WHAT IS QUAN LI K'AN

Ok you asked. Well first off I can not possibly give you everything about a style in a few short pages so this is ONLY a brief synopsis I am not going to even try to make this a complete explanation and in fact this is only a short history of how QLK was created and some of it OVERALL philosophies ALSO please note this is MY version so it is not the one that the other members of the board of governors necessarily agree on

First off we are NOT flash so if you are expecting chest beating or the last theories from the last face from your favorite martial art magazine forget it! We are interested in what works and WHY it works. EVERYTHING we do relates to real combat whether it be the street or actual military so if you are looking for tournament tricks you would be best to spend your time elsewhere. Mostly QLK material appeals to senior black belts this is not meant to be a put down but younger belts are more interested in being tough or the latest fad. What we do is down right deadly (meaning it mains kills or incapacitates your opponent) as it is a martial art and not a sport.

A VERY abbreviated History of QLK: FORMALLY Started in 1982 (Well we were doing it earlier but formally recognized it as a separate style in 1982) as a reformulation & combination of several established (read that well known) arts by 5 experienced martial artists. Al of us were tired of the standard lines we had always gotten; 1) the "wait 20 years and maybe we will tell you the answers 2) The attitudes of the belt assembly line schools and not teaching us gajin anything useful.... But more than willing to take our money 3) techniques which we had been taught which flat out did not work in real life" 4) People who acted like we were supposed to look up to them just because they were oriental and gracing us with their presence a s if we were privileged to be learning in their shadow.

Having had enough B.S. we broke away and decided to try and figure pout things on our own. This was in the early 80's

So we took EVERYTHING apart but instead of discarding kata we researched out the reasons why. Especially with things which did work. With time we discovered PRINCIPLES behind why things worked which gave us clues to other answers which gave us other clues, etc.

We always based our techniques on the following concepts:

1) PROVE to me (show me ... on me) that it works while I am trying to keep it from happening (telling me it works doesn't count). If I have to cooperate to allow you to accomplish the effect ... it is NOT VALID!

2) There is only one rule. Win or die! The fight doesn't stop as long as you are above the ground! Thus if you are knocked down... well you are still above ground aren't you!

3) KISS (no battle plan survive contact with the enemy!) Forget fancy plans and large laundry list of thing to memorize! You haven't got the time for that when your enemy is trying to shove their fist or a knife down your throat! (You have 1/2 second to react EFFECTIVELY after that you are DEAD)

4) It is not allowed to simply add a technique to the style. Instead you must learn the principle behind why the technique works and then present that principle. If you can prove it works then we will reexamine EVERYTHING we are already doing to see if old theories need cleaning up (again)

5) If you have to rely on strength or speed to make it happen then you have no clue why it is working. Go back to the drawing board!!!

We did believe that the martial artists of old really did know what they are doing. [They may not have that is a mute point we couldn't really care about... the perception that they did is enough to make us look for better ways of doing things] Although new theory may explain things better still, it is believed that knowledge had been lost though translation but is still present in the katas if really understand what the techniques are for! We believe ALL techniques in kata are killing, KO or maiming techniques!

Based on that we took the old katas and discovered what we believe is really happening on all 5 levels and then taught it/ rethought it/ taught it/ rethought/ etc. (And hopefully WILL keep changing things as we learn) along the way we learned a few things<G>

One thing is different from other systems though. When we redid they understandings of our style we did such based on MWM... not on the old TCM paradigms! We are/ were not afraid to state that we don't have the answers but when we make a physiological explanation for a technique or principle then we want to be on firm footing and want anybody who decides to check up and to learn more about the principle to be able to do so at ANY location which discusses physiology from a MWM standpoint. Thus technique theories CAN be evaluated to see if they are the most efficient way of doing things, validated and used as firm stepping stones for future research.

Quan Li K'an also uses a 5 animal system with the above concepts! But combined in different ways so as to either enhance a persons natural abilities or more common as a way to counter an opponents advantages... for example snake is supple and bend around a strong opponents strength and thus nullifies strength versus tiger uses strength to maximize damage to an opponent.

It seems to work! But QLK is and always will be an evolving system as we constantly deliberately reexamine what we are doing so that we can go back and again "clean up" our techniques. Therefore even though our katas look generally much like you would see else where (if you took/combined katas from TKD, Tia Chi, Ching Wei Quan, and the Okinawan systems) it is the combat/ street fighting emphasis which makes them IMHO valuable.

As far as the future we continue learn from just about anybody but then we have to bring the theories back to the board and try to "prove" them.... <g> that gets real cute sometimes! <BIG GRIN>

Finally QLK schools are not owned by me nor controlled by me. We have a board of Governors and I am presently the HONORARY head but each school is run but he person who owns the school... thus there are differences and no one else has the right to tell another school what to do... we collaborate in the QLK system so as to spread knowledge there is no dictatorship nor hero worship and when we present seminars to other school ( inside or outside the system) we don't try and convert people.. we simply present ideas and explanations and let others decide on their own if it make sense to them.

We don't see ourselves as "bad" or "tough" but rather as someone who .. is capable to self defense in ways that do not require size, strength or speed as a prerequisite. We would rather avoid a fight than hurt someone but WILL defend at all costs if required.

But Mostly the QLK system is comprised of people who want to train and see each other as part of the family of QLK!

Bruce Everett Miller

Tai Laoshi

QLK