History is not a strong point in my academic fields of interest. I have focused on the academic fields of psychology, philosophy, and sociology in my studies. When I deal with topics on history my perspective will be rooted in the perspectives in which I am strong rather than trying to use the rules in the field of history. While I am interested in the narratives of history I do not view them as a significant authority and source of truth.
Regarding the history of Bak Mei kung fu I consider there to be two distinct categories of historical narrative; 1) the Legendary history and 2) the "secular" history. The Legendary history traces the foundation of the style back to the legendary founder, Bak Mei, and the events revolving around the times of the Qing dynasty of China. The secular history starts with the modern founder Cheung Lai Cheun. The term "secular history" is a phrase I learned from Dr. Y.Q. Wong, Phd, during our conversations and refers to the difference between the lineage starting with Cheung Lai Cheun (not a monk or priest) as opposed to pre-CLC attributed to monks of the Shaolin temple and Chan Buddhism.
I choose to focus on the secular history because I am not equipped or educated in the areas of expertise (Chinese history and culture) to give a reliable account of the Legendary histories. Any information I have of that area is passed down directly from Dr. Y.Q. Wong and would be dogma that I could neither support or challenge with citations.
I will cover the history of Cheung Lai Cheun's life-time, his biography, and the foundation styles in which CLC trained and practiced before developing what has become modern CLC Bak Mei. I will do so using source materials from the internet, conversations with Dr. Y.Q. Wong, magazine articles, and historical accounts of the period. I hope to be able to contact and get feedback from the few still living persons who trained directly under CLC.
Bak Mei wikipedia article
Dr. Y.Q. Wong's Site (some articles available)
Hong Kong Web Site
Amazon.com Search Results for Pak Mei
There are dozens of websites returned when searching Bak Mei kung fu. Some are definitely legitimate sources of information and others are less so. I will not share those I know to be part of the mainstream organization because I am not qualified to judge the rest of the sites legitimacy and do not wish to imply insult or give offense by failing to link sites that are legitimate.
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