Pai lum

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Pai Lum (Bai Long, White Dragon) Kung fu is a martial arts style that was established by Daniel Kane Pai.

1 Pai Lum History
2 Curriculum
3 Controversy
4 References

[edit] Pai Lum History

According to his training manual, Daniel Kane Pai was born in a poor family in Hawaii and brought up by his grandfather, Pai Po Feng. The Pai family, being Chinese, was mistreated by the locals and held very little respect. At the age of twelve, Pai Po Feng sent his grandson to the "White Lotus Temple" in northern Okinawa to study "kenpo" with some relatives. After five years of intense training, Daniel returned to Hawaii and became the prominent fighter of the islands, winning trophies and respect for his family name. Filled with pride for his grandson, Pai Po Feng taught Daniel the Pai Family style, Pai Lum. Determined to share his new-found knowledge, Pai traveled to the mainland and established the White Dragon Association in New England. The training manual does not go into much detail as to how or why he established the association, but goes on to several teaching traits he exhibited.

[edit] Curriculum

The first student in Pai Lum Kung Fu was Kalaii Griffin. At that time the curriculum within Pai Lum was Goju Ryu Karate. Shortly thereafter, in the early 1970's, Daniel Pai opened a school ("Fire Dragon") in Hartford Cnnecticut and began teaching people such as Thomas D. St. Charles, Peter Genero, Charlie Hatchett, Robert Schoolnick, David Everett, and others. It was at this time that kung fu forms were first introduced, adding Kung Fu forms from various styles, including Hung Gar and White Eyebrow from Lee Chun Pai in Ontario, Canada, as well as Choy Li Fut, Lau Gar, and northern style Chang Chuan forms. Certain Pai family forms were introduced, as well, and taught alongside of the Kempo methods. The Fire Dragon school, fueled by heightened interest in the Chinese Martial arts via the Bruce Lee craze, was a commercial success for a few short years. Afterward, Daniel Pai retreated to less visible locations in the Hartford area, such as a 33 room house in a historical district and later, an apartment complex. During these years the Pai Lum curriculum was refined and taught through travel to Pai Lum association schools in Pennsylvania, Nova Scotia, North Carolina, Florida, and Missouri. Tao Chi Pai was Pai Lum chief instructor at this time, later maintaining the Pai Lum presence in the Hartford area at his White Lotus Martial Arts Center.

Daniel Pai personally never taught his students a set curriculum and in fact what he taught had changed over the years. Many attempts were made, via his persobnal students, to develop a set curriculum, with good success coming during the Hartford years, however. This resulted in confusion among Pai Lum instructors who would occasionally compare what they had learned. Today, this continues to be the case as instructors broaden their martial arts experience through cross-training.

Many of the practice forms (or katas, to use the Japanese equivalent term) in Pai Lum closely resemble those of the Hung Gar system, but tend to be longer and more drawn out, purportedly for the purposes of building endurance. For example, Pai Lum's 'Outer Tiger' form doubles many of the 90-degree, 4-direction movements found in the original Hung Gar form into 45-degree, 8-direction movements.

Seemingly no two of Daniel Pai's high-level black belt students got there via the same curriculum. The test for first level black belt was, however, very brutal in the early days of his stateside teachings. When one of his students did earn a black belt, it was many times said to be as much a rite of pain as of skill.

[edit] Controversy

The historical legend as told above has never been substantiated and is even considered dubious by many within Pai Lum. Issues arise when one finds that there has never been a "White Lotus Temple" in Okinawa and that the Okamura mentioned within the legend's text is more likely to have been the founder of the "Okinawa Kenpo Karate" system, namely Shigeru Nakamura. It also raises the question as to why a master of a Chinese martial art would send his grandson half a world away to study an Okinawan martial art system when he could have taught him. Moreover, the date of Pai's alleged travel to Okinawa seems highly improbable, since according to the legend he would have travelled there in 1942, after the Second World War in the Pacific began, which is clearly very improbable, given that Okinawa was one of the Japanese home islands. Another controversy is that Daniel Pai was often called "Dr. Pai" by his students but to date, there is no record of Daniel Pai going to medical school or achieving a doctorate from any academic institution.

Daniel Pai died in 1993 without naming a successor. (Daniel Pai was married in the 1950's and this union produced two children, a daughter now living in Florida and a son named Daniel who resides in Virginia.) This too has raised some issues. Depending on the school and location, you will get different responses as to who exactly should be named the head of the system. Some contend that no one should be the head of the system since each succeeding master develops something new. Besides the few non-aligned instructors, such as former chief instructor, Pai Tao Chi (David Everett), two competing factions exist within Pai Lum, namely the World White Dragon Society and the White Dragon Warrior Society.

The World White Dragon Society made up of early students of Daniel K. Pai including Pai Shao Li (Steve Mathews), Pai Li Lung (John Weninger), Pai Shinzan (Thomas D. St. Charles), Pai Ching-Lin (David Smith), and Pai Hsin-Lung (Philip Hunter), Pai Ying Lung (Robert L. Skaling-Pai), and Pai Bok Hok (Marcia Pickhands), and others. The other competing faction is The White Dragon Warrior Society, which is headed by Glen C. Wilson supported by his wife Hilda Guerrero Wilson, and students. Considering there is no set curriculum, central authority, or standard within Pai Lum, there seems little point to naming anyone the head of the system.

Despite the ongoing controversies regarding the origin and authenticity of Pai Lum Kung Fu, it remains that Daniel Pai was an enigma, both as a man and a martial arts master. Those who spent significant time with him may all agree that his charisma and personal energy were unmistakable and left a lasting impression upon those who met him, even briefly. One never walked away unchanged, and either loved him or hated him, with few feeling ambivalent.