More about Grand Master Steve Combs

   During that time, late 1971, I competed in the All Styles Open Karate Championship held in Long Beach California and took first place in the heavyweight division. It was my first time in competition and knew all the instructors I trained with were watching to see how good I really was. In 1972 I was Chuck Norris' Grand Marshall in the All Styles Karate Championship held in Long Beach California and became a member of the West Coast All-Star competition team. That same year I opened the Ch'an Lao School of Karate in Inglewood California and  taught at three parks and recreation centers in the Inglewood area, which feed my school in that same area. I can remember teaching one day when this guy walked in and told me that he was from Guam and wanted to know if I would go back with him and open a school. Little did I know at the time he was sent to me by Grand Master Keakueva, Han Ta Tsui and Kelly Choi to bring me back to finish my training that Gramd Master Cheng Man-Ching started in the Monastary.
    So I moved to Guam in 1973 and opened the Guam Academy of Martial Arts with third degree Black Belt Bernard Franquez. The school in Guam was the first ever to combime all styles of martial arts under one roof on the island; we had TaeKwonDo, Judo, and Kung Fu being taught there at the same palce by diferent instructors. I was the the Head Instructor and Grand Master Hal Keakueva was the director while Bernard was the owner and in charge of all the outside instructors teaching at the facility.
    I trained with Grand Master Hal Keakueva for three and one half years. Hal was a very demanding and traditional teacher, and in 1974 I started my Iron Palm training at his house. Every day I would show up at around eleven in the morning. I would do three hours of stretching, 2 hours of forms and one hour before he would come home from work I would pull weeds in his yard until I had one big paper bag filled, if I failed to have the shopping bag full by the time he got home I would not be taught anything new that night. The minute I saw him pulling up to the house I would go on my seven mile run and would return just after he finished his dinner. Hal would spend two hours with me teaching me something new in the Southern Shaolin T'ai Chi Tang Lang (praying mantis) style. I learned a great deal from Master Keakueva; most important was the Iron Palm, he also continued my training in Chi Kung, Wei Kung that Master Cheng started and some secret systems of T'ai Chi Tang Lang. I can remember when Bruce Lee died, Grand Master Keakueva knew Bruce's teacher Yip Man and Bruce himself, he was very up set with me because I wanted to go with him to the funeral; he wouldn't let me go becaues of Lee's exploiting the arts and breaking from tradition. Back then I obeyed any command from Hal without question. That is the way I was being trained, very traditionally and he