Police Kung Fu. Man Kam Lo

      As relatively junior students of Wing Chun Kung Fu Master Lo Man Kam (out of a family of 3,000 brothers and sisters that includes Taiwan movie star Brigitte Lin, Hong Kong pop-singer Samuel Tai, and the Sultan of Brunei), we were honored that Sifu Lo asked us to translate Police Kung Fu. As we enthusiastically dove into the job at hand, it soon became apparent that we would have to answer a lot of questions, and fill in a few gaps due to the context of the manual.

      First published in 1993 under the title of “The Martial Arts of the Police,” this book was intended for internal distribution within the Taiwan police academies. As such, the material, from the people named within to the very writing style, begins with the basic premise that the reader is a new police recruit who grew up within the Taiwan education system. It assumes that you understand certain linguistic usages, know who specific people are, and will be directly taught by a skilled instructor. However, these assumptions may not necessarily apply to you, the reader.

      Therefore Police Kung Fu does not attempt to copy Sifu Lo’s poetic style verbatim, but rather rearranges the rhythm of the text so that it flows logically in English. Chinese proverbs are noted as such, and famous people from Chinese history are further spelled out. Originally, the pictures had only brief descriptions, because a seasoned instructor would have demonstrated techniques firsthand; the explanations now contain much more detail to clear up possible ambiguities. Finally, since Sifu Lo believes that both people and their fighting styles should continually grow and evolve, he further opted to add new photographs and techniques to the English translation that would go into a future Chinese edition. So while this version is not an exact, word-for-word translation of “The Martial Arts of the Police,” rest assured that it contains everything that Sifu Lo intended. We hope you enjoy his work.