Kung Fu Lab v. 1.3 & Combined Sparring with Shigong Gary ~ 2/28/26

Shifu Gary J. LaChapelle demonstrated a Tai Chi technique to be used in Push Hands.

Saturday February 28th, Shigong Gary J. LaChapelle Jr. of our parent school New England Kung Fu came up to Maynard MA to run the third Kung Fu Lab, where students did a deep dive on one of our forms. Often referred to as Bāk Pài Quán (the Cantonese pronunciation) in our school, this form is a Zhǎngquán 長拳 (Northern Long Fist) form with Northern Shaolin 北少林拳 (Běi Shàolínquán) modifications.

Following the Lab, we did a Combined Sparring class, in which students from both of our schools trained reaction skills (push hands and sparring) together. As always it was fun to “touch hands” with different partners than usual.

One thing I appreciate about our main styles of Kung Fu (Shāndōng Shàolín 山東少林, traditional Huáquán 华拳, and Luóhànquán 罗汉拳) is that our instructors are able to synthesize the Kung Fu styles into fighting. Forms and sparring should not be separate, and our schools work hard to teach our students to use the principles and movements from our forms IN our fighting. This requires a depth of understanding and analysis that not all martial arts schools have.

As usual, photos are available on our Facebook and SmugMug pages. Enjoy!

~ Shifu