JIM ANESTASI + RON SHEWMAKER

[Sifu Ron]

I will never forget the day Jim came by my house and told me about Ark Wong, and showed me some of the Kung Fu fighting methods he had learned. That was in 1958. It was very impressive , Jim taught me the basics of his and Ark Wong's fighting and the Butterfly Set.


At that time in my life I wasn't looking for anyone anymore in martial arts , I haf been looking for Mas Oyama - I read about him killing bulls in Tijuana with his bare hands but could not find him or anyone familiar with his strength training. I was heading back into Boxing.

Jim was always a strong fighter , I always enjoyed training with him , so I took him up on his offer so I could train with him. Next he introduced me to Ark Wong and I gave it a try. I asked Sifu ( Ark Wong ) about Mas Obama's powerful striking ability , he said " I teach the same thing but in a different method " right after I asked him " how long does it take to get a Black Belt ? " he replied " what's that ?" that made me very happy and as a result I spent of my life training and teaching Sifu's style of Kung Fu.

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[whitetiger]

Seems like yesterday, that staff is a stainless steel pipe.

[Sifu Ron]

What I liked most about Sifu's ( Ark Wong's) method of training Jim and I was the combat , we spent the majority of our time fighting , Jim and I were excellent workout partners. The emphasis on forms was how to use ( apply) the movements) in combat and to maintain posture, strength, and power.

I can say the same thing about Jiu Jitsu - in Jiu-Jitsu we never practiced forms there wasn't any forms , we practiced self-defense and offense constantly in all workouts.

[Sifu Ron]

The Chinese people that lived in China Town didn't like us , they resented Sifu Ark Y Wong for teaching Kung Ku to us and introducing us to their culture. Sifu put up with a lot of crap from them as we did.

The demo we did on March 1964 helped somewhat, we did it at the Hop Sing Thong there was standing room only. I became friends with Marshall Ho ( he was their that day) we met later at a small restaurant . I liked him , he taught me Tai Chi in exchange for some striking techniques. Above all we became good friends.

Bruce Lees arrival at Chinatown helped a lot , he told the locals " this isn't China this is the USA live and enjoy being here." Bruce and Ark Wong were good friends . I liked Bruce very much. When Bruce asked Sifu if he would let him open a school at Sifus place Sifu said no and got upset , that's natural , I never met anyone that had an established school let someone else come in. Bruce opened his own place close by and they remained friends.

[Sifu Ron]

Back around 1961 Sifu did his best to get me to learn Chi Gong -- I tired it for a while but it wasn't for me --- pulling your testicle up into your stomach ( in the event your kicked their ) ---- grabbing a punch to your stomach without your hands --- being able to withstand had blows ---

I found it interesting ---- it involved breathing and isometrics and mental ability ---- along with many years of practice.

It really works. No tricks.

[Sifu Ron]

some very enjoyable memories of the Ord street school were the late sixty's up to the time Sifu moved the school, Sifu asked me to aid him in teaching some of his closed door ( private students) to learn how to use the moves in their forms. It was a great learning experience for me. I worked with one fellow a year and we had a very fine relationship , we learned several fighting sets together.