TEACHING SHAOLIN HUNG MEI
SENIOR TEACHERS
Shī Fù H. Solow (師父許浩義)
Shī Fù H. Solow (師父許浩義) started his martial arts career in 1970, studying Tae Kwon Do under Master Duk Sung Son. In 1971, he was elected President of the Cornell University Karate Club in upstate New York and in 1973, was granted the right to teach Tae Kwon Do at both Cornell University and Ithaca College. By 1974, Mr. Solow had earned his First Degree Black Belt.
Upon returning to Long Island in late 1974, Shī Fù Solow was introduced to Tai Shī Fù Tonny Kho from Shaolin Hung Méi. He was fascinated with the style of Kung Fu taught by Master Kho and asked to be recognized as a student. In those years, traditional Chinese martial arts were rarely taught to outsiders. Mr. Solow considered being accepted by Tai Shī Fù Kho as quite an honor. He has studied with Master Kho exclusively ever since and, through Tai Shī Fù’s sponsorship, was accepted as a member of the Eastern United States Kung Fu Federation in 1977. In 1978, Tai Shī Fù Kho (許太師父) awarded Mr. Solow the title of “Shī Fù” (師父) – the first non-Chinese in the Hung Méi system to be granted such an honor.
In the late seventies and early eighties, Shī Fù Solow taught Hung Méi Kung Fu (洪眉功夫) at Stony Brook University and assisted at Tai Shī Fù’s Wŭ Guăn (太師父的武館). By the middle of the eighties, he decided to concentrate on helping his Shī Fù and on competing in local and national martial arts tournaments. He remained active in Federation activities and appeared in many of its competitions and exhibitions.
In 1992, Shī Fù Solow (師父許浩義) relocated to Boulder, Colorado. There he continued to compete and, in his first year, won the Colorado State Championship in his forms division. In 1993, after having placed in the top three in over 150 tournament events, Shī Fù retired from competition and established a branch of the Shaolin Hung Méi organization. Later that year, he was nominated Colorado State Director of the newly formed United Kung Fu Federation of North America.
In 2009, Shī Fù Solow, was invited to the Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian province, China, to compare the techniques from the southern branch of Shaolin Hung Mei to the traditional methods taught there. The Deputy Mayor of the city of Quanzhou, Abbott (senior Monk) of the Temple, other government officials, several Monks and guests were in attendance. After many hours of performing, analysis and comparing notes, everyone was satisfied that the essence and spirit of the Kung Fu and been maintained across both distance and time.
In 2010, Shī Fù Solow, in addition to being inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame located in Kuching, Malaysia, was awarded “Instructor of the Year” and asked to be the Hall of Fame’s Ambassador to the United States. In 2013, he was nominated for an award given by the Martial Arts Hall of Fame located in Orlando, Florida.
By education and trade, Shī Fù Solow is a Biomechanical Engineer who has studied Engineering, Anatomy, Physiology and Kinesiology in addition to his martial training. His career in this field has spanned more than 35 years and he has specialized in the design of devices for human performance testing, diagnostics, rehabilitation, and fitness. As a Teacher of traditional martial practices, Shī Fù Solow possesses a unique ability to integrate the physics; anatomical, physiologic and kinesiologic components; as well as the essential elements from Chinese medicine and Qi practices of the techniques when instructing the students.
Shī Fù Solow still resides in Boulder where he has continued to teach the Hung Méi system. Even with the long distances involved, he remains in constant communication with his Teacher, Tai Shī Fù Tonny Kho (太師父許敬唐), and has always been grateful for all that Tai Shī Fù (太師父) has taught him.
Shī Fù Rama Kho (許子誠)
Shī Fù Rama Kho has over 30 years of experience in Shaolin Hung Mei. He started his studies on Long
Island, New York under his Father, Tai Shī Fù Tonny Kho (太師父許敬唐), at the age of 5 and received
the title of "Shifu" in 1998. In 1997, after completing his Associate's Degree in Engineering, Shī Fù Rama
moved to Boulder, Colorado. In both 1998 and 1999, Shifu Rama was awarded the title of "Soft Style
Champion" in the Colorado Karate Association, open tournaments.
Prior to his successful martial arts competition career, Shī Fù Rama started, in the early 1980’s, demonstrating the traditional Chinese Lion Dance and performed for a variety of large events on Long Island - NASKA Empire State Challenge Karate Tournament, City of Bayport Annual parade, and various Chinese New Year galas and banquets. After moving to Colorado, he performed as the featured Lion in an event for the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, and other notable events in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Currently, Shī Fù Rama focuses his extensive experience on performing and teaching the Lion Dance to further advance the mission of Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu. He is continually conceiving of, designing and choreographing various challenges and structures for SHMKF students to perform the Lion Dance for the various Chinese and broader Asian cultural events throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.
Shī Fù Rama has helped raise awareness of the Lion Dance "scene" in Colorado, connecting with members of the better known Lion Dance groups in the national and international communities. In 2013, he was able to bring a few students to train with San Francisco's Yau Kung Moon (柔功門) and Norman Lau (劉世民), founder of Lion Dance ME.
In 2014, Shī Fù Rama served as Chief Judge for the first ever Lion Dance competition in Colorado at the Denver National Chinese Martial Art Championship, conducting training for the Shī Fù of local martial arts schools, who would later serve as judges for the competition. Later that year, Shī Fù Rama was invited as special guest for the first Lion Dance Extravaganza at the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival and was asked to perform in the Lion for the blessing and eye dotting of a new Lion owned by the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival.
In 2016, Shī Fù Rama was honored to judge alongside former world champion Lion Dancer Chong Kok Fu (鍾國富) of Kung Seng Keng (關聖宮), Muar, Malaysia, at the Colorado International Lion Dance Competition. Shī Fù Rama along with Shī Fù Solow and Shī Fù James Mascarelli is a first generation, U.S. student of Tai Shī Fù Kho.
Shī Fù James Mascarelli
Shī Fù Jim Mascarelli began training at the age of nine under Tai Shī Fù Tonny Kho and Shī Fù Solow and alongside Tai Shī Fù’s son, Rama Kho, in Oakdale, NY. Shī Fù Jim was awarded the title of “Shī Fù” in 1998 and moved to Colorado in 1999 for graduate school. There he was re-united with Shī Fù Solow and Shī Fù Rama who had moved to Colorado several years earlier. Shī Fù Jim has been teaching SHMKF for over twenty years and is also a trained educator with a secondary science teaching certification. Shī Fù Jim visits the Boulder school as often as possible and in 2014 opened a branch of SHMKF in the Denver area under the surname, "Hao Peng" of the system’s late Grandmaster, Zōng Shī Wú Shén Xĭ (宗師吳神禧).
