Bo Law Kung Fu Association
History:
Beginning at the age of 12, Paul Pantazakos studied Wing Chun under Sifu Lee Moy Shan before moving on to study Hung Gar (and perhaps Fu Jow Pai) with Sifu Tony Lau, who was a member of Grandmaster Ng Wai Hong’s Fu Jow Pai Federation and one of his students. He studied with Sifu Lau for many years, reputedly becoming his number one student and was placed in charge of Ying Yee Kwoon (Sifu Lau’s school). In the early 1990’s, Ng Wai Hong actively tried to recruit schools to join his Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation. Allegedly, Paul was enthusiastically involved in this “recruitment” drive (he used to be an officer in Wai Hong’s organization). He purportedly endorsed the idea of forming a group of fighters to go to the various schools and shut them down if they refused to join the new federation. However, there is no evidence that the cadre of fighters ever came off the drawing board. At this point in time Sifu Lau was the President of the Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation.
In 1994 Paul decided he wanted to open his own school. However, according to rumor, Tony Lau did not want him to teach. The reasons are not known though one supposition is that Sifu Lau disowned Paul after Paul started representing himself as a Sifu, which he felt was beyond Paul’s skill level. In any event, Paul broke away from Sifu Lau and formed the Bo Law Hung Gar Kung Fu Club where he taught Lam Jo lineage Hung Gar (and Hung Gar alone). Consequently, Sifu Lau disowned Paul as his student. At this time, it is believed, he began an association with Tak Wah Eng (Hung Gar, Fu Jow Pai) that continues to this day. On a side note, Tony Lau was Tak Wah Eng’s sihing in the Fu Jow Pai Federation.
In the beginning the students met 3 times a week in a dance studio in Midtown (with sparring every Thursday). The monthly cost was $45 and there were no sashes. Eventually Paul found a location on the outskirts of Chinatown (in a former sweatshop). He moved down there in 1998. He changed the name of the school to Bo Law Hung Kuen National Arts Association. He also implemented a belt/sash system. The order of rank went as follows: gold, gold with rank (1 to 5 green stripes on the gold sash), green, green with rank (1 to 5 red stripes), red, red with rank (1 to 5 black stripes), black, black with gold stripes, gold belt instructor (black sash with gold trim), senior gold belt instructor (same as gold belt instructor except the senior instructors wear a blue robe) and chief instructor. As of September 2002, Paul changed things at Bo Law. The ranking requirements were changed to a black sash for every student; i.e. technically there were no longer any ranks. All the students were required to wear the black sash with their normal school uniform (black pants and red t-shirt), excluding the senior students who wore the blue robes; they were still required to dress the same.
At some point in 1998 or 1999 he decided he no longer wished to teach Hung Gar (perhaps he found it too difficult to compete head-to-head with Yee’s Hung Ga). He still advertised that he taught Hung Gar, but he started students off with various rudimentary forms he or Tak Wah created instead of the traditional forms from Hung Gar. This was a dramatic shift in his teaching style from when he first opened the school, and from the way he had learned from Sifu Lau. If questioned, he would tell the students that they were not ready to learn Hung Gar. He now teaches a mixture of Shaolin (Lohan, Tong Bei, etc), Northern Mantis, Tai Chi, 5 Animals (with forms created by Tak Wah Eng) and Fu Jow Pai. The reasons for this striking shift are unknown.
The teaching of the Fu Jow Pai material was, and is, very controversial. Both Paul Pantazakos and Tak Wah Eng were expelled from the Fu Jow Pai Federation. Per Paul and Tak Wah, Tak Wah was Wai Hong’s chosen successor in the Federation (he was considered to be the #3 Fu Jow Pai practitioner in the lineage). Their claim is that Wai Hong stepped down as Grandmaster due to having killed a man during an attempted robbery (three youths attacked him on the subway and ended up on the losing end). He did this to protect the Fu Jow Pai Federation in case things turned sour after he was charged with homicide. Tak Wah took over the federation with Wai Hong’s blessing. Eventually the charges against Wai Hong were dismissed. Once he was cleared, he decided to come out of “retirement” and resume his control over the Fu Jow Pai Federation. Tak Wah resisted this. This is the story that is passed along by Paul and the senior students at Bo Law as the reason for the falling out between Tak Wah Eng and Ng Wai Hong. However, others outside of Bo Law have stated that this story is, in fact, false. They state that Tak Wah was forced out because he was becoming “too big for his britches” so to speak. Regardless of the truth of the matter, there was a political battle, and Tak Wah was forced out. He no longer represents the Fu Jow Pai Federation. He knows the material, but he cannot claim to teach it. As a result, Tak Wah and Paul took to calling the style Hark Fu Moon, which was the original name before it was changed by a previous Grandmaster (Wong Bil Hong).
As an interesting anecdote, after Tak Wah was forced out of the Fu Jow Pai Federation, he attended a tournament where he demonstrated a Fu Jow Pai form. Since he could not truly perform the form without Wai Hong’s permission, he replaced all of the tiger claw strikes with palm strikes. Apparently, at that time, Tak Wah was wary of offending Wai Hong. That no longer seems to be the case.
(Update: In a recent article in Inside Kung Fu, Paul describes himself as a student of Tak Wah Eng, Tony Lau and Wai Hong. This is a remarkable change from when he would only acknowledge Tak Wah as his teacher. It doesn’t strain credulity to assume that Paul and Tak Wah have mended fences with Tony Lau and Wai Hong. Why this occurred is unknown, though one could make the argument that Tony Lau and Wai Hong saw how successful Paul and Tak Wah had become and decided to “get in on the action” so to speak. Paul has also recently published a book “Tiger in the Moonlight”. In it he thanks Tak Wah Eng, Tony Lau and Wai Hong. This would be another indication that Paul and Tak Wah have mended fences with Tony Lau and Wai Hong. Interestingly, Paul never acknowledges that he ever studied Wing Chun with Sifu Lee Moy Shan, even though a Wing Chun influence can be seen in some of the forms of his own creation.)
In July of 1998, Hui Cambrelen, a Fu Jow Pai Sifu from Patterson, NJ, became angered by what he felt were misrepresentations by Paul. He felt that it was improper for Paul to market himself as a Black Tiger Sifu when he had been expelled from the very system he claimed to teach. He states that a representative of the Fu Jow Pai Federation was sent to Paul in order to speak to him about his use of the Fu Jow Pai name. He claimed that Paul responded by having his attorney contact him (Sifu Cambrelen) stating that a complaint was made to the police. It should be noted here that the police were informed of the situation, and that Paul’s brother is an attorney. In September of 1999, Sifu Cambrelen issued a challenge to Paul on his website (Fu Jow Pai). To this date, Paul has not answered the challenge. However, he has ceased to advertise the styles he teaches. He just claims to teach Shaolin Kung Fu for health and fitness. He also changed the website domain name from www.shaolinblacktiger.com to www.bolawkungfu.com. Nevertheless, he still teaches the style. He just does not claim to teach it.
Another bit of controversy is due to the teaching of Shaolin material. There is nothing in his background to indicate where he learned the material. Over the years his website has undergone numerous changes (not the least of which is the new domain). In 1999 the website listed Shi Guolin as a Shaolin master. He is a well-known teacher of Shaolin material in Flushing, Queens. Paul and his wife used to live in nearby Rego Park, Queens. The assumption is that he learned the material from Shi Guolin, but decided not to give credit to the monk as one of his teachers. Also, Paul toured with the Shaolin monks in 1992. Shi Guolin (website) and Shi Yan Ming (website), another well-known teacher, both defected during this tour. This lends some credence to the assumption that his teacher is/was Shi Guolin, as they would have had contact as far back as then. As a matter of fact, the only teacher he acknowledges is Tak Wah Eng. He no longer gives credit to Lee Moy Shan and Tony Lau, though he used to do so. In 1999, he had a glowing dedication to Sifu Lau on his website. That has since been removed. In any event, the controversial nature of the Shaolin material goes much deeper. In the past, Paul was adamant in his distaste of the Shaolin material taught by Shi Guolin and Shi Yan Ming. He claimed it was Contemporary Wu Shu, and that, consequently, the material was useless. However, he now claims to be able to teach the material. That is quite a reversal in his position.
Now, there is also a rumor going around that Tak Wah Eng has become a representative of the Shaolin Temple in the United States. However, this rumor could have something to do with Tak Wah’s association with Steve Demasco of the USSD (United Studios of Self Defense) who has positioned himself as the “official” representative of the Shaolin Temple in the United States. Steve Demasco is a Kempo teacher who spent some time with Tak Wah learning Fu Jow Pai material. Together they have created a new style they call “Poon Lone Kuen” - Circular Dragon Fist. Tak Wah has also created a “federation” of Kempo schools in Connecticut and on Long Island (http://www.takwahfederation.com/). This could be a contributory factor in the rumor.
In 2001, Paul changed the name of his school once again. The name was Bo Law National Arts Association. He has removed any mention of Hung Gar from the school. In 2002, he renamed the school Bo Law Kung Fu Association.
Cost:
As stated previously, the original cost for the school was $45 per month. There were three 3-hour classes per week (with sparring every Thursday). When a student first joined in 1999, the cost was $85 a month for two 1-hour classes per week, or $100 a month for three 1-hour classes per week, up to $190 a month for unlimited classes (with a 20% discount if the student paid quarterly). In 2001, when a new student joined, it was $85 per month for two 45-minute classes per week and $100 per month for three 45-minute classes per week (a 33% increase in revenue without increasing costs to the students). It would seem that to make the most of the situation (get the most bang for one’s buck) one should sign up for the $190 a month program of unlimited classes. However, when a student first joined they are only allowed to take two or three classes a week so that they could “get used to the class”. Once they had been there a few months, Paul, and the senior students, would encourage them to take more expensive intensives (see below). Thus, even though the $190 per month unlimited option would have been an economical deal, it is doubtful that anyone actually took advantage of it, as they were encouraged to take a different path.
It would seem that the option of the unlimited classes was simply a bait and switch type tactic. The prospective student would think that the maximum potential cost would be $190 per month. However, once they were prepared to add additional classes to their schedules, they were strongly encouraged to take the intensives instead of the cheaper “basic” classes. This “bait and switch” could add hundreds of dollars of additional fees to the student.
