The training of Purpose involves getting clear about one's motives and fear-based blind-spots. In the Lion's Roar tradition we must not fight unless there is a clearly righteous purpose. This sounds simple but when contemplated deeply, it is far from being a simple matter. Incidentally, the Hop Gar system derives its very name from this first Lion's Roar principle. The human capacity for self-justification is infinite. So, the training in Purpose is on-going and fundamental to the system. Specifically, this involves meditation on four issues: the uniqueness of human existence, the transitory nature of everything, the nature of suffering, and the reciprocal inevitability of action. Students of Buddhism may recognize these four meditations. Training in Resolve is a kind of psychological training that seeks to develop a highly refined level of deliberateness. As one will definitely discover when first attempting this area of training, it is not so easy to actually do anything deliberately. What we believe we are "doing" every day, all day, is really not doing at all but rather, reflexing. Doing, as in resolved doing, is a unique type of deliberate action that is not a re-action to something else. When this principle is properly understood and developed, a Lion's Roar strike simply cannot be deflected. The training in Perception is particularly unique and useful. In this training, we can learn to clearly perceive the opponent's energy, weaknesses and timing. Being able to perceive and work with these vital data give an obvious advantage. The Lion's Roar Perception training also has another feature that is hard for many to believe. The advanced level of this training involves learning how to actually change the opponent's perception of what is happening. It is also possible to learn how to significantly slow the action down so that you perceive everything in much slower motion. Almost everyone has had an experience, usually an accident of some kind, where everything was perceived in slow motion. In the case of a traumatic or frightful accident, this happens involuntarily. In Lion's Roar however one can learn to produce this affect at will. The Lion's Roar training of Energy is fundamentally similar to the various systems of Qi Gong and Yoga. However, it also includes specific training for some extraordinary abilities like those that have been sensationalized in Chinese Kung Fu fables and movies for generations. The ultimate of all of these extraordinary abilities is literal invisibility. The Lion's Roar training of Technique shares with other martial systems an array of methods to strike the opponent so as to disable him. The main technical feature is to learn how to strike the opponent in three especially disabling ways. These include, striking him at the same moment that he is striking out at you; striking him at a particularly sensitive or disabling area (like a dim mak point or the eye, etc.); and striking him at the peak of his inhalation.
Although its roots can be traced to ancient India and still somewhat recognizable in the very ancient systems of Kalari, there are in fact two distinct Indian lineages. One is the lineage of the first Chan patriarch, Bodhidharma (Damo), whose knowledge of Indian martial arts formed the basis of the Shaolin system, and the other is the lineage of an enigmatic master named Humkara. The lineage of Humkara is directly antecedent to Lion's Roar. During the era of Kublai Khan (1271), the Mongols conquered all of China and a vast portion of the adjacent territory. This is known as the Yuan Dynasty and was the first time in history that China was ruled by a non-Chinese emperor. This greatly and deeply offended the strong nationalistic sentiments of the Chinese and even to this present day it is not unusual to hear these grumblings among the older Chinese. When Kublai Khan set up his palace in the Forbidden City he also installed an elite force of Lion's Roar masters as palace guards and as his personal bodyguards. The stories and legends related to these guards are countless and always include details of powers that are patently magical. As Chinese Kung Fu nationalist encountered these Lion's Roar masters, they inevitably absorbed certain more obvious features of what they (the Chinese) considered to be the "evil art of foreign demons".
Among the martial systems that are derived from Lion's Roar, the most obvious is Lama Pai. This system maintains most of the Technical and Energetic aspects of Lion's Roar. The Tibetan White Crane system retained even more of the Energetic content and also some fragments of the Perceptual principles. As mentioned above, Hop Gar was originally distinguished by its emphasis on honor and righteousness. Whether this emphasis exists today is questionable. Without question, however, the serious ethical commitment that once required formal vows as a prerequisite for training no longer exists. Another conspicuous Chinese martial system that adapted many of the Lion's Roar technical and energetic features is the Bak Mei system. Bak Mei means White Eyebrow and, according to the Chinese, is so named because the Taoist originator had remarkably prominant white eyebrows. The true story however is that the Bak Mei master got his name from his Himalayan hermitage which was located at the White Brow Mountain in Tibet. This master, who was opportunistically loyal to the Chinese, was quite famous for defeating numerous Lama masters. In the end however, the Bak Mei master renounced the Chinese nationalists and returned to life as a hermit. The main feature of the Bak Mei system that links it to Lion's Roar is the distinctive use of whole-body Ging which they call, Geng Jak Ging (sacred power). In summary, all of the derivative and hybrid systems that contain elements of Lion's Roar have their story, and they are all very interesting.
Today, realistically, it may be very difficult indeed to learn how to train in all of the five Lion's Roar principles. In my own case, starting more than forty years ago, I had to find different masters who had learned one or two of the training methods and then reconnect them all. It would be even more difficult to do that now because martial arts has become such a commercial endeavor. And there are only very few of the old masters still alive. About twenty years ago I made an effort to seek out Lion's Roar practitioners who may have learned some Lion's Roar from Tibetan teachers. I couldn't find a single one. As far as I know, I may be the only Lion's Roar exponent who trained under indigenous Tibetans. However, my Tibetan masters themselves did not possess full knowledge of all five principles. Nevertheless, it was from my Tibetan masters that I learned the most important, subtle and elusive training principles of Lion's Roar. These, combined with the other aspects of Lion's Roar that I learned from Chinese masters afforded me knowledge of the complete system. Based on my personal experience and interaction with so many martial styles and systems over the years, my conclusion is that no system is more comprehensive and far-reaching than the Lion's Roar.
The following is a list of old masters under whose training and by whose generosity I received significant knowledge of Lion's Roar: Tomo Geshe Rinpoche, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, Gong Duk Foon, Gin Foon Mark, Chen Hok Fu, Luk Gan Wing and his brother Luk Chi Fu, Kwong Man Fong, and the incomparable Chew Yook Wing.
For a video sampling of some of the fundamental aspects of Lion's Roar Technical training, see the YouTube selections at the following channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lionsroarsifu
and an old film of Luk Chi Fu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qGSldBuj7A
For examples of the Energy training, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk4NIQL6s2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSyqAJUYJdk&playnext=1&list=PLA6659AAAF75D184E&index=27
A novel by M. J. Sullivan that describes a number of Lion's Roar features:
http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/142813-ebook.htm
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