Sigung (Grand Master) Vincent A. Cabais, 33rd generation, 30th degree, Shaolin Lohan Pai. "International Instructor of the Year" 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 & 1999 Sole lineage holder to the Ancient Oriental Martial Art of "Shaolin Lohan Pai" Kung Fu.
Apprenticed in 1978 under the late Sigung Ronald Siu Chiang, 32nd generation, 33rd degree, Shaolin Lohan Pai in the state of Hawaii.
The year was 1999.
This was the year my mother was hospitalized for open heart by-pass surgery, and not long before she died.
After the surgery, my Father was describing the surgery and the inscision to me, how the surgeon had to use an invasive proceedure that involved cutting through the skin bone and cartilage from the hollow of her neck to below her navel. Somewhere during this narrative I just "lost it" emotionally.
For several years I had been reading up on major health concerns and their causes. I knew that heart failure is caused mostly by genetics and lifestyle choices/eating habits. In my family saturated fats were a major part of any meal!
I remember being at their farm where I grew up, sitting on a large round bale of hay thinking of all the things that had led to this day, and her surgery. I thought about how heart disease runs in both sides of my family, and with my present lifestyle, my turn on the operating table would probably come within the next 10-15 years. (Or so I believed)
I began to contemplate how that could be avoided, and I knew one of the first things I should do was begin an excercise program. The only problem was: I hated excercise! I knew if I were to get myself in shape, it would have to be through the pursuit of something that fascinated me.
Rewind several years: the TV show "The Green Hornet". Bruce Lee is kicking a light fixture on the ceiling, and dispatching the bad guys!
What drives our descisions? Usually our emotions! There are very few of us like 'Mr Spock' on "Star Trek" who actually make descisions based on logic and reason. We may deceive ourselves, but usually at the base of what we call our logic is an emotion!
So I knew I had to find a pursuit, and Kung Fu was something that had always fascinated me!
One problem with the midwest area in which I lived was a total abscence of authentic Chinese Kung Fu. Particularly Kung Fu originating at the Shaolin Temple. I Had rearched the local telephone directory several times, but had never found a listing for Kung Fu before.
Imagine my surprise when I flipped to the latest edition of the "Yellow Pages" and found a listing for The Shaolin Lohan School of Kung Fu.
My life changed direction on that day!
If you have read another of my hubs on Overcoming Depression, then you have heard me mention Kung Fu there, as a part of my healing process. You have read that I believe Depression has two parts: Cognitive, and Physiological. Kung Fu dealt with both aspects.
On the physiological level senior instructor Mark DeMate, began to teach me and the other students newly enrolled at that time,
* The Horse Stance
* Front Stance
* Fencing Stance
* Snap Kick
* side kick
* and much more.
On the Cognitive level, we learned the mantras. My favorite has always been: "The Buddhist Parable of Killing"
* "Avoid rather than check,
* Check rather than hurt,
* Hurt rather than maim,
* Maim rather than kill,
* For all life is precious, and NO ONE has the right to take it away!
We learned about:
* Discipline
* Honor
* Integrity
* Respect
* Self Control
* Perseverence
* Loyalty
* Perception
We learned to push our bodies to extremes we thought impossible!
We learned Development of the Mind, Through the Discipline of the Body!
After about 6 months, I began to get to know Sifu a little better. Sifu Cabais is very traditional in many respects, and never opens himself up to people on a personal level until he can see something of their inner qualities.
Over the next several years, I came to know a man as complex and as disciplined as any I have ever met.
Kind and compassionate, he struggles hard to keep it from showing. :-) Dedicated to his passion, he gave up home and family in his native Hawaii to bring Kung Fu to the central part of North America. Dedicated to his students I watched as he turned down an invitation to bring a team to the Olympic Winter Games as he felt his top students were not ready for that kind of competition, and he refused to leave the rest of his students when they needed him.
I could eulogize Sifu Cabais for many more paragraphs, but perhaps the greatest reccomendation I could give him is simply this:
He was my Friend, and he was there whenever I needed him, and at the lowest point in my life.
I have MANY friends, but only ONE Sifu!
Rock On Sigung Cabais!