In 2002, Paul began charging $150 per month for two classes per week and $200 per month for three classes per week, which is 50% to 100% more than other schools in the area. Most schools in New York City seem to charge $80 - $120 per month for 2 or more classes a week. These (non-Bo Law) classes would generally run for a minimum of 2 hours each. In other words, Paul is charging twice as much for less than half the time (two hours versus 45 minutes). These charges were for the “Basic Workout” classes only. In these classes the student works on basic conditioning (sit-ups, push-ups), basic punching and kicking and the “basic” forms. The basic forms have changed over the years. In 1999 it was Ng Hong Kuen (5 Elements Fist), then it was Sei Fong Ng Hong Kuen (4 Directions 5 Elements Fist). Siu Hong Kuen (Small Hero Fist) and Lien Wan Kuen (Continuous Fist) were also taught. Then, in November of 1999, the form Choy Hong Kuen (Rainbow Fist), created by Tak Wah Eng and Paul Pantazakos, was added to the curriculum. Eventually, it became the only form taught in the basic workout classes. In 2001 that form was supplanted by Dai Tong Bei Kuen (Extended Fist). Dai Tong Bei Kuen (a Shaolin form) became the first form any new student would learn. In 2003, the first form a student would learn is a new version of Ng Hong Kuen. It should be noted that not only would the forms being taught change from one form to another with no warning, the forms themselves would be in a constant state of flux. Paul would constantly be making changes to the forms with the stated intention of preventing the students from becoming complacent. If a student commented on the changes, he/she was informed “Sifu never changes the form; he has made some corrections to the form.” This mantra would be used to explain any changes, even ones that reversed themselves. If the first change was to correct a flaw, why make another change that would put the original flaw back into place? This would happen frequently. It enforced the belief that Paul could not make mistakes, that he was almost infallible. This is not hyperbole; it is the very atmosphere of the school, which is constantly reinforced by the senior students.
In time, a student would be given the opportunity to learn another empty-handed form or a weapon form (i.e. once they had developed a strong enough foundation in the basics). For example, one could learn Nam Kuen (AKA Nan Quan - “Southern Fist”, a compulsory form for Contemporary Wu Shu competitions) or dagger or fan etc. There was a sequence that was to be followed. The first weapon learned was dagger, then fan, then staff, etc. One could not learn Dai Ng Ying (Large Five Animals) before learning Siu Ng Ying (Small Five Animals). All of this additional material (called “intensives” by Bo Law) was an extra expense. For example, to learn the basic staff set (Fei Lung Gwan - Flying Dragon Staff) there would be a one time only “Hung Bao” of $150, to be presented to Paul in cash. This would be considered a “thank you” from the student for being allowed to learn the form. The Hung Bao would also have covered the cost of the staff. The class itself would cost extra (i.e. the Hung Bao would not cover the additional monthly fee for the class).
However, in 2001 Paul changed the way he charged for weapon intensive classes. Previously, as noted, the Hung Bao would cover the cost of the weapon (staff, saber, butterfly swords, etc). Now the students are required to use the school’s weapons in class. If they wish to practice this new material at home, they would be required to purchase the weapons separately, from the Association. The charges for the weapons generally ran from $70 to over $100. These classes were not optional, Paul required the students to participate in them. Oftentimes he would work out the student’s schedule, adding new classes as they became available, without consulting with the student to see if this was desirable. As the Hung Bao for the intensive was not reduced to reflect the fact that the weapon was no longer included in that cost, this opened up a brand new revenue stream for Paul. This is a remarkable adjustment, considering that if the student wanted to own the weapons in question, he/she was required to purchase them from Bo Law. It is suspected that this resulted in a significant increase in Association revenues.
The cost of the intensives could range from an extra $30 to $100 per month (for one additional weapon or empty handed form per week). This was for all new classes. The Hung Bao’s could at times be very large, if a student was learning several new forms in a month. In certain cases the Hung Bao alone could exceed $1,000 for a month, to be presented to Paul, in cash. This is only for the Hung Bao; it does not include the additional charge for the classes. It should be noted here that not only was Paul charging twice as much for half the time of other schools just for the basic class, he was charging additional fees for new material. Other Kung Fu schools have a flat charge for the month, which covers everything. One is taught the new material when one is ready for it, at no additional charge. Generally, receipts were given to the students for all expenditures (the administrators at Bo Law were very conscientious in this regard). Even for minor purchases such as Inside Kung Fu or Kung Fu/Tai Chi magazines. This would apply to cash transactions or transactions where payment was made via check. However, receipts were never given for Hung Bao.
There were also fees for tests and for the uniforms. New students were required to wear black pants, a black Bo Law tee shirt and black socks. The school itself sold the black pants and tee shirts at $15 each. Students were encouraged to buy multiple uniforms (which made sense, as it could be inconvenient to wash the uniforms constantly). In due course, students were encouraged to buy a pair of black Kung Fu boots to wear during class. These boots generally cost around $70. Paul and the senior students advertised the boots as being manufactured in Hong Kong. This advertisement would extend to including “delays” in the shipment, when in fact; a Chinese gentleman with whom Paul has a business relationship manufactured them in New York City’s Chinatown. For a period of time (when Paul ran out of boots), students were encouraged to buy a pair of martial arts shoes. The shoes were probably acquired in bulk from the martial arts supply stores BLT or Bok Lei Po, or from some martial arts supplier. More than likely Paul received a discount for buying in bulk. However, he charged the students slightly more ($40) than the cost outside of the school ($35). The shoes were poorly made and eventually fell apart (requiring a replacement pair). After a while, Paul began to sell the boots again for the same price as before. Once again students were encouraged to buy the boots. In some cases the students were ordered to purchase a pair.
When the school first started, all of the students wore black pants and white tee shirts (actually he went through various colors for the tee shirts before settling on black, which was changed to red in 2002). In time Paul decided that the students who had been there a year would be required to wear a jacket over their black tee shirt. Each jacket cost $60, and students were encouraged to buy multiple jackets. In January of 2001, Paul loosened the stricture that students be there a full year before being allowed to wear the jacket. Soon it became obligatory after the student reached a certain rank (i.e. green sash). In late 2001, Paul changed the emblem for the school, quite possibly due to the Fu Jow Pai controversy. This required all of the students with jackets to replace those jackets (at $60 per jacket). Students with the older jackets were ordered to replace them.
In September 2002, Paul once again changed the uniform. Students were required to replace their black T-shirts with red ones, and the students who wore the jackets were told to that the jackets were no longer a part of the school uniform. The students were also required to replace their gold/green/red sashes with a black one, at a price of $15. This uniform change would result in an additional charge of $15 (provided the cost for the shirts remained constant) per shirt, and $15 for the sash, for each student, at least. In April of 2003, Paul once again changed the school uniform. He is once again having students wear the jackets. It is not known if it is only the senior students who need to wear the jackets or if there is a threshold (e.g. time at the school) for other students to meet before being required to wear the jackets. It is also not known if the students are required to buy new jackets or if they can use their jackets from before the last uniform change. The junior instructors are required to wear robes similar to the senior instructors, except the robes are a different color (light gray versus the brown of the senior instructors). The assumption is that the junior instructors would have had to purchase these robes from the school itself. The minimum cost of the robe is most likely $60, as that is what Paul was charging for the jackets. Though chances are the cost is higher.
Every so often the students would be required to test to either advance in rank or to keep their current rank. The tests came with a $60 dollar testing fee, which included their annual membership fee to be a part of the association. In some cases the student could test a few times a year (ironically with an annual membership fee included in each test fee). The students were told that the testing and the rankings meant very little. After a while it became apparent that the tests and the ranks mattered very much indeed. The ranking system caused many of the students to become competitive. This began to impact the training of those around them as the competitive students began jockeying for position. As of September 2002, Paul has seemingly abolished the belt/sash ranking system in his school. Though testing is still required. One supposes that this is to ostensibly get to the position of senior student, which would entail wearing a robe. One also assumes that the testing fees are still being charged even though students are purportedly no longer testing for rank.
At certain times a year, Chinese New Year, the Harvest Moon Festival or Paul’s birthday (August 17th, which was kept secret from the students), students presented gifts or Hung Bao to Paul as a thank you for his teaching. Students were told that it was traditional to present a Sifu with a Hung Bao for Chinese New Year and actively encouraged to give as much as they felt comfortable giving. This is not exactly a cost of the school since the gifts were given of the students’ own free will. However, the encouragement by senior students (with Paul’s blessing), which went so far as to include a hand out describing the Chinese New Year traditions, made it seem as though the gift was obligatory. This gift could sometimes exceed $100. As a matter of fact, students were directly told not to give Paul gifts other than Hung Bao (i.e. cash).
Currently, the system has changed. There is no longer a sequence for learning forms. Paul used to have a reputation for giving students a solid foundation in the basics. That no longer seems to be the case. Students with only a few months experience are allowed to learn advanced weaponry (staff, saber, whip chain, straight sword, etc). It seems that this was done to keep more students from quitting in order to keep revenues up. Most of the senior students were given a “price break” and allowed to pay a monthly Hung Bao of upwards of $420 per month for all of the classes they were taking. However, the Bo Law Kung Fu Association began monopolizing their time. They were required to be there a minimum of 5 days a week, for several classes per day. In some cases the senior students would be responsible for attending 25 classes a week (approximately 18-19 hours a week), and, oftentimes, to be there 7 days a week. As indicated above, there were no receipts given for these Hung Bao. This began to cause problems for students who were able to take tax deductions for the cost of the school (e.g. actors who could claim the training was to prepare themselves for potential roles). They could no longer take the deductions as Bo Law refused to provide them with the receipts necessary as proof. Also, if a student were to miss most of any particular month, Paul would refuse to give that student a pro-rated fee for the month. Students were expected to pay in full for each month, even if they spent most of the month away (giving Bo Law fair warning of the absence). This is not necessarily uncommon, but when long-term students are paying in excess of $400 a month, one can expect some leeway to be provided.
Not only was there a monetary cost to the school. There is also the physical toll that can occur. In any school injuries are likely to happen. It is a fact of life for any physically active endeavor. Bo Law is not an exception. However, when injuries occur, Paul actively discourages his students from seeking medical attention from Western medical professionals. He encouraged them to seek treatment from a Chinese doctor that both he, and Tak Wah Eng, had a relationship with. This is not a commentary on the advantages/disadvantages of Western versus Eastern medical practices. This is a much more prosaic issue. Western medical professionals want proof of insurance before they treat you (normally this insurance would be provided by the school either directly from Bo Law or through subrogation between the student’s and Paul’s insurance companies). With the Chinese doctor, it was an all cash transaction, no insurance needed. This money would come out of the student’s own pocket. A cynical viewer could decide Paul discouraged his students from seeing Western doctors for the purposes of keeping his insurance premiums down. Fewer injuries reported means lower rates due to a good loss history. In any event, whichever medical route chosen by the student, Paul and his senior students encouraged them to come back to the school as quickly as possible. In most cases, before the injury was completely healed. This resulted in injuries that never fully healed and that continue to plague many of the students, as they were never allowed to heal completely. Once again a cynical viewer could decide that this would be to reduce the amount of time the student had to consider or reconsider his/her choice of kung fu school. It is very easy to control the flow of information if the student is in class. If the student is away from the watchful eyes of Paul and his senior students, there is a chance that he or she will elect not to return.
