Chen Lei Seminar 2001

Master Chen Lei is considered one of the foremost practitioners of Wushu in the world, and his visit to the Exhall East Community Centre in Bedworth ( headquarters of Sil Lum Kune Kung Fu and Chinese Boxing clubs ) was eagerly awaited by students and instructors alike.

                 The Seminar started off with a demonstration of a Long Fist form which involved many acrobatic moves in the air, including radial rotations and high kicking which contrasted with the very low stances at almost ground level. An extremely athletic and acrobatic performance by any standards and a real eye catcher for the first demonstration.

        Our group then started the difficult task of learning a Northern Tiger form in the time available. Sifu Paul Burkinshaw (Chief Instructor of Sil Lum Kune) had requested this from Master Chen because Sil Lum Kune had originated from the Tiger Ripping style many decades ago. The instruction from Master Chen was by our standards given at break neck speed to ensure that the whole form could be covered within the seminar. He went through it in small bite size chunks, but when you are not use to learning a form at that pace it required a lot of concentration. Most of the students were surprised by how much they did learn and take in though. By the end of the seminar many students had a grasp of the form, and several had achieved the form completely. This is of course all due to Master Chen’s teaching which he broke up throughout the day by performing several more amazing demonstrations.

        One of Master Chen Lei’s performances included a Broad sword form. The sword  was a typical Wushu type with flexible blade and a piece of white silk hung from the handle. I have mentioned the sword’s appearance because once Master Chen Lei began the form you were unable to distinguish which was the blade any more. I suppose that was the whole point of having the silk tied to the sword in the first place. The two items became one blurred image as it moved around his body.

        The demonstration was a reflection of our own system which combines both hard and soft styles to draw on the strengths of both. We eagerly await his next visit.

Reported by Mark Pritchards (student of Sil Lum Kune)