I see that these posts are several years old, but I just wandered upon them and I would like to set the record straight. I'm a big believer in being objective as possible when describing chinese martial arts.
I studied with Frank for several years. He was my first sifu and introduced me to kung fu and taiji. I would like to address some of the questions I've seen in this thread.
First of all, to the original question. If you want the names of the postures, you need to ask Frank to teach you the traditional forms (yilu, erlu, etc). Traditional form postures are fairly well documented, but you need to look to the source in each case, i.e. where he learned them. IMO, the names of the postures are only important as a curiosity and in giving a little additional insight into the usage. However, If you're not learning the traditional forms, then you're going to have to know your stuff to be able to match the names, because he's making new sequences.
Let's get something straight. Frank's Chinese martial arts come from Chan Pui (Wah Lum). He was one of Master Chan's top students back in the day and one of the first teachers in Boston. However, for personal reasons, Frank decided not to open a Wah Lum school and instead opened his own school, promoting a new art called "Tao Style." This style is Frank's personal style.
Over the years, Frank became increasingly drawn to internal arts and added Yang, Chen, and Bagua to his list of practiced arts. But the Tao style and spontaneous, creative movement were always his overarching focus.
IMO, he is a master instructor and great martial artist. However, his Chen yilu comes from Kay-Chi Leung, erlu from Li Enjiu, and silk reeling from Zhang Xia Xin (I don't know about the Bagua). However, in each case, he learned the form in a few days (seminars or private lessons), and then converted it to his style, so IMHO these are actually Tao Style too and the movements are similar to his style and not to the principles of the lineages where he learned them.
When I was with him, it was a common case of learning CMA where you learn a ton of forms and training, but don't have real insight into usage. I understand that Frank was a good fighter back in the day, but I was an advanced student of his and received very little training of practical application with him. I had to find this through other teachers, my own research and training and teaching others.
I'm the one who posted the youtube video of him here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmnhdD3b4RoThis form is Erlu and came from Li En Jiu, however, it has been heavily modified from its original version. To me, it does not reflect the energy of the Hong lineage, and is more like kung fu energy. It's a good example of what I'm saying. Here you see agility, power and speed, but for instance there is some tossing you would not normally like to see in taiji, and I can tell that the applications he's thinking of are different than what is taught in the Hong lineage.
In summary, I have huge respect for Frank as a teacher, martial artist, athlete and person, however, what he does is his own style, which is based on Chan Pui's kung fu. Not a bad legacy actually.