Class Size:
Originally classes were very small as Paul only had a handful of students. Slowly, as word got out via advertising (ads in martial arts magazines and the Village Voice, the website) and appearances at tournaments, the school began to grow. Eventually, after the move to lower Manhattan in 1998, there would be several classes a day 7 days a week (at noon and in the evening during the week, and in the morning and early afternoon on the weekend). There would be one class at a time for 1 hour each. The classes would have about 20 people on average. Slowly that changed. As more students joined, the classes got larger. More classes were offered in the mornings during the week. In time there would be two classes running concurrently. Then the classes were reduced from 1 hour to 45 minutes. In due course there would be three classes running concurrently (weapons & empty handed). Suddenly, you would have three classes of 15 to 20 students each, some with weapons (which in some cases would be over 6 feet in length); on a floor that could comfortably support 20 to 25 students. Plus with the shortening of the classes not much could be accomplished in any one class. For example, in the “basic” class about 20 minutes was spent on stretching and conditioning (push-ups & sit-ups). That leaves approximately 25 minutes for the actual martial arts training. That is nowhere near enough time to learn anything. Enormous class sizes and short class periods acted in concert to prevent the student from truly learning the “style”. It is unknown why Paul runs his school this way though one hypothesis is that he does it to ensure that none of his students will become competent. If a student is not a competent martial artist, he/she cannot surpass Paul or break away from the dominance of the alpha-male (Paul).
With the classes becoming larger, and, with different classes going on at the same time, the amount of time devoted to individual students decreased dramatically. With less attention from Paul, or from his designated instructors, the students’ learning began to suffer. Also, with the shortened classes, applications of the movements in the forms began to be ignored. In other words, the class would spend the entire 45 minutes (in classes without a 15-20 minute warm-up sequence of stretching and conditioning) drilling the form, with very little correction of errors due to inadequate oversight by the instructors, and with no instruction on how to use the movements in a real life situation. The result of all this was the students would only work on the forms and nothing else, no fighting theory, no application of the moves, nothing. While the classes would give the students and good cardiovascular workout, to claim that they would be able to use the material to defend themselves when called upon is disingenuous at best.
With the increase in class size, and the influx of new students, it became apparent that there was a shortage of instructors. As a result, Paul began to promote students to higher levels without the students having the requisite knowledge, ability, or foundation to teach. Consequently, there are students learning from instructors who are less than adequate. Mediocre instruction begets poor to mediocre (at best) students. This is symptomatic of a far larger problem. Paul seems to be lowering the bar in order to attract and keep more students. This has a tendency to alienate the students with ability who truly wish to learn. They leave the school, which leaves a vacuum at the top. Which induces Paul to promote average (and less than average) students to higher levels, in effect placing them in positions of authority in relation to the other students. In turn the students begin to get inflated opinions of their abilities. Eventually they realize that what they have learned is totally inadequate, and they decide to look elsewhere for instruction, leading Paul to promote even more inexperienced students to positions of authority. It has become a vicious circle. A vicious circle created by Paul.
“Closed-Door” Material:
When Paul began to teach the Fu Jow Pai material to certain of his students, he told them to consider the material “closed-door” (i.e., the material was not for the general students, and the students who were learning were required to keep the material secret). They were required to sign confidentiality agreements in which they promised, upon threat of dismissal from the school, never to practice the material in public or to show it to any other Bo Law students who were not part of the closed-door class. This was odd as the Fu Jow Pai Federation taught the material quite openly and has done so since the 1970’s. The assumption is that the “closed-door” designation was used to keep the students from practicing the material outside of the school where there was a chance that someone from the Fu Jow Pai Federation would see it.
Originally, the Fu Jow Pai classes were held separately from the other classes, and students who were not members of the closed-door class were prohibited from observing the class. In time, the classes were held concurrently with other classes. Eventually, the classes would be opened up to just about any student. The new students were not required to sign confidentiality agreements. The students were still informed that the material was closed-door and not to be practiced in front of the non-closed-door students, disregarding the fact that the class itself was taking place in front of these very students. Also, Paul would continually make comments along the lines of “You’re not ready for this. You shouldn’t be learning this for 10 years”. Comments like that beg the question, why is he teaching it?
Tournaments:
Paul was a strong proponent of tournaments while he was studying Hung Gar and when he first began to teach in 1994 (though he only demonstrated forms when he was with Sifu Lau and after he struck out on his own). His students actively competed in the tournaments (forms and sparring). He was very much in favor of his students sparring in both class and in various tournaments. He was personally involved in the administrative aspects of the tournaments as well. At one point he attempted to start his own tournament (along with Sifu Pedro Cepero Yee from Yee’s Hung Gar) that would take place in the fall between the Wong Fei Hung tournament (sponsored by Sifu Frank Yee) and the Eastern US Kung Fu tournament.
Currently, he does not allow his students to take part in any tournaments. Nor does he allow his students to attend tournaments. Furthermore, he does not want his students to go to other schools to observe the classes (regardless of the style being taught). This seems to imply that he does not want his students to view any other styles. There have also been rumors that he is reluctant to admit students with any prior kung fu training. He claims that it would be dishonorable (to him or the other teacher) to go look at another style or to join his school with prior knowledge of a kung fu system. One would think exposure to other styles, even if only to observe them, would be in the best interest of the student. It would be advantageous to know the strengths and weaknesses of a style the student could potentially face. Plus, he no longer allows his students to spar in class. That aspect of his teaching has been completely excised from his school, most likely due to insurance cost issues.
This also goes hand-in-hand with the “closed-door” designation of certain material. If the material were “closed door” or Paul Pantazakos/Tak Wah Eng specific (in the case of the Tak Wah Eng 5 Animal forms), the rationale was that judges at tournaments would be unable to adequately judge the material. At least that was the excuse given to the students who inquired about tournaments. This rational is fundamentally flawed. At tournaments, no one judge is a master of every style. You would have Hung Gar (or Jow Gar or Pak Mei, etc) judges evaluating people performing Pak Mei, Lung Ying, Wing Chun or other styles. Yet, this has never seemed to be an issue. It would seem that Bo Law students are prohibited from going to tournaments in the fear that they would see things at the tournaments that would make them view the teachings at Bo Law in an unflattering light. Several Bo Law students who violated this ban left the school after coming to the conclusion that they were being deceived and taken advantage of by Paul Pantazakos and the senior students of Bo Law.
(Update: It seems that Paul is considering allowing his students to compete in tournaments. He has also revived the idea of running his own tournament. The reasons for this change are unknown. It could have something to do with the hypothetical reconciliation with Ng Wai Hong and Tony Lau (see above). Perhaps the decision to halt tournament competition was a result of the falling out with those two gentlemen. Though this seems unlikely as Paul’s students competed after his departure from Tony Lau. It is conceivable that the incarceration and subsequent release of Wai Hong from prison could have had a part to play in Paul’s decision making. However, this is only supposition.)
(Further update: Paul’s students are still barred from attending or competing in tournaments. Either the supposition above was erroneous or Paul reconsidered his decision.)
Syllabus:
As stated above, when Paul first opened his school he taught Hung Gar (he also taught Lau Gar, which is included in the Lam Jo lineage of the style). Slowly he began to move away from teaching Hung Gar (which only has a handful of empty handed forms and requires great patience to learn) to a more eclectic selection of Shaolin, Northern Mantis, Five Animals, Fu Jow Pai, Tai Chi and Bo Law specific forms (e.g. Sei Fong Ng Hong & Choy Hong). As recently as 2000, new students were only allowed to take the basic workout and work on the forms therein. That has changed significantly. Now students who have been in the school for a few months are encouraged to take as much as they like. In some cases, Paul will work out the student’s schedule for him or her. For many of the senior students this entailed taking numerous classes (oftentimes in excess of 20) of different material (i.e. some classes would be Shaolin, some would be Fu Jow Pai, some 5 Animals, some weapons, etc). The senior student would be required to take several basic workouts, the animal forms, as many as three Fu Jow Pai forms, several Shaolin forms and numerous weapons. All of this material conspired to prevent the student from ever truly learning the material.
It would be difficult to ever get any true understanding of a form, any form, if one is required to master 20 other forms at the same time. It is believed that Paul did this to increase his revenues. The happier the newer students are kept, the more likely they will stay in the school (most martial arts schools have a very high turnover rate, and Bo Law was no exception). Now, it has changed even more. Most of the empty-handed and weapon forms were combined in the same class. For example, whip chain is taught in the same class as Northern Mantis. Ostensibly this was done so that the students would be better able to learn each form, as they would complement each other. In reality all this means is the students have an even smaller chance of truly learning the material, as Paul can fit even more classes into an already overcrowded schedule. This would also increase revenues as he could charge more (i.e. double the Hung Bao) for 45-minute classes than he could prior to merging the weapon and empty-handed classes.
Since Paul no longer allows the students to spar, he teaches “Doy Cha” (Matching Sets) and “San Sao” (lit. “Freehand”). He teaches two empty-handed Doy Cha sets, Siu Lum Doy Cha and Fu Hok Doy Cha. These sets are supposed to teach the student spacing and execution of certain techniques against an opponent. He also has students perform various San Sao drills (including a little bag work, though not very much), which are supposed to teach the same things as the Doy Cha sets. They can, and do, teach spacing, and they can give a basic idea of an application of a certain technique. Unfortunately, they are performed against a willing opponent and the strikes/blocks are always in the same place. Also, none of the moves are performed with any speed or power for fear that one student would injure another. As of early 2003, it no longer seems that Paul is teaching San Sao applications. This means the students no longer even have that limited avenue open to them to learn how to use the material. This makes it very unlikely that a Bo Law student would be able to defend himself/herself should the need arise.
