lessons as much as the kids do. One of my favorite
objectives in the kid's classes is to give parents extra
vantage points with their children, by first inspiring
in each child a desire to learn good values and
principles for their life; and then teaching them that
it is their parents who are responsible to teach them
these values and principles, eg: difference between
right and wrong, etc.
Wu-Chi KarateKids
Street Kids
For many children the school hosts the major
'make-or-break' opportunity for their future. Many are
from families who are second or third generation welfare
dependants; and in some cases both of their parents are
gang members.
For these kids, we start by running classes in their
neighbourhood parks - meeting them in their own local
environment, getting them used to our instructors. After
which they are content to come into our Do-Jo and
environment, which is the first of many challenges they
we place before these kids.
One of the most rewarding things in this business is
watching these kids turn their lives completely around,
and become successful to the extent that they have a
profound influence upon their whole family and
neighbourhood.
Training street kids in their
own loacl parks
Extra
Grading Classes
In my day, on Sunday afternoons the senior ranked
students used to run free classes for the junior
students, and for those preparing for gradings.
In all classes (kids and adult alike) we run the school
as a very tight ship. 100% pass mark is required to
obtain any grading in the school.
The most I have ever failed a student is 34 times (in
his attempt at orange belt), and only one student in the
history of the school (in my day) ever passed a grading
on their first attempt - although, we made him sit it
three times on the day, just to make sure that we
weren't with fault.
Failure is instant if their eyes drop, or if a hand is
out of timing, or a foot is out of place.
On average it takes around 9 - 15 attempts for most good
students to pass a grading.
Training for Gradings
Natural Therapies Classes
In conjunction with the martial art classes, I ran
courses in natural therapies, Chinese & Western herbs,
massage and acupuncture. I encouraged every Wu-Chi
senior instructor to become qualified in Chinese
medicine and to run a Wu-Chi Clinic to provide treatment
for the general public. All mid-ranked students were
encouraged to learn massage and/or acupuncture. For many
of the tougher guys that came to Wu-Chi only seeking
combat, having to learn about the workings of the human
body and how the different organs depend upon each other
for one's overall health, and learning how to care for
the sick, created the turning point in their lives.
Aside from the benefits that the clinic provided for the
Wu-Chi students, it enabled the school to reach further
into the community. For example: I ran the clinic here
in Gisborne as a part-time business to help fund the
school's growth; and every Tuesday afternoon there were
free treatments for people over the age of 60 years, or
for those who are financially disadvantaged. . . and as
one can imagine, Tuesday afternoons were a very busy
time. These clinic days were a means whereby we were
able to come into contact with senior and poorer people
in need within the community, who the school would not
otherwise become aware of, and thereby be able to help.
Other Aspects
Every year, the main School adopted a disadvantaged solo
mother, or someone equally in need of help. The school
sponsored their education and career start, ensured they
had a good car of their own, as well as a residence
conducive to their growth. Also members of the school,
who were able to, formed support teams in order to
provide such things as child-minding, etc., to further
help.
Instituting facilities, such as adopting disadvantaged
people and running a clinic, etc. gives the whole school
a community edge that transcends the preconceived
boundaries of a normal martial art school.
Even at its very core, in its most prestigious and
private Teacher Training class (Shao-Men Sarn), we
actively maintained an open house to families and
friends - as seen here in a photo taken of the main
teacher's training class in 1987.
With so much of Martial Art having its roots in feudal
groups, we take these and many other special measures to
ensure that the School is kept before the student's eyes
as being a means to help society, and never becomes a
means to incite violent behavior. And likewise, with a
lot of Chinese martial art schools being associated with
monastic societies, we take equal measures to ensure
that the School never becomes an occult, or cult, and
that it remains neither religious nor anti-religious, or
sectarian in any way - but deals simply with developing
personal integrity.
The Public Face of the School
However, having said that, the School maintained a large
martial art public profile, both through the services it
provides and through putting on public shows and
demonstrations.
