Southend-on-Sea, England: Kung Fu master Tony Anthony and Avanti Ministries

[ty5]

From that link

"I wish I could delete the Kung Fu files from my mind."

I do sympathise, I feel the same about my Wing Chun files.

That article really is a load of crap, but a religion that believes in immaculate conception and Satan is always going to be gullible towards this sort of rubbish.

[Jadonblade]

He better acknowledge that the kung fu element to his story is the only reason he is even noticed.

Bad things, prison then turned christian is not a compelling story.

[agemo]

Hi, I might screw up now, as this is my first post ever (long time lurker). But I got his book from a guy at work right before my vacation and I know that he will ask me what I think of it when i get back.

I think it stinks :) Even if it's fiction it's a bad story and badly written (in the swedish translation at least).

I would like something to back it up with when I say at work that I think the hole thing is made up. Have anyone found anything? I have searched the net but the only worth while I found was this thread (as often is).

Thanks for your time! And if I'm breaking any rules, I'm sorry. And if i need to do a intruduction I will :)

[SURGEON]

Does anyone think T.A. is telling the truth- except trusting 'Christians' who know nothing of the Martial Arts...or China? I've read the book, seen the DVD + Extras... & He's talking a whole load of crap. Now, it seems his AMBITION is to regurgitate his nasty tale for the rest of his life- can't he move on!
His story just doesn't add up on any important point-many mentioned in this thread... I'd like to belive he's a good man stretching the truth for dramatic effect, but he's stretched it well beyond breaking point.
Working for The super rich, yet doesn't ask for a loan? Thers's NO TRACE of chinese accent AT ALL in his speech. He understands NOTHING of the spiritual side of M.Arts, Buddism, Zen or thier affinity with many of the teachings of Christianity... (The Christos is 'simply!' the Heart chakra- 'None can know God except through the Heart-the Christ INSIDE'')...He was, 'too tired & depressed' to practice his Kung Fu!!!...and the stuff about his 'evil' parents-he went on the rob for...His whole story is a (not so) elaborate insult to any spiritual teaching... Thanks to this thread hopefully more people won't be duped by this sad pretender.
More amazing than all the lies, is the sucess he'd made of his hellish life before he became a christian- when he 'turns to Christ' his life becomes even worse! as for him getting his ideas from ShawBros films-I doubt it- more like Hong Kong Phooey without the humour.
It does have a strange MANCURIAN CANDIDATE aspect to the deranged sadness of his story though... & why does he squint so much?

[DerAuslander]

He definitely has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to Buddhism. I doubt if he was ever actually taught anything related to Chan at all.

[satsui_no_hadou]

He definitely has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to Buddhism. I doubt if he was ever actually taught anything related to Chan at all.

Speaking of which I wanted to send you a pm Errant but it seems I haven't posted enough or something. I'm posting on a thread here http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/ind...&#entry1008286 on a Buddhist forum, basically a few of the people on there are convinced that MMA and MA's in general are unethical in Buddhism. One guy even compares them to the Crusades! Was hoping you could kick their ass, I've tried but my knowlege is somewhat limited.

As for the guy this thread is about, he's obviously making it up. Even the people in the video think he's making it up. It could be that he was brought up by a crackpot but that would only explain the hard childhood, and there is no evidence for it or for the other crap he spouts. Then again Christians are great at believing what they are told :P

[bigguy1]

This guy Tony Anthony is a fraud. He toured New Zealand and was asked how many people were in the fights he fought to be world champ. His answer? Less than 50. That's not all. When you read his book, there is one impossibility after another. The guy is a psycho living the lie.

[khaixiang]

Ok first off sorry, I don't have time now to read through the whole thread.

and second, sorry but I am gonna disagree with everyone here I'm afraid

I am a cantonese by ethnicity and malaysian by nationality but i am currently studying in cambridge uni in england. Funnily enough my grandfather's name is chiong sui ling, so we share the same family name and possibly the same lineage (note that for chinese name, the first name is the family name and chiong, cheong, cheung, zhang, chang, teo, teoh are all the same western representation of the same chinese surname 张) and so am rather proud of that fact lol.

One of the several unsettling observations that you guys made is concerning the lack of chinese accent.. Erm I have only been in uk for a year and I don't really have a chinese accent anymore (but couldn't pass off as english either) and almost all my HK friends who have been here for more than 3-4 years now have acquired various forms of british accent. Well I am sure you know someone like that in your school or workplace, try talking to them next time

as much as his story doesn't make sense to you guys, it doesn't make sense to me that he's making this WHOLE thing up. If it's just for the money then I don't get it either since he clearly is a capable man and would earn a lot more if he gets a proper job rather than relying on the congregational donations and volunteering to talk for free at my church. He was donated enough to cover expenses of his trip and his books are for free, so really, how rich can you get by doing this as your career. It just doesn't seem to worth the effort, and risking legal prosecution for falsification and deceit.

I would love to go through each arguments with you guys but not now I am afraid.

[CrackFox]

I think the problem with this guy is that he's making pretty fantastical claims without any back up. Most of his accounts seem to be taken directly from the tv series Kung Fu, and he claims to have been won competitions that didn't exist.

