***** Special Notice From Master
Jerry James *****
Tây Sơn
Nhạn (West Mountain
Eagle) Kung Fu
The Origin
The
Vietnamese people and culture starts about 4000 years ago in what is now North
Vietnam and moved south to claim the lands that we now know.
Major
conflicts and struggles ensued during this time of growth and many Martial Arts
styles were either developed on their own or brought over from neighboring China
and changed to fit the Vietnamese people.
In
the northern parts of Vietnam, you find the Northern Shaolin influence and in
the southern parts, you find Southern Shaolin influence and in central
Vietnam, you find Vietnamese Kung Fu styles with influences from both.
These
Vietnamese styles are usually a blend of different styles from the
surrounding area. You can find techniques and forms from Shaolin, Tai Chi, and
Kickboxing mixed together to form effective and devastating new styles.
The
practice of Martial Arts was forbidden during the French occupation and
many Martial Arts schools had to go underground.
Fathers
had to teach their sons and masters had to teach their few students in private
to keep the traditions alive. Many of the Master and students kept books on
their individual style, but unlike the Chinese Martial Arts books that described
the techniques in steps, the Vietnamese books were written as poems. Therefore,
anyone reading the book could not understand the techniques or forms that were
being described. Only the person that wrote the book would understand what was
being described. Unfortunately, if the person that wrote the book died without
teaching anyone their kung fu style, the style would cease to exist.
Many
styles ceased to exist or are not know because the teacher of the style only
taught within his or her family and never developed the style to compete with
other styles.
The
following is the lineage of Tây
Sơn Nhạn Kung
Fu as it is known today by
Grandmaster Hong
Nhan and recognized by the government in Vietnam as a competing style of Martial
Arts.
Grandmaster
Chin Hoa is known to have had about 18 to 20 students learning Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung
Fu. From these students,
we can follow the path of lineage up to our current instructor, Sifu
Jerry James.
Due to the violent and often
changing political structure of Vietnam,
it's hard to trace the lineage
and the true origins of Tay
Son Nhan Kung Fu.
What is know is a s follows :
of
Black Sash and any levels of Black Sash that follow, within the school of Tây Sơn
Nhạn Kung Fu, will
not be valid if any certificates stating the promotion are not signed
(Any discrepancy with these declarations needs
to be brought up with Grandmaster Hong Nhan
at 972-896-0332. This web site is only stating the facts as declared by the Grandmaster of
Tây
Sơn Nhan.)
Grandmaster Hong Nhan
started training in the art of Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung
Fu
at the age of 5.
Learning from his
father, Nguyen Van Mach, Grandmaster Hong Nhan began his fighting career at 15 years old and
came to be called Hong Nhan Learning from his
father, Nguyen Van Mach, Grandmaster Hong Nhan began his fighting career at 15 years old and
came to be called Hong Nhan (RED EAGLE)
because most of his victims would be bleeding
after he fought them and won.
Grandmaster Hong Nhan
came to
the US after the Vietnam war and opened his first Kung Fu school in which 3
students made it through all belt level tests to Black Sash.
(see letter below for more
information )
-- White Eagle --
Master - 5th Degree
Black Sash
Promoted to 5th
Degree Black Sash by Grandmaster Hong Nhan on November 5, 2004.
Held the Texas Thai Boxing Champion Title for KMA in
1986 - 1987 and retired from the sport of Full-Contact Thai Boxing with an
undefeated record of 16 Title Fights won by first round T.K.O.'s.
Master Mike started in the art of self-defense at the
age of 12 in the sport of boxing, and actively competed in the Golden Gloves. This
was his first true experience in hard physical training to condition the body
and mind. This experience stayed with Master Mike through the years of
Football and Rodeo to his advantage.
At the age of 17, Master Mike joined the U.S. Navy
and was accepted for the Navy SEALS Training and Self-Defense. He left the
Navy with an Honorable Discharge in 1981.
Master Mike continued to train on his own, only to
find that something was still missing in his knowledge of the Art of
Self-Defense. After searching for three years, Master Mike started training
with his older brother who was himself trained in the Martial Arts. This led
him to meet Grandmaster Hong Nhan
of the Vietnamese Martial Art
Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu.
Grandmaster Hong Nhan was an active fighter and Thai Boxing
Champion in Viet Nam and won many champion ship fights from 1967 until 1972.
