Student Welcome Message
Welcome to our Shaolin Tradition.
There is no mystery about Chinese Kungfu.
It is (and it means) a great deal of commitment and hard work both mentally and physically.
“Hard work” has never done anyone any harm and should not daunt those willing to make the journey.
We all work hard, in one way or another, if we truly love what we do,
I hope that in time, you will learn to love our Art and our WAY as much as we all do.
Our WAY is the Shaolin Gaocanmun Nampaichuan –one of the Arts derived from the traditional lineage of Shaolin Kungfu from China.
There is a myriad of other Shaolin schools, some quite different, and each with their own way forward.
We make no comment on them (beyond our very own private viewpoint) as we have insufficient knowledge of them and what they stand for.
“Gaocan” refers to the Shaolin Monk – the Reverend Shi Koh Sam – who was (at the time of his passing in the 60’s) Patriarch of the Singapore Shaolin Temple ( Sao Lin Szee )
My own Teacher was Master Quek Heng Choon, who was one of a selected few “Inner door” disciples of Shi Koh Sam, and was the last of 5 to pass away in February 2010.
At the time of my teacher’s passing, I had been training with him for upwards of 43 years, initially in the Far East when I still lived there, and latterly each year when I returned to the country of my Birth in the Far East for family and professional reasons.
My Teacher before he passed away, made me the heir to his traditional Art worldwide (except for Malaysia where one of my Kungu brothers has autonomy).
Here I speak of the Shaolin traditional Art which forms a large component of what we teach and do.
However the “ Nampaichuan “ in our name refers to the inclusion of a harmonious coalition of all the other Martial Arts that I have learn over many years and find of practical value to strengthen our Shaolin tradition.
“Nampaichuan” means Northern-Southern fist, ( Where in the South the Fist is King, in the North – the feet are important )
It must be said that – Training in the “traditional way” bears very little resemblance – to how we are able to train now in these modern and “enlightened” times.
As an example, my usual training week, for the twelve years that I was still living in the Far East, would be on a daily basis (save for Sundays except on an occasional basis).
Each day I would train twice – once in the morning before work, and once in the evening after work – for six days of every week
Traditional training in the Far East, in those years not long after the end of a damaging World War could be, and often weas a deadly business always requiring focus and awareness.
Gangs, and gangsters (The Triads) abound on the streets, and the Police and Special Branch were struggling to cope given the mainly racial make up of these gangs.
The Police under British control had insufficient Chinese officers who were able to penetrate the Triad systems, and understand their thinking and methods in order to disrupt their activities.
But as the Chinese adage goes – “All things change with time” – and so after decades of time, order was finally restored with the use of draconian laws which (in the West) we would consider unconstitutional, offensive to human rights and unconscionable.
“Needs must” as they say…
Gangs still exist of course but are not now as evident as before.
As a culture of those times, the Shaolin Art that I was privileged to learn was hard, brutal, and direct.
In a modern society in the West, we have had to make such necessary adjustments to the way the Art is taught and practiced but make no mistake – the softer exterior still covers very tough thinking and action.
So, our School and our Art remain unchanged in essence and spirit.
We welcome you to train with us in humility, and hope you have a good journey with us.
Khee Choong LAI
Sifu
Shaolin GaocanMun Nampaichuan
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