Chan Tai San stories

[BAI HE]

That says a lot about the man and his character considering
the times he lived in and the things he saw.

[ChinoXL]

Hey sifu ross, i was just reading your forum and I realized I killed 6 hours from 12:30 - 6:30 a.m. O man no sleep for school Anyways I really have to say your stories inspired me, I have been very open to kung-fu but theres alot of fakes trying to make money, I remembered when I was a kid living in Chinatown I use to learn fake tiger claw in those ghetto chinatown apartment hallways; after a few lessons of that I haven't wanted to study kung-fu for a long time. I always have a passion for fighting; And always intersted in the "best" art even though there really isn't; but you know quickest way to take somebody out is fine with me. anyways when summer comes I'm probably going to one of sifu Parrella's schools or your San-Da school maybe summer camp?? I'm very intersted at the same time a little bit intimidated.. am i going to lose a few teeth?? But it would be a hornor for me to learn under you or sifu Parrella

[lkfmdc]

I don't speak for anyone else, it is up to you to ask them or investigate them. As for me, I have been doing this a long time, as some posts by Chris attest to. We surprisingly have had very few injuries over the years, certainly none very seious..

My door is open to anyone who is interested www.NYSanDa.com

[lkfmdc]

I was hoping Chris would be back with some more stories

[Vash]

Question about CTS sifu:

How often were solo forms trained sans partner?

In terms of non-technical conditioning, what did he encourage?

[lkfmdc]

Since often, it was Chan Tai San and you, forms were a way for him to get you to do the techniques over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.... they became muscle memory... when I first met him for example, even before we did forms, he had us do single techniques up and down the floor. I am not exaggerating when I say that I may have done like Paau Choih for 45 minutes until he told us to switch...

Also, Chan Tai San felt he was not going to live forever (who is?) and wanted to get the techniques "out".. he felt once he showed you technique in the forms, it was up to you to develop it...

That being said, when people were around, he encouraged a lot of partner work and sparring... also, he knew I was running a group class with such things, so he knew that everyone was getting that already

His conditioning approach is similar to mine, condition with the technique. As I said, we did the same technique over and over again. My fighters may do a pad drill for 4 minutes with only a short rest, followed by a "step up" on that same drill next for another 4 minutes, etc etc etc

That is to say, we did both cardio and resistance training while doing the technique, as opposed to other ways

[Vash]

Cool, thanks.

In regards to the finger-weighting for striking, was that type of conditioning common-place, or just something extra?