The sheer volume of material offered raises some questions. How could Paul (who is not yet 40, and began studying Wing Chun at age 12) master so many different styles? It is generally accepted that it takes a lifetime to truly master any style. For Paul this would be Hung Gar, which he no longer teaches. Where did he learn it all? It is well known that he learned his Hung Gar from Sifu Lau. As Sifu Lau’s supposed #1 student, Paul was probably taught some Fu Jow Pai as well. When he broke away from Sifu Lau and joined Tak Wah Eng, he obviously began to work on the Fu Jow Pai material. As the Fu Jow Pai material is very similar to Hung Gar, it is not surprising that he would become good at it. As a matter of fact, Fu Jow Pai is often taught in conjunction with Hung Gar. The previous Fu Jow Pai masters (Wong Bil Hong, Wong Moon Toy and Ng Wai Hong) were all accomplished at Hung Gar before learning Fu Jow Pai. This leads to the following question. If the two are generally taught together and Paul wishes to teach Fu Jow Pai, why does he not teach Hung Gar to his students (especially considering it is his base style)? It would seem disadvantageous to his students to do otherwise. Yet that is exactly how he is teaching.
Where did Paul learn the Shaolin material? Why doesn’t he give credit to his teacher? There was speculation above that he learned from Shi Guolin, and that does seem to be the most likely scenario. However, why doesn’t he give credit to Shi Guolin as one of his teachers? Is he trying to ride the wave of popularity of Shaolin while trying to avoid the stigma of Contemporary Wu Shu that plagues the “Shaolin monks”? Even if the material is from a different “legitimate” source, a few years is not enough time to become a master of the material. Plus the fact that he teaches 11-13 different Shaolin forms (Law Horn, Siu Law Horn, Dai Law Horn, Siu Hong Kuen- 3 different versions, Dai Hong Kuen, Dai Tong Bei, Tong Bei Fan Tzi, Siu Lum Gim Jia, Law Horn Seen, Siu Lum Gwan) adds fuel to the fire. The sheer number of forms makes it doubtful that he could have mastered them in four short years. Why does he teach them at all?
(Update: Paul has begun teaching the form Tai Jow Kuen. This is a form that appears in the Eagle Claw curriculum of Eagle Claw master Gini Lau. Where and when did Paul learn this form? Wing Lam Enterprises sells Gini Lau’s video of the form on their Internet site. Did Paul purchase the video to learn from? If so, does he now claim competence to teach this? There are many unanswered questions regarding this new material being taught by Paul.)
In addition to the Contemporary Wu Shu/Shaolin material, Paul teaches the 24-Step Tai Chi form. This form of Tai Chi was developed by China’s Communist government with the intention of standardizing (and controlling) the style for inclusion in Contemporary Wu Shu competitions. However, this version lacks the essence of the true Tai Chi styles that are out there (Yang, Wu, Chen, etc). It cannot be truly called Tai Chi; to market it as such is disingenuous. In September of 2002 Paul began teaching Chen style Tai Chi. When did Paul learn a part of this style? There is no evidence in his history, or Tak Wah Eng’s history, that would reveal where either one of them would have learned this. Chen style Tai Chi is a famous style that takes a lifetime to master, yet suddenly Paul can teach it. This raises questions as to its authenticity.
As for the Northern Mantis, Paul attended a seminar with a Northern Mantis Sifu. He has a certificate from that Sifu on the wall of his Gwoon. Does this make him qualified to teach the forms? Once again, how could he have mastered the three forms (at least) that he teaches in a few years while learning so much other material? It is more than likely that the Northern Mantis Sifu taught a watered down version of the forms in order to create an alternate revenue stream. It is very doubtful that he would teach the real form to people who are not his students.
Paul also teaches 5 Animals (dragon, snake, tiger, leopard & crane). There are 5 Animal forms in many Southern styles. For example, the 5 Animals form in the Hung system is quite famous. However, the 5 Animal forms he teaches are not the classical forms. They are forms that were created by Tak Wah Eng. It is difficult to pinpoint when he might have learned these forms, but it certainly was not until after he broke from Sifu Lau in 1994. Not only does he teach the 5 Animals he teaches (or taught) two forms for each animal (large & small). He has to have mastered 10 forms in 11 years. Like the Fu Jow Pai material, the 5 Animal forms created by Tak Wah Eng have a definite Hung Gar flavor. The similarity is understandable as Tak Wah studied Hung Gar for many years. Why were these forms created in the first place? Since they resemble Hung Gar movements a great deal, why not just teach Hung Gar? Supposedly, Tak Wah Eng created the forms to pay tribute to past Hung Gar & Choy Lay Fut masters. “Hung Tau, Choy Mei” - Hung head and Choy tail, is a saying Tak Wah Eng uses to describe the forms (http://www.takwah.com/five/). However, none of the forms have a Choy Lay Fut flavor. Choy Lay Fut is rightfully famous as a style with many kicking techniques. None of the forms Tak Wah created have kicking techniques that resemble Choy Lay Fut. As a matter of fact, the forms have very few kicking techniques at all. In any event, “Hung Tau, Choy Mei” has been used to describe something else, Jow Gar. Jow Gar is a southern style that was developed using the hand techniques of Hung Gar with the kicking techniques and footwork of Choy Lay Fut. There are a number of schools out there that teach this style. Why did Tak Wah create these forms? There is already a style that does it better. Is this just another style that Paul and Tak Wah can claim to teach so they can offer, “one-stop shopping” for kung fu?
There are a couple of Bo Law specific forms. Examples of these are Sei Fong Ng Hong Kuen (and it predecessor Ng Hong Kuen), Lien Wan Kuen and Choy Hong Kuen. These are forms created by Tak Wah Eng or Paul (or both). They are very rudimentary forms, and there is no doubt that either of the two can create their own forms. However, why create the forms in the first place? Any system of kung fu has its own methodology for teaching beginners (including basic forms), why take the time to reinvent the wheel? One would imagine that creating a form takes a lot of work. Most likely it would take more time than to just master a form. When did Paul have the time to create/master these forms?
To summarize since breaking away from Sifu Lau in 1994, Paul claims to have mastered the entire Fu Jow Pai system, at least eleven different Shaolin forms, at least three Northern Mantis forms, ten Animal forms created by Tak Wah Eng, six forms he either created alone or with Tak Wah Eng, 24-Step Tai Chi, at least one Long Fist form (with no mention of where he would have learned it), at least one Chen style Tai Chi form and at least one Eagle Claw form (with, once again, no mention of where he would have learned it). Not to mention the Contemporary Wu Shu form Nan Kuen that Paul has taught to his students in the past. These are just the empty handed forms. Paul teaches numerous (in excess of 20) weapons forms. That is a lot of material in 12 years. None of which is Hung Gar. Considering that he did not teach full time until he opened the current school in 1998, this is quite extraordinary. From sometime before 1994 through 1998 he held down a job as a bond trader. When did Paul find the time to master all of this material? The only material that Paul is known to have been good at, he doesn’t teach. Why? Not only has Paul mastered the material listed above in 12 years, he has mastered all of it plus Hung Gar in only 25 or 26 years. 25/26 years is actually an overstatement as it is unknown how long he spent studying Wing Chun with Sifu Lee Moy Shan. This “mastery” is only in reference to the sequence of movements in the forms themselves, not the essence of the form. It also takes time to learn how to use the techniques in a real life situation. This raises the question; can Paul truly claim to be a master of any of this material?
Conclusion:
It is not the intent of this paper to make any conclusions regarding the value of the instruction being offered at the Bo Law Kung Fu Association. Although it would seem that a conclusion based on the evidence is inescapable. In 1994, Paul Pantazakos’ teacher, Tony Lau, disowned him. Both he and Tak Wah Eng were expelled from the Fu Jow Pai Federation. They teach the Fu Jow Pai material, without permission, under the name Hark Fu Moon. Paul teaches styles where it is exceedingly doubtful that he could have had time to master them. He continues to add new styles to his curriculum with no explanation of where, when or from whom he learned the material. The only style he is documented to know, he doesn’t teach. His mastery of Hung Gar can even be questioned, as his teacher disowned him. He has too many students on the floor at any one time, sometimes with bladed weapons. This negatively impacts the ability of the students to learn. There is no sparring or application of the material being taught.
Questions from the students are frowned upon. Especially in regards to the Fu Jow Pai situation, why he doesn’t teach Hung Gar, or why the forms keep changing. Paul’s word is to be taken as law. He is not to be questioned, period. Students who question the “party line” face retribution by way of being ostracized by Paul, or physically struck during class as an “example” of how a move is to be performed. When Paul physically abuses a student, the student is told, “Sifu is playing with you, that’s a very good sign that he likes you.” There have been several injuries as a result of this “giving the student a taste” as Paul calls it, not the least of which are numerous deep bruises, at least one broken nose and cuts that require stitches (at least one deep cut was caused by Paul’s lack of care in using a saber). Paul has kicked students in the groin, grabbed their testicles with a tiger claw strike, struck them in the face without warning, repeatedly banged their heads on the floor, punched/kicked them in the chest, etc. Generally, when Paul injures a student, it is the student’s fault that the injury occurred. As it is assumed that Paul is incapable of making an error, which is constantly reinforced by the senior students, it must be the fault of a student. This type of abusive activity seems to be the exception rather than the norm at kung fu schools.
As a means of controlling information, he forbids his students from observing other styles or attending tournaments. Students are required to refer to each other as “Mr.”, “Miss”, “Ms” or “Mrs.” so and so. It is supposedly forbidden to use another student’s first name, especially on the training floor. Only Paul is allowed to call the students by their given names. The school (in verbal statements and numerous hand-outs) portrays Paul as a domineering, yet ultimately benevolent, father figure that should never be doubted or questioned. Once again, this is not an exaggeration; this is the image that is used to paint Paul as the ultimate authority figure in the student’s life.
Paul expects the students to spend all of their free time at the school. He also expects unquestioned obedience. This behavior is borderline cultish, though Bo Law is not a cult per se, as students can leave once they decide to go, and there are no religious trappings to go along with the ideology. However, it is difficult to make that decision to leave, as the quasi-indoctrination is difficult to shake off. The departing student feels guilty about leaving Bo Law since Paul was so good to that student, notwithstanding all of the physical and mental abuse that said student endured. The guilt about leaving is very strong. In addition, the senior students, or in some cases Paul himself will call the wayward student to try to convince him/her to return to the fold. Some students never find the wherewithal to leave. Others leave, but find themselves inevitably drawn back. It can be very difficult to break the psychological chains Paul has draped around the student.
Finally, the Bo Law Kung Fu Association is one of the, if not the, most expensive martial arts schools in New York City.
It is very difficult to reconcile these facts with the claims made by Paul Pantazakos on his website or in print media. Only one thing can be stated about Paul that is unequivocal; he is a very good businessman.
