The Chinese troupe featured performing artists from all over China who presented short acts displaying [...]]]> Recently we had the opportunity to see a performance by a visiting Chinese culture troupe at the Bullis School in Potomac Maryland. The Bullis School is an elite private preparatory school for boys and girls from 3^rd grade to high school.

The Chinese troupe featured performing artists from all over China who presented short acts displaying Chinese music, ethnic minority fashion, and dance. One interesting fact about this troupe was that it was not soley a professional group. The performers also included university students who were selected as cultural ambassadors. Some of them were only a few years older than the oldest students at Bullis.

One of the acts was put together by students from Xian Engineering College in Xian, China. They are fashion designers and models. Yes, models in China often have university degrees! These students also learned fashion design so that once their modeling career is finished they still have a viable means of employment. Another act consisted of musicians from the Beijing Traditional and Folk Music Conservatory. They played the Pipa, Guzheng, and Erhu. The Erhu player was a professor, but the other two were students.

After the performance, the artists met with students to answer questions about China and its ethnic minorities. One 9^th grade class was taking a course on the third world. They asked a very interesting question, “How do you feel when people call China a third world country; and is China still a part of the third world.”

One of the members of the delegation said “China has made great progress in the last 30 years. Although we are a country having the same land mass as the US, we have 4 to 5 times the number of people. If you look around our country there are many who are still very poor, whose living conditions are not good. When you look honestly at this, you must conclude that China is still a part of the third world. We are still a developing nation.”

It is easy to forget this when studying China. The Chinese culture has reached very high levels, perhaps some of the highest. The central government is strong enough to provide a reasonable level of social order – you don’t have to worry daily about armed bandits and warlords, like in much of Africa. The major Chinese cities are huge – marvels of engineering and design with state of the art public transportation and infrastructure.

But the story is different in the rural areas. Many of its people are very, very poor. If you have never been outside the United States, it is difficult to understand what ‘poor’ really means. In the US, some of our worst housing conditions, for example, the projects or tenements associated with our poor, would already be considered luxury in many of the third world countries.

After this sobering reminder of the realities of a day to day life that is very different from our privileged existence, we turned to the musicians. Music has a way of elevating the spirit and lightening the burdens of life. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Chinese ethnic minorities, many of which are still very poor, produce some of the best music and dance in the country.

The Pipa and Guzheng artists played requests from the Bullis school music faculty – Chinese musicians don’t need music, they memorize everything! The final act was an impromptu duo with a nationally ranked pianist from the US and the Erhu professor that was nothing short of amazing.

East met West in Washington DC, learned something and made beautiful music!

We began the day before breakfast by practicing the Eight Pieces of Brocade in the courtyard at 8 AM.  A bunch of government officials including, so we were told, the Governor of Yunnan Province, came to watch the Westerners who practiced Qigong and Tai Chi with an American Master and [...]]]> Day 6, Wednesday, April 21 (Xizhou) 

We began the day before breakfast by practicing the Eight Pieces of Brocade in the courtyard at 8 AM.  A bunch of government officials including, so we were told, the Governor of Yunnan Province, came to watch the Westerners who practiced Qigong and Tai Chi with an American Master and were studying Traditional Chinese Medicine.  We were on Chinese TV, but none of us saw the broadcast. 

            Breakfast was in an airy room with rough tile floors, wooden tables, and a small, built-in kidney-shaped pond in the middle lined with stones and decorated with swimming koi and a few ferns.  The effect was simple and striking, and the room very calming.  We ate between two Qigong sessions.  Breakfast was not as spectacular as those in the hotels, but as long as they served oatmeal, steamed buns (man tou), fruit, and pickled vegetables, I was Ok with it.  

A Walk through Xizhou 

            We walked through the narrow streets of Xizhou for an orientation to the town.  We crunched over the fava bean stalks as we walked into the center of town.  Xizhou is quaint and rustic with a mix of ethnic groups.  Mostly Bai People live there.  And some of the older folks wore their traditional dress.  Since there were no Westerners in Xizhou except the few of us at the Linden Centre, they dress this way for everyday attire and not for the tourists with sequined hats and brightly-colored vests.  I also saw a few Yi people in their green pants and tops. 

            The Bai People tend to be shorter and rounder and a bit darker than the Han People.  They speak their own dialect, but everyone I encountered also spoke Mandarin.  Mandarin is the language taught in the schools and on the TV. 

