Kung Fu Beyond combat- the series, spiritual warriors Pt 2

The second part of this series is a visit to the Lohan school of Shaolin and speak with the Rev Shifu Steve Baugh, head Sifu  (and Abbot of the Temple) of the Lohan School of Shaolin in Las Vegas. Shifu Baugh’s Chan lineage is from the lineage of Hsu Yun. His Kung Fu lineage is among others, The Five Animal System of Ark Wong and the Northen Shaolin lineage of Wong Jac Man along with the Praying Mantis linage of Chi Chuk Kai.

Shifu Baugh is another classmate of mine from our days with the Northern Shaolin Tai Mantis school formally in Torrance, CA. under Doctor Kam Yuen. He like several of our advanced class already had prior Martial Art training before joining our school. Everyone like and respected him.

As it turned out another of our classmates was also in town. He runs the Tai Mantis school in San Bernadino.

He was in town with his student for the Lion Dance seminar that was being held at the Lohan School, so it was like a mini-reunion with the three if us.

In this interview, Shifu Baugh and I  went into his office so we had much less background noise. Most of his students were taking a seminar on upgrading their Lion Dance Skills so there is a small bit drumming going on at one place.

Otherwise, this is a clearer interview and we were not rushed. Because of this the Shifu was able to really relax and speak. Some things I wanted to ask he just covered in his informative narrative. I’m sure you will find this as interesting as I did.

The pictures on this video are not that great but it is about the audio, not the pictures 🙂

Check out other videos from the Lohan School of Shaolin on Youtube.

The next interview is this series will be hopefully in May with Jyozen-san. A Zen priest, in LA. He currently studies Tai Chi from my Shaolin Lineage Family, he is also a teacher of Kyudo, with a past background in Karate.

_/|\_

Pray for Japan, pray for the world…

The Kyudo Training is on…

Kyudo like with Kung Fu and Chan is an on going training process so the title if this is not quite right but it is just a label. It was announced this week that registration for the summer seminar is now open. Meaning it is almost testing time here in the states. It will be in Northfield MN this year. I believe Northfield is where the OK Corral was back in the day or it was some famous cowboy town. I saw some pictures of the venue it looks very nice. Even out in the middle of nowhere it should be a good event. With the cost for travel fuel going up plus taking time off from work I really should not be going. However I will. I,m selling my motorcycle and one guitar of my late brother, this will cover part of the cost. I will depend on the Universe to supply my need, it has taken care of me so far. I will continue to trust the TAO.

I went out to RSD the other day to put in some practice. It had been a while so I was not expecting great things. I just just to get some shooting time in and work on Mu-shin. Another way of thinking of the Chan practice of going from form to formless with Kyudo as the medium. I started with some Zazen, then Tai Chi to get me in the right state of mind or no mind as it were 😉 About the time I finished my Sempai shows up we chat a bit and start to practice together. One of the thing we discuss is a Kyudo road trip to LA. Part of that trip is about me picking up another Yumi, which I am trading a six string Bass in exchange. This Yumi will be a 18 kilo. My current one is a 15 do it will be a step up. As it turns out my sempai had an extra Yumi with him today that was a 18 kilo which he let me try out since I had not shot one before. When I had my first lesson with Nagomi Sensei in Osaka I tried to shoot a 16 kilo Yumi and I could not do it. Guess I have improved because the 18 was not a problem . I liked the feel of the Ya leaving and in flight. Now I feel better about getting this 18 kilo’er from my friend in LA.

As I am daily working out although not with a Bow I feel my Kyudo is improving internally from the other practice I am doing first thing everyday at work, though working on Chi Gong, Standing meditation, stances, strength and draw, everything is related, everything is connected. We say everything is Kung Fu training, Everything is Chan training, everything is Kyudo training.

Sensei says he is glad I am planning on going to MN for the seminar and I should make time to go with him to the park fro 28 meter practice so he can advise me. I will be doing that although it will be later this season. Right now because of time, the increase of gas prices, and work scheduling, I’ll be doing more internal work and shooting at the 28 meter Dojo of RSD. As time moves on, I’ll put in more time at Sensei’s Dojo working on Tai Hai and at the range with him doing 28 meters. As I said before I think the San-Dan test is the beginning of the real testing, before that it is more about basics, setting one’s roots in place, IMHO.