Preying Mantis

Before I go into the trip I was talking about earlier and next meeting with Don, I need to digress just a little. Before I met "Don" I checked the local area of Alexandria, La for any Kung Fu schools and found one. I called and talked to the Sifu, Chuck Perry and he invited me over a few days later to talk some more. I went a few days later and met him. He was very nice and cordial and very clear and I like clarity. He did not teach Wing Chun but did teach many forms of Kung Fu, including Preying Mantis. I had heard that PM was a very good style (art, if you wish), so he agreed to start teaching via private lesson and I started a few days later. At first, I went on Sunday mornings, probably for about 5 years or so and then went to an after work time or whenever I could be scheduled by Sifu or one of his top students. I will tell you about one of these students later, although Sifu may not like it much! It's not really bad, just a sort of "rotten apple" and it is now in the distant past. Anyway, I started learning the basics and a few of the PM forms. Sifu also teaches "Longfist" Kung Fu and various other styles of KF. He now also teaches a Tai Chi form. After I had been there for awhile, my daughter, Sarah went along with me to a class. She was 10 at the time and was a junior Black Belt in Karate but she was curious and still is. She kept going with me for about 6 years and left as a level 7 (7 of 10) in PM Kung Fu. Much more about Sifu and the Kwoon later.