On the 27th of September 2007 Grandmaster Henry Sue put on one of the biggest Chinese Kung Fu Academy kung fu demonstrations ever for his master Great Grandmaster Dr Nat Yuen, and you can now view the video from that day right here, right now!

But before you go to the video I recommend that you take a little while to read the story behind the great event so that you can get a better appreciation for that special day and why it meant so much to our founding father Great Grandmaster Dr Nat Yuen and our master, Grandmaster Henry Sue.

The Story Behind The Event:

Dr Nat Yuen, a medical doctor, calligrapher and great grandmaster of kung fu, was the mastermind behind the calligraphy exhibition which opened at the University of Queensland on the 27th of September 2007, and to further enhance the exhibition and introduce more of the Chinese culture in Australia, he called upon the martial artistry of his former kung fu protégée, Grandmaster Henry Sue, and his students from the Chinese Kung Fu Academy.

On the day the spectators got to view the gentle art of calligraphy, the devastating art of Southern Praying Mantis kung fu, tile breaking, tai chi, kung fu weapons, sparring, lion dancing and so much more.

Dr Yuen, who introduced the Southern Shaolin Praying Mantis Kung Fu tradition (also known as Tong Long or Chow Gar) to Australia when he was an international medical student at UQ in the 1960s, said kung fu and calligraphy were deceptively similar.

“Both martial arts and calligraphy are training of the body and the mind, each complementing the other,” said Dr Yuen, who lives in Hong Kong.

“Kung fu is the training of the physical body in the technique of fighting, and acceleration of body movement requires relaxation, concentration and reflexes.”

“Calligraphy practice requires not only the art form of the words but also relaxation and concentration. It is a training of the mind, the body and hand movements.”

Dr Yuen’s own calligraphy featured in the exhibition with more than 90 works, alongside works by Mr. Wong Kwok Hing, and, importantly, the late Mr. Lo Yat Ngam. Mr. Lo was a venerable scholar and calligrapher who taught Dr Yuen and Mr. Wong. Before his recent death at the age of 79 he was intending to visit Brisbane for the show, and in a sense this is his tribute exhibition.

UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC, said the community event and the exhibition were made possible by Dr Yuen’s long-standing work to build ties between China and Australia, as a result of his years studying at UQ.

“Nat Yuen’s commitment to improved cultural relations is embodied in the exquisite Nat Yuen Collection at the UQ Art Museum, to which he has donated more than 80 Chinese antiquities,” Professor Hay said.

“This exhibition is a wonderful reminder that calligraphy, in the hands of great Chinese scholars, poets and painters, is an art form in itself – you don’t have to be able to read the text to appreciate the control and energy of the brushwork,” said Art Museum Director Nick Mitzevich.

“We have been delighted to work with Dr Yuen in bringing this collection of Chinese calligraphy to Brisbane so as to emphasize the important role calligraphy has played in Chinese culture and art,” Mr. Mitzevich said.

While Dr Yuen’s kung fu practice dates to his school days, he began learning calligraphy some 12 years ago, adding to a tradition which has been interwoven with the literature and ethos of the Chinese for 3000 years. Kung fu is relatively young by comparison: Bodhidralma, the Shaolin monk who founded Zen Buddhism around the sixth century, meditated on Mount Zong behind the Shaolin Temple for nine years, and developed Shaolin Qigong which became part of kung fu training.

Dr Yuen graduated in Medicine from UQ in 1965 (as a classmate of UQ Chancellor, Sir Llew Edwards, AC) and was awarded a UQ Honorary Doctor of Medicine in 1995. Below is a short list of some of his great achievements:

• President of the Hong Kong Medical Association
• President of the Hong Kong College of General Practitioners
• Honorary Professor of Family Medicine (CU)
• Honorary Treasurer of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine
• He is also a published author of numerous medical articles and is the co-author and publisher of Health Education and Principles and Practice of Primary Care and Family Medicine, and this is only mentioning a small portion of his achievements.

Now that you have a greater understanding of our Sigung (grandfather) Great Grandmaster Dr Nat Yuen I hope you enjoy the video below.

Please Note: if the video stops playing you may need to press pause, go and make a cup of coffee and give the video a chance to download before pressing play again. In most cases this will fix the issue if you have a slow internet connection.

 

 

Popularity: 100%

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm and is filed under PRAYING MANTIS KUNG FU, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.