Beginning at the age of 12, Paul Pantazakos studied Wing Chun under Sifu Lee Moy Shan before moving on to study Hung Gar (and perhaps Fu Jow Pai) with Sifu Tony Lau, who was a member of Grandmaster Ng Wai Hong’s Fu Jow Pai Federation and one of his students. He studied with Sifu Lau for many years, reputedly becoming his number one student and was placed in charge of Ying Yee Kwoon (Sifu Lau’s school). In the early 1990’s, Ng Wai Hong actively tried to recruit schools to join his Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation. Allegedly, Paul was enthusiastically involved in this “recruitment” drive (he used to be an officer in Wai Hong’s organization). He purportedly endorsed the idea of forming a group of fighters to go to the various schools and shut them down if they refused to join the new federation. However, there is no evidence that the cadre of fighters ever came off the drawing board. At this point in time Sifu Lau was the President of the Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation.
In 1994 Paul decided he wanted to open his own school. However, according to rumor, Tony Lau did not want him to teach. The reasons are not known though one supposition is that Sifu Lau disowned Paul after Paul started representing himself as a Sifu, which he felt was beyond Paul’s skill level. In any event, Paul broke away from Sifu Lau and formed the Bo Law Hung Gar Kung Fu Club where he taught Lam Jo lineage Hung Gar (and Hung Gar alone). Consequently, Sifu Lau disowned Paul as his student. At this time, it is believed, he began an association with Tak Wah Eng (Hung Gar, Fu Jow Pai) that continues to this day. On a side note, Tony Lau was Tak Wah Eng’s sihing in the Fu Jow Pai Federation.
In the beginning the students met 3 times a week in a dance studio in Midtown (with sparring every Thursday). The monthly cost was $45 and there were no sashes. Eventually Paul found a location on the outskirts of Chinatown (in a former sweatshop). He moved down there in 1998. He changed the name of the school to Bo Law Hung Kuen National Arts Association. He also implemented a belt/sash system. The order of rank went as follows: gold, gold with rank (1 to 5 green stripes on the gold sash), green, green with rank (1 to 5 red stripes), red, red with rank (1 to 5 black stripes), black, black with gold stripes, gold belt instructor (black sash with gold trim), senior gold belt instructor (same as gold belt instructor except the senior instructors wear a blue robe) and chief instructor. As of September 2002, Paul changed things at Bo Law. The ranking requirements were changed to a black sash for every student; i.e. technically there were no longer any ranks. All the students were required to wear the black sash with their normal school uniform (black pants and red t-shirt), excluding the senior students who wore the blue robes; they were still required to dress the same.
At some point in 1998 or 1999 he decided he no longer wished to teach Hung Gar (perhaps he found it too difficult to compete head-to-head with Yee’s Hung Ga). He still advertised that he taught Hung Gar, but he started students off with various rudimentary forms he or Tak Wah created instead of the traditional forms from Hung Gar. This was a dramatic shift in his teaching style from when he first opened the school, and from the way he had learned from Sifu Lau. If questioned, he would tell the students that they were not ready to learn Hung Gar. He now teaches a mixture of Shaolin (Lohan, Tong Bei, etc), Northern Mantis, Tai Chi, 5 Animals (with forms created by Tak Wah Eng) and Fu Jow Pai. The reasons for this striking shift are unknown.
The teaching of the Fu Jow Pai material was, and is, very controversial. Both Paul Pantazakos and Tak Wah Eng were expelled from the Fu Jow Pai Federation. Per Paul and Tak Wah, Tak Wah was Wai Hong’s chosen successor in the Federation (he was considered to be the #3 Fu Jow Pai practitioner in the lineage). Their claim is that Wai Hong stepped down as Grandmaster due to having killed a man during an attempted robbery (three youths attacked him on the subway and ended up on the losing end). He did this to protect the Fu Jow Pai Federation in case things turned sour after he was charged with homicide. Tak Wah took over the federation with Wai Hong’s blessing. Eventually the charges against Wai Hong were dismissed. Once he was cleared, he decided to come out of “retirement” and resume his control over the Fu Jow Pai Federation. Tak Wah resisted this. This is the story that is passed along by Paul and the senior students at Bo Law as the reason for the falling out between Tak Wah Eng and Ng Wai Hong. However, others outside of Bo Law have stated that this story is, in fact, false. They state that Tak Wah was forced out because he was becoming “too big for his britches” so to speak. Regardless of the truth of the matter, there was a political battle, and Tak Wah was forced out. He no longer represents the Fu Jow Pai Federation. He knows the material, but he cannot claim to teach it. As a result, Tak Wah and Paul took to calling the style Hark Fu Moon, which was the original name before it was changed by a previous Grandmaster (Wong Bil Hong).
As an interesting anecdote, after Tak Wah was forced out of the Fu Jow Pai Federation, he attended a tournament where he demonstrated a Fu Jow Pai form. Since he could not truly perform the form without Wai Hong’s permission, he replaced all of the tiger claw strikes with palm strikes. Apparently, at that time, Tak Wah was wary of offending Wai Hong. That no longer seems to be the case.
(Update: In a recent article in Inside Kung Fu, Paul describes himself as a student of Tak Wah Eng, Tony Lau and Wai Hong. This is a remarkable change from when he would only acknowledge Tak Wah as his teacher. It doesn’t strain credulity to assume that Paul and Tak Wah have mended fences with Tony Lau and Wai Hong. Why this occurred is unknown, though one could make the argument that Tony Lau and Wai Hong saw how successful Paul and Tak Wah had become and decided to “get in on the action” so to speak. Paul has also recently published a book “Tiger in the Moonlight”. In it he thanks Tak Wah Eng, Tony Lau and Wai Hong. This would be another indication that Paul and Tak Wah have mended fences with Tony Lau and Wai Hong. Interestingly, Paul never acknowledges that he ever studied Wing Chun with Sifu Lee Moy Shan, even though a Wing Chun influence can be seen in some of the forms of his own creation.)
In July of 1998, Hui Cambrelen, a Fu Jow Pai Sifu from Patterson, NJ, became angered by what he felt were misrepresentations by Paul. He felt that it was improper for Paul to market himself as a Black Tiger Sifu when he had been expelled from the very system he claimed to teach. He states that a representative of the Fu Jow Pai Federation was sent to Paul in order to speak to him about his use of the Fu Jow Pai name. He claimed that Paul responded by having his attorney contact him (Sifu Cambrelen) stating that a complaint was made to the police. It should be noted here that the police were informed of the situation, and that Paul’s brother is an attorney. In September of 1999, Sifu Cambrelen issued a challenge to Paul on his website (Fu Jow Pai). To this date, Paul has not answered the challenge. However, he has ceased to advertise the styles he teaches. He just claims to teach Shaolin Kung Fu for health and fitness. He also changed the website domain name from www.shaolinblacktiger.com to www.bolawkungfu.com. Nevertheless, he still teaches the style. He just does not claim to teach it.
Another bit of controversy is due to the teaching of Shaolin material. There is nothing in his background to indicate where he learned the material. Over the years his website has undergone numerous changes (not the least of which is the new domain). In 1999 the website listed Shi Guolin as a Shaolin master. He is a well-known teacher of Shaolin material in Flushing, Queens. Paul and his wife used to live in nearby Rego Park, Queens. The assumption is that he learned the material from Shi Guolin, but decided not to give credit to the monk as one of his teachers. Also, Paul toured with the Shaolin monks in 1992. Shi Guolin (website) and Shi Yan Ming (website), another well-known teacher, both defected during this tour. This lends some credence to the assumption that his teacher is/was Shi Guolin, as they would have had contact as far back as then. As a matter of fact, the only teacher he acknowledges is Tak Wah Eng. He no longer gives credit to Lee Moy Shan and Tony Lau, though he used to do so. In 1999, he had a glowing dedication to Sifu Lau on his website. That has since been removed. In any event, the controversial nature of the Shaolin material goes much deeper. In the past, Paul was adamant in his distaste of the Shaolin material taught by Shi Guolin and Shi Yan Ming. He claimed it was Contemporary Wu Shu, and that, consequently, the material was useless. However, he now claims to be able to teach the material. That is quite a reversal in his position.
Now, there is also a rumor going around that Tak Wah Eng has become a representative of the Shaolin Temple in the United States. However, this rumor could have something to do with Tak Wah’s association with Steve Demasco of the USSD (United Studios of Self Defense) who has positioned himself as the “official” representative of the Shaolin Temple in the United States. Steve Demasco is a Kempo teacher who spent some time with Tak Wah learning Fu Jow Pai material. Together they have created a new style they call “Poon Lone Kuen” - Circular Dragon Fist. Tak Wah has also created a “federation” of Kempo schools in Connecticut and on Long Island (http://www.takwahfederation.com/). This could be a contributory factor in the rumor.
In 2001, Paul changed the name of his school once again. The name was Bo Law National Arts Association. He has removed any mention of Hung Gar from the school. In 2002, he renamed the school Bo Law Kung Fu Association.
Cost:
As stated previously, the original cost for the school was $45 per month. There were three 3-hour classes per week (with sparring every Thursday). When a student first joined in 1999, the cost was $85 a month for two 1-hour classes per week, or $100 a month for three 1-hour classes per week, up to $190 a month for unlimited classes (with a 20% discount if the student paid quarterly). In 2001, when a new student joined, it was $85 per month for two 45-minute classes per week and $100 per month for three 45-minute classes per week (a 33% increase in revenue without increasing costs to the students). It would seem that to make the most of the situation (get the most bang for one’s buck) one should sign up for the $190 a month program of unlimited classes. However, when a student first joined they are only allowed to take two or three classes a week so that they could “get used to the class”. Once they had been there a few months, Paul, and the senior students, would encourage them to take more expensive intensives (see below). Thus, even though the $190 per month unlimited option would have been an economical deal, it is doubtful that anyone actually took advantage of it, as they were encouraged to take a different path.
It would seem that the option of the unlimited classes was simply a bait and switch type tactic. The prospective student would think that the maximum potential cost would be $190 per month. However, once they were prepared to add additional classes to their schedules, they were strongly encouraged to take the intensives instead of the cheaper “basic” classes. This “bait and switch” could add hundreds of dollars of additional fees to the student.
