About Kung-Fu
Kung-Fu is a form of philosophy and
martial
art which goes back hundreds of years, allegedly brought to China from
either India or Okinawa and developed further by monks who
lived in the "Shaolin Temple". There are many versions
of Kung-Fu and even more stories of its development and
refinement. The version that I practice is called Shaolin Nam Pai or sometimes Five Animal Shaolin.
Shaolin Nam Pai
Shaolin Nam Pai (literally "Northern Southern
Shaolin")
is a type of Kung-Fu which inlcudes approaches from both the north and
the south of China. The story goes that the northerners, being taller
and
living in open country, had a different fighting style than the
southerners,
who were shorter and lived in hilly areas. It is sometimes called Five
Animal Shaolin because it is based on the movements of five
representative animals: the horse, the
crane,
the dragon, the
snake, and (my favorite) the tiger.
My studies
and teaching
of Shaolin Nam Pai
I studied Shaolin Nam Pai from 1986 until 1999 with my teacher, Yehuda
Offner, attaining Black Sash status in 1992. Under
the guidance of my teacher, I instructed classes at the Mt. Scopus campus
of
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for four years (1994-1998), as well as in Rehovot, where I taught for three years
(1996-1999). In all I taught over 100 pupils, five of whom
attained senior (blue sash) ranks.
| My class in Jerusalem |
My class in Rehovot |
 |
 |
| Standing (left): Tamar Grossman, Hagit Peretz, Alon
Amarilio,
David Hainovitz, Galia Ravia, Hahoch Ilsar, Omer Moav, JJ Marx, Gadi
Rothenberg.
Sitting (left): Jamal Goda, Rakefet Rishonim, Danny Peleg, Gilad
Nachmani,
Meir Har-Tzion, Eli Shulaker. |
Standing (left): Gadi Rothenberg, Alon Eren, Ohad Mizrachi,
Liad Peleg, Barak Rozenberg, Zeev Megidovitz, Elad, Danny Kislianski,
Uri
Abramov, Assaf, Oleg. Sitting (left): Ehud Alpert, Roy Karni, Gil
Lititzvar,
Yifat, Amit Issarof, Alon Amarilio, Erez Ayalon, Yakim Peled, Shai
Daniel.
|
My teacher - Yehuda Offner
Yehuda
Offner is one of the experienced teachers of Kung-Fu in Israel. He studied Shaolin Nam
Pai
Chuan in England for several years with Master Lye Kwong and attained Black Sash rank.
Yehuda then returned to Israel and opened a kung-fu school called
Shaolin Nam Pai. He taught hundreds of students, nine of whom attained
the Black Sash rank. These are Ofer Mizrahi, Ofer Israeli (deceased), Ami Rothenberg, myself, Maya Sabatello, Shabtay Shalit, Chaim Chavin, Dudi Michaeli, and Arik Dafni. Yehuda still teaches Kung Fu and Tai
Chi in Israel.
|
|
Master Lye Kwong
Master Lye Kwong
was born in
Malaysia. He trained in Tae Kwon Do and in Kung-Fu and was the national
champion five years running. In the late 1970s, he came to England
together with Master Chris Lye to open the Shaolin Nam-Pai
Chuan
school. Several years later he returned to teaching Tae
Kwon Do. He still teaches twice a week in Hatfield,
Hertsfordshire.
In
August 2004 my brother Ami and I met Master Lye Kwong in London.
|
|
Last
updated on March 18, 2012. |
