LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY SHAOLIN HUNG GAR KUNG FU CLUB
This page is run and maintained for students of Liverpool University's Hung Gar Kung Fu Club.
Hopefully it will provide a useful database for students to find out training times, social events, syllabus guidelines, history and much more.
If anyone has any related photographs, stories, knowledge or anything else that might be useful then please e-mail them to me at [email protected] -, bring them along to training or leave them in the Kung Fu drawer in the A.U. Office. Thanks.
This month's training times:
Wed 12th Mar - Mountford Hall (Sparring Time. Bring your gloves!)
Sat 15th Mar - Library, Guild
Updates:
17/03/03 - Right. Spring's here as I'm sure you can all tell and I think it's time to start using all that energy tht's bursting inside of you. Therefore, I've decided to open another class at 6.00 am. The perfect way to start your day is to wake up early, have a jog down to the docks and practice some ch'i gng while the sun's rising and I promise you there's no greater sight than the sun bursting out over the horizon. I'll announce this in the lesson and I hope it's well received because I promise i'll do you good. It's like Sifu keeps saying, see: "What you do in the evening, you must do in the morning." That's what balance is about, yin and yang, light and dark. Wht's the point in building up all your energy to use up in the evening when, actually, it's all going to waste over the daytime. If you want to find out more about human physioloy then look around on the web o check out the new Physiology page, where I'll try to condense everything I know about anatomy in there... (Yeah right, I'll just rip off another site... Hehe... D'oh!) Train hard, fight hard!
11/03/03 - Hehehe... It's been a long, long time since I wrote anything here, as you can tell. I apologise for the wait but all good things... Unfortunately, I have no good things to tell you and so apologise again for wasting your time with this update. I promise that soon I'll put up the pictures from a) the show in december b) Chinese New Year and c) the social mentioned in the below update (Is that a downdate?) Never mind. Keep training hard and I'll see you soon.
24/01/03 - ... Alright, alright... So we DIDN'T have the picture after all, I'm sorry. Soon, my pretties, soon. Well, I guess the only thing to bring to your attention really is the upcoming 70's night on wednesday 29th. I know that the social-secretary of Ju-jitsu has been trying her hardest to make it a great night and so I'm sure it will be. GOT THAT? Hehe... Nah, it'll be a laugh and a good excuse for a dance as a club. Sometimes I forget that's what we are... Oh, well. See you all on monday.
21/01/03 - Happy new year everyone... (21 days late...) Hope everyone's had a good time and is well rested and ready for more chop-socky.
Main events this month are:
Remember we're having a class photo in tomorrow's lesson (22nd Jan) so everybody look nice and don't smile... Incidentally, if I see even one kung-fu hamster, I'll do a Freddy Starr - I mean it!
On the 29th Jan there's going to be a Social night - The First Inter-Club Martial Arts Social! (Not MARITAL Arts as 500 tickets would have you believe.) It promises to be a really good night, but I can just see it all kicking-off when someone says something like: 'Goo'n then, show us yer side-kick...' Still... Consider it a practical test of your techniques :S. P.S. Remember it is a 70's Theme... (God knows why I agreed to that.) So get those platforms dusted off and boogie till the break of dawn.
Remember the grading is scheduled in FOUR weeks time (I'll do the maths for that later.) so get practicing. Sit the Horse stance much, practice your forms a lot, get in touch with any of the advanced students if you're even slightly unsure and I'm sure you'll do fine.
And, MOST IMPORTANTLY! Sunday 2nd February. Chinese New Year. Year of the Goat. Baa-baa etc. Chinese New Year's always a great laugh, plenty to do, see and eat and you get to shake sticks at people and have your eye-brows singed by fire-works. How much fun do you need? So, get ready for it and MAKE SURE YOU'RE THERE!
It's that time again! (Well, actually, it's the first time we've done this making it even more special!)
2/12/02 - Thankyou again to everyone who took part in yesterday's charity event. Profits are estimated at around �6,000 so nobody can say we haven't contributed. But there's still a lot wrong with the world and although you may not think it, it's your job as a son or daughter of Hung to make it right again. This may seem very melodramatic but I believe it was Emily Dickenson who said:
"If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain."
