Published: July 19, 2008 09:19 pm            

Kung fu masters demonstrate 'instant power'

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Out of 10 cross-country stops for Kung Fu masters Liu Chang and Kimo Wall, by far the smallest town is Bluefield, Va.

At the invitation of Doug Minnix, a karate instructor and faculty member at Bluefield College, the two teachers, or senseis, provided advanced techniques in the Oriental self-defense art to a group of 25 or 30 people in the Dome on Saturday.

“It’s just a blessing from the Lord,” Minnix said. “That’s the way I feel. I’ve prayed for years (about) being able to learn what karate is. I went to Japan, to Okinawa. I feel like God sent Kimo Sensei to me. ... It’s a miracle, really. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Minnix said, “Kimo Sensei, his whole life, does nothing but travel and learn martial arts. ... In the old days, (a martial art) was just a protection. Then it became a sport.”

The center of attention was clearly Master Liu, whose father and grandfather were both Kung Fu masters in China. They specialized in the Feeding Crane discipline of Kung Fu, which the two said was invented by a woman 400 years ago as a means of self-defense.

Liu is among the 12th generation to study the Feeding Crane method.

Wall said, “Mr. Liu is probably the world’s best in this type of Kung Fu.” The primary difference from other martial arts was what Liu calls “instant power,” a compact forceful muscle tightening.

Liu demonstrated the power with a series of muscle contractions in his arms and back that were actually audible from four feet away. “This Kung Fu is very powerful,” he said. “I trust Feeding Crane, 100 percent, to save my life.”

Liu said, “Some people say Feeding Crane can kill you in one second.” That is not the goal, however. Techniques focus on deflecting an attack and then disabling the attacker through pressure on vulnerable spots like eyeballs and joints such as the knee, shoulder and elbow.

Wall said, “In Mr. Liu’s Kung Fu, there’s no sport whatsoever. It’s only to be able to defend yourself, to save your life, in any situation.”

He said the woman who developed Feeding Crane began with the premise that “a woman doesn’t have time to go into long stances and jump around the room” like in some movies.

“On the real earth, you don’t have time to defend yourself if you don’t have time to do anything except a very small movement. And his Kung Fu exemplifies the small movement,” Wall said.

Liu, now a deceptive 46 years old, began martial arts training at the age of 7. At 15 he was helping his father teach the skills. He opened his own studio, or dojo, at age 22.

The first stop for the two senseis on this tour was Phoenix, but the trip may be cut short due to a typhoon that has flooded Liu’s hometown on the island of Taiwan. He did get to visit the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine for his first taste of American coal mining culture.

Since Wall and Liu first met “many, many years ago,” Wall said the two became like brothers. “The first time I met him in Taiwan, we just became family. His family took care of me for two summers.”

Wall convinced him to undertake his first American tour 12 years ago.

Liu said he has made many “new friends” on his second tour, and when he arrived in Bluefield, “I feel great peace, different (from the) big city. And (it is) very beautiful, the same as Taiwan. At this time (of the year) everything is very green.”

“I hope, in the future, many people will enjoy Feeding Crane,” Liu said. He said some of his students can get “good power” in one year. Some take two or three years, he said.

He claimed, though, “I never miss” in his instruction. “Everybody can do (this). We just need time for training.”

Liu said that in China, Kung Fu masters not only teach physical martial arts, but work with acupuncture, massage, and the use of herbs. The traditional training lifestyle includes “eating special medicines,” Liu said.

“In China, there are many, many different kinds of Kung Fu,” Liu said. “This kind of Kung Fu is now very famous in China.”

Wall said he and Liu plan to go to Okinawa and visit the teachers associated with Wall, “to re-introduce this shaking power and instant power” central to the Feeding Crane method.

Minnix said that he and Liu “have the same spiritual beliefs.”

“His heart is so good,” Minnix said. “People are just so scared these days. He says you don’t have to be scared. You can learn this, and learn how to protect yourselves. It’s almost like a ministry, really ... to build your confidence.”

As the afternoon session began with the students respectfully standing in rows, Minnix said, “This is really advanced training,” then referring to the senseis, “but it’s beginning training for them.”

— Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com

        

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