Martial Arts: CLC Bak Mei "White Eyebrow" Kung Fu: Part 2; History v.1, Introduction

 Introduction
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.



Relevant Links:
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.

Martial Arts: CLC Bak Mei "White Eyebrow" Kung Fu; AKA Pak Mei, Bok Mei, Bai Mei (part 1)

This Blog entry will discuss the traditional Chinese Kung Fu style of Bak Mei "White Eyebrow". Bak Mei is one of the more rare styles of traditional (classical) kung fu in the Western culture and it is relatively difficult to find literature, resources, and accurate information regarding this style.

I am a student of the Chattanooga, TN, Branch of Bak Mei "White Eyebrow" Kung Fu, in training since December of 2002. I began studying under Dr. Y.Q. Wong, PhD, who is now deceased. I am continuing my training under Luke Kilburn. The secular lineage from Cheung Lai Chuen to me is CLC to Chang Beng Fat & Ng Nam King to Dr. Y.Q. Wong, PhD to Luke Kilburn to me. I will not claim to be 7th generation even though I trained directly under Dr. Wong for several years because Luke Kilburn has taught me much and corrected many things that were wrong in my practice.

A special note regarding the lineage of Dr. Y.Q. Wong: In a few instances I have read on the internet some subtle challenges to the legitimacy of Dr. Wong's lineage. These challenges were implied through the context of the writing and not directly stated, however, I will address them here. Regardless of the opinions of others regarding documents and pictures I have found the highest form of proof available that supports the lineage of Dr. Wong. The following video posted on YouTube is a clip of an annual celebration and gathering of Bak Mei teachers in Hong Kong. At time 1:23 to 1:30 Dr. Y.Q. Wong is performing.



This gathering is located in Hong Kong, the last residence of CLC before his death, and is hosted by the main branch of CLC Bak Mei located there. The reason I provide this as irrefutable evidence for legitimacy of Dr. Y.Q. Wong's lineage is because there is no way the Hong Kong association or the other masters of Bak Mei Kung Fu would allow some one making false lineage claims to attend and perform as a recognized teacher in their event. Cheng Beng Fat (son of CLC) and Ng Nam King were both important and honored members of the Hong Kong association, serving executive roles in that organization. If false, Dr Wong's public claim of them being his teachers would be an outrageous offense to the Hong Kong organization and his presence would not be tolerated in their functions. Not only was he present but he was also honored by being given a spot rotation in the performance of the masters and teachers attending the celebration.

As a supplement I offer this link to the Hong Kong official website "Global Pak Mei Martial Arts Association" where they have written an Obituary in english dedicated to Dr. Wong that states in writing his lineage and role in the Global Pak Mei Martial Arts Association.

Dr. Wong's widow, Michon, dedicated her energy and efforts towards preserving Dr. Wong's legacy and contributions to Bak Mei with the stated goal of helping the Chattanooga branch of the Bak Mei family become an active hub for international pracitioners of Bak Mei kung fu. Michon became terminally ill and assigned various duties and tasks to all the students and graduates of Dr. Wong's lineage. She asked I take on two duties to serve our branch, one of which is to be the "public relations" voice of our school and to raise awareness of our role in the Bak Mei community through appropriate means. She felt my high extroversion, social nature, self-motivation, several other personality traits were well suited to establish contacts, network with other branches and martial artists, and to help further her vision for Dr. Wong's lineage of Bak Mei. My efforts are handicapped by my lack of language skills in Cantonese and Mandarin. I hope to learn enough of those Chinese languages to be able to directly communicate with the Hong Kong and Guanzhou associations.

For those unfamiliar with traditional Chinese Kung Fu, this preamble is necessary to establish my connection to the style and offer evidence I know anything of value to write about Bak Mei. I will continue to write about Bak Mei in a series of Blog posts.

Please note, however, that Bak Mei is a closed style. This means that there are certain aspects of the style, the training methods, and the details of concepts and techniques that are not openly shared with the general public. This restriction is part of tradition and is a rule I will not break now or in the future. Any questions regarding areas specifically restricted are to be a topic of discussion to be done in person with an authorized teacher of Bak Mei who will decide whether or not to give detailed answers based on the style's moral and ethical standards and philosophies.