As I continued my Karate training, my search for a hidden Kung Fu Master continued. Every time I went to a Chinese Restaurant I would talk to the waiters or staff about Kung Fu, hoping one of them were or knew a Kung Fu Master. Being young and naive I thought all older Chinese Men were hidden Kung Fu Masters. I was obsessed with learning Kung Fu. I would buy any instructional Kung Fu books or videos (that I could afford). I would sit there everyday, practice a few sections at a time and try to perfect them.

I would supplement my "training" by watching Kung Fu Movies. My all time favorite Kung Fu movie is called "36th Chamber" (AKA. "The Master Killer") with Gordon Liu. What I really liked most about this movie was all of the unique and different training situations and equipment used in the movie. For the most part, I tried doing every training situation that was portrayed in this movie...I have to say, some of them are not the smartest things to try. But I did it anyway!

The first one I tried was balancing on a barrel and jumping to another one. Well, I didn't have a barrel but I did have buckets. I would try rolling two buckets, jump on one and then jump to the other one. Anyhow, I wasn't the best at jumping from one bucket to the next, so I wrote it off as sub-standard training equipment and not the real thing like in the movie.

The next training idea was putting weights on a long stick and swinging it into a gong (tree for me). Actually, I got pretty good at this one! Since I was getting so good at this one, I figured I was on my way to becoming a Kung Fu Master so I moved on.

My next session was carrying buckets of water with knives attached under my arms, so if I dropped my arms I would poke myself and lift the buckets higher. My version was buckets (plastic ones) and sticks duck taped under my arms. I didn't really like taking the duck tape off my arms, so I stopped this one.

The next training idea was to put burning incense on each side of my face and watch a moving candle with my eyes without moving my head. This was a tough one. I wasn't that talented of a woodworker to make what was needed...so I didn't do it!

The last training idea was to hang small punching bags with sand and practice head butting them. Maybe not the best thing to do, but I actually got pretty good at this (only side effect was a headache). I would hit the bag with the side of my head, my forehead and the top of my head by doing a running flying head butt. Like I said I was good at this one, I have always had a hard head (literally) but my headaches were getting worse, so I stopped doing that.

I would have to say as a kid I was a very dedicated, innovative and hard working Martial Artist. I had a lot of talent but I lacked the disciplined hard training found in a formal school to turn natural talent into greatness.

Tags: Martial Arts Training

The first time I saw a Kung Fu movie, I knew that's what I wanted to learn, but finding a Kung Fu school on Long Island, NY at the time was hard, in fact I don't remember there being any. All of the Kung Fu schools I knew about were in Chinatown. So it was a choice between Karate or Tae Kwon Do, I chose Karate because at that time I thought all Korean Martial Arts copied the Japanese and were fake. So I started taking Karate.

One of my first Karate Lessons I took the instructor sat all of the students down and told us that only 1 in 1,000 of us would earn our Black Belt (talk about discouraging. When you are kid and you hear that, it sounds like you will never earn your Black Belt). But being the stubborn person I am, I kept going back. I don't remember a lot from those classes but I do remember standing in horse stance and having other students stand on my legs and the instructor would walk around with a bamboo shinai and wack us (not to hard though) with it. I also remember the unbelievable amount of reverse punches we had to do. Oh well, that was Karate back in the early 80's.

Even though I was taking Karate, I was still not satisfied and I ended up quitting. I wanted to learn Kung Fu! So, on my own when I was at home I would watch Kung Fu movies and try and copy what I saw on TV. I would practice my Tiger Claw Kung Fu, Dragon Claw Kung Fu, Monkey Kung Fu and of course Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Basically, I could make all the hand gestures I saw on TV and tried to make up moves. I would imagine fighting in a battle like the ones I saw on TV where the hero took on 20 guys and would win. In my mind I was on my way to becoming a Shaolin Monk. But to be a monk I needed a monks robe. Due to the fact that I was just a kid and had no money, I had to make do with a regular robe. I would pull the robe tight and tie the belt knot on the side. I would also wrap my calfs with string like I saw in the movies. I was obsessed with Kung Fu. Needless to say my Kung Fu wasn't the best. I needed a Kung Fu Master. I wanted to learn hardcore Kung Fu with a Sifu (Chinese for teacher) who shared his wisdom with me but could also kick some serious butt.

One day I saw a school and it had a tiger and dragon for an emblem. It was a Kenpo Karate School. I managed to talk my mom into taking me there. The lesson was a private lesson which was weird to me. Where were all the students I thought, but that didn't matter because I learned how to bow "Kung Fu Style" thats what the instructor told me. Here is how the bow went, I would bring my right hand up in a fist to my left hand which was open and simultaneously step my left foot forward into a cat stance, push my hands out and I would say, "I come in peace but I will fight if I have to". That was cool stuff! I ended up not joining that school for some reason (I am not sure why. Probably because we couldn't afford it) But, I was hooked, I needed more Kung Fu! So my search for Kung Fu heaven continued.

Tags: Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Karate