Buying and selling handmade shoes in Xizhou, China

We visited an older woman who turned out to be one of the few people  who sold to tourists, and Brian Linden had to call her first so she would come out to greet us with her wares.  She had Made these lovely red balls with golden thread that said “Good luck and health” and “May you get what you want” in Chinese characters (ji xiang ru yi).  She also sold hand-made baby shoes.  Many of us bought either the balls or the shoes.  The balls were 10 Yuan each, about $1.50 US.  I know the Lindens are trying to turn Xizhou into a destination for discerning tourists and an attraction for small tour companies to bring their clients, I hope it does not turn into anther Lijiang which once was a sleepy town like Xizhou and now reeks of tourist trade.  Lijiang is lovely but has lost its original charm and become like a sort of tourist Disneyland. 

We passed shops that bordered the tiny, narrow cobblestone and dirt street.  We dodged old bicycles and motorbikes.  Most of the houses looked plain and simple with red blessings around the front doors.  One home had yellow banners around the door.  Another had green banners.  Both of these colors meant that there had been a recent death in the family.  The color reflects the age of the deceased. 

Market in Xizhou, China

We passed through the town square to the outdoor market where long, large tables held all kinds of meat, vegetables, tofu, fruits, eggs, and herbs.  Some burlap bags of spices sat on the ground next to the tables, perfuming the air with exotic smells.  I did ask before taking pictures, but no one minded.  A pile of cumquats, among other colorful small fruits lay on what looked like sheets on the side of the road, luring in customers.  One vendor sold many varieties of mushrooms.  Some were huge!  I stopped at a pharmacy and bought Banlangen Keli (gan mao ling), a dynamite cold remedy.  It cost 2.5 Yuan for a package of 10—less than 50 cents!  I bought five as my family swears by it. 

We watched a 94-year-old lady hobble by, her face wrinkled from years in the fields, and her teeth gone.  The younger people in the street treated her with great respect.  

Bai Entrance

We passed a newly-painted home with a gorgeous entrance way with traditional Chinese fluted roof decoration and gray and white panels with characters painted on them. It was in the Bai style but fancier than the other homes.  I include the picture because it is a beautiful example of Bai work. 

In another square, the gray-tiled roofed houses were plainer.  A vendor made Bai pizzas with fermented cheese.  He made two varieties.  One was made with sweet red bean paste.  The other was salty with onions.  He cooked the pizzas in a huge iron pan that he put over a round brazier which sat on some bricks.  He put a lid full of ashes on the pot to evenly heat both sides of the pizzas. 

Jeanee Linden bought two pizzas for us to taste.  I tried the sweet one.  It was delicious, only resembling an Italian pizza in shape.  On another day I tried the salty one.  I preferred the sweet, but then I’m a real sucker for that bean paste… 

Zouchen –Tie-dye factory  

After lunch, we boarded the bus and drove by fields and fields of rice, wheat, beans, tobacco, and garlic to the village of Zouchen which was a little larger than Xizhou.  There we visited a tie-dye factory and several temples.  As we walked through the village, we saw many Bai people, old and young, dressed in headdresses of blue and red, vests of blue or red, and elaborately decorated pants and tops.  Kids ran all around us.  School must have been out! 

The doors to homes had the usual red blessings on them.  The buildings were old and mostly gray.  As in Xizhou, we were the only Westerners in town.  Being out of the usual tourist areas and seeing the “real” China was an incredibly exciting experience.  How lucky we were! 

The women work just as hard as the men in China

Several old women carried huge sacks of something they had picked in the fields.  They held their picking baskets in their hands and were doubled over with the weight of the sacks.  As usual, they wore the traditional Bai headdress and vest.  We saw ordinary townspeople, not professional builders, building a house.  One of the men was dressed in a suit!!  A young man with his two children proudly walked down the cobbled street.  Some men were hauling what looked like stones in a wheelbarrow and piling them up outside a house.  Women also were on the job.  It was a slice of Chinese life. 

Chinese construction worker in suit

We visited a Tie Dye factory in town.  The employees showed us the elaborate knots they tied in the fabric to make the designs.  The one they held up for us to see looked like a huge twisted white mop or a really warped white octopus.  This family owned and run factory mostly made indigo patterns.  We saw a garden of indigo growing that they use to make their dyes. 

