Flipping open a beloved old book on Japanese martial arts, called “The Martial Arts” by Octopus Press while discussing publishing our own books on Northern Shaolin, Tai Chi, and Xing Yi Quan, I found some fun old history from 1988. Inside folded and carefully saved were the poster from Doc Fai Wong’s Tai Chi Tournament in 1988 and the rules for push hands.
Martial arts of all types were very popular in the 1980’s and tournaments were frequent, often one a month or more in the Northern California area. Most were a more or less standard “Open Tournament” format. The most popular martial arts styles at this time were Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, and Karate. As Kung Fu performers started to show up in the mid-1970s more divisions were added. Where originally there were hand forms and weapons form divisions and some pretty rough point sparring. Later the Kung Fu people, especially Wong Jackman’s early Norther Shaolin students, showed up their exciting forms performances earned many trophies. As a result, the hand forms were split into “Hard” and “Soft”. Hard was Karate and Taekwondo and Soft was Kenpo and all styles of Kung Fu including Northern and Southern Styles and modern Wushu.
Tai Chi had become popular, and many people practiced Tai Chi with a martial interest and pushing hands was also popular. A few Tai Chi tournaments arrived, only 3 or 4 at first nationwide. Doc Fai Wong’s Tai Chi Tournament was one of the first ones. It was the largest on the west coast and was a significant event. Because there were few events and lots of curiosity and interest there was an abundance of competitors. I competed in this tournament and won Second Place in the Middle Weight Division of Moving Step Pushing Hands. The division was large! 25 – 30 people I had at least three matches, maybe four matches, to win second place. The winner was Don Ethan Miller. I also had a memorable match with Chris Luth a skillful Tai Chi Teacher in the San Deigo area. Many of the competitors were instructors who hoped to make names for themselves, and competition was fierce with many good players eager to win.
I recall my horror weighing in at 157 Lbs. 1 pound over the lightweight class limit. I was obviously much lighter then, at the age of 26. The weight divisions were vast. Middleweight was a huge 30 lbs. spread. Most of my competitors outweighed me by 25 or more lbs. That is significant in a grappling event. I had hoped to come in at 155 and be at the top of the lightweights! Instead, I was by far the lightest and smallest guy in my division. Fortunately, my training under Grandmaster Wong Jackman and Master Peter Ralston and intense practice of Northern Shaolin and Tai Chi push hands gave me good preparation. I had my speed, Ralston’s Tai Chi tricks, and Northern Shaolin legs as my advantages, and they were enough to help me win the Silver.
Tai Chi had become popular, and many people practiced Tai Chi with a martial interest and pushing hands was also popular. A few Tai Chi tournaments arrived, only 3 or 4 at first nationwide. Doc Fai Wong’s Tai Chi Tournament was one of the first ones. It was the largest on the west coast and was a significant event. Because there were few events and lots of curiosity and interest there was an abundance of competitors. I competed in this tournament and won Second Place in the Middle Weight Division of Moving Step Pushing Hands. The division was large! 25 – 30 people I had at least three matches, maybe four matches, to win second place. The winner was Don Ethan Miller. I also had a memorable match with Chris Luth a skillful Tai Chi Teacher in the San Deigo area. Many of the competitors were instructors who hoped to make names for themselves, and competition was fierce with many good players eager to win.
I recall my horror weighing in at 157 Lbs. 1 pound over the lightweight class limit. I was obviously much lighter then, at the age of 26. The weight divisions were vast. Middleweight was a huge 30 lbs. spread. Most of my competitors outweighed me by 25 or more lbs. That is significant in a grappling event. I had hoped to come in at 155 and be at the top of the lightweights! Instead, I was by far the lightest and smallest guy in my division. Fortunately, my training under Grandmaster Wong Jackman and Master Peter Ralston and intense practice of Northern Shaolin and Tai Chi push hands gave me good preparation. I had my speed, Ralston’s Tai Chi tricks, and Northern Shaolin legs as my advantages, and they were enough to help me win the Silver.
A few notes on events like this in the 1980’s and 1990’s when I competed a lot. Of course, the internet had not been invented yet. All registration was on the day of the event, in person, paying cash, and with a simple form like the one in this article. There were fewer divisions which did result in some chaos as mismatched performances were common and difficult to judge. Divisions were large, often 20 or 30 people or more all doing quite different things. Judging as one might imagine was problematic, often unqualified, and sometimes blatantly political and unfair. Often there were cash prizes for the Black Belt Level Grand Champions and The Black Belt Sparring Winners. You could pay your rent if you won enough tournaments. Few people could do that though. Teachers often competed in Black Blet divisions. Few traditional masters like Wong Jackman competed, but many of the American students who ran their own schools competed. It was cool seeing the teachers sparring or pushing and putting it on the line in public. There were no medals then. Instead, everyone won trophies. The trophies were made of chromed plastic and metal or wood bases. Every single tournament trophy had the same gold plastic guy throwing a karate kick on top of it. Every single one! The bigger events and most important divisions had bigger and more impressive trophies. Even the smaller trophies were relatively large. If you competed often and were winning regularly you could get enough trophies to create a serious storage problem. Our current medals are a nice change. Also the medals last longer.
