12-2-09: A CENTURY OF THE TIGER

Happy Birthday to Grandmaster Lam Cho.

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Grandmaster Lam Cho is walking, talking proof that kung fu training will allow you to live longer and (more importantly) healthier. Here’s a man born before World War One, still upright of posture and sharp of eye, still totally aware of what’s going on. The nephew and adoptive son of Hung Gar legend Lam Sai-wing still lives alone in his kung fu school and herbal medicine clinic in Prince Edward, still strides across to the same restaurant for , still grabs your forearm in a grip of steel each time he meets you… If I live to be a hundred, I want to live like Lam Cho.

In fact, Grandmaster Lam is a mere 99 years old, but, in Chinese tradition; they count the year in the womb, bringing him to a century. And what a century it’s been for him. When Lam Sifu was born, Hung Gar (aka Hung Kuen) was barely known outside his native town of prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /Fatshan. However, thanks largely to the efforts of his father and , Lam Sai-wing, the art is now famed and thriving worldwide. This was very evident at his birthday party, with Hung Gar practitioners from around the world gathering to celebrate his centenary and demonstrate the art in his honour.

I arrived at the Emperor restaurant with my full extended family in tow, the lovely yet lethal Elizabeth Yang (queen of the or straight sword), my three sons Ryan, Calvin and Kyle, who train (sometimes under protest!) every weekend, and camera ace Nick Eriksson, on hand to shoot some great images of the evening (which I’ll post in the Kung Fu photo section). We were greeted by my teacher, Mak Chi-kong, and a few of his other die-hard students, including Marcus Corrigan (who introduced me to Mak Sifu, for which much thanks) and French film director-turned-kung fu-ist Patrice Poujol.

The thunder of drums announced that the evening’s performances were already underway (we were slightly late as we had to pick up the boys from their tutor before we could get to Prince Edward!). Lam Cho and his sister stood greeting guests, and I presented a to Grandmaster Lam, before we all took some photos with him. He seems unchanging and unchangeable; a true cornerstone of the Chinese martial arts community. His one concession to the years seems to be a slight deafness, and so he exchanges booming pleasantries with the guests. “Did you ever meet Wong Fei-hung?” my son Ryan wants to know. Lam Cho’s sister replies on her brother’s behalf, saying that he did, but was too young at the time to remember much about the great man.

Walking through the crowded locale, I see a variety of familiar faces. These include my former instructor Jesse Gooding, a Canadian Hung Gar master, who delivers his usual superlative performance, and Frank Bolte, who represents another of my former teachers, Mark Houghton, and is part of the Lau Kar-leung lineage. Also on hand are Tsui Siu-ming, a former kung fu star in his own right (‘Buddhist Fist’!) and director of the recent Olympic-themed Wu Shu flick ‘Champions’. Mak Sifu is a great fan of his work, and I so I’m happy to be able to introduce them.

It’s fascinating to watch the variety of interpretations of the Hung Gar forms displayed during the demonstrations. The three boys sit on the floor in front of Tsui Siu-ming and his wife, Amy. A flying broadsword hits the carpet a couple of feet from my son Kyle, but he barely blinks an eye. They love the kung fu fighting, but their favourite performer of the night is a Malaysian who stabs his finger through a coconut.

Gordon Liu, star of 36 th Chamber and Kill Bill, sat patiently throughout the kung fu demonstrations. Ryan wanted to meet him, so we went to sit with Gordon. I’d brought Liu a copy of his Bollywood debut, Chandni Chowk To China. True to form, my eldest son peppers Gordon with questions and comments. “You were great in 36 th Chamber of Shaolin,” Ryan tells him. “Good work!”

The demonstrations end, as is tradition, with a performance of a shorted version of by Lam Cho’s eldest son, Lam Chun-fai. It’s a school night, so I have to get the boys home, meaning we can’t stay for the banquet. We bid our farewells to Lam Cho and the assembled clan, and head out into the warm night air. The kids need a quick pit stop, so we head down to another local landmark, the Garden Restaurant. It’s located in a basement so dark; I swear the menus are printed in Braille. Anyway, it made for a happy end to a great evening.