These pictures will give you some idea as to what the
public face of the School looks like - full of action,
highly disciplined, and very informative:
Lance Drills
Emperial Demo
Staff Fighting
Stick Fighting
Presentations
Martial Art Demonstrations
Guest Teacher
Inter Club Events
Long Staff
Multi-Pad Drills
Guest Lecturer
Tai-Chi Demo
CLINT & Wu-Chi
I think that one of the nicest things for me was
the fact that my son (Clint) loved Martial Art
during the years that he grew up.
Clint started training at the age of three, and
was co-teaching at the age of six, and by the
time he was 12 he was running adult martial art
classes on his own.
I am happy to say he has just returned to
training again (under Si-Fu Wipere Ngata).
One thing I can truly say is that I have always
been my son's hero, and I don't think that life
as a dad gets to feel much better than that.
We are really good mates and we enjoy each
others company immensely, regardless of us
living lifestyles that differ vastly in many
areas of life.
. . . But, then again, I would imagine that, in
many respects, having me as a Dad would be
somewhat of a very big rock to have to climb out
from under.
Aust. 1983
Aust. 1986
NZ 1990
NZ 1991
Me today. . . .
I am pretty much retired from the School these days - as
far as teaching public classes goes. All in all, over
the years, counting from the first classes I ever
taught, I suppose that I personally would have taught
somewhere between 30,000 to 35,000 students, face to
face - conservatively speaking.
My role
today is twofold:
One: as the
Yuan-Fu (founder) of
Wu-Chi. Wherein, I am "The Keeper of the Art",
meaning I am responsible for maintaining and
distributing: a) the physical moves that are at
the core of Wu-Chi, and b) the principles that
make a Wu-Chi school what it is.
Also, I am obliged to make myself available once
a year, for eight days, to meet and train with
the Masters (SiFus and SiMus) of all the
Schools.
Two: as a Lao-Fu
(Grand Master) in Wu-Chi. Wherein, I am the
keeper of the neutral or common ground between
the Wu-Chi schools of those Sifus who trained
under me, when I was a Sifu.
In general, my role as a Lao-Fu is more of a
patriarchal one. I am an honoured guest at
select events, and I'm invited to teach a class
every now and then (which is always a real
pleasure).
Once I became a Lao-Fu in Wu-Chi, I was
required to retire; having no school or
classes/students etc., in order to make room for
those who have graduated through the ranks to
control and run their own Schools outside of my
control or influence. I am still allowed
to teach the immediate members of my family and
my wife's family, which is nice . . . as I still
get to have a swing around with Clint and Tyrone
every now and then.
Sheena
and I
We train
together most mornings for an hour in
ANZAC Park, which is just down the road from
where we live. . . and we write books and instruction
manuals for the School, both on Wu-Chi martial
art and Acupuncture & natural therapies.
These pants are
drafted from the ones that
NZ-Chin made for me when I was
10yrs old.
. . . . and we help to write proposal and promotional
material to gain support for the school from various
organizations and government departments etc. (Documents
such as the Wu-Chi Brief, which are located on this
website)
We usually train for 2 to 3
hours a day, five days a week. We developing a lot
of new Wu-Chi
material, which we teach whenever we are invited to
schools to teach (whether they are Wu-Chi schools, or
other martial art schools), and lately we are formating
Wu-Chi
material into over 400 instructional videos ready for the Web (which is a
big job).
Right-Cheek
Left-Cheek
Closing Thoughts
I would have to admit that the Martial Art discipline
over the years, along with creating and developing the
Wu-Chi School of Arts into a community aid service (not
to mention developing the Modelling and Deportment
school with my wife), has had a profound effect on my life. And the
healthy contact with so many people, spanning such a
wide range of the community, has over the years given my
wife and I a very fulfilled life.
However, please know that I have a life aside from
martial art. One of my pet hates is to be presented to
people as being a "Martial Artist". I find it makes a
change to their perception of my life, to the point
where every conversation begins and ends with martial
art - which leads to some of the most abnormal
conversations imaginable, to say the very least.
And please don't buy me any Martial Art books, Bruce Lee
posters, or take me to Martial Art movies - or any other
RUBBISH like that - unless of course you want to watch
me throw up; because I can assure you all that at heart
I am sooo not into the whole Martial Art "Culture"
Thingy!!
click image to see reference
For
other references to
Wu-Chi's community aid work and
official Certification,
Click HERE
>>>>>