The tied frabric is dyed by hand in large vats

We walked through the outdoor (though under roof) factory.  There we saw huge vats of dye, vats for washing the fabric, a vat of this yellow liquid used to seal the dye, vats filled with indigo, women making the knots in white fabric, and women sewing.  Newly dyed and sewn clothes hung drying in the courtyard.  The older women wore the red headdresses and Bai traditional dress.  Others wore the vests and bottoms but tie-dyed hats.  The young people wore jeans. 

After touring the small factory, we hit the tie-dye store with a vengeance and bought a lot.  I don’t know who won the “biggest buyer prize,” but Jiji’s, Linda’s, and Donna’s bags of purchases were the largest.  I bought a beautiful indigo-dyed tablecloth with beading around the design that is large enough to fit our table as well as a table runner.  Then I fell in love with a tie-dye pattern and bought this gorgeous red pants outfit that fit perfectly.  (This is being said by a woman who wasn’t going to spend a penny this trip!!)  I haven’t washed anything yet, but I hope that vat of dye sealer works or my washing machine is going to be blue for a while.  The tablecloth, by the way, looks stunning. 

            In the store hung traditional Bai outfits as well as a huge variety of clothing, all uniquely tie dyed.  This is why we succumbed and bought.  An old woman in a blue shirt and a multi-colored Bai hat helped show us around.  We all bargained, but they wouldn’t come down much.  Jiji and I pounced on this one tablecloth, but she had seen it first, so I looked around for another.  I thought the one I found was even prettier!  I got the tablecloth down to 150 RMB ($22) from considerably higher first asking price, but paid full price for the red outfit.  The young lady in a red sweater and headband just wouldn’t budge.  As had occurred every time we shopped in a factory on the first trip, they served us tea. 

            A few of the salespeople, obviously pleased with our purchases, stood a while and talked to us outside with Frank translated (last picture below).  Frank is a delightful young man who works at the Linden Centre and who accompanied us on many of our adventures.  His English is superb.  When we boarded the bus, we all showed each other our purchases.  Everything was very beautiful.  It had been hard to resist buying more. 

After touring the small factory, we hit the tie-dye store with a vengeance and bought a lot.  I don’t know who won the “biggest buyer prize,” but Jiji’s, Linda’s, and Donna’s bags of purchases were the largest.  I bought a beautiful indigo-dyed tablecloth with beading around the design that is large enough to fit our table as well as a table runner.  Then I fell in love with a tie-dye pattern and bought this gorgeous red pants outfit that fit perfectly.  (This is being said by a woman who wasn’t going to spend a penny this trip!!)  I haven’t washed anything yet, but I hope that vat of dye sealer works or my washing machine is going to be blue for a while.  The tablecloth, by the way, looks stunning. 

            In the store hung traditional Bai outfits as well as a huge variety of clothing, all uniquely tie dyed.  This is why we succumbed and bought.  An old woman in a blue shirt and a multi-colored Bai hat helped show us around.  We all bargained, but they wouldn’t come down much.  Jiji and I pounced on this one tablecloth, but she had seen it first, so I looked around for another.  I thought the one I found was even prettier!  I got the tablecloth down to 150 RMB ($22) from considerably higher first asking price, but paid full price for the red outfit.  The young lady in a red sweater and headband just wouldn’t budge.  As had occurred every time we shopped in a factory on the first trip, they served us tea. 

            A few of the salespeople, obviously pleased with our purchases, stood a while and talked to us outside with Frank translated (last picture below).  Frank is a delightful young man who works at the Linden Centre and who accompanied us on many of our adventures.  His English is superb.  When we boarded the bus, we all showed each other our purchases.  Everything was very beautiful.  It had been hard to resist buying more. 

After touring the small factory, we hit the tie-dye store with a vengeance and bought a lot.  I don’t know who won the “biggest buyer prize,” but Jiji’s, Linda’s, and Donna’s bags of purchases were the largest.  I bought a beautiful indigo-dyed tablecloth with beading around the design that is large enough to fit our table as well as a table runner.  Then I fell in love with a tie-dye pattern and bought this gorgeous red pants outfit that fit perfectly.  (This is being said by a woman who wasn’t going to spend a penny this trip!!)  I haven’t washed anything yet, but I hope that vat of dye sealer works or my washing machine is going to be blue for a while.  The tablecloth, by the way, looks stunning. 

