C. Saint Pierre
04-20-2005, 03:58 AM
Hello everyone! My name is Christian Saint-Pierre. Some of you know me personally, whilst others may have interacted with me on other forums as Xiao3 Meng4.
A bit of background:
At the age of 17 I started training a Moy Yat derivative of Wing Chun Kung Fu as passed down through three generations. My Sigung claimed to have trained Wing Chun in Malaysia before training under a student of Moy Yat, but never disclosed the name of the Malaysian instructor.
In 1999, I saw an ad for a trip being organized by the vt museum to attend the first world wing chun conference in Hong Kong. Not knowing who they were, I went with them. The conference was really my first interaction with other lineages. I was glad that Sifu Meng and his group were the ones introducing me to the wider world of Wing Chun; they did it in an unbiased way, not judging any of the personalities or lineages. The trip was an amazing experience. It was also the first time that I heard about Hung Fa Yi.
After training for another 2 years, I heard that Sifu Gee would be hosting a HFY conference in Dayton. I took the seminar as an opportunity to experience HFY, go down to see Sifu Meng, and visit the Museum.
The resulting weekend was wonderful. It actually played a role in my decision-making process regarding the rest of my life. The level of hospitality offered was incredibly touching. I thank you all again, especially Sifu Meng.
Some of you know the above already. What follows is what's become of me since the seminar.
Upon my return to Canada, since I was passing through Toronto on my way home, I took the opportunity to visit my sigung. I told him that I'd had the opportunity to meet and train with Sifu Meng's group and Sifu Gee's HFY group. His resulting outburst was very upsetting to me, very disrespectful to Sifu Meng, and a wake up call as to the nature of my Sigung's Kung Fu. After that, I never went back to the Kwoon.
Kwoonless and a bit sad, I nevertheless felt a sense of freedom - freedom to explore other lineages, other styles, and my own understanding of Reality. I trained on my own and with friends for the rest of the year, then began attending school for acupuncture in Nelson, B.C.
Initially I found no Wing Chun in the area. Our school required that we learn the Simplified Yang 24 form, so I took that up. I also found a Xin Yi/Tai Ji/Ba Gua instructor, and started training with him. After a few months, I learned of a man who taught something called Zi Ran Men, or "the gateway to the spontaneous self." My Ba Gua instructor, knowing my passion for Wing Chun, suggested that I try it out.
What I found in Zi Ran Men, or simply "Natural Style" was water. In Chinese medicine, Water relates to instinct. When Bruce Lee talked about being like water, he was talking as much about having instinct at the root of all movement as he was about smootheness. Zi Ran Men revealed this water to me.
What's more, my Zi Ran Men instructor had trained in Red Boat Wing Chun. When he heard that I was a Wing Chun guy, he started training Wing Chun stuff with me.
I've been in school three years now, and much has changed. I'm married, have a delightful stepson, and a beautiful baby daughter. I'm set to graduate this summer, and we're probably going to move back east, closer to family.
That's it, in a nutshell. I play with my family, and learn how to better help those who need it. I still train wing chun, although I'll train with whoever wants to train, regardless of style or system. There's a lot of Tai Ji in Nelson (Yang and Chen) so I do a lot of push hands.
Although I'm not a regular poster, I look forward to sharing and keeping in touch. Congratulations on the forum, too. :D
Regards,
Christian Saint-Pierre
A bit of background:
At the age of 17 I started training a Moy Yat derivative of Wing Chun Kung Fu as passed down through three generations. My Sigung claimed to have trained Wing Chun in Malaysia before training under a student of Moy Yat, but never disclosed the name of the Malaysian instructor.
In 1999, I saw an ad for a trip being organized by the vt museum to attend the first world wing chun conference in Hong Kong. Not knowing who they were, I went with them. The conference was really my first interaction with other lineages. I was glad that Sifu Meng and his group were the ones introducing me to the wider world of Wing Chun; they did it in an unbiased way, not judging any of the personalities or lineages. The trip was an amazing experience. It was also the first time that I heard about Hung Fa Yi.
After training for another 2 years, I heard that Sifu Gee would be hosting a HFY conference in Dayton. I took the seminar as an opportunity to experience HFY, go down to see Sifu Meng, and visit the Museum.
The resulting weekend was wonderful. It actually played a role in my decision-making process regarding the rest of my life. The level of hospitality offered was incredibly touching. I thank you all again, especially Sifu Meng.
Some of you know the above already. What follows is what's become of me since the seminar.
Upon my return to Canada, since I was passing through Toronto on my way home, I took the opportunity to visit my sigung. I told him that I'd had the opportunity to meet and train with Sifu Meng's group and Sifu Gee's HFY group. His resulting outburst was very upsetting to me, very disrespectful to Sifu Meng, and a wake up call as to the nature of my Sigung's Kung Fu. After that, I never went back to the Kwoon.
Kwoonless and a bit sad, I nevertheless felt a sense of freedom - freedom to explore other lineages, other styles, and my own understanding of Reality. I trained on my own and with friends for the rest of the year, then began attending school for acupuncture in Nelson, B.C.
Initially I found no Wing Chun in the area. Our school required that we learn the Simplified Yang 24 form, so I took that up. I also found a Xin Yi/Tai Ji/Ba Gua instructor, and started training with him. After a few months, I learned of a man who taught something called Zi Ran Men, or "the gateway to the spontaneous self." My Ba Gua instructor, knowing my passion for Wing Chun, suggested that I try it out.
What I found in Zi Ran Men, or simply "Natural Style" was water. In Chinese medicine, Water relates to instinct. When Bruce Lee talked about being like water, he was talking as much about having instinct at the root of all movement as he was about smootheness. Zi Ran Men revealed this water to me.
What's more, my Zi Ran Men instructor had trained in Red Boat Wing Chun. When he heard that I was a Wing Chun guy, he started training Wing Chun stuff with me.
I've been in school three years now, and much has changed. I'm married, have a delightful stepson, and a beautiful baby daughter. I'm set to graduate this summer, and we're probably going to move back east, closer to family.
That's it, in a nutshell. I play with my family, and learn how to better help those who need it. I still train wing chun, although I'll train with whoever wants to train, regardless of style or system. There's a lot of Tai Ji in Nelson (Yang and Chen) so I do a lot of push hands.
Although I'm not a regular poster, I look forward to sharing and keeping in touch. Congratulations on the forum, too. :D
Regards,
Christian Saint-Pierre