Wu Mei Pai article translated.

I posted an old article about this some days back.

Now we got Ian Leong, Singapore, who had kindly contributed by translating it from Chinese to English.

Ian will be working on some more articles and I hope to , eventually, posted more articles bilingually.

Singapore Wu Mei Pai’s sifu Anthony Wee

Sifu Anthony Wee is a disciple in the Singapore Wu Mei style transmission and is one of the excellent martial artists in recent years. He has participated In 4 SEA letais. In the first, he did not win any medals. In the second, he participated in the middle-weight category and won a silver medal. In the third, he was again unplaced. In the fourth, he won a bronze in the heavy weight division after two hard fought matches. These may not be outstanding results, but they show sifu Wee’s courage and determination. As the delegation leader of the Malaysian Squad, Mr Zhu Han Xiang said, “the participant I respect most is the Singapore representative Sifu Wee. His courage and his respect for the martial spirit is the most commendable.”

The artistic kung fu expert

Sifu Wee has been involved in the lei tai tournaments since he was 23 years old. He is 30 now, and is happily married with a young child. He is also a talented sculptor in the Fuzhou tradition. He carves life like dragons, lions, tigers, leopards, fish and even human characters. He has been training seriously in this art since his young days.

The chosen one

There is also a romantic side to Sifu Wee’s kung fu career. Sifu’s Wee master had recognized that Sifu Wee was a honest and upright, and gave the hand of his daughter to him. This is a happy episode in the history of the Singapore Wulin.

The Wu Mei expert

Ever since Sifu Wee became skilled in the Wu Mei style, he has been helping his sifu teach the Wu Mei style at the "Singapore Lion and Dragon" gymnasium for the last 10 years.

Apart from kung fu, Sifu Wee is also an accomplished Fuzhou Dragon Dance expert. This is a luminous dragon dance done in the dark. UV lights are used with a fluorescent golden dragon. In the dark of night, the luminous dragon prances, appears and disappears, give an atmosphere of mystery. Sifu Wee often carries the dragon head during important performances. He is a natural choice in view of his strength, muscular physique, nimble and practiced movements.

Origins of Wu Mei

Wu Mei is an authentic shaolin style and has been popular among the youth of Singapore for more than 10 years. Regarding its history, GM Tan Siew Koon (TSK) is reticent in telling its history, as it is difficult to verify its real roots. There are only oral records. The identities of famous kung fu personalities were hidden to avoid prosecution as it was then the beginning of the Ching dynasty. However, most of the oral traditions have maintained that the nun Wu Mei was the founder of the style.
GM TSK is a prominent Fuzhou kung fu master whose teacher was GGM Tan Choon Kao (TCK). GGM TCK’s maternal grandmother came from a village near Nanjing. All the members practiced Wu Mei Kung Fu, especially the women. They would stand together with the men to defend the village in times of trouble.

The end of the Ching dynasty was a period of political upheaval with frequent battles between warlords. GGM TCK’s grandmother had escaped to the south with a young daughter. They supported themselves by demonstrating kung fu and selling medicines. On passing Fuzhou, they became acquainted with the Tan family and GGM TCK’s mother had married into the family. There were 3 sons, all prominent kung fu masters. The eldest GGM TCK was an instructor and bodyguard to the fisherman guild. The second, Tan Choon Chwee was a bodyguard for business men in Fuzhou.. The third, Tan Choon Hong had returned to Nanjing with their grandmother and was the chief kung fu instructor of the village.

The lineage in Singapore

GGM TCK being a bodyguard for the fishermen was frequently involved in fights with the Japanese and pirates. Once he killed several Japanese during a fishing expedition in Taiwan. Being a wanted man, he escaped to Malaya. He made a living selling medicine and teaching kung fu. GM TSK learnt kung fu and medical skills from his teacher. After acquiring the secret skills of Wu Mei, GM TSK started teaching in the "dragon lion gymnasium" as he felt that the skills were useful for self-defence as well as developing one’s health. He has been at it for more than 10 years. Among his best disciples are his son-in-law Master Anthony Wee, his son Tan Guan Kee and a female disciple Lee Li Choo, who was a Singapore Lei Tai Champion.

Searching Bridge, Stabilising the wrist and the Angry stare of the Vajrasattva

Wu Mei Kung Fu and Wing Chun kung fu are both founded by the nun Wu Mei. As such, they would be similar in some respects, but this has not been extensively investigated.

The characteristic of Wu Mei is that it is a short style that is constantly pushing forwards. It specializes in the production of a short explosive jing. Its strength is forceful and stable. During training, the strength is focused between the palm and the wrist. It seeks to penetrate the opponent’s bridges while stabilizing ones own wrist. One also needs to stick to the opponent like the shadow, preventing his escape.

When the jing is used, the practitioner’s face is like that of the Vajrasattva, fierce and stern. The fali is very intense. But when relaxed, one is supple like the willow, yielding to the opponent’s force, through minute movements in the body, thus neutralizing the opponent’s force.

The style emphasizes the guarding of one’s centerline. It does this by the use the elbow and the arms to constantly lock out the opponent. It has a clamped horse stance with the buttock pulled in. It uses footwork to penetrate the opponent’s center as well as evade to the sides and back. It changes in all directions, thereby confusing the opponent.

Muhammad Ali praises Chinese kung fu

There are not many sets in Wu Mei. One starts with the hand movements, then progresses to various hand movements with footwork. This is a integral part of training. If one persists, one then moves to Hard qigong. When one has mastered this, one will have developed the "golden bell cover" and is capable of withstanding attack. GM TSK has led his disciples on numerous occasions to demonstrate such hard qigong.

In October 1973, the then World Champion, Muhammad Ali visited Singapore. Master Wee was demonstrating and had taken a chop to the neck from the boxer. Ali was really amazed and had remarked that Chinese kung fu was indeed amazing.