Willy Lin
(Lin Shih Kuan) |
Willy
Lin was born in 1938 at TaiChung, Taiwan. He began martial arts
in 1957 and studied with the Grandmaster of the Tian Shen Pai
system, Wang Jyue Jen, until 1968.
In that
year he left Taiwan for Sao Paulo, Brazil. He recalled the trip
much later as a time of living on hot dogs which he swore he would
never eat again. In Sao Paulo he taught for the Chinese Association
Center. In 1970 he arrived in the U.S. where he first visited
Chen Man Qing (both in the same lineage) in New York then moved
to Silver Spring, Maryland. After a brief time association with
the Tracy Karate organization there, he opened his own school.
Continuing with his promotion of the martial arts he sponsored
touring companies for the performance of Tian Shan Pai including
local and national demos and TV appearances. He was also featured
in educational films for the U S Department of the Navy.
A little Chin Na
to help with back pain... |
Willy Lin
(Lin Shih Kuang) was one of his teacher, Wang Jyue Jen's, top students.
He introduced the style to the United States, his first studens
- and one of his co-sponsers to remain in the US - being Ted Mancuso.
Mancuso remembers, "I got a call from our Silver Spring school
about a guy who "claimed" to be a Kung Fu instructor
but the local teacher was unable to judge his quality. I drove
down and Willy and I met. We had an instant affinity which lasts
to this day. He then performed Tai Chi for me and I saw how good
he was. He was the first living human being I ever saw doing Tai
Chi. I became his student and the Long Form Yang style he taught
me I have never had to vary."
Single and Partner weapons
of Tian Shan Pai. |
Willy was
also very talented at Push Hands - I hear it he still is. I recall
that, after being frustrated with how easy he beat me, I finagled
him into playing Sticky Hands with me. He had never seen Wing
Chun and was very enthusiastic. Being a smart ass 20 year old
I said, Yeah, it's pretty good. It's Chinese. But Willy was fine
with this. He had a lovely sense of humor and a tremendous personal
integrity. He called himself a "cowboy," and he was
because he was also a gentleman. He taught me steel whip, BaJi
(I might be one of the first Americans to learn it), some BaGua
and much else. We had a special realtionship I will never forget.
His mastery of his own system of Tian Shan Pai is profound."
For a number
of years Willy Lin has been gone from the world of active teaching,
pursuing his own career in another field. However, during that
time he has never stopped practicing his beloved style: Heaven
Mountain Fist. Recently, having retired from the business world,
Willy is bringing his excellent instruction back to the martial
arts and producing DVDs on Chin Nah ( a particular expertise of
his) and other aspects of Tian Shan Pai.
Willy Lin
has taught many good martial artists including respected Shihfu in his own right: Dennis Brown and Gene Gause. Ted
Mancuso has the honor and pleasure of being his first American
student and his friend.
