Customer Reviews

Kung-Fu Masters

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I enjoyed the author's previous book of interviews on karate masters, so I thought I'd try this one too. It's excellent also and covers many of the famous kung-fu and tai chi masters. There are 21 interviews in all, and no doubt you'll find some of your favorite masters and personalities here. My favorites included people like the inimitable Jackie Chan, Eric Lee (famous for his Chinese weapons, and who knows 34 different types), Doc Fai Wong (of Choy Li Fut), Bucksam Kong (of Hung Gar), Yang Jwing Ming (Eagle Claw and Chin Na), and others. Many of these masters were in their 50s, 60s, or 70s when interviewed, and it was interesting to hear their views on the evolution of their arts during their lifetime and how their understanding of their arts had changed or deepened with age. Tai Chi is well represented along with the kung fu, and even some Ba Gua and Hsing I gets discussed too, which are much rarer, both here and in China. There are a few I would have liked to see that were absent, such as Tak Wah Eng (from Tiger Claw), Kwong Wing Lam (of Northern Long Fist and Hung Gar) and a couple of Americans like Robert W. Smith and Bruce Kumar Frantzis, but overall, this is a fine collection of interviews with many of the great Chinese martial arts masters of our time.

Kung Fu Masters is a great read regardless your style of martial arts study. The sifus and masters within the pages are some of the who's who crowd from Kung Fu's coranation in America of the 70s and 80s. I wish there were more books dedicated to Chinese Wushu like this one.