possible bullshido - www.sil-lum-kune.com

**tkd panda** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 7:55am

www.sil-lum-kune.com this is the website of the KB class that train in the same sports hall as us.ive already posted their history claims on the CMA forum ive been told there history is all bullshit i think ive found a mcdojo on a national level.

**meataxe** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 10:53am

FWIW, Sil-Lum Kune is Cantonese pronunciation of Shaolin Quan (Shaolin boxing). You would probably gather that from the description. The lineage is from this fellow Hark Fu who learned from a Shaolin monk. Looking at the bio of Eric Tsai, I don't have any major alarm bells ringing. I browsed some of the others and didn't see anything unusual. Calling it Shaolin is probably a bit deceptive since all the old sifus in the lineage seem to have a mix of various southern hard styles.

There are a few slightly McDojo practices like the "Little Ninjas", but it looks like the fees are reasonable and there seems to be no contracts. Not having read the whole site, is there anything that raises red flags for you?

**tkd panda** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 4:15pm

well let list them for you
1. the fact that there head sifu's only qualification seems to be a 1st dan in TKD.
2. so hark fu is a style not a name as has been quoted on the CMA forum.
3.in thier past master's pages most seem to have started teaching only 1 year after starting to train a practice that may still be going on if there adverts for instructors is anything to go by.
4. little ninjas ? arent they supposed to be chinese association.
5. their membership area states TKD and karate clubs as members of thier association.

**meataxe** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 5:28pm

A few thoughts...

Originally Posted by alnwicktkd

well let list them for you
1. the fact that there head sifu's only qualification seems to be a 1st dan in TKD.

I'm guessing Paul Burkinshaw is the head Sifu. He claims: Tae Kwon Do (1st Dan Black Belt)
Freestyle & Kickboxing (2nd Dan Black Belt)
Praying Mantis Kung Fu
Wing Chun Kung Fu
Karate
Western Boxing

It looks like he has a competition record too.

2. so hark fu is a style not a name as has been quoted on the CMA forum.

In one place they say that Hark Fu was a guy who learned from some Shaolin monk. The style could also be called "Black Tiger" style. (Hark Fu Moon or in Mandarin: hei hu men). There do seem to be a few other schools with the same style.

3.in thier past master's pages most seem to have started teaching only 1 year after starting to train a practice that may still be going on if there adverts for instructors is anything to go by.

I missed that, but their website is pretty confusing.

4. little ninjas ? arent they supposed to be chinese association.

What can you say? :chewy:

5. their membership area states TKD and karate clubs as members of thier association.

Not very Chinese, but it seems to be a real mixup of different traditional and modern styles. That is the biggest McDojo practice, IMHO.

Do you have any feedback on the quality of instruction / instructors?

**tkd panda** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 6:26pm

IMHO the instruction of the alnwick Kickboxing class in particular is poor ive trained alongside this class for 2 years and witnessed some fantastic larping and some really bad self defence drills. also one of there guys has taught the class in the past even though he has only been training 2 years

**meataxe** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 6:38pm

That's probably the most useful feedback... The website doesn't give much to go on. I suppose you might be able to poke some holes in the competition records or lineage if the stuff posted there is not 100% factual. Other than the instruction quality as you report and some McDojo practices (mix-up of styles + little ninjas) there's not much else. I'm not defending them in any way, but at least he doesn't have a 20th dan in American Indian Ryu Kempo or something like that.

**tkd panda** · Posted On: 4/29/2007 6:42pm

well our class has a few former students of his im gonna ask what his other classes were like to attend

**tkd panda** · Posted On: 7/05/2007 3:51pm

Bit of an update on this one i sent an email off to the head instructor of W.U.M.A one of the orginizations he claims a title on. In their website there is no one by the name paul burkinshaw on thier tournement records.

Here are the contents of my email. Dear deadly i wish to make contact with you in referance to the sifu mentioned in the subject of this email.
Firstly i would like to explain who i am and what the purpose of this correspondence is i am stephen williams a third kup student of taekwon-do and also a member of www.bullshido.net .
the purpose of bullshido as you may know is to root out potential fraud in the martial arts and to investigate potentialy fraudulent instructors.I would greatly appreciate any information on sifu paul burkinshaw of http://www.sil-lum-kune.com/KungFu/B...2/Default.aspx in this webpage sifu burkinshaw claims numerous titles within W.U.M.A competitions however after browsing your website records the name paul burkinshaw does not apear on any of your tournement results pages.
This email is not intended in any way to imply fraudulent or poor instruction on the part of your orginisation and if i am mistaken apologize for any offence caused to you or mr burkinshaw.
I look forward to future contact with you.