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ABOUT

CANNON FIST KUNG FU

AND MY MARTIAL ARTS JOURNEY

PAO CHUI KUNG FU

Pao Chui Kung Fu isn't well known in the West. When it is discussed, it's usually as the advanced form of Chen family Taijiquan. Chen family Pao Chui probably came from Shaolin temple - Chenjiagou is close, and Pao Chui has been practised there for many years. While Chen family Pao Chui is outwardly different to Shaolin Pao Chui, the prevalence of explosive Fajin and similar combat methodologies mark them as fruits of one tree.

 

That tree, if legend is to be believed, is Mount Emei (one of the three great homes of Kung Fu along with Shaolin and Wudang temples). 

In the People's Republic of China, San Huang Pao Chui is another well known off-shoot from the Shaolin temple that has been modified and popularised amongst the secular martial arts population. The legendary San Huang Pao Chui Grandmaster, Song Mailun, founded the Meeting Freinds Armed Escort Agency (Hui You Biao) which swiftly became the most prestigious security agency in China.

 

In addition to Shaolin, Chen and San Huang styles of Pao Chui, the Shaolin forms have given birth to numerous folk styles, most of which practise the same basic curriculum with differences in movement and approach.

 

There are also many arts that include Pao Chui routines, and some Pao Chui styles that have been inspired, though not actually derived from, the major styles listed above.

BIOGRAPHY

My martial arts journey started over 20 years ago, when my father taught me a system of combatives that his father had taught him (my grandfather was a hand to hand instructor for the British military during the second world war). I became fascinated with self defence, and started training in Kung Fu (more properly Wushu or Quan-fa) as soon as possible. As well as Pao Chui Kung Fu, I have studied Chen and Wu styles of Taijiquan, Wing Chun, and a smattering of kick-boxing , Ju-jitsu, Judo, Systema and Krav Maga, and I'm an experienced Qi Gong practitioner.

 

In 2013, I was awarded my 7th duan black sash (making me Qing Long, or Azure Dragon) in Shaolin Pao Chui by the Shaolin Athletic Association, led by Grandmaster Gu Ping, 32nd generation Shaolin monk, hand to hand instructor to the Chinese military and the Beijing police force, professor of Beijing University's Wushu facilities, and former Taiji instructor to the president of the People's Republic of China. As well as a martial artist, I'm a member of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (a scientific and philosophical research group that restricts membership to the top 0.1% of the population as measured on a standardised IQ test -- or an IQ of 149 or above). My research interests are strategy, ethics, and political philsophy, and I've had a few papers published in peer reviewed journals.

 

I have a background in advertising, and a decent working knowledge of the psychology of persuasion, and I'm also a fully qualified Private Investigator with the United Kingdom Professional Investigator's Network (UKPIN). 

 

- Bruce Lee

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