In 2002, Paul began charging $150 per month for two classes per week and $200 per month for three classes per week, which is 50% to 100% more than other schools in the area. Most schools in New York City seem to charge $80 - $120 per month for 2 or more classes a week. These (non-Bo Law) classes would generally run for a minimum of 2 hours each. In other words, Paul is charging twice as much for less than half the time (two hours versus 45 minutes). These charges were for the “Basic Workout” classes only. In these classes the student works on basic conditioning (sit-ups, push-ups), basic punching and kicking and the “basic” forms. The basic forms have changed over the years. In 1999 it was Ng Hong Kuen (5 Elements Fist), then it was Sei Fong Ng Hong Kuen (4 Directions 5 Elements Fist). Siu Hong Kuen (Small Hero Fist) and Lien Wan Kuen (Continuous Fist) were also taught. Then, in November of 1999, the form Choy Hong Kuen (Rainbow Fist), created by Tak Wah Eng and Paul Pantazakos, was added to the curriculum. Eventually, it became the only form taught in the basic workout classes. In 2001 that form was supplanted by Dai Tong Bei Kuen (Extended Fist). Dai Tong Bei Kuen (a Shaolin form) became the first form any new student would learn. In 2003, the first form a student would learn is a new version of Ng Hong Kuen. It should be noted that not only would the forms being taught change from one form to another with no warning, the forms themselves would be in a constant state of flux. Paul would constantly be making changes to the forms with the stated intention of preventing the students from becoming complacent. If a student commented on the changes, he/she was informed “Sifu never changes the form; he has made some corrections to the form.” This mantra would be used to explain any changes, even ones that reversed themselves. If the first change was to correct a flaw, why make another change that would put the original flaw back into place? This would happen frequently. It enforced the belief that Paul could not make mistakes, that he was almost infallible. This is not hyperbole; it is the very atmosphere of the school, which is constantly reinforced by the senior students.
In time, a student would be given the opportunity to learn another empty-handed form or a weapon form (i.e. once they had developed a strong enough foundation in the basics). For example, one could learn Nam Kuen (AKA Nan Quan - “Southern Fist”, a compulsory form for Contemporary Wu Shu competitions) or dagger or fan etc. There was a sequence that was to be followed. The first weapon learned was dagger, then fan, then staff, etc. One could not learn Dai Ng Ying (Large Five Animals) before learning Siu Ng Ying (Small Five Animals). All of this additional material (called “intensives” by Bo Law) was an extra expense. For example, to learn the basic staff set (Fei Lung Gwan - Flying Dragon Staff) there would be a one time only “Hung Bao” of $150, to be presented to Paul in cash. This would be considered a “thank you” from the student for being allowed to learn the form. The Hung Bao would also have covered the cost of the staff. The class itself would cost extra (i.e. the Hung Bao would not cover the additional monthly fee for the class).
However, in 2001 Paul changed the way he charged for weapon intensive classes. Previously, as noted, the Hung Bao would cover the cost of the weapon (staff, saber, butterfly swords, etc). Now the students are required to use the school’s weapons in class. If they wish to practice this new material at home, they would be required to purchase the weapons separately, from the Association. The charges for the weapons generally ran from $70 to over $100. These classes were not optional, Paul required the students to participate in them. Oftentimes he would work out the student’s schedule, adding new classes as they became available, without consulting with the student to see if this was desirable. As the Hung Bao for the intensive was not reduced to reflect the fact that the weapon was no longer included in that cost, this opened up a brand new revenue stream for Paul. This is a remarkable adjustment, considering that if the student wanted to own the weapons in question, he/she was required to purchase them from Bo Law. It is suspected that this resulted in a significant increase in Association revenues.
The cost of the intensives could range from an extra $30 to $100 per month (for one additional weapon or empty handed form per week). This was for all new classes. The Hung Bao’s could at times be very large, if a student was learning several new forms in a month. In certain cases the Hung Bao alone could exceed $1,000 for a month, to be presented to Paul, in cash. This is only for the Hung Bao; it does not include the additional charge for the classes. It should be noted here that not only was Paul charging twice as much for half the time of other schools just for the basic class, he was charging additional fees for new material. Other Kung Fu schools have a flat charge for the month, which covers everything. One is taught the new material when one is ready for it, at no additional charge. Generally, receipts were given to the students for all expenditures (the administrators at Bo Law were very conscientious in this regard). Even for minor purchases such as Inside Kung Fu or Kung Fu/Tai Chi magazines. This would apply to cash transactions or transactions where payment was made via check. However, receipts were never given for Hung Bao.
There were also fees for tests and for the uniforms. New students were required to wear black pants, a black Bo Law tee shirt and black socks. The school itself sold the black pants and tee shirts at $15 each. Students were encouraged to buy multiple uniforms (which made sense, as it could be inconvenient to wash the uniforms constantly). In due course, students were encouraged to buy a pair of black Kung Fu boots to wear during class. These boots generally cost around $70. Paul and the senior students advertised the boots as being manufactured in Hong Kong. This advertisement would extend to including “delays” in the shipment, when in fact; a Chinese gentleman with whom Paul has a business relationship manufactured them in New York City’s Chinatown. For a period of time (when Paul ran out of boots), students were encouraged to buy a pair of martial arts shoes. The shoes were probably acquired in bulk from the martial arts supply stores BLT or Bok Lei Po, or from some martial arts supplier. More than likely Paul received a discount for buying in bulk. However, he charged the students slightly more ($40) than the cost outside of the school ($35). The shoes were poorly made and eventually fell apart (requiring a replacement pair). After a while, Paul began to sell the boots again for the same price as before. Once again students were encouraged to buy the boots. In some cases the students were ordered to purchase a pair.
When the school first started, all of the students wore black pants and white tee shirts (actually he went through various colors for the tee shirts before settling on black, which was changed to red in 2002). In time Paul decided that the students who had been there a year would be required to wear a jacket over their black tee shirt. Each jacket cost $60, and students were encouraged to buy multiple jackets. In January of 2001, Paul loosened the stricture that students be there a full year before being allowed to wear the jacket. Soon it became obligatory after the student reached a certain rank (i.e. green sash). In late 2001, Paul changed the emblem for the school, quite possibly due to the Fu Jow Pai controversy. This required all of the students with jackets to replace those jackets (at $60 per jacket). Students with the older jackets were ordered to replace them.
In September 2002, Paul once again changed the uniform. Students were required to replace their black T-shirts with red ones, and the students who wore the jackets were told to that the jackets were no longer a part of the school uniform. The students were also required to replace their gold/green/red sashes with a black one, at a price of $15. This uniform change would result in an additional charge of $15 (provided the cost for the shirts remained constant) per shirt, and $15 for the sash, for each student, at least. In April of 2003, Paul once again changed the school uniform. He is once again having students wear the jackets. It is not known if it is only the senior students who need to wear the jackets or if there is a threshold (e.g. time at the school) for other students to meet before being required to wear the jackets. It is also not known if the students are required to buy new jackets or if they can use their jackets from before the last uniform change. The junior instructors are required to wear robes similar to the senior instructors, except the robes are a different color (light gray versus the brown of the senior instructors). The assumption is that the junior instructors would have had to purchase these robes from the school itself. The minimum cost of the robe is most likely $60, as that is what Paul was charging for the jackets. Though chances are the cost is higher.
Every so often the students would be required to test to either advance in rank or to keep their current rank. The tests came with a $60 dollar testing fee, which included their annual membership fee to be a part of the association. In some cases the student could test a few times a year (ironically with an annual membership fee included in each test fee). The students were told that the testing and the rankings meant very little. After a while it became apparent that the tests and the ranks mattered very much indeed. The ranking system caused many of the students to become competitive. This began to impact the training of those around them as the competitive students began jockeying for position. As of September 2002, Paul has seemingly abolished the belt/sash ranking system in his school. Though testing is still required. One supposes that this is to ostensibly get to the position of senior student, which would entail wearing a robe. One also assumes that the testing fees are still being charged even though students are purportedly no longer testing for rank.
At certain times a year, Chinese New Year, the Harvest Moon Festival or Paul’s birthday (August 17th, which was kept secret from the students), students presented gifts or Hung Bao to Paul as a thank you for his teaching. Students were told that it was traditional to present a Sifu with a Hung Bao for Chinese New Year and actively encouraged to give as much as they felt comfortable giving. This is not exactly a cost of the school since the gifts were given of the students’ own free will. However, the encouragement by senior students (with Paul’s blessing), which went so far as to include a hand out describing the Chinese New Year traditions, made it seem as though the gift was obligatory. This gift could sometimes exceed $100. As a matter of fact, students were directly told not to give Paul gifts other than Hung Bao (i.e. cash).
Currently, the system has changed. There is no longer a sequence for learning forms. Paul used to have a reputation for giving students a solid foundation in the basics. That no longer seems to be the case. Students with only a few months experience are allowed to learn advanced weaponry (staff, saber, whip chain, straight sword, etc). It seems that this was done to keep more students from quitting in order to keep revenues up. Most of the senior students were given a “price break” and allowed to pay a monthly Hung Bao of upwards of $420 per month for all of the classes they were taking. However, the Bo Law Kung Fu Association began monopolizing their time. They were required to be there a minimum of 5 days a week, for several classes per day. In some cases the senior students would be responsible for attending 25 classes a week (approximately 18-19 hours a week), and, oftentimes, to be there 7 days a week. As indicated above, there were no receipts given for these Hung Bao. This began to cause problems for students who were able to take tax deductions for the cost of the school (e.g. actors who could claim the training was to prepare themselves for potential roles). They could no longer take the deductions as Bo Law refused to provide them with the receipts necessary as proof. Also, if a student were to miss most of any particular month, Paul would refuse to give that student a pro-rated fee for the month. Students were expected to pay in full for each month, even if they spent most of the month away (giving Bo Law fair warning of the absence). This is not necessarily uncommon, but when long-term students are paying in excess of $400 a month, one can expect some leeway to be provided.
Not only was there a monetary cost to the school. There is also the physical toll that can occur. In any school injuries are likely to happen. It is a fact of life for any physically active endeavor. Bo Law is not an exception. However, when injuries occur, Paul actively discourages his students from seeking medical attention from Western medical professionals. He encouraged them to seek treatment from a Chinese doctor that both he, and Tak Wah Eng, had a relationship with. This is not a commentary on the advantages/disadvantages of Western versus Eastern medical practices. This is a much more prosaic issue. Western medical professionals want proof of insurance before they treat you (normally this insurance would be provided by the school either directly from Bo Law or through subrogation between the student’s and Paul’s insurance companies). With the Chinese doctor, it was an all cash transaction, no insurance needed. This money would come out of the student’s own pocket. A cynical viewer could decide Paul discouraged his students from seeing Western doctors for the purposes of keeping his insurance premiums down. Fewer injuries reported means lower rates due to a good loss history. In any event, whichever medical route chosen by the student, Paul and his senior students encouraged them to come back to the school as quickly as possible. In most cases, before the injury was completely healed. This resulted in injuries that never fully healed and that continue to plague many of the students, as they were never allowed to heal completely. Once again a cynical viewer could decide that this would be to reduce the amount of time the student had to consider or reconsider his/her choice of kung fu school. It is very easy to control the flow of information if the student is in class. If the student is away from the watchful eyes of Paul and his senior students, there is a chance that he or she will elect not to return.
