My sifu, Chan Yick Yan, is in the back row on the far left. On the front row second from the left is Grandmaster Wu Yi Hui who taught him Liuhebafa. Prior to Liuhebafa, my sifu practiced styles like Hsing I and Baqua. In the photos are some of my sifu’s teachers of other styles as well as peers that helped shape who he is.
If you click on Chan Yick Yan on wiki, my name is not on there – I am not officially one of his disciples. To say that I don’t have any regret is a lie, I had the opportunity to make it official. However, along with a title come responsibilities and expectations. Right now, I am free to innovate and yet still honor my sifu and my sentimental linkage, for that I am very happy!
When you think about it, Liuhebafa has always been somewhat an early form of a “mixed” style. Wu himself assimilate the teachings from more than one teacher. My sifu did not start with Liuhebafa either. Aside from Liuhebefa, I am also enriched through family linkages, my emigration to Canada, my travel as well as other “fateful circumstances”.
Being open, practical and adaptable have always been our tradition – it was never about a specific form or movement pattern. Anyone trying to ‘freeze’ the style at a certain era is really going against our real tradition.
However, like cooking, mix-and-merge is not totally random, there is a science to it. Learn the essence of what we are striving for and you will be able to find endless possibilities.
心意本無法 有法是虛無 虛無得自然 無法不容恕
放之彌六合 包羅小天地 釋家為圓覺 道家說無為
有象求無象 不期自然至
Exercise
What exactly are we striving for?