I recently saw a clip of Master Bakari's Xingyiquan on Youtube.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_cHvxPr5k
When I first saw it, I immediately noticed a difference in his style from every other style I had ever seen. I then emailed Master Bakari with a few question. Pretty standard questions, what style, what lineage, etc.
To say the least, the reply I received from him was extremely impolite. Basically saying his style and lineage was none of my business plus a few insults. Well, this sparked a chain of emails afterwards that got rather heated. Essentially ending in Master Bakari threatening to find me where ever I lived and beat the crap out of me.
"And as for my lineage...It is none of your business! Where is it written that I have to give some strange punk-bitch my Martial Arts History?
"Let just get this straight....If we should ever meet I will deal with you with extreeeeem prejudice...You Punk.
But in the course of the emails, I was able to discover a few things. Such as, when I asked if he knew only the 5 elements or if he also knew the Linking Form, 12 Animals, Au Shen Pao, etc etc, he responded by saying,
."Would you like to test my Hsing-I? I remember in the early, mid and late 1970's when I fought in turnaments. We would have so-called Forms competitors like you, who new all the fancy terminolgies and pretty movements. But when it was time for the rumble to begin, you would all climb into your seats to watch the real Martial Artist fight. "
I don't know if any of you have had any personal dealings with Master Bakari, but I've gotten the impression from him that he should be avoided. I've never spoke with a "master" martial artist who was so guarded about his learnings and violently threatening.