Master Mike was fortunate enough to be accepted as his
first American Student. After beginning his training in Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu,
In-Fighting,
Master Mike asked to join the Thai Boxing Team for Full-Contact
Competition.
After receiving his Black Belt Rank in Thai Boxing,
Master Mike continued to study Tây
Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu under the teachings of
and received his second
Black Belt.
Master Mike's personal belief :
Conditioning of the Body leads to Conditioning of the
Mind, and only when the two come together as one, can a person achieve full
potential of his or her self.
-- Iron Eagle --
Sifu - 5th Degree Black Sash
Promoted to
5th
Degree Black Sash by Grandmaster Hong
Nhan
on
September 16, 2006
Strength,
Power, Control
Appointed
by Grandmaster Hong Nhan to assume the responsibilities of
Chief
Instructor of Tây Sơn
Nhạn Kung Fu
whenever Grandmaster
Hong
Nhan is in Vietnam
A native of Garland, Texas, Sifu Jerry
joined the Marine Corp. in 1973 at the age of 18 and was to spend two years at
the Marine barracks in a Top Secret Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Having
fulfilled is his tour of duty with the Marines, Sifu Jerry was honorably
discharged in 1975.
Sifu Jerry started his Martial Arts
training with Mr. Pyo at the Chang Pyo College of Tae Kwon Do. Achieved the
rank of 3rd degree Red Belt by 1982.
Then, in 1987, one of Sifu Jerry's
friends asked him to come with him to watch a Kung Fu class at a school that
he had heard about. After watching the class for a while, Sifu Jerry asked the
class instructor if he would mind sparing with him for a while. After 45
minutes of sparing, Sifu Jerry was amazed to realize that he had not laid a
hand on the class instructor the entire time. This was the first time that Sifu
Jerry had
met Master Mike Puliam
of
Tay
Son Nhan Kung Fu.
Realizing that everything
he was looking for in a self defense Martial Art was within
Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu,
Sifu Jerry joined Master Mike's
school that night and has been learning and teaching ever since.
In 1994, Master Mike had
to leave Texas to return to Louisiana for business reasons and left his
school in the capable hands of Sifu Jerry, who at that time was a Brown
Sash. Teaching classes and traveling to Louisiana to train with Master
Mike, Sifu Jerry was able to achieve his Black Sash in 1995.
Teaching his own school, training with
Master Mike in Louisiana and also training with Grandmaster
Hong Nhan,
also Master Mike's teacher, Sifu Jerry was promoted to 2nd degree Black Sash
1998, 3rd degree Black Sash in2001and on November 5, 2004, was promoted
to 4th degree Black Sash by
Grandmaster Hong Nhan.
Sifu Jerry continues to teach classes
and to train with Master Mike, in the hope
that others can benefit from the honor , discipline and confidence
that Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu
instills
in it's practitioners.
This is not to say that all schools that
teach the art of
Tây Sơn Nhạn Kung Fu
are
the same, but Master Mike and Sifu Jerry hold the highest standards in moral
ethics and will not tolerate those that abuse the privilege and honor of rank.
Sifu
Jerry is the lead instructor of the class that is located in the
Vietnamese
Community
Center.
==== Location ===
**** Special Insert ****
To the
Students and Teachers of Tay Son Nhan
By Master
Jerry James
In the past 10
years, Tây Sơn Nhạn has become
known as a point fighting art. Not the strong self-defense martial art of the
past. In seeing this, Grandmaster Hong Nhan has decided to take a more hands
on approach in the teaching of Tây Sơn Nhạn. To make this the strong art that is was, in the traditions of the past
Grandmasters, he is training me in the real techniques, as well as the healing
of injuries that only Grandmaster's know. He has asked me to be the next
Grandmaster of all Tây Sơn Nhạn when he retires or upon his death. I am honored to have been chosen to
be Grandmaster in the year's to come. We will become strong again.
If anyone in
our system, from white belt to high-ranking Master, has any questions about
this decision or anything else, you can come see Grandmaster Hong Nhan when he
is in America. I will also be available at anytime to answer all questions.
Thank you,
Master Jerry James
This letter was
written by Master Jerry James and he has asked that it be inserted in our
website to inform all of what has transpired between he and Grandmaster Hong
Nhan.
-- Gallant Eagle --
Sifu - 1st Degree Black Sash
Promoted to
1st Degree Black Sash
on July 22, 2006.
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