Chapter 11 - Lost Track Boxing
I was used to hard work and pain in the martial arts but it had been a while since I had trained under someone else, and the movement and technique involved different muscle groups. For months I felt too stiff and awkward for kung fu and honestly doubted how far I could get.
The pain was different too, I was used to my arms being twisted or a sudden palm heel to my chin. But kung fu introduced ‘knocking arms’, a very painful method of hardening the arms and legs by slamming them against someone else’s limbs. I was bruised almost the entire time. And the new wider stances and exercises to stretch the legs and make them supple were almost as bad.
Back then we had classes of up to and over thirty students and you could sometimes be kept in a pose for minutes at a time while Sifu walked around and made sure everyone was standing correctly. Often my legs were shaking by the time he let us move. He was also happy to demonstrate technique and explain practical applications but often at the expense of a split lip...us not him!
Sifu Lu had arrived in London direct from Shanghai, China and spoke virtually no English. Therefore the admin for the class as well as the translation from Chinese to English and vice versa was done by a Chinese guy called Han.
Han seemed a pretty good guy and acted as Sifu’s second. He also put a lot of effort in to arranging demonstrations, setting up classes and keeping sure everything ran ok. He had three young boys who also swelled the classes numbers.
We learned from Sifu (via Han) that what we were doing was called Lost Track Boxing and was several hundred years old and could be traced back to the famous Shaolin temple in China. Shaolin was the spiritual home of kung fu as well as the birth place of Chan (Zen) buddhism. These days a lot of people are aware of the various shows and demo’s done by the Shaolin Monks, but back then it was not so well known and most people’s knowledge of kung fu was from watching David Carradine in the show of the same name or seeing Bruce Lee films.
It came out over the weeks and months, and eventually years, that our particular style of kung fu could be traced back to 1722. And that it had been handed down from master to disciple for six generations. The style contains elements of other martial arts too, namely Xing-I, Tai Chi and Bagua. But on top of this Sifu also knew numerous types of weapons and how to use them.
Mizong is a well respected though little known style and like many martial art’s it’s origins are steeped in a haze of fact, half truth’s and myths. And most people (or at least martial art’s film buffs) are totally unaware they have seen the style portrayed on film by Bruce Lee in ‘Fist of Fury’ and again by Jet Li in ‘Fearless’.
Sun Tong was the first master of Mizong and was an exponent of several styles and practices including joint locking and pressure point strikes. He spent ten years in the Shaolin monastery before travelling around China teaching and practising his art. He passed what he knew on to several students, one of whom was Chen Shan the second master of Mizong. The name it’s self can be translated in several ways, but the most popular interpretations are Secret Buddhist Sect Boxing and Lost Track Boxing.
One of the greatest and best known exponents of Mizong was Hou Yuanjia (1869-1909) who used the style to become one of the best fighters of his time. And it is he who is played by Jet Li in ‘Fearless’.
The fifth generation heir and master to the system was Lu Zhendou. He worked as a Chinese medical practioner as well as a bodyguard. One of his clients was a warlord Chang Hsueh Liang, who was infamous for kidnapping Chang Kai Shek, the then leader of China.
Lu Zhendou was an exceptional martial artist and became all Chinese Champion, back in the days when to do so meant displaying an open hand form, a weapon form and then fighting the other competitors. And it was not unusual for people to be injured or even killed during these competitions.Lu Zhendou passed on his expertise to his children, one of whom would become the sixth generation master of Mizong and that was Lu Jun Hai, my sifu.
Sifu Lu Jun Hai was a marvel, not only was he fast and flexible for his age he was also considered a ‘national treasure’ by the Chinese government for his in-depth knowledge of Chinese martial arts. He had started kung fu under his father aged six and went on to become the captain of the Shanghai martial arts youth team. Later he held several high ranking positions within the Shanghai martial arts community and also was technical director on TV shows involving kung fu. And he was a level one international judge with the Jingwu Martial Arts Academy, the same academy founded by Hou Yuanjia.
Pretty soon I was practicing kung fu when ever I could although another change of job did interfere with my training sometimes. I had started work with a duty free retailer working out of London City Airport and now worked shifts.
The new job meant I worked 12 hour shift's three days on and three days off. The journey was not bad and the money OK, but it did upset the rhythm of my training. But I had a garden big enough to cope with me jumping around in it on my day’s off and keeping up some training even when I could not get to class.
Over the next three years we trained hard and gained several members who would stay with the club and Sifu Lu for the duration. These included Gary Matthews, Adam Lynch and Kevin Kilnminster. And during those years I would become firm friends with my training partner Ed Hutton.
