Brian Scanlon
I am a 2nd Generation Irish American. My Grandfather left Ireland to escape the Christian wars, and moved in New York City to start life over. He moved to Detroit, Michigan and started working in Local Government , when he met my grandmother, and started a family. He ended up killing himself via alcoholism at a surprisingly young age. My Paternal Grandmother remarried a great man from Scotland, who was a very good grandfather to me.
My Maternal Grandmother was a Polish immigrant, and also moved to New York when first moving to the USA. The family ended up relocating to Detroit, Michigan, where my Aunt opened a grocery store. My Maternal Grandmother did alot of my raising, and is responsible for most of my positive character traits.
My father was a police officer, in Michigan, and did so for over 28 years. My parents ended in divorce, and my mother remarried and moved to Arizona where she lives to this day, working as a corporate secretary.
My path in life was always my own. I have been an artist since I was 4 years old. My Maternal Grandmother always helped to foster my artistic talents. I actualy showed my Art work in New York City several years ago at the worlds largest art expo.
I have played Guitar for almost 20 years. My former band "Chronic boom", actualy opened for "Rage against the machine", "Eke mouse", "Enemy Squad", "Hillside Stranglers", and other Nationaly recognized bands. My current band "DeadLetter", "6th Reich" and "Vril" are working on new projects.
I met my first Wing Chun Sifu, back in the early 90s and was very impressed that Wing Chun was the "Thinking Mans" Kung Fu. I also found that Wing Chun Kuen was one of the only systems in the world that was a conceptual based system, and the conceptual framework and principels could be applied to anything in life.
My First teacher, Sifu Grayson practised a version of H.K Wing Chun Kuen, that was passed down from Yip Man to Leung Sheung to Fai Cheung Wu. My Second teacher Sifu Phil is one of the top students of William cheung. At the time i was young and naive and wanted to learn both approaches. There was a lot of political friction between my 2 teachers and i was placed in the middle to choose sides. This was after being in the system 5-6 years(4 years H.K + 2 TWC). I actually decided to leave both schools, and went out on my own in search of the truth. I found Sifu and Dai Si Hing from a wide range of H.K Wing Chun families and Mainland Wing Chun to study with, learn from and trade knowledge. After learning abroad for ruffly 15 years i found the YKS WCK system , and have diligently practised it for 5 years, and will never have a need to practise any other version of the system - Thanks Sum num Sigung~!!! I practise my WCK every single day and have done so for almost 15 years.I want to thank all of the Wing Chun Practitioners that have helped me Grow as a student.
"Brian Scanlon would especialy like to thank Sifu Zopa Gyatso, Aaron Cantrell, Yuen Kay Shan SiJo, Sum Num Si Gung, Cheung Bo, Kwok Wah Ping, Tom Wong, Leung Dai Chiu, Lee Chi Yiu, William Mah, Mike Rose, Wong Nim Yi and Ivan Rzounek, Cho Hong Choi, Hendrik Santo, Mak Yiu Ming, Hunter Von Unchuld, Steven Chao and the Chao Family, The entire Cho Gar Family incluidng Poon Yu village, Ku Choi Wah, Bertrand Lim, as well as everyone i have learned from. Thank you all for sharing, what Sum Num Sigung called the "Crown Jewel of Chinese Martial Arts"" byondthis@yahoo.com