When I heard news of my grandmaster, Mr. Chan Pui himself, was coming up to Boston for a weekend full of kung fu, giving seminars, teaching tai chi, and so on and so forth, even after all these years, I still get excited.  When I heard he was overseeing an instructors workout himself, I became giddy with joy...untillllllll I realized that meant working out under the watchful eye of my grandmaster. Oh snap...

You see, if you have ever had the opportunity to see Master Chan in full on kung fu action, whether an old or recent kung fu performance, they you know the gloriousness that he just IS.  I've already waxed poetic on his bodaciousness...he's not just an incredible martial artist...literally poetic history in motion, but he's ever the showman, forever entertaining.  Even during a regular workout...when he demonstrates a move and then expects us younger folks to do the same move, ummm...uhhhh...yeah RIGHT!  No one brings the pain like he does.  Even when you think your stance is nice and low, he's even lower.  Even when you're proud of your mantis pose, his is that much more mantis-y.  No matter what you do, this senior citizen will put.you.down!

Actually, you know what?  Master Chan ain't all THAT.  There's one area I can definitely surpass him in.  I'll probably get in trouble for saying this...being an insolent junior sifu and all.  I mean, how dare I say that there is something I'M better at doing than the much-beloved grandmaster (even great-grandmaster) of our kung fu system? How dare I? Oh, I DARE!  When it comes to 9-course Chinese dinners...I can outeat him!  Yup, I said it...I'll say it again.  When it comes to packing away the food, I reign supreme!  Trust me, I was watching him closely during dinner after our workout.  For every biteful of food that he took, I beat him double, even triple!  In fact, I dare say I could beat everyone at the table in Chinese food consumption.  Oh yeah...that's not a challenge.  That's a fact!  Bring it on!

Then again...could there possibly *maybe* be a correlation between the amount of food I can inhale in one sitting and how low I can go in my mantis stance?  Maybe my big ol' belly is hindering that.  Hmmmmm...could it also be possible that the fact that Grandmaster Chan doesn't eat like a broke frat boy (like I do) is the reason why he's still so slim and flexible and can move better than most aforementioned frat boys?  Naaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh can't be...*buuuuuuurp* can you pass the crispy fried chicken and spicy salty pork and squid please?

technorati tags: kung, fu, Wah, Lum, sifu, Pui, Chan

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