China offers endless opportunities for shopping

In the store hung traditional Bai outfits as well as a huge variety of clothing, all uniquely tie dyed.  This is why we succumbed and bought.  An old woman in a blue shirt and a multi-colored Bai hat helped show us around.  We all bargained, but they wouldn’t come down much.  Jiji and I pounced on this one tablecloth, but she had seen it first, so I looked around for another.  I thought the one I found was even prettier!  I got the tablecloth down to 150 RMB ($22) from considerably higher first asking price, but paid full price for the red outfit.  The young lady in a red sweater and headband just wouldn’t budge.  As had occurred every time we shopped in a factory on the first trip, they served us tea. 

            A few of the salespeople, obviously pleased with our purchases, stood a while and talked to us outside with Frank translated.  Frank is a delightful young man who works at the Linden Centre and who accompanied us on many of our adventures.  His English is superb.  When we boarded the bus, we all showed each other our purchases.  Everything was very beautiful.  It had been hard to resist buying more. 

Zouchen – Two Temples 

Next, we visited an Ancestor’s Buddhist Temple.  There were at least five large statues, all colorfully dressed, standing behind a glass window.  Red was the predominant color of the clothing.  Da Hei’s skin was, of course, black.  Da Hei was the center one.  People were on their knees on cushions in front of the glass, praying and chanting.  Someone had placed plates of food in front of the statues.  Some men even took a live chicken outside (beyond our vision, thank heavens) and sacrificed it in the street. It seems a family had just bought a car and wanted good blessings.  We were assured that the chicken was put to good use and eaten afterwards for dinner.  The Chinese are a pragmatic and practical people who waste nothing. 

Finally, we visited a temple built in a more traditional style.  A huge golden bowl stood in the main courtyard.  Down a stairway, dressed in gold, were three figures, Da Hei, Confucius, and Buddha with Da Hei in the place of honor in the middle.  This temple served both Buddhists and Taoists.  

            Because the people sensed us as having good, peaceful spiritual energy, they actually let us into the inner sanctum upstairs—a place no one gets to see.  Jeanne and Brian were very surprised that they invited us upstairs.  They had never allowed this before, even for the Lindens.  A huge gold Buddha and two other statues in gold sat on a dais with a red background.  The energy emanating from these figures was palpable; the peace penetrating.  I wanted to stay and meditate on one of the cushions, but time wouldn’t permit. 

Finally, we visited a temple built in a more traditional style.  A huge golden bowl stood in the main courtyard.  Down a stairway, dressed in gold, were three figures, Da Hei, Confucius, and Buddha with Da Hei in the place of honor in the middle.  This temple served both Buddhists and Taoists.  

            Because the people sensed us as having good, peaceful spiritual energy, they actually let us into the inner sanctum upstairs—a place no one gets to see.  Jeanne and Brian were very surprised that they invited us upstairs.  They had never allowed this before, even for the Lindens.  A huge gold Buddha and two other statues in gold sat on a dais with a red background.  The energy emanating from these figures was palpable; the peace penetrating.  I wanted to stay and meditate on one of the cushions, but time wouldn’t permit. 

Finally, we visited a temple built in a more traditional style.  A huge golden bowl stood in the main courtyard.  Down a stairway, dressed in gold, were three figures, Da Hei, Confucius, and Buddha with Da Hei in the place of honor in the middle.  This temple served both Buddhists and Taoists.  

            Because the people sensed us as having good, peaceful spiritual energy, they actually let us into the inner sanctum upstairs—a place no one gets to see.  Jeanne and Brian were very surprised that they invited us upstairs.  They had never allowed this before, even for the Lindens.  A huge gold Buddha and two other statues in gold sat on a dais with a red background.  The energy emanating from these figures was palpable; the peace penetrating.  I wanted to stay and meditate on one of the cushions, but time wouldn’t permit. 

Finally, we visited a temple built in a more traditional style.  A huge golden bowl stood in the main courtyard.  Down a stairway, dressed in gold, were three figures, Da Hei, Confucius, and Buddha with Da Hei in the place of honor in the middle.  This temple served both Buddhists and Taoists.  

            Because the people sensed us as having good, peaceful spiritual energy, they actually let us into the inner sanctum upstairs—a place no one gets to see.  Jeanne and Brian were very surprised that they invited us upstairs.  They had never allowed this before, even for the Lindens.  A huge gold Buddha and two other statues in gold sat on a dais with a red background.  The energy emanating from these figures was palpable; the peace penetrating.  I wanted to stay and meditate on one of the cushions, but time wouldn’t permit 

Finally, we visited a temple built in a more traditional style. A huge golden bowl stood in the main courtyard. Down a stairway, dressed in gold, were three figures, Da Hei, Confucius, and Buddha with Da Hei in the place of honor in the middle. This temple served both Buddhists and Taoists. 