Class Size:
Originally classes were very small as Paul only had a handful of students. Slowly, as word got out via advertising (ads in martial arts magazines and the Village Voice, the website) and appearances at tournaments, the school began to grow. Eventually, after the move to lower Manhattan in 1998, there would be several classes a day 7 days a week (at noon and in the evening during the week, and in the morning and early afternoon on the weekend). There would be one class at a time for 1 hour each. The classes would have about 20 people on average. Slowly that changed. As more students joined, the classes got larger. More classes were offered in the mornings during the week. In time there would be two classes running concurrently. Then the classes were reduced from 1 hour to 45 minutes. In due course there would be three classes running concurrently (weapons & empty handed). Suddenly, you would have three classes of 15 to 20 students each, some with weapons (which in some cases would be over 6 feet in length); on a floor that could comfortably support 20 to 25 students. Plus with the shortening of the classes not much could be accomplished in any one class. For example, in the “basic” class about 20 minutes was spent on stretching and conditioning (push-ups & sit-ups). That leaves approximately 25 minutes for the actual martial arts training. That is nowhere near enough time to learn anything. Enormous class sizes and short class periods acted in concert to prevent the student from truly learning the “style”. It is unknown why Paul runs his school this way though one hypothesis is that he does it to ensure that none of his students will become competent. If a student is not a competent martial artist, he/she cannot surpass Paul or break away from the dominance of the alpha-male (Paul).
With the classes becoming larger, and, with different classes going on at the same time, the amount of time devoted to individual students decreased dramatically. With less attention from Paul, or from his designated instructors, the students’ learning began to suffer. Also, with the shortened classes, applications of the movements in the forms began to be ignored. In other words, the class would spend the entire 45 minutes (in classes without a 15-20 minute warm-up sequence of stretching and conditioning) drilling the form, with very little correction of errors due to inadequate oversight by the instructors, and with no instruction on how to use the movements in a real life situation. The result of all this was the students would only work on the forms and nothing else, no fighting theory, no application of the moves, nothing. While the classes would give the students and good cardiovascular workout, to claim that they would be able to use the material to defend themselves when called upon is disingenuous at best.
With the increase in class size, and the influx of new students, it became apparent that there was a shortage of instructors. As a result, Paul began to promote students to higher levels without the students having the requisite knowledge, ability, or foundation to teach. Consequently, there are students learning from instructors who are less than adequate. Mediocre instruction begets poor to mediocre (at best) students. This is symptomatic of a far larger problem. Paul seems to be lowering the bar in order to attract and keep more students. This has a tendency to alienate the students with ability who truly wish to learn. They leave the school, which leaves a vacuum at the top. Which induces Paul to promote average (and less than average) students to higher levels, in effect placing them in positions of authority in relation to the other students. In turn the students begin to get inflated opinions of their abilities. Eventually they realize that what they have learned is totally inadequate, and they decide to look elsewhere for instruction, leading Paul to promote even more inexperienced students to positions of authority. It has become a vicious circle. A vicious circle created by Paul.
“Closed-Door” Material:
When Paul began to teach the Fu Jow Pai material to certain of his students, he told them to consider the material “closed-door” (i.e., the material was not for the general students, and the students who were learning were required to keep the material secret). They were required to sign confidentiality agreements in which they promised, upon threat of dismissal from the school, never to practice the material in public or to show it to any other Bo Law students who were not part of the closed-door class. This was odd as the Fu Jow Pai Federation taught the material quite openly and has done so since the 1970’s. The assumption is that the “closed-door” designation was used to keep the students from practicing the material outside of the school where there was a chance that someone from the Fu Jow Pai Federation would see it.
Originally, the Fu Jow Pai classes were held separately from the other classes, and students who were not members of the closed-door class were prohibited from observing the class. In time, the classes were held concurrently with other classes. Eventually, the classes would be opened up to just about any student. The new students were not required to sign confidentiality agreements. The students were still informed that the material was closed-door and not to be practiced in front of the non-closed-door students, disregarding the fact that the class itself was taking place in front of these very students. Also, Paul would continually make comments along the lines of “You’re not ready for this. You shouldn’t be learning this for 10 years”. Comments like that beg the question, why is he teaching it?
Tournaments:
Paul was a strong proponent of tournaments while he was studying Hung Gar and when he first began to teach in 1994 (though he only demonstrated forms when he was with Sifu Lau and after he struck out on his own). His students actively competed in the tournaments (forms and sparring). He was very much in favor of his students sparring in both class and in various tournaments. He was personally involved in the administrative aspects of the tournaments as well. At one point he attempted to start his own tournament (along with Sifu Pedro Cepero Yee from Yee’s Hung Gar) that would take place in the fall between the Wong Fei Hung tournament (sponsored by Sifu Frank Yee) and the Eastern US Kung Fu tournament.
Currently, he does not allow his students to take part in any tournaments. Nor does he allow his students to attend tournaments. Furthermore, he does not want his students to go to other schools to observe the classes (regardless of the style being taught). This seems to imply that he does not want his students to view any other styles. There have also been rumors that he is reluctant to admit students with any prior kung fu training. He claims that it would be dishonorable (to him or the other teacher) to go look at another style or to join his school with prior knowledge of a kung fu system. One would think exposure to other styles, even if only to observe them, would be in the best interest of the student. It would be advantageous to know the strengths and weaknesses of a style the student could potentially face. Plus, he no longer allows his students to spar in class. That aspect of his teaching has been completely excised from his school, most likely due to insurance cost issues.
This also goes hand-in-hand with the “closed-door” designation of certain material. If the material were “closed door” or Paul Pantazakos/Tak Wah Eng specific (in the case of the Tak Wah Eng 5 Animal forms), the rationale was that judges at tournaments would be unable to adequately judge the material. At least that was the excuse given to the students who inquired about tournaments. This rational is fundamentally flawed. At tournaments, no one judge is a master of every style. You would have Hung Gar (or Jow Gar or Pak Mei, etc) judges evaluating people performing Pak Mei, Lung Ying, Wing Chun or other styles. Yet, this has never seemed to be an issue. It would seem that Bo Law students are prohibited from going to tournaments in the fear that they would see things at the tournaments that would make them view the teachings at Bo Law in an unflattering light. Several Bo Law students who violated this ban left the school after coming to the conclusion that they were being deceived and taken advantage of by Paul Pantazakos and the senior students of Bo Law.
(Update: It seems that Paul is considering allowing his students to compete in tournaments. He has also revived the idea of running his own tournament. The reasons for this change are unknown. It could have something to do with the hypothetical reconciliation with Ng Wai Hong and Tony Lau (see above). Perhaps the decision to halt tournament competition was a result of the falling out with those two gentlemen. Though this seems unlikely as Paul’s students competed after his departure from Tony Lau. It is conceivable that the incarceration and subsequent release of Wai Hong from prison could have had a part to play in Paul’s decision making. However, this is only supposition.)
(Further update: Paul’s students are still barred from attending or competing in tournaments. Either the supposition above was erroneous or Paul reconsidered his decision.)
Syllabus:
As stated above, when Paul first opened his school he taught Hung Gar (he also taught Lau Gar, which is included in the Lam Jo lineage of the style). Slowly he began to move away from teaching Hung Gar (which only has a handful of empty handed forms and requires great patience to learn) to a more eclectic selection of Shaolin, Northern Mantis, Five Animals, Fu Jow Pai, Tai Chi and Bo Law specific forms (e.g. Sei Fong Ng Hong & Choy Hong). As recently as 2000, new students were only allowed to take the basic workout and work on the forms therein. That has changed significantly. Now students who have been in the school for a few months are encouraged to take as much as they like. In some cases, Paul will work out the student’s schedule for him or her. For many of the senior students this entailed taking numerous classes (oftentimes in excess of 20) of different material (i.e. some classes would be Shaolin, some would be Fu Jow Pai, some 5 Animals, some weapons, etc). The senior student would be required to take several basic workouts, the animal forms, as many as three Fu Jow Pai forms, several Shaolin forms and numerous weapons. All of this material conspired to prevent the student from ever truly learning the material.
It would be difficult to ever get any true understanding of a form, any form, if one is required to master 20 other forms at the same time. It is believed that Paul did this to increase his revenues. The happier the newer students are kept, the more likely they will stay in the school (most martial arts schools have a very high turnover rate, and Bo Law was no exception). Now, it has changed even more. Most of the empty-handed and weapon forms were combined in the same class. For example, whip chain is taught in the same class as Northern Mantis. Ostensibly this was done so that the students would be better able to learn each form, as they would complement each other. In reality all this means is the students have an even smaller chance of truly learning the material, as Paul can fit even more classes into an already overcrowded schedule. This would also increase revenues as he could charge more (i.e. double the Hung Bao) for 45-minute classes than he could prior to merging the weapon and empty-handed classes.
Since Paul no longer allows the students to spar, he teaches “Doy Cha” (Matching Sets) and “San Sao” (lit. “Freehand”). He teaches two empty-handed Doy Cha sets, Siu Lum Doy Cha and Fu Hok Doy Cha. These sets are supposed to teach the student spacing and execution of certain techniques against an opponent. He also has students perform various San Sao drills (including a little bag work, though not very much), which are supposed to teach the same things as the Doy Cha sets. They can, and do, teach spacing, and they can give a basic idea of an application of a certain technique. Unfortunately, they are performed against a willing opponent and the strikes/blocks are always in the same place. Also, none of the moves are performed with any speed or power for fear that one student would injure another. As of early 2003, it no longer seems that Paul is teaching San Sao applications. This means the students no longer even have that limited avenue open to them to learn how to use the material. This makes it very unlikely that a Bo Law student would be able to defend himself/herself should the need arise.
