What's in a Logo?

The design of the logo is red in colour and the background yellow. These are the colours of our school. Red represents courage and righteousness, and yellow represents compassion and wisdom, manifesting the ideals of a scholar-warrior as well as the ideals of a warrior-monk.

The design of the trident and three-sectional soft-whip makes the letter W and N, indicating "Wah Nam", named after Grandmaster Lai Chin Wah and Grandmaster Ho Fatt Nam, the two sources from which our school developed.

The trident and soft-whip also represent kong (gang in Mandarin) and yow (rou), indicating both the 'hard' and 'soft' dimensions of our training.


The inner and the outer circles represent both the internal and external approaches of our cultivation, and also signify that we pay respect to both our mind as well as our body. The inner circle reminds us of the importance of internal unity, and the outer circle our universality, i.e. we spread our arts to deserving people, irrespective of their race, culture and religion.

In addition, note that Shaolin is a Mandarin translation, whereas Wahnam is Cantonese. Shaolin was chosen over Siu Lam (which is in Cantonese) because it is universally known, whereas Wahnam was chosen over Huanan (in Mandarin) because the names of our grandmasters, Lai Chin Wah and Ho Fatt Nam are generally known in Cantonese.

This shows we can be both idealistic and practical at the same time -- the non-dualistic characteristic of Zen. We are idealistic in our aspiration, but practical in our application. It also reflects that while our origin (Shaolin) was from the northern Shaolin Temple, our development (Wahnam) was from the Shaolin Temple in the south.

The above was written by Grand Master Wong Kiew Kit. Reproduced from www.shaolin.org

When personalising the logo for South London a picture of Grand Master Wong Kiew Kit performing the pattern 'Swimming Dragon Plays with Water' was added. The low stance reflects the traditional nature of our kung fu, the dragon form finger strike highlighting the internal aspect.

What Is It About Wahnam? Part 3: Systematic Learning

"Kungfu is not magic. It is scientific. You cannot expect these sophisticated movements to magically work for you just because you practised them alone on the top of a mountain for 30 years. If students follow the prescribed methodology and practice sufficiently, they will find free sparring a natural progression. They will be able to apply their techniques spontaneously not because kungfu is magic, but because they have practised according to a systematic method."

For this post I thought I've cover Shaolin Wahnam's systematic and well-developed syllabus. I settled down to write and then remembered that someone had done a very good job of it already. Click here to visit Zenergy Arts, the home page of Wahnam USA, and Sifu Anthony Korahais's (pictured above) article on Training Sparring Systematically. The Wahnam USA site contains a great deal of information on a variety topics so have a good explore around the site.

What Is It About Wahnam? Part 1: Nothing But Genuine Shaolin

The teachings of Grand Master Wong Kiew Kit are the purest form of Shaolin I have ever come across. An antidote to the acrobatics of modern Wushu, Shaolin Wahnam prides itself on being simple, direct and effective. A principle we can apply to everything we do in life.

Shaolin kung fu dates back hundreds of years and today we can utilise techniques that have stood the test of time. Genuine Shaolin is a complete system incorporating every aspect of combat. We see no reason to include kicks borrowed from tae kwon do, punches from western boxing or locks from Jujitsu.

Likewise, we don't substitute traditional training methods for modern day circuit training or use a japanese style belt system. We remain open-minded in our approach to other martial arts and training methods, but if doing star jumps really made you a better fighter then some monk back in 1423 would have already discovered it.

What Is It About Wahnam? Part 2: Application

Second on my list, although not reeled off in any particular order, is the application of techniques found within Shaolin Wahnam. When watching Grand Master Wong Kiew Kit sparring I'm always struck by the completeness of his attack. By this I mean that while one hand will strike, the other will be used to 'tame' or tie up the opponents arms. Meanwhile, with good use of stances or leg work, the opponent finds his or her front leg pressed downward making them unable to kick and limiting their choice of movements. Often with just a little more pressure the opponent will we left in a heap on the ground as their legs buckle in beneath them.

It is clear then that there is much more to effective fighting that just being able to throw a punch. We must develop the skills that allow us to control our opponent and set ourselves up for the optimum delivery of our technique. We must guard against the likely counter attacks and be able to follow up with further attacks as we press forward. The skills to do this can not be learnt by beating punch bags but only through systematic partner training, a subject that will be covered in the next post.