It was in Chandler's Ford that I met an extremely knowledgeable man called Joseph Mo.
Joseph, a Cantonese Chinese acupuncturist ran a clinic at his home. One day, by chance, I knocked on his door to ask if he would mind advertising my classes by putting up a poster for me. He asked if he could first come and watch my classes to which I agreed. At this time I was not aware that Joseph Mo was a highly respected Sifu of various Kung Fu styles within the Chinese community of Southampton.
He was highly impressed with what he saw and kept expressing "real Kung Fu, this is real Kung Fu". Sifu Mo, like many other Chinese people at the time, did not believe that English people could practice Kung Fu as well as the Chinese. He invited my students and I to train with him at the Chinese Community Centre in Southampton. I also trained privately with him and his Pak Mai students at his home.
Under Sifu Mo I studied the following systems of Kung Fu:
- Tong Long (Praying Mantis)
- Pak Mei (White Eyebrow)
- Ba Gua Chang (Eight Trigram Palm)
- Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan application
- Choy Lee Fut / Chang Chuan combinations
(Choy Family, Lee Family, Buddha fist/ Long Fist)
I also learned weaponry drills:
- Dao (Chinese Sabre)
- Gim (Double edged sword)
- San Gee Kwan (Three sectioned staff)
- Kwan Do (Halberd)
- Kwan (Staff)
Learning these forms enhanced the art of Hung Leng Kuen immensely. Up until this point the style had been quite external. The internal influences of Tai Chi Chuan and Ba Gwa Chang, along with the different individual characters of the animals themselves, turned our forms into beautiful routines with deadly application.