Now, Emily Dickenson was a complete nutcase, but there's something in it. If you see an old lady being harassed by a little scall, then I'd hope you'd clip him 'round the ear and tell him to pack it in. You don't have to stop a nuclear power plant melting down to be considered a hero, it's the little things that count. With this in mind, every penny you give to charity goes to help more than you can imagine, every chair you put out, every bit of litter you pick up. Look after the penny's and the pounds look after themselves - Look after the little things and everything else is affected as well. Cos you never know, the scall might change his ways and develop a cure to cancer, who's the hero then, eh?
25/11/02 - Hello again... What?! It's been a whole month since I wrote anything here? Oops... Hehe. Well, so long as we're still training hard, eh?
This Sunday (Sun 1st Dec 2002):
The Liverpool Hung Gar Friendship Association will be performing in:
A Charity Fundraising Event for the British Red Cross Africa In Crisis Appeal.
Doors open: 1.30 pm. Show Starts: 2.00pm. Show Ends: 4.00pm (ish)
The Programme will feature:
Traditional Chinese Lion Dance (By the critically acclaimed Liverpool Hung Kune School, Seel St.)
Traditional Chinese Dragon Dance (By the East Merseyside Hung Kune club.)
Break-dancing (By the World Renowned Rock Steady Dance crew.)
Music by Adam Skinner (LIPA Graduate) and his Band, "7 Foot."
Music Performed by Members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Traditional Chinese Dancing (By Grace Liu's Chinese Dance Academy.)
Traditional African Dancing (By Prince Olar's Dance School.)
The Theatrical Tale of the Boy and the Dragon's Pearl (By the East Merseyside Hung Kune club.)
Kung Fu Demonstration (By the Liverpool Hung Kune School.)
Chi Gung Demonstration (By the Liverpool Hung Kune School.)
Also, speeches by charismatic Trade Unionist, Billy Butterworth, Red Cross Initiative Leader, Paul Cooney and The Rt. Hon. Mayor of Liverpool.
A raffle for such prizes as a signed Liverpool F.C. football, prizes from 'World's Apart' and the 'Liverpool World Shop.'
A Charity Auction for such prizes as a signed 1978 Liverpool Team Poster estimated at almost �1,000.
And: Ornellas Sifu will attempt to break 10 coconuts with his bare hands for the highest bidder.
A great big Thankyou to the Guild of Students for its help with this event esp. Simon Lomax (Treasurer) and Kathy Kegg (Grounds Administrator.) as well as the porters on the day. It was only a shame the same cannot be said about the Entertainments Dept. who wanted to charge �350 (That would have gone to Charity) to get a team to come and turn some lights off... Oh well. You see, even if you don't believe in karma, it exists. You can't live your life stealing and cheating and hurting others (Even if this is only by not helping others) because it'll come back and destroy you eventually. I don't care about Ents anymore because they obviously don't care about the World they live in and anybody who doesn't care about the World they live in isn't really a person. So, I apologise to everybody in Entertainments who helped this charity along but the rest of you (And you know who you are) can kindly go to Hell. Thanks for listening to me rant (This page is turning into the Cosby Show... 'Heathcliff, put down th' gee'tah wit' th' jazz an' th' funk an' th'...') Thanks for your time and effort.
28/10/02 - Been a while, huh? Ni hao mah? How's everyone? Thanks for looking at the site, unless you're not looking at it in which case you can ignore this (...?) Right. Well, like Mr Roach said in the Guestbook, it's important to practice and to train and to keep the club going (Even when IT isn't!) Train yourself, there's no point in dreaming about being great if you're not willing to work for it. James Roach is a man who is respected by many because he has earned that respect through his dilligence, courtesy and sheer insanity when it comes to training. Why shouldn't we be the same? Of course the same can be said of our own instructors, Sihing (Brother teacher) Paul and Sifu Jeong Fie (John) and if any of you meet Sifu Ornellas then you'd agree that Hung Gar trains the best. They've all been there, they've all done what we are doing now and they've come through it battered and bruised, but better for it, stronger for it, able to protect themselves and their loved ones. That's all I want out of life and that's what I'm striving to get. So keep on training. Sit the Horse Stance when you're waiting for the kettle to boil. As you get better, fill the kettle more and have more cups of tea (Wierd tangent there...) Or stand Crane stance when watching the Simpsons or something. Practice your forms or parts of your forms and try to understand what it means and how it works. You'll slowly gain a better understanding of your own body and the way it works and you'll surprise yourself with the different manners you'll adopt in different situations. It's a good feeling.
