Jeff E. Welch
in Hong KongAs I sit here and try to think about how to describe my trip to Hong Kong, China and Malaysia, I think about how it all came about. It was a little over two years ago when I walked into the Hung Tao Choy Mei Academy. Sifu was eating a bowl of vegetable soup. He looked up and asked incredulously, "How did you get in here?" We talked for about 30 minutes, and I made up my mind that this was the school for me.

So a week later, my girlfriend Michelle and I began taking classes at HTCM, and it has been one of the best things I've ever done. It did more than provide exercise and discipline. It made me look inside and ask myself how I wanted to lead my life. Some people do not need Kung Fu to help them do that, but I did.

Around the same time I first entered HTCM, I began planning a trip to Hong Kong. So when Sifu told me about Jow Ga's history in Hong Kong, and how Jow Biu brought the Jow brothers' style of Kung Fu from rural Nan Hai to the big city, it occurred to me that everything happens for a reason.

After four months training at HTCM, Michelle and I left for Hong Kong. More than Jow Ga was on our minds. We were going to explore a completely foreign city, see everything Hong Kong had to offer, eat the best food in the world and try to speak some Cantonese (I had been taking classes). I loved Hong Kong's energy and people, and from the moment that I stepped on to the streets of Kowloon -- a borough of Hong Kong -- I made a promise to myself to come back because my two-and-a-half-week trip was not going to be long enough. The electricity of the streets and everything that was going on invigorated me. What are normal everyday things in Hong Kong were oh-so-different for me, like the clatter of the Cantonese language all around me. Everything I had known to be a certain way was flipped 180 degrees, and I loved every minute of it.

When I returned to D.C., I began saving every conceivable dollar to get back to HK. I do not have the resources to travel where I want, when I want. I really had to make sacrifices to follow this dream -- not hanging out with my friends, not going out to eat all the time and making a conscious decision every moment to stay focused on my dream. After a little over a year, I had saved up enough money to go back to Hong Kong for three months.

It was one week before my departure -- before embarking on the adventure of a life time -- and I was scared, nervous and every other feeling that goes through a person before they are about to embark on a journey that will change their life forever. With all of these feelings going through me, I decided to enter the Wong tournament in D.C. I had three really tough battles, but in the end I came out victorious. Unfortunately, I also sustained some injuries that ended up part of my carry-on luggage. The grueling 18-hour trip turned out to be 25 hours due to a long layover in Chicago, and an unexpected and unplanned stop in Beijing for gas of all things. How does that happen?

Finally here!!!!!! I was exhausted. I limped myself through the subway system of Hong Kong at midnight on June 8, carrying a large suitcase on wheels and two bags in hand. As I got to my room and got ready to do what I thought I would never get to do -- sleep -- the streets began calling my name. Just to be on them, just to be outside smelling the air, just to be feeling the electricity -- it was all too much. So there I was, now limping through the streets of Kowloon at 1:30 a.m. on a Friday night. With all of the lights and people, you would have thought it was 1:30 in the afternoon. Oh wait a minute; it is the afternoon in D.C.!!!

After a week in this wonderful place, I had healed enough to venture over to the Jow Biu Association in Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island. Kowloon is to Hong Kong Island like Brooklyn is to Manhattan. You could stay in Kowloon and never need to go to Hong Kong Island, but I had to be everywhere I could, and kung fu is on the island. So I made the call to find out when would be a good time to come by. Turned out tonight was a good night. Not knowing what I was getting into, I brought everything that I thought I might need, and even some things that I might not. Uniform, sparring gear, I even brought a pad of paper and pen just in case.

I took the subway to Hong Kong Island and found my way to the school, which I had visited before on my first trip here, not to mention earlier that day to make sure I could remember how to get there. I rang the doorbell and everyone came in from the back room to welcome me. After chit-chatting for about 10 minutes I was told to go change. This was the moment when I asked myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" I walked into the back room, which is basically a back porch with a roof, about 25 square feet. There were about eight or nine guys their training. There were weights on one end, and the center of the room is really only large enough for one person to do a form at a time. After about a five minute warm-up, I was asked to do my form. I had not been doing any training for almost two weeks due to the injuries from Wong's tournament, but I went out in the center and tried to do the best Fa Chune (flower fist) I could muster. The school is run by the sons of Ho Lak Man, who was a student of Jow Biu. Ho Lak Man had 5 sons: Wah Cheong, Hing Chung, Kim Hung, Yiu Ka and Wai Ip, also known as Edmond. Two of the five Ho brothers were there, Kim Hung and Hing Chung. Edmond, who is the youngest brother and the one who speaks the best English, had not arrived yet. So there I was doing my Fa Chune in this historic school that Jow Biu opened in Hong Kong, where Chang Man Cheung taught and trained, and where Ho Lok Man and his five sons grew up. Here I am in this school and doing what I love to do, kung fu. I was so nervous. I did Fa Chune (flower fist) and Kwan (staff) five or six times. After doing my forms, the two brothers started to dissect my Fa Chune, trying to have me concentrate on details like hand placement and flowering techniques. The next thing I knew, they had been helping me for about two hours, and everyone was still watching intently. For the first week or so, everyone would stop what they were doing to watch me do my forms, which was nerve-racking. Eventually, though, people got used to me being there and went on with there workouts.