Yet you concentrate on what someone said about his accent. Odd. Perhaps you should introduce yourself in the Newbitown sub forum.

One of the several unsettling observations that you guys made is concerning the lack of chinese accent.. Erm I have only been in uk for a year and I don't really have a chinese accent anymore (but couldn't pass off as english either) and almost all my HK friends who have been here for more than 3-4 years now have acquired various forms of british accent. Well I am sure you know someone like that in your school or workplace, try talking to them next time.

AS an aside, I have a friend from Hong Kong who's been living in the UK for the past ten years. She's reached the point where she uses full Scottish slang, but she still has a Hong Kong accent. This, combined with her perfect comedy timing, has led to some of the funniest shit I've ever heard.

[honesty]

Ok first off sorry, I don't have time now to read through the whole thread.

and second, sorry but I am gonna disagree with everyone here I'm afraid

So you've not read what everyone said, but you're going to disagree with it anyway?

I am a cantonese by ethnicity and malaysian by nationality but i am currently studying in cambridge uni in england. Funnily enough my grandfather's name is chiong sui ling, so we share the same family name and possibly the same lineage (note that for chinese name, the first name is the family name and chiong, cheong, cheung, zhang, chang, teo, teoh are all the same western representation of the same chinese surname 张) and so am rather proud of that fact lol.

One of the several unsettling observations that you guys made is concerning the lack of chinese accent.. Erm I have only been in uk for a year and I don't really have a chinese accent anymore (but couldn't pass off as english either) and almost all my HK friends who have been here for more than 3-4 years now have acquired various forms of british accent. Well I am sure you know someone like that in your school or workplace, try talking to them next time

Where as I know Americans who have lived in England for 10 plus years and still have an American accent. Accents are funny things. This isn't really the main argument against this guy, which is that he has given no proof, nor are any of his claims provable, and a lot of his "story" seems to have come straight from the David Carradine Kung Fu TV show.

as much as his story doesn't make sense to you guys, it doesn't make sense to me that he's making this WHOLE thing up. If it's just for the money then I don't get it either since he clearly is a capable man and would earn a lot more if he gets a proper job rather than relying on the congregational donations and volunteering to talk for free at my church. He was donated enough to cover expenses of his trip and his books are for free, so really, how rich can you get by doing this as your career. It just doesn't seem to worth the effort, and risking legal prosecution for falsification and deceit.

I would love to go through each arguments with you guys but not now I am afraid.

Taming the Tiger: Amazon.co.uk: Tony Anthony, Angela Little: Books
For someone who's going to Cambridge you don't seem to have grasped the economic benefits of advertising...

[Olly]

Can someone explain the Southend-On-Sea part of the thread title. I don't know if I've missed it but I haven't seen anyone mention that he lives here or anything since the thread title. There's more than one bully living here.

[honesty]

He lives and his business is ran from Southend

[DerAuslander]

Khaixiang,

You may just think you have no Canto accent.

Now, do you have any way of defending this dude's other wacked out claims?

[khaixiang]

So you've not read what everyone said, but you're going to disagree with it anyway?

My bad, I really meant that I disagree with what I've read so far in the thread

Where as I know Americans who have lived in England for 10 plus years and still have an American accent. Accents are funny things. This isn't really the main argument against this guy, which is that he has given no proof, nor are any of his claims provable, and a lot of his "story" seems to have come straight from the David Carradine Kung Fu TV show.

yes, accent is not the main argument, I don't think I've said it was.. It's just that someone has mentioned about accents and I thought I could comment on that. I was actually hoping that he would talk more about his martial arts background when he was at cambridge yesterday (and that's why I looked him up and found this thread but before that I had met him when he did an extensive tour in Kuala Lumpur), but he didn't.

But since it's at all likely that his matches and kung fu records did not find their way to the internet (especially if it predates the late 90s) I don't think it's quite fair to imply too much from the lack of evidence in the internet. While I do agree that his account of martial arts in his book seems to be bordering on fantasy at times, but there's a high possibility that the actual author (angela little, who knows nothing about martial arts) is to be blamed for this.

I hope someone else is making significant progress in this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taming-Tiger...5355394&sr=8-1
For someone who's going to Cambridge you don't seem to have grasped the economic benefits of advertising...

the purpose of advertising is to markup prices once sales has picked up. His book is one of the best-selling christian books worldwide but in Malaysia for example the standard price of the book in the bookstore is about 2 pounds the last I checked. I mean if the book has reached a steady and best-selling sales after 3 years and has gathered a loyal fanbase, why would you still sell the book at marginal cost and below (for example giving them out for free)? If that isn't senseless advertising then I don't know what it is. My point is if he is making this whole thing up for money then he's failing miserably at it.

So the other incentives are fame and religious goals, one could argue. (but if you go into that then I don't know how to give a rebuttal since it's highly subjective. Let's not step into that discussion please?)

[DerAuslander]

We are already stepped into that discussion.

Lying about your past for religious reasons is just as bullshit as for money.