Still, enough of me ranting again. On Sunday the 1st of December in the Mountford Hall between 1.00 and 5.00pm, the Liverpool Hung Gar Friendship Association is holding a Charity Kung Fu show to raise money for the British Red Cross 'Africa In Crisis Appeal.' It would be most appreciated if anyone from the University club would like to participate or contribute. We'll arrange it in more detail at a later date, but for now just bear it in mind. Thank you for your time. Now stop messing around on the Internet and GO AND TRAIN!
10/10/02 - I'd like to take this chance to apologize to everyone who's shown dedication despite being screwed over by the Guild (Again) This matter is not going unresolved. I've warned the Athletic Union and the Guild about their misconduct towards the Martial Arts - because it ain't just Kung Fu - and they have responded by doing the same thing over and over again. The title 'Guild of Students' has become a joke. It isn't the Guild of Students anymore, it's the 'Guild of money-grubbin' slack-jawed idiots' and I've had enough. I make my apologies now to the members of the Guild who actually DO gear themselves up towards the student community, because these people DO have the integrity needed to uphold their positions but enough is enough. Starting next week each of the Martial Arts clubs will be contacted about forming a Martial Arts Council, with more than enough members to put weight behind our arguments. I know this sounds a) excessive and b) boring and stupid, but if you were the Captain of a once-poud club trying to drag it back towards the top of the Mountain, then you'd do something similar, believe me this. As members of the Liverpool University Shaolin Kung Fu Association, you are part of a world-wide family that has existed for over a thousand years, training people to be the strongest, fastest, toughest warriors in the World. The name 'Hung Gar' is still feared and respected by ALL practitioners of Kung Fu in the world and a thing to be proud of. This University school is only a speck of water in the pond, but the reflection on the water never reveals the depths of the ocean. I'm not gonna let this side of our art down and I hope - though I understand if you don't - you won't either. Again, I am truly sorry it has come to this, but we have as much right to train as mindless masses have to see Chesney Hawkes and his 'one and only' hit... Probably more...
26/09/02 - Fresher's Fair was cool. Thanks to everyone who took part. We signed up a load of new members, both the Uni team and Roach's Fight Choreography Club (More later.) The crowd enjoyed the show and I think we're gonna have a good year, starting monday when training resumes so come along and resign (...?) That's re-sign yourself to the club that you love. For all the new-comers, welcome to the Liverpool University Hung Gar Kung Fu club, I know you're going to have a great time sweating off all the alcohol you're gonna consume... and then consume it again. Cos that's what being a student's about. C u Monday.
18/09/02 - Welcome back, everyone! Hope you've all had a great summer and are ready to get back to some good hard work in your studies (Haha!) Remember that the Fresher's Fair is this Sunday (The 22nd) and will be running on the Monday (The 23rd for all you so-called maths students out there) as well. I hope to see you there. We'll be putting on a demonstration along with Seel street's Club, giving everyone a chance to finally meet (After all, we're all going paintballing in October) and also encouraging LOADS of people to start practicing the noble art of KUNG FUUUUUU! Ahem... So, I know I'll see you all on Sunday (Because if I don't...) but if not, I look forward to training with you over term. See you soon.
29/07/02 - Wow, what a day the 25th was... Most of Merseyside attended the Queen's visit to our hallowed Liverpool and the day was a fantastic flurry of colour and sound and... well, culture. So many groups attended that many weren't even allowed to join in the parade but those that did really got a chance to shine, especially the Liverpool Hung Gar Kung Fu club. The ovation that we got literally exploded when Sifu raised his arms before the Queen and bowed. Check out the pics here.
5/07/02 - Added a Techniques page to the site. Anyone who wants to add themselves performing a technique to the website must simply find a partner and practice a practical - not to mention, realistic - technique from any of the forms (And some from outside.) All of the techniques must be approved by Tjia Sifu before being added to the page. Once this is done, find me and my camera and we'll add you to the page.
Also found a program to condense picture files so I've cleaned up a lot of the site, especially the Lion dance page.
- - - By the way, if anyone would like to perform for the Queen of England on the 25th of July then get your backsides down to Seel street as soon as possible to sign yourselves up for the Lion dance we're performing for the 'European Capital of Culture' festival on the above date. This is big C.V. stuff, people. The chance to be in a photograph with the ruling monarch of this country is good news whoever you are (Unless you're an assassin obviously - But none of you are! ... I hope...) You don't even have to be skilled at Kung Fu. You can just carry a flag, enjoy the day and watch the rest of the show. Just remember that we are representing the Chinese faction of this event in Liverpool and there is a lot of money to be spent on the city (Especially the clubs involved) if we win the award. So, what are you waiting for?