Shortly before I departed for the Second International Jow Ga Tournament in Malaysia where I would meet up with Sifu the rest of our school, Ho Lak Man passed away. He had been sick for a while and was already in the hospital when I arrived in Hong Kong. I was honored to be asked to attend the services, but I was also nervous. I had no idea what a Chinese funeral is like and didn't know if I needed to bring anything or what. I made sure that I was dressed as nicely as possible, but this funeral was nothing like an American funeral. It was a Chinese Buddhist service with several ritual performed by Buddhist priests, and it was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. But I was honored to be able to pay my respects to a great Gung-fu man.

When I left Hong Kong for Malaysia, with a short stop in Bangkok along the way, I felt like I was leaving home. I could not wait to be back in HK, but I also could not wait to see Thailand and Malaysia. After spending five days in Bangkok, I jumped on a 24-hour train ride to Penang. The train ride was an adventure in its self! The people that were getting on and off of the train were worth the price of admission alone. Every stop in the middle of nowhere brought a whole new group of people and peddlers. People were selling food, dishes and fruits that this American boy had never seen and didn't dare try. I didn't want to arrive at the tournament sick in any kind of way. Throughout the train ride, I was going over my forms in my head and trying to envision what to expect. I had never been to an international tournament like this before, and I did not know what was waiting for me.

When I stepped into the hotel, I was overwhelmed with happiness when I saw Sifu standing in the lobby, talking to the front desk clerk. I was so happy to see a familiar face, and to see him of all people first was the best. After a quick hello, I put my stuff in my room and came back down stairs so that we could go to a local Gung-fu school and watch some Lion Dancing.

The tournament for me was short lived due to my travel plans. I tried to perform my best, but I simply was not prepared enough for the tournament. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful experience and I am very glad I was part of it. Several students from the school earned gold and silver medals, and all of us represented our school and our country very well.

After the tournament, the team flew from Malaysia to Hong Kong. By this time I felt like a local. I knew all the good places to eat, and my Cantonese was starting to come around. First we went to visit Derrick Cheung -- a Sifu in Hong Kong that makes our beautiful Lions and banners -- at his school in Kowloon Bay. The next evening we went to the Jow Biu School, where Ho Lak Man's sons and the rest of the school were happy to meet the students I train with, and of course Sifu, who some had met during a similar school trip to HK two years earlier. We watched several students perform, and then it was our turn. After each performance, we talked about the differences, some slight and some great, between our forms and techniques and theirs. After a long evening of kung fu, we jumped back on the subway, with me, the local, leading the crew back to Kowloon. The next day, we were leaving early for a weekend on the mainland, and we needed our beauty rest.

Our weekend trip to Nan Hai, China started early. It was my job to get all of the ferry tickets and meet up with everyone so that we could walk to the pier together. After a 90-minute, fast-boat ferry ride -- we were taking the fast boat to China -- we arrived in Nan Hai. It was quite different from Hong Kong, with all its countryside and farmland, interspersed with drab industrial sites. Our hotel was the only building in town higher than 3 stories. When we got to Jow Gum Bo's school - another student of Jow Biu - it was unlike any school I had ever seen. The village surrounded the school. An old brick wall surrounds the school's courtyard, where they do lion dancing on many tall metal pedestals. And the inside consists of a number of rooms, including one main room with pictures covering the walls all the way to the ceiling. Many are pictures of Jow Ga students - brothers and sisters - from around the world, who either came to visit this school or have had their pictures taken with other prominent people of the Jow Ga system.

