So I’m assuming that you’ve all read my most recent blog post about the James Lacy controversy and how he has somehow alienated himself from the rest of the martial arts world by producing dozens and dozens of homemade martial arts videos debuting – for the first time in history – the highly secret arts of the one of the 5 elders, Mew Hing.

If you haven’t, by all means give the previous From the Other Side of the Screen a quick browse. For the short and sweet of it, here is a reposting of a disclaimer from one of his instructional videos:

“To Those Involved In The Smear Campaign Against Me:

As a two-strike felon who Ed Parker once said “had experienced both sides of the law…and has much to offer in these times that confront us,” I will share the method I must as an individual use in any self defense situation. It goes like this:

I am all about the legal implications. As a two-strike felon, my philosophy is simple; ‘real life.’ Any punk can come spend a felony to give me a reason to defend myself legally. Then bring a camera while I make the citizen’s arrest. Folks can talk smack…I don’t observe. But in real life, I flip on the recorder, tell them its on and proceed to adhere and remind them of verbal, retreat, excusable homicide, justifiable homicide laws and case law if they are still listening. I tell them the penal code they are breaking and whether a felony or misdemeanor is being committed.. If the person is larger and stronger, younger and stronger, has a weapon, or there are two or more, I can use equal force, especially as a disabled person legally…thus my skills after warning them of the skills for the recorder, could be legally used. I also explain the first will be treated according to my self defense rights under the situation, and in the case of two or more, remind them that the others will be charged too for the damage (legally), that I cause. This is my street smart gift to you.”

[Courtesy of the Dojo Rat Blog]

We’ve heard the heresy, the smears, and some of the backlash Lacy has received throughout his tenuous career as a martial artist. Despite all his detractors, however, there are folks out there who like the guy. According to his website, Lacy has awards from every San Diego mayor from 1981 to 2000. That’s saying something in itself. But more to the point, people can’t just record videos and then get them produced by what was at the time the world’s premiere martial arts video production company. You’ve got to have some clout. Panther, a now-defunct martial arts video production company, decided to work with him and produce and distribute his videos on the 18 Daoist palms. Lacy has nothing but good things to say about the folks at Panther (see video 6 at the 4:40 mark, streaming at Totalvid) and apparently they saw good things in him as well.

LACY THE STUDENT

Just watching Lacy, you get a sense that he is excited about sharing his knowledge and perform his infamous coconut break that he has trouble maintaining his train of thought. He often diverts off his script (if there is one) onto tangents about the history of the art and the history of his training. He repeatedly stumbles over his words, changes meter and tempo mid-speech, and fails to finish a handful of sentences in the midst of his passionate lectures about the “hidden art of kung fu”.

It creates the illusion of a somewhat affable character, and the homemade quality of his videos doesn’t do much to dispel his inclinations toward amateurism. But what you also see when you watch his videos on Totalvid, when you watch some of his takeaway videos on his website, or when you read some of his writing is that he is a man that deeply cares about the distribution of his sancrosanct knowledge. He is giddy, and sometimes his eager nature shows like the earnest over-expectance of an adolescent. At one point in his 6th video he states – convinced of the success of his videos and the profusion of the information – that coconuts are going to be a hot item. Sad to say, Lacy, that they are not, but we sure do appreciate your fervor.

In an effort explain this rather lo-fi quality of his videos (a subject which many use to call Lacy’s character and the legitimacy of his videos into question), you have look back at what Lacy truly is: a student. Not everyone in this world that masters kung fu knows the best ways to teach it. Lacy’s ability to soak up information and retain forms is the reason why his speeches sound so jumbled at times: he has the information, he understands and loves the art of 18 Daoist Palms, he just cannot find a good way to teach it. It’s almost as it he is teaching himself as we learn along with him.

In Lacy’s training, he made a habit of video taping his exercises. This is not uncommon. Every professional team and ball player at some point video tapes him/herself and reviews the footage to see exactly what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong. Lacy took this practice and applied it to martial arts. If you peruse his website, he posts old footage of himself practicing his forms in a field. In explaining the video he says something like: “I don’t remember when I filmed this but I always thought it was a good idea to film your training, so you can watch yourself and watch your movements.”

His roots in learning the martial art of kung fu are in those aged videotapes. The key to his mastery is held within scratchy out-of-focus footage and poorly laid out sets. This is why his 18 Daoist Palms footage (and I’m guessing much the rest of his video tapes) is so unprofessionally produced: he simply does not care what it looks like. All that matters is that the information is in there.