The Early Years
In 1970 I was fifteen years of age and living in the not so sunny climes of Rochdale in Lancashire I met a man that would change my life forever & his name was Sifu (Teacher Father) John Rostron. He had been involved in several Martial Arts including Shotokan Karate, White Cloud Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan, Feng Sao (Hand of Wind) Kung Fu, Fu Jow Pai (Tiger Claw System) Kung Fu and Ju Jitsu, for many years. He decided to incorporate the various aspects of these arts into his own system, which he named Fa Tsu Mao (Method of the Cat), which later became Hut Pao Tsut (Black Leopard System) of Kung Fu.
He was a total disciplinarian during any aspect of training with a stern unforgiving attitude, preferring to teach only private students or classes of up to four.
Stance work was the main syllabus in the early training sessions along with constant drilling of various blocks, parries, punches, strikes and kicks. Rolls and break falls were introduced along with throws, locks and chokes much later. (Mats never were).
Body conditioning was essential if you were to survive the often-brutal sessions. Hand and foot blows were landed hard enough to knock you off your feet. If you were unlucky enough to walk into one of his techniques (and I was on many an occasion) and the air was knocked out of you, you would be made to continue. If you could not, when you recovered you were made to perform sit-ups in time to his incoming punches to your stomach, often in sets of fifty repetitions.Being knocked senseless was a continual occurrence.(I have scars on my chin and on my tongue where I nearly bit through it, after asking what use a wrist fist was).
Flexibility training was no less severe. Training aids to help you consisted of your open legs dragged apart whilst performing the front or side splits and having your chest pushed to the floor whilst sat with your legs outstretched and apart. Standing on the inside of your knees with feet touching and pulled to your groin in order to make them touch the floor was a great favourite as was pushing your foot to touch the wall behind you and alongside your head then holding it there for several minutes.