For the first hour or so we were not really able to communicate because the translator had not arrived. But that didn't stop us from trying. Once the translator arrived, we listened to Jow Gum Bo, who was trained by Jow Biu, tell us about forms, techniques and Jow Ga history. The Nan Hai school is a major Lion Dancing competitor in China. In the courtyard is a maze of what are called 'joung' - tall poles of varying height with small platforms. The lion jumps from platform to platform to symbolize different obstacles the Lion must overcome. In this case, they symbolized a bridge for the lion to cross in order to get the lychee. The poles start at a low level of about four and a half feet and gradually climb to about nine feet high. It was remarkable to see the lion dancers move on these poles, so high off the ground. There were mattresses - many mattresses - laid below to break their fall if necessary.

While in Nan Hai, our hosts took us to what I think was the only restaurant in the village, other than the one in the hotel. It was a fairly small, local joint run by a jovial woman who liked to drink a lot. The food was prepared very differently than in Hong Kong or any other place, for that matter. A few of us asked for more rice as often as possible so as to avoid the pig stomachs and bowels. But every dish brought a lot of laughter and fun to the table. The Chinese love to drink rice wine with all their meals, so lots of fun pretty much means a lot of toasting and drinking and singing.

After dinner, we went back to the school to see some lion dancing and kung fu. The entire village came out and sat all along the walls of the courtyard to watch, clap and cheer. The stadium lights were on and the drum was pounding away. We were truly in another world.

The next day brought a new adventure: sloshing through the mud to visit the still-under-construction temple at the burial site of the five Jow brothers, built with funds provided by the Jow brothers followers worldwide and a major contribution from a student of Jow Tin, one of the five founding brothers. It was set in a beautiful spot among lush hills, with a heavy, almost thoughtful, mist clinging to the trees. The site felt appropriate for a family that is so highly respected and valued by so many individuals. As we returned to our cars, avoiding muddy spots and puddles, a silent calm came over our group and I imagined how triumphant the pagoda-style temple will look like when complete. I also thought about how much the people of Nan Hai and surrounding areas respect the five brothers that gave them this art called Jow Ga kung fu, so much so that they have invested the time and effort to preserve their memory and build this memorial. The marble slab that lies before it bares the Jow family name. And even though it is written in Chinese, when looking at it you tend to stare as if you are reading every word. Once up the stairs and inside the temple, we lit incense and little firecrackers and bowed to the pictures of the five founders to show our respect. It is not a happy-go-lucky place where you might have a picnic; it is a thoughtful place where you pay your respects and leave with a valued memory.

Next we went to one of the first Jow Ga schools, started by Jow Lung in the Guangdong Province. We visited with the townspeople, watched a Lion Dance, drank tea and, again, paid our respects to the Jow family. Then we drove down a long road to visit yet another school, this one in a setting that looked like it came straight from a National Geographic special. The school had a court yard that overlooked a mountainside, and when we arrived, a drummer started to play. Pretty soon you could see people coming toward the school from all around. Some were on scooters, some were on bikes, and some were even walking. It was amazing. They were all coming to see us. Many of them probably had never seen an American before, and they will likely remember us for the rest of their lives. After watching the local students do some forms and a Lion Dance, it was of course our turn to represent Jow Ga U.S.A.

Next we had lunch, and then we were off to the Wong Fei Hong school. Wong Fei Hong is a hero of Chinese folklore. Some believe Wong Fei Hong had super kung fu powers, and that he helped the poor of yesteryear. Either way, the school was massive. It had a huge courtyard, across which you could see several classes in session with about 30 young kids in each, often led by older students. Most of these kids are at the school everyday for hours. We watched a Lion Dance, but unfortunately could not see it on the joung outdoors as it was raining. They performed on a table indoors instead.

After Wong Fei Hong's, it was time for us to return to Hong Kong. The people of Nan Hai and the Jow Gum Bo school treated us like family. They took time out of their lives to entertain us, chauffeur us and show us their way of life. They shared with us the schools and people that have been teaching and learning Jow Ga kung fu for generations. It was truly an eye-opening experience. It was true kung fu. A lot of these people have no television or Internet for entertainment. They have kung fu, lion Dancing and the honor of this tradition.After returning to Hong Kong, Sifu and the students of HTCM stayed for a couple more days before returning home. I will always cherish and remember the time we spent together, and I can't wait for the next tournament in 2003. When they left, I had almost two months left in Hong Kong, which I mostly spent training. While in Hong Kong I learned two forms, and I know Ho Lak Man's sons and students will hold a special place for me always. I also learned a lot about the customs of the Hong Kong people and about myself. It truly was a life changing experience.