Inside the Zhouchen Temple, dedicated to all three traditions; Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian

Because the people sensed us as having good, peaceful spiritual energy, they actually let us into the inner sanctum upstairs—a place no one gets to see. Jeanne and Brian were very surprised that they invited us upstairs. They had never allowed this before, even for the Lindens. A huge gold Buddha and two other statues in gold sat on a dais with a red background. The energy emanating from these figures was palpable; the peace penetrating. I wanted to stay and meditate on one of the cushions, but time wouldn’t permit. 

The doors to the temple were gold-trimmed panels. A large drum hung to the left of the main door. I guess they used it to call in the people for prayer. It looked used. In the background of the temple we could see a lake and the lovely mountains. 

The Story of Da Hei 

Da Hei, or Big Black, parton saint of Dali

All the gods liked to spend time in Dali in the Yunnan Province as it was so beautiful. This made the Supreme God angry. So, he put a poison pill in the waters of the lake to prevent the gods from returning to Dali, killing all the mortals in the process.

Meanwhile, one of the lesser gods, who was spending time in Dali, met this old woman who was carrying a ten-year-old child with her two-year-old walking beside her. He asked her why she was carrying a child who could walk himself and letting a little one walk. The old woman replied that this was her granddaughter’s child whose mother had just died. Keeping her close to her heart was the only way she knew to comfort the child and let her know that she was loved.

The god was moved and took the pill himself rather than risk harming such a sensitive, good person. He turned black or blue (depending on the story) and became supremely ugly forever, but he saved the Dali people and therefore is their special god in all their temples. He is called Da Hei or “Big Black.”

Zouchen — A visit to a time-weaver

Leaving the temple, we walked through Zouchen to visit the home of a weaver. An old woman whom, we were told was 75 but looked much older, sat in a room that was open to the elements, weaving beautifully colored cloth. Donna bought the most gorgeous scarf—indigo blue for 80 RMB. A lot of work had gone into it. It looked beautiful around her shoulders.

Piles of wood and coal filled the lofts of the woman’s home.  An old man (her husband??) didn’t want us there and glowered at us from another doorway that opened onto the courtyard.  In the courtyard, a young woman washed clothes in a pan.  Chickens wandered about.  It was definitely not a performance staged for tourists.

Donna with her new Bai scarf

When we left, the old woman came out to pose with Donna and her scarf, so we all snapped pictures as well.  She wore the traditional headdress with top and skirt.  Her smile was genuine.

Outside her home, chickens and dogs wandered the narrow cobble-stone street as kids ran by, laughing and playing. Bikes and motorbikes sped by. On an old wall, we saw a list of voters in the town. The sheets held all kinds of personal information. Apparently there was a local election for City Council going on at the time. Jeanee and Frank, of course, told us all this.

Then, because Zouchen is larger than Xizhou, we all shopped a little in the local stores. Apparently, we had not yet shopped out from the tie-dye factory. Some of us bought some herbs. Others bought little things from a small grocery store. Alice, who usually bought nothing, bought a pair of black shoes that she wore for the rest of the trip. In the square, a woman in traditional Bai dress with a multi-colored headdress made the fermented Bai cheese—not my favorite treat in the world as it is so greasy, but the taste is good.

We returned via bus to the Linden Centre to eat a full, fantastic dinner. Their chef is an artist. There was this dish of chopped pork with veggies and lots of garlic that had an unusual flavor I can’t describe, but it did contain cilantro and garlic. Jan and I sat with the Lindens and their two boys and discussed politics and the role of China in the world.

Besides being in a small village in the heart of the Yunnan Province, the Linden Centre is unusual in that the center is not like an ordinary hotel. It has only 16 rooms (someone please correct me if I’m wrong) and is run family style. The Lindens have two young boys, ages around 10 and 14, who are very present, playing games at the computer, playing in the courtyard, studying with their tutor, and eating with us. We are in their home. To add to the atmosphere, the housekeeper Ling Ling’s son, Gigi, who is three-years old, comes over to find his mother, sometimes with his Chinese Chow (complete with black tongue), Plato. Ling Ling lives across the street. The Lindens have tried to boost the local economy by employing as many of the local people as they can. The entire atmosphere is relaxed and charming.

