Wushu is currently at an intermediate rank and his forms are pretty good. As far as Peipei and his master, all I have requested is some lineage and some more detail on the school's background. Traditionally, one test of one's legitamacy is to be able to trace lineage in the Chinese martial arts. It is one trait that sets us apart but, unfortunately, sometimes does not allow us as an art to compete with tae kwon do, karate, etc. as a popular art because we become infatuated with everyone's true training, etc. I concur with those that say we may be a little harsh on Peipei but I have looked at the videos as well. And, since I have alot more background in both training and competing than Wushu, I have observed that this master does have significant physical skill and his forms are very decent. However, if he is on the mainland these days, and was born in 1971 and started training in 1978 (the same year I did), then this was shortly after the Cultural revolution ended in 1976 after an 8 year reign. Most traditional Shaolin, Wudang, etc. artists had to go underground, especially the masters. If that is true, then my question to Peipei would be how his master found a true master of traditional Wudang in this atmosphere and was able to train without punishment or discovery from the Chinese government? His skills do look more wushu than traditional (note the position of feet in his stances, his punching relative to his body, etc. that reflect more of a wushu type background than traditional kung fu).
It is sad that some great teachers from the 60s and 70s were either lost, punished, or "re-educated" during this time and the great knowledge that either migrated to Hong Kong, Taiwan, or North America during this time. Madame Wong Ju Rong, who recently passed away and whose father is generally recognized as the greatest mainland martial artist of the 20th century and a national treasure, had to adjust some of her teaching/training during this time period with her husband Dr. Cheng De Wu in order to preserve their well being and that of their three daughters. Soooo....this master claims to know the true internal Wu Dang and Shaolin at the same time all of this was occuring in the mainland. (As an aside, my Ying Jow master, Leung Shum, returned to China in the mid-80s to seek out traditional eagle claw vs. wushu eagle, and he could only find one old man who did not practice anymore....the rest had moved to Hong Kong, the US, or stopped training).
Though Wushu is still young in his art (little over 5 years) he has trained with both Jeff Bolt (the senior of Dr. Yang Jwing Ming), and Madame Wong and her daughter here in Houston before she died. Thus, his length of service is relatively short compared to some of us but his pedigree is beyond reproach.  |