Chen Bei
Praying Mantis Shifu
The information presented in this chart was collected from different sources -see Bibliography-, therefore the romanizations in Pinyin according to the Mandarin pronunciation of the characters sometimes is not available. If you find any mistakes or inaccuracies please contact me.
His name is also romanized as:
Chan Poi / Chen Pei / Chan Pui .
Born in 1936 (1938 according to other sources).
Shifu Chen Bei started training under shifu Li Kun Shan in the mid-1940s and was the last student accepted by shifu Li Kun Shan before his death. Shifu Chen Bei was trained in the traditional manner, from 1946-49, he learned only the basics of the system, not commencing with forms training until he had three full years of basis training.
Shifu Chen Bei mastered the Hua Lin Tan Tui Tang Lang system after shifu Li Kun Shan's death, completing his studies with his elder gong-fu brothers. Shifu Chen Bei moved to Hong Kong (he swam from mainland to the city of Hong Kong in 1956). In Hong Kong he studied Hua Lin Tang Lang Quan under shifu Leung Kung (the most senior student of shifu Li Kun Shan at the Hong Kong branch). Shifu Chen Bei also studied Hua Lin Tang Lang Quan and other styles from shifu Chen Yun Qing. Years later shifu Chen Bei became a 6th generation successor of the Northern Praying Mantis System of the Hua Lin Temple tradition.
Shifu Chen Bei decided to move to the USA. In Hong Kong he got a job on a boat as a seaman, and when the boat arrived in New York harbor, he again swam ashore at night. Arriving in New York in 1968, alone and penniless, he found his way to Boston, where he took a job as a cook. At this time, he had no particular intention to teach gong fu. But later on, shifu Chen Bei could no longer pretend he was nothing but a cook. His reputation preceded him, and he was asked to teach at a club in Boston's Chinatown. He opened his own kung fu school in 1971, calling it the "New England China Martial Arts Association" and in 1972 he opened a second school in Boston's North District. By 1974, shifu Chen Bei had six kung fu schools in the New England area.
His students from these times tell that at these times a Tae Kwon Do stylist walked into shifu Chen Bei school and challenged him to a match. Shifu Chen Bei said, "OK, but only if you follow me onto the street". The challenger agreed, only to watch shifu Chen Bei jumped out the open 2nd-story window onto the sidewalk. Shifu Chen Bei then turned and beckoned the challenger to come down. The Tae Kwon Do stylist immediately withdrew his challenge and left, by the stairs.
In 1980, shifu Chen Bei decided to move his family to Orlando, Florida (USA) and actually build a Kung Fu Temple in the Hua Lin Temple -Wah Lum(c)- tradition. The first of its kind in the United States, the Wah Lum Temple is a 3,000-square-foot complex located on 55,000 square feet of scenic land, where more than 300 practitioners learn not only Hua Lin Tang Lang Quan, but Chinese language and customs as well. For the highly dedicated, there is a dormitory next to the main facility in which select students live. He allows instructors from all over the country to live there and undertake intensive gong fu training in an atmosphere free of distractions.
Shifu Chen Bei is a 33rd-generation disciple of the Shaolin Monastery and an honorary director of the "Shaolin Martial Arts Association". He was elected as "Kung Fu Artist of the Year" by the USA magazine "Black Belt" in 1988.
Page Updated: 1st February 2004.
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Fernando Blanco Dopazo .