There were other characters who came in at this point to play cameo roles and some who left and not always on good terms. One of these was the very man who had helped set Sifu Lu up with employment and classes in this country, Han.
We had heard of a guy called Robert Simpson through Han and knew that the guy was partly responsible for bringing Sifu here from China and that he ran his own classes near or in Luton, apart from that we knew little about him. So it came as a surprise one night that some of Sifu Lu’s students from London arrived with Robert to announce that Sifu was being ‘used’ by Han. Unbeknown to us Han had being running our instructor ragged getting him to teach Han and his own children anytime and anywhere he wanted. Unfortunately due to his lack of English Sifu had been unable to tell anyone what was going on until he confided in a Chinese student at the central London class he ran. They in turn had contacted Robert who took it upon himself to speak to the Essex contingent of Sifu’s pupils.
Not only was Sifu being kept on a very short leash but his living conditions were very poor (with he and his wife living in a cramped room) and his wages were almost non existent. Thus were the mighty fallen, Han who we had relied on to organise event’s and demo’s and help run the class and interrupt for Sifu had been using him for his own benefit, but not any more.
I only spoke to Han once after that and that was to tell him (over the phone) not to come near Sifu, me or anyone else at the class. To say tempers were running a bit high was an understatement.
But, good often comes out of bad and within weeks we could see the improvement in Sifu’s demeanour. And it was at this time that he started to rely more on certain members of the class. He also took the opportunity to name the club Zhenwei Academy.
By 2000 myself and Ed were among a number of people who had attained black belts in Mizong. And not far behind us were people like Andy Hall, Kevin and ’Ryan’ Lam. But in 2002 after nearly five year’s training Sifu decided he wanted us to enter our first competition in of all places Baltimore USA!
We flew out to the US with Robert Simpson and his sister Suzie, both of whom were international referee’s and well known to the American’s, not least for the fact than their Sifu Grandmaster Huang Chien Liang was a major player in American kung fu and the All American Championship we were attending. We had a two week stay ahead of us with a lot of training (twice daily) and even marching practice for the grand entrance to the event as the UK team.
I could easily write a whole book about that one trip but let us just say there was training, eating, drinking, more drinking and a pretty good time had by all. Well nearly all, we did have a few mishaps along the way including me nearly missing the competition altogether when I hit myself in the leg with a ’dadao’ (or large Chinese halberd).
Overall the competition went well and afforded us the chance to see other exponents of kung fu and other styles. It also reacquainted us with Hon Lee one of Sifu’s pupils who had trained with him in China.
We had first met Hon when he came to the UK to take his discipleship. Kung fu can, in some schools, still be very traditional. And people are not allowed to just wander off and teach who and what they want, that is if they are allowed to teach at all. And in Mizong under Sifu Lu this was very much the case.
Back in China Sifu had 29 disciples, people who he thought of as worthy to continue the teaching and tradition of the style. Hon had become number 30 and the first non Chinese disciple, for though he was of Chinese blood Hon was an American and had served in the Marines as a Lieutenant Colonel in Vietnam. Although we did not know it at the time it would later transpire he had worked for the CIA as well.
Over the following years we were, as both individuals and a club, to meet Hon and his co-instructor Reza Momenan and their students on a number of occasions. And for many of us who do not have family in the States this became the next best thing as they are a great bunch of people.
The competition we entered for was the forms competition. Sifu was of the opinion that sparring was not a good idea for two reasons, firstly too dangerous (he himself had badly injured someone during sparring) and secondly sparring doesnt allow us to express Mizong as it should be (gloves and too many rules). So we opted for forms (what they call kata in Karate), prearranged routines for individuals and pairs including empty hand and weapons. Some of the forms are hundreds of years old and were practised by people who used the art in a lot more violent way than now.
Ed and I were favourites from our team to get a medal in the two man form. Of course, how many times do favourites not win. When it came to it I messed up the very first move and that was us out of it straight away. Andy and Ryan ended up taking gold and Ed and I were devastated.
Fortunately we were both in other events and more importantly (especially for me) was that they were awarding bronze for both third and fourth places. Ed went on to get a bronze in another event and so did I but only by virtue of finishing fourth.
But that said it was a huge competition with about 700 people competing. The whole thing had been quite an eye opener, not a brilliant start but ok. And we arrived home to some very happy family members and a little bit of local fame. And I tried my hand at writing and got an article about our trip printed in ‘Combat’ magazine.