About us
Quick links to sub-sections:
About our organisation
Ancestral Mountains was formed in the UK in January of 1997 by Ian Sibley. For (rather complicated) historical reasons it now comprises three divisions:
- The Instructors Association
- The Zu Shan Society
- The Student body
The Instructors Association is simply a group of instructors who share a common approach to teaching and practising martial arts - it is intended to provide quality assurance to students seeking training that is safe, authentic and enjoyable.
The Zu Shan Chinese Martial Arts Society is our equivalent of what American schools often call their "black belt club" - it provides a means for dedicated students to expand their ability, knowledge and contacts.
The student body is, of course, all the students who attend the classes.
About our name
The name "Ancestral Mountains" was chosen very carefully with the help of the founder's Chinese language teacher at the time, Li Hui Ping.
The two Chinese characters are "Zu" (on the left) meaning "Ancestor" and "Shan" (on the right) meaning "Mountain."
Chinese nouns do not have plural forms, so "mountain" versus "mountains" is typically defined by either context or common knowledge. Also, the adjective has the same form as the noun i.e. "ancestor" = "ancestral."
The meaning was rendered in English as "Ancestral Mountains" to try to avoid any confusion that "Ancestor Mountain" was actually a place which it is not. Rather, the meaning includes such ideas as:
- Respect for our ancestors in general
- Appreciation of the teachers that went before us
- Acknowledgment of the high level of skill achieved by previous generations of martial artists who developed the systems we now study
Furthermore, the mountain analogy can be extended to the nature of our development as we improve our martial arts. For example, the higher our level the better our view, i.e. perspective (there are no clouds around our mountain - see the emblem below).
The fact that the name in English begins with an "A" helps us to be at or near the top of any list of clubs. The fact that the name in Chinese begins with a "Z" (i.e. the name of our special Zu Shan society) means that only the more thorough individuals would find us in such a list which is exactly as it should be.
The officially correct spelling (Pin Yin) of the Chinese words "Zu" and "Shan" are pronounced more or less exactly as read by any ordinary person without requiring any knowledge of Pin Yin i.e. "Zoo" and, well, "Shan." This saves a great deal of confusion, explanation and embarrassment.
Last but not least it is important to note that so much care was taken over choosing the name. It is indicative of our approach to how much we care about our students, what we teach them and how we teach them.
About our emblems
The original full colour emblem described here is now reserved only for the instructors. The emblems of the Zu Shan society (calligraphy saying "Zu Shan Chinese Martial Arts Society") and the student body are derived from it and were created to simplify the production of uniforms, grading certificates etc.
The Ancestral Mountains emblem was designed by Ian and is composed of the following elements:
- The two Chinese characters that make up the name with "Zu" (on the left) meaning "Ancestor/Ancestral" and "Shan" (on the right) meaning "Mountain(s)". See above for more information.
- Four animals whose qualities have inspired many martial arts but, in particular:- Ba Ji (bear & tiger), Pi Gua (snake & eagle) and Ba Gua (snake*).
- A mountain - the black base becoming the white peak symbolises the ascension from ignorance toward understanding and purity of spirit. See the section regarding the name (above) for more information.
* Although Ba Gua has movements classified under seven other animals, the overall flavour of the style is based on the snake.
Also, there are one or more Praying Mantids in the bushes. Can you spot them?
The emblem illustrated is the earliest official version drawn by one of our original students, Jonathan Noble. It has special significance for us because it was drawn by Jon as part of his rehabilitation following a motorcycle accident in which he was hit by an oncoming vehicle while trying to avoid children in the road. Not only did Jon suffer severe neurological trauma but lost the lower part his leg as well. Even so he returned to classes - and motorcycles - once he had been able to get a prosthetic leg. We feel that this speaks volumes about not only the strength of Jon's character but also about the stature of people that make up our student base.
About our founder
He's flying!
Ian comes from Guildford, Surrey, England and began his martial arts career with Shotokan karate while still at school. He studied three different styles of karate ultimately achieving 3rd Dan but became interested in 'Chinese boxing' after hearing favourable reports from some of his colleagues. He quickly found that kung fu opened up a whole new world for him and began to focus on developing his skills in this direction.
After graduating from university and completing a post-graduate course in business administration Ian helped run his family's business involved in restoring historic buildings while continuing to practise kung fu with several different teachers.
Ian with Master Adam Hsu
in Taipei
With his principal teacher, a descendant of the Wu-Tan lineage, Ian earned his 1st degree in Chinese martial arts in 1990, completed training to instructor level in 1991, was appointed as a Regional Instructor in 1992 and became a Senior Headquarters Instructor (one of only seven) in '93. He is presently a 5th Degree black sash - the highest level that can be achieved under the time requirements of our standardised ranking system.
Ian has been fortunate enough to meet with and train under a number of wise, highly skilled and famous masters and maintains links to representative masters for all of the styles he promotes. He is known for his good humour as well as his attention to detail and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, on the radio and even on Chinese television.
In the course of Ian's teaching career he has helped people improve their health and fitness, taught practical self-defence to healthcare workers and schoolteachers, trained aspiring movie stuntmen & women and has even been short-listed for a movie himself. Kung Fu is many things to many people - why not try a class this week and find out what it can do for you: Classes