After dinner, we practiced Qigong and all had a massage. The masseuses were deaf and from Dali. The massages were incredibly hard and hurt, but some of us think they helped. Jerlene and Pam wanted another one. They got one a few days later. Jan and I were still sore the next day, so we opted out of another treatment. After the massages, in the cold, mountain air, we all slept well and deeply.

Every Yin has its Yang, and that took the form of a crazy bus ride to Lijiang located in Yunnan, China. The bus driver was a very good, [...]]]> This morning we said goodbye to our hosts at the center. It was wonderful to stay and study Qigong and meditation in such a beautiful and peaceful setting.

Every Yin has its Yang, and that took the form of a crazy bus ride to Lijiang located in Yunnan, China. The bus driver was a very good, but the road was a narrow two lane path through the mountain. The only guard rail was a set of low stone posts placed periodically along the sides of the sheer cliff. He had some serious bus driving Kung Fu.

Lijiang is a scenic city nestled in the foothills of famous Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and its range. It is considered one of the most beautiful places in China with its pristine mountain scenery and well preserved old city – a UNESCO world heritage site.

Lijiang is inhabited by the Naxi ethnic group. The Naxi are a matriarchal society which they call a men’s paradise! They symbol for women in this group is the tiger, meaning power. The symbol for men is the ox, meaning wealth. The women worry about how to run things and the men enjoy the wealth and prosperity which the women produce.

Marriage is interesting in this society. The man moves into the woman’s house. The children are considered the property of the woman’s family, along with the worldly possessions and land. The men can come and go as they please. Only the men may be priests.

Compared to conventional notions of marriage, this arrangement seems quite unusual. You might think it would lead to a libertine lifestyle, but the reality is that the marriages are very stable and domestic violence is very low. The people genuinely seemed to be some of the happiest we’ve met anywhere.

Our hotel was built on the model of the traditional Naxi courtyard home. It had a beautiful garden in the center and opened up next to an old part of town which had amazing shopping and dining. The goods were not the typical China tourist trinkets, but traditional Naxi and Dongba crafts. They were of very high quality and reasonably priced.

China has been trading with the west for thousands of years. But where [...]]]> Generally speaking, the first part of any culture that gets exported is its products. It is pretty easy to understand why we got silk, spices, and china from China before we got philosophy and Kung Fu. Trade goods don’t need context, just cash.

China has been trading with the west for thousands of years. But where trade flows, ideas inevitably follow. You start to see transmissions of language, as it makes it easier to trade. And some people become interested in the culture producing the products. This is when you start to see the transmission of the deeper arts.

In the beginning, much of the arts transmitted are those that can be understood intellectually or physically. Scholars can learn the language and those with athletic inclinations can copy movements.

But the deeper spiritual aspects of Chinese culture take a lot more. When you get to this realm, you have to be taught the actual practices of cultivation and the esoteric meaning behind the language. This is why finding a good interpreter is crucial, as we previously mentioned.

The intersection of eastern and western culture was greatly facilitated by events of the 19^th and early 20^th century. Although the colonial period was generally a dark period for China, it did make it possible for both cultures to truly meet and interact.

The combination of western education with traditional Chinese training produced a generation of Chinese scholars who were reasonably conversant in both cultures. The fall of the mainland to the Communists in 1949 resulted in an unusually high concentration of the military and scholarly elite in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

That is why my grand teacher, Christopher Casey, went to Hong Kong and Taiwan to learn traditional Chinese culture, particularly the highest levels of Kung Fu, or Chinese Boxing as it is more properly called.

Mr. Casey (Kai Sai was his Chinese name)* studied Tai Chi from Tao Ping Siang, Pa Kua and Hsing I from Wang Shu Shin and Shen Mou Hui, Fukien White Crane from Masters Chen and Hsieh, and Wing Chun from Lo Man Kam. He also studied qigong and philosophy from the Hong Men Hui. You can find out more about his background in this article.

Not only was Mr. Casey’s martial skill great, but as a student of western philosophy he was able to organize and synthesize these arts, providing a method to teach them in a systematic way. I believe he even advanced the arts in certain areas.

I have been fortunate to study with several of Mr. Casey’s students and some of his teachers. My main teacher of Mr. Casey’s art is Mr. Alsup. Although he learned many arts, his specialties were Fukien White Crane, Wing Chun, and Kai Sai Kung Fu, Mr. Casey’s personal boxing method.

* Kai Sai is what Casey sounds like with a Chinese accent, get it? But it also happens to mean “Victorious in Every Encounter” – which is a pretty cool nickname for a Kung Fu dude.