1/06/02 - I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who trained over the past year. It's been an enjoyable time, despite all the trouble we've had from the University and I solemnly promise that it will not be repeated again. Our training times at the moment are scheduled for the same time, and although this will mean the Guild can underbook us or overbook us or double-book us or whatever, I am arranging with the guild president that we as a club take priority.
Again, I cannot stress how sorry I am that we've been screwed this year, but next year will be different.
Starting with the Fresher's Fair. Anyone around on the 22nd and 23rd (I think...) of September is welcome to come and help with our demonstration, showing the new students of Liverpool University exactly what Kung Fu means to us. We will be performing a Lion Dance as well as putting on dislays of the forms and weapons.
The way I see it is that if we want the A.U. to take us seriously then we need to make them listen to us and so I would like a LOT of interest. We've got a great selling angle here - who DOESN'T know about Kung Fu? - and I want to exploit it to its fullest. So, if anyone's around over the summer, come and find me in the Sports Centre, I'm usually in there between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm, or come along to Seel Street. And even if you're not here then at least practice your forms and your horse stance. Remember, no matter how good you get, you can always get better. So, take care, have a good, relaxing - but not too relaxed - summer and I'll see you next year.
Shen ti jian kang.
4/05/02 - I'm sorry that the site hasn't been updated yet. This is therefore obviously the first. I would like to thank everybody who has continued to practice and train at the club despite all the hardship we've received from the Uni - Remember, without you, there is no club and so it's all appreciated a lot.
Kung Fu - All of the styles! - is not just a hobby, it is a way of life. Everyone who studies it should know that as well as being a practical form of self-defense and a boost to self esteem and self-confidence, it increases strength, flexibility, internal calm and external ferocity.
There are many translations of 'Kung Fu' (Gong Fu) but my favourite is: 'Training to reach the best of your ability.'
This doesn't just mean practicing until you are the best you will ever be at fighting, but in no way does it mean that you won't! There are many different aspects to the Ancient art of Chinese Kung Fu.
I believe in the goals that our Sigung - Grandfather Teacher or Teacher's teacher - believed in. The development of a clear and strong social awareness and morality that allows community interaction and public happiness. He himself was, after all, a stranger in England when he arrived and yet he immediately began to engage in social activities: He performed his Kung Fu for charities, he provided a team of Lion Dancers every Chinese New Year and he taught everyone that he could about the art that he loved.
Society is in a poor state of affairs at present. Many people are attacked in the streets or suffer from grievances caused by unthinking or uncaring people. As a wise teacher often said to me: "If everyone learned a Martial Art then the world would be a better place." I believe this is true. The Martial Arts teach discipline and respect as well as increasing awareness, strength, stamina and friendships. I've made many friends as a result of studying the Martial Arts; young and old, boisterous and placid, those greatly skilled and those in the process of learning. But I have learned from all of them and I value their friendships as much as I value the lessons in life that they teach me.
There is an old Taoist saying:
"Life is like a lump of coal. In this coal is the potential to become a diamond. It is up to he or she that lives the life to decide whether they burn themselves away frivolously or try to form it into something that will live forever."
I know that nothing lives forever, but just as we learn the skills passed down to our Sifu from his Sifu from his Sifu from his Sifu until we go all the way back to Bodhidharma - The monk who invented the Muscle-change techniques that began Shaolin Kung Fu - and even beyond him! perhaps it is possible to realise that we are all a diamond in the rough and the smoother we get, the better our lives and skills will be remembered.
- James McNeil.
Click on the following links to view the pages:
- GON (Practice.) A Brief Training Syllabus
- ZHI - (Respect.) A Tribute To Our Sigung, Jimmy Chan
- SHI - (Knowledge.) History (And Present) Of Hung Gar Kung Fu
- YI - (Thoughts.) A Page For Martial Philosophy
- NI - (The Lion.) A Gallery Dedicated To Chinese New Year And The Lion Dances
- GUAI - (Meeting) A Page For The Club's Social Events
- BAO - (To Protect) A page of practical applications from our style.
Related Links - Click here for related links.