SOME STORIES ABOUT THE HO FAMILY FLOWING WATER STAFF
Ho Family Flowing Water Staff
Question
I always love to read about Sifu's stories!
-- Sifu Lee Wei Joo
Answer
Here are some stories about the Ho Family Flowing Water Staff.
I loved this set very much. When I left Kuala Trengganu (where my sifu lived) and stayed in Alor Star on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula, I practiced it every night. I did not think much of my practice until one night my wife, seeing my nightly training, commented that I performed the set very well.
I had a few occasions to use the the Ho Family Flowing Water Staff in weapon free sparring with some masters. They were surprised by my tricky counters.
Once an Eagle Claw Kungfu master was talking about the staff as the king of weapon. He said that the middle level spear thrust was the most difficult to counter, and asked me how I would counter it.
I told him that I could use any one of the many techniques in the Ho Family Flowing Water Staff (which was true). He was greatly puzzled. It then struck me what a huge diference in kungfu combat theory between his understanding and mine.
I then asked him how he would counter the middle level spear thrust. He said that he would flick it away and then counter thrust. To us in Sifu Ho Fatt Nam's school, this would be considered a third-class response.
Indeed, this was the response another master used when I attacked him with a middle level spear thrust using the pattern "Yellow Dragon Emerges Cave". This was the standard response, and was recommended in the Shaolin staff classic, Siu Yia Cha, or Little Night Guard, written by the famous Ming Dynasty general, Ye Dai You.
I knew this quite well. So I sneaked around his staff and thrust at his solar plexus, stopping a few inches away. He was flabbergasted.
On another occasion I almost used the Ho Family Flowing Water Staff to spar with a world known master with half a dozen black belts in his credit. He was speaking despairingly about Shaolin Kungfu. He was actually speaking about grossly debased Shaolin Kungfu, and was right in his comments.
When I told him that genuine Shaolin Kungfu was different, he asked me whether I wanted to spar with him. I replied as a matter-of-factly that I would like to. He went upstairs for about 10 minutes, and returned in full warrior gear carrying a real Samurai sword in his hand in a ritual manner.
I suppose he wanted to scare me off. But I was so relaxed and said that as he wanted to have free sparring with weapons I asked whether I would borrow one of his bo, or staffs, which were displayed in his martial art school. He was surprised, and backed off, saying that I was very brave but had the advantage of age. I was 30 plus then, and he was about 50.
I still remember that it struck me he didn't understand kungfu philosophy. If it were a brawl, a young man would have an advantage over someone at 50. But in kungfu anyone below 45 would be considered not seasoned in his art, and does not have sufficient time to master his internal force.
In weapon sparring, age would be an advantage. With weapons, brute strength is not necessary, and age adds experience and cunningness in the use of the weapon. I recalled the kungfu saying, "khun par siew chong, khuen par lou long", which means that in unarmed sparring a young man with strength has an advantage over an older person, but in weapon sparring the advantage goes to an elder person with experience.
Grandmaster Wong demonstrating an application of the staff
This answer is taken from Special Weapon Course: 10 Questions to Grandmaster Wong of the Shaolin Wahnam Institute Discussion Forum.
The answer first appear in the March 2913 Part 1 issue of the Question-Answer Series.
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