The sheer volume of material offered raises some questions. How could Paul (who is not yet 40, and began studying Wing Chun at age 12) master so many different styles? It is generally accepted that it takes a lifetime to truly master any style. For Paul this would be Hung Gar, which he no longer teaches. Where did he learn it all? It is well known that he learned his Hung Gar from Sifu Lau. As Sifu Lau’s supposed #1 student, Paul was probably taught some Fu Jow Pai as well. When he broke away from Sifu Lau and joined Tak Wah Eng, he obviously began to work on the Fu Jow Pai material. As the Fu Jow Pai material is very similar to Hung Gar, it is not surprising that he would become good at it. As a matter of fact, Fu Jow Pai is often taught in conjunction with Hung Gar. The previous Fu Jow Pai masters (Wong Bil Hong, Wong Moon Toy and Ng Wai Hong) were all accomplished at Hung Gar before learning Fu Jow Pai. This leads to the following question. If the two are generally taught together and Paul wishes to teach Fu Jow Pai, why does he not teach Hung Gar to his students (especially considering it is his base style)? It would seem disadvantageous to his students to do otherwise. Yet that is exactly how he is teaching.
Where did Paul learn the Shaolin material? Why doesn’t he give credit to his teacher? There was speculation above that he learned from Shi Guolin, and that does seem to be the most likely scenario. However, why doesn’t he give credit to Shi Guolin as one of his teachers? Is he trying to ride the wave of popularity of Shaolin while trying to avoid the stigma of Contemporary Wu Shu that plagues the “Shaolin monks”? Even if the material is from a different “legitimate” source, a few years is not enough time to become a master of the material. Plus the fact that he teaches 11-13 different Shaolin forms (Law Horn, Siu Law Horn, Dai Law Horn, Siu Hong Kuen- 3 different versions, Dai Hong Kuen, Dai Tong Bei, Tong Bei Fan Tzi, Siu Lum Gim Jia, Law Horn Seen, Siu Lum Gwan) adds fuel to the fire. The sheer number of forms makes it doubtful that he could have mastered them in four short years. Why does he teach them at all?
(Update: Paul has begun teaching the form Tai Jow Kuen. This is a form that appears in the Eagle Claw curriculum of Eagle Claw master Gini Lau. Where and when did Paul learn this form? Wing Lam Enterprises sells Gini Lau’s video of the form on their Internet site. Did Paul purchase the video to learn from? If so, does he now claim competence to teach this? There are many unanswered questions regarding this new material being taught by Paul.)
In addition to the Contemporary Wu Shu/Shaolin material, Paul teaches the 24-Step Tai Chi form. This form of Tai Chi was developed by China’s Communist government with the intention of standardizing (and controlling) the style for inclusion in Contemporary Wu Shu competitions. However, this version lacks the essence of the true Tai Chi styles that are out there (Yang, Wu, Chen, etc). It cannot be truly called Tai Chi; to market it as such is disingenuous. In September of 2002 Paul began teaching Chen style Tai Chi. When did Paul learn a part of this style? There is no evidence in his history, or Tak Wah Eng’s history, that would reveal where either one of them would have learned this. Chen style Tai Chi is a famous style that takes a lifetime to master, yet suddenly Paul can teach it. This raises questions as to its authenticity.
As for the Northern Mantis, Paul attended a seminar with a Northern Mantis Sifu. He has a certificate from that Sifu on the wall of his Gwoon. Does this make him qualified to teach the forms? Once again, how could he have mastered the three forms (at least) that he teaches in a few years while learning so much other material? It is more than likely that the Northern Mantis Sifu taught a watered down version of the forms in order to create an alternate revenue stream. It is very doubtful that he would teach the real form to people who are not his students.
Paul also teaches 5 Animals (dragon, snake, tiger, leopard & crane). There are 5 Animal forms in many Southern styles. For example, the 5 Animals form in the Hung system is quite famous. However, the 5 Animal forms he teaches are not the classical forms. They are forms that were created by Tak Wah Eng. It is difficult to pinpoint when he might have learned these forms, but it certainly was not until after he broke from Sifu Lau in 1994. Not only does he teach the 5 Animals he teaches (or taught) two forms for each animal (large & small). He has to have mastered 10 forms in 11 years. Like the Fu Jow Pai material, the 5 Animal forms created by Tak Wah Eng have a definite Hung Gar flavor. The similarity is understandable as Tak Wah studied Hung Gar for many years. Why were these forms created in the first place? Since they resemble Hung Gar movements a great deal, why not just teach Hung Gar? Supposedly, Tak Wah Eng created the forms to pay tribute to past Hung Gar & Choy Lay Fut masters. “Hung Tau, Choy Mei” - Hung head and Choy tail, is a saying Tak Wah Eng uses to describe the forms (http://www.takwah.com/five/). However, none of the forms have a Choy Lay Fut flavor. Choy Lay Fut is rightfully famous as a style with many kicking techniques. None of the forms Tak Wah created have kicking techniques that resemble Choy Lay Fut. As a matter of fact, the forms have very few kicking techniques at all. In any event, “Hung Tau, Choy Mei” has been used to describe something else, Jow Gar. Jow Gar is a southern style that was developed using the hand techniques of Hung Gar with the kicking techniques and footwork of Choy Lay Fut. There are a number of schools out there that teach this style. Why did Tak Wah create these forms? There is already a style that does it better. Is this just another style that Paul and Tak Wah can claim to teach so they can offer, “one-stop shopping” for kung fu?
There are a couple of Bo Law specific forms. Examples of these are Sei Fong Ng Hong Kuen (and it predecessor Ng Hong Kuen), Lien Wan Kuen and Choy Hong Kuen. These are forms created by Tak Wah Eng or Paul (or both). They are very rudimentary forms, and there is no doubt that either of the two can create their own forms. However, why create the forms in the first place? Any system of kung fu has its own methodology for teaching beginners (including basic forms), why take the time to reinvent the wheel? One would imagine that creating a form takes a lot of work. Most likely it would take more time than to just master a form. When did Paul have the time to create/master these forms?
To summarize since breaking away from Sifu Lau in 1994, Paul claims to have mastered the entire Fu Jow Pai system, at least eleven different Shaolin forms, at least three Northern Mantis forms, ten Animal forms created by Tak Wah Eng, six forms he either created alone or with Tak Wah Eng, 24-Step Tai Chi, at least one Long Fist form (with no mention of where he would have learned it), at least one Chen style Tai Chi form and at least one Eagle Claw form (with, once again, no mention of where he would have learned it). Not to mention the Contemporary Wu Shu form Nan Kuen that Paul has taught to his students in the past. These are just the empty handed forms. Paul teaches numerous (in excess of 20) weapons forms. That is a lot of material in 12 years. None of which is Hung Gar. Considering that he did not teach full time until he opened the current school in 1998, this is quite extraordinary. From sometime before 1994 through 1998 he held down a job as a bond trader. When did Paul find the time to master all of this material? The only material that Paul is known to have been good at, he doesn’t teach. Why? Not only has Paul mastered the material listed above in 12 years, he has mastered all of it plus Hung Gar in only 25 or 26 years. 25/26 years is actually an overstatement as it is unknown how long he spent studying Wing Chun with Sifu Lee Moy Shan. This “mastery” is only in reference to the sequence of movements in the forms themselves, not the essence of the form. It also takes time to learn how to use the techniques in a real life situation. This raises the question; can Paul truly claim to be a master of any of this material?
Conclusion:
It is not the intent of this paper to make any conclusions regarding the value of the instruction being offered at the Bo Law Kung Fu Association. Although it would seem that a conclusion based on the evidence is inescapable. In 1994, Paul Pantazakos’ teacher, Tony Lau, disowned him. Both he and Tak Wah Eng were expelled from the Fu Jow Pai Federation. They teach the Fu Jow Pai material, without permission, under the name Hark Fu Moon. Paul teaches styles where it is exceedingly doubtful that he could have had time to master them. He continues to add new styles to his curriculum with no explanation of where, when or from whom he learned the material. The only style he is documented to know, he doesn’t teach. His mastery of Hung Gar can even be questioned, as his teacher disowned him. He has too many students on the floor at any one time, sometimes with bladed weapons. This negatively impacts the ability of the students to learn. There is no sparring or application of the material being taught.
Questions from the students are frowned upon. Especially in regards to the Fu Jow Pai situation, why he doesn’t teach Hung Gar, or why the forms keep changing. Paul’s word is to be taken as law. He is not to be questioned, period. Students who question the “party line” face retribution by way of being ostracized by Paul, or physically struck during class as an “example” of how a move is to be performed. When Paul physically abuses a student, the student is told, “Sifu is playing with you, that’s a very good sign that he likes you.” There have been several injuries as a result of this “giving the student a taste” as Paul calls it, not the least of which are numerous deep bruises, at least one broken nose and cuts that require stitches (at least one deep cut was caused by Paul’s lack of care in using a saber). Paul has kicked students in the groin, grabbed their testicles with a tiger claw strike, struck them in the face without warning, repeatedly banged their heads on the floor, punched/kicked them in the chest, etc. Generally, when Paul injures a student, it is the student’s fault that the injury occurred. As it is assumed that Paul is incapable of making an error, which is constantly reinforced by the senior students, it must be the fault of a student. This type of abusive activity seems to be the exception rather than the norm at kung fu schools.
As a means of controlling information, he forbids his students from observing other styles or attending tournaments. Students are required to refer to each other as “Mr.”, “Miss”, “Ms” or “Mrs.” so and so. It is supposedly forbidden to use another student’s first name, especially on the training floor. Only Paul is allowed to call the students by their given names. The school (in verbal statements and numerous hand-outs) portrays Paul as a domineering, yet ultimately benevolent, father figure that should never be doubted or questioned. Once again, this is not an exaggeration; this is the image that is used to paint Paul as the ultimate authority figure in the student’s life.
Paul expects the students to spend all of their free time at the school. He also expects unquestioned obedience. This behavior is borderline cultish, though Bo Law is not a cult per se, as students can leave once they decide to go, and there are no religious trappings to go along with the ideology. However, it is difficult to make that decision to leave, as the quasi-indoctrination is difficult to shake off. The departing student feels guilty about leaving Bo Law since Paul was so good to that student, notwithstanding all of the physical and mental abuse that said student endured. The guilt about leaving is very strong. In addition, the senior students, or in some cases Paul himself will call the wayward student to try to convince him/her to return to the fold. Some students never find the wherewithal to leave. Others leave, but find themselves inevitably drawn back. It can be very difficult to break the psychological chains Paul has draped around the student.
Finally, the Bo Law Kung Fu Association is one of the, if not the, most expensive martial arts schools in New York City.
It is very difficult to reconcile these facts with the claims made by Paul Pantazakos on his website or in print media. Only one thing can be stated about Paul that is unequivocal; he is a very good businessman.
posted by OldBoLawStudent at 5:43 PM
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