Sifu Shum started studying kung fu and tai chi at the age of eight until he was sixteen with Ng Wai Nung, his godfather, who had a school in Kowloon. When Ng Wai Nung was asked to teach Eagle Claw in Singapore for three years, Sifu Shum and his training brother, Shum Man Lock, were left in charge of the school until his return. When Ng Wai Nung returned, Shum Man Lock went to Canton. Sifu Shum assisted his teacher until immigrating to the United States in 1971.
Upon arriving in New York City without any close contacts, he worked in a restaurant in Chinatown. He gradually widened his circle of friends and taught privately. In 1972 Master Wai Hong of the Tiger Claw system organized a tournament and invited Sifu Shum to perform and act as a judge. Don Larkin, Sifu Shum’s first American student, was in the audience. He was so impressed with Sifu Shum that he sought him out and asked Sifu Shum to teach him. He took private lessons from Sifu Shum. In March 1974, he assisted Sifu in opening the first Eagle Claw school in America on 28th Street In New York City. It was the beginning of the school’s American history.
Training was very strict, strenuous and rigid. A student was not allowed to learn more advanced forms until he could demonstrate to Sifu Shum’s satisfaction that he understood the previously learned form; that he was able to: give every move a clear beginning and end, perform it with the correct speed and power, coordinate all parts of the body to move in harmony, pause at the appropriate points in the form, and show spirit.
Over the years, thousands of students have learned and practiced the Eagle Claw system. Some have studied for decades, others only a few months, but all of them have benefited from the teaching of Sifu. Now, the next generation of students (his students’ students and their children) are coming of age and carrying on the Eagle Claw legacy.
Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Federation 
Leave a comment