LION ON GUARD (A Thai Spiritual Lion named Sing Toe) adorned with Buddhist Icons .... In Northern Thailand (where Big Gym City is located) …. There is belief in Animism which is that things (such as trees, rivers, stones & even plants [like Aoe Vera]) have living souls .... There is belief in a spiritual presense worthy of respect & sometimes fear .... that is why you will often see the trunks of old trees encircled with an orange or red/brown cloth sashes .... Even if you doi not believe in such traditions, definately better not to laugh or scoff at such 2,500+ year old beliefs ... just remember that every sensible person once knew the world was flat.
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Gallery of Heros & Villians
ALL CHARACTERS ON THIS PAGE ARE FROM LIFE .... but some of the names have been completely or partially changed, because of their "colourful or dubious" histories (past activities) .... Also to protect some of them (or their families) from danger, revenge, unwanted publicity or government persecution, confiscation of assets, deportation, repression (&/or arrest) .... Some were close (or more) personal friends of Zeek .... or working associates in various sometimes "precarious" situations .... Some are now known to be dead (in most cases sadly) or believed so, & a few are in deliberate hiding (or "detained") .... & there are one or two who are reputedly now in "high places" .... but many are missing ("disappeared") .... & finally in a few cases several real life characters (who have representerd a specific role over a period of time [like Woo Chin]) have been condensed into a single entity for simplicity of complex circumstances (like Robin Hood or James Bond) & are so represented below.... Many of these "Heros & Villians" will not (in real life now [if still alive]) even know about "The Art of Shen Ku"
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Sample Page from "The Art of Shen Ku" .... Gallery of Heros & Villians(Featuring Lom Ping, The Black Monk, Miss Hoo Chin, Shen Ku, The Robbers Four, Lucy Hit, The Short Monk & Miss Aloe Vera ) ....
SHEN KU (very mysterious character of probable Asian & Caucasian/Arab origin, difficult to identify & locate because of reputed frequent use of disguises [particularly of Chinese peasant or other "down & out" characters) .... Outstanding & semi secretive exponent of multiple martial & other artforms. LOM PING (believed to be orphan of Thai Mother & migrant Chinese father brought up by aunt in Muslim far south of Thailand (see "The Precious Ring".) LUCY HIT (another mixed race child believed of Asian & Ethiopian or Zulu parents)...Because of racial slurs she developed a very fast & powerful punch sequence that flattened a string of bullies (boys too) at school.) THE BLACK MONK (very powerful & heavily muscled master of various martial arts & theraputic techniques. Very widely traveled but believed to have originally walked from north Africa thru all of western Asia ending up as a bodyguard & translator in Japan. THE SHORT MONK ( believed to have been born in Mongolia of uncertain parentage. Close friend of the Black Monk from Afganistan where both were rumoured to have been paid bodyguards of a tribal cheif [because of their incorruptable characters] for which services they were paid in gold.) HOO CHIN (a very sad childhood improved somewhat (but not for her twin sister Woo, who was somehow left behind in Shenzen ) when Hoo was informally adopted by an Asian/US couple who were traveling to the
Robbers Four from hiding they,
with fiercesome blade did rush to slay
chance passers-by that lonely way.
No price too high for some this day.
And so a traveller dusty came
along that road which had no name.
To meet before at heaven’s door
dark spirits from these robbers four.
But all that seems must not so be
a mother’s tears into the sea.
Did ragged coat a secret hide
or fate on such a gamble ride.
With movement faster than the eye
cloth & severed limb did fly.
Must all we by our hand so die
once more as dust across the sky.
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Sample Page from "The Art of Shen Ku" .... Gallery of Heros & Villians(Featuring Little Noo(Rat), Cal ?...ski, Mr Abdul & Miss Anita, Miss Woo Chin, Yo Yo Brain, The Old Mystic, The Bosun & Ningpo (Ning) ) ....
LITTLE NOO (Rat ) Stowed away at 10 years old because of domestic violence ... On that same vessel was "volunteered " to free a fouled propellor in shark infested waters & suffered an attack [bite to torso & left arm].... Met the Captain of "The Black Hawk" in a Shenzhen [South China] "pirates hospital". The Captain recognized a brave spirit with a quick brain, & offered him a berth as navigation student with deck duties. WOO CHIN ( this suberbly talented [ & quite beautiful ] child of misfortune somehow worked her way up to be owner & master of a fine "shadow" [not what it seems] vessel with many names..... One of the very few female captains who later became quite wealthy [thru skill & daring]. A veteran of many hazardous scrapes with the authorities & sea going villians who before her pardon had a price of 1,000 tablets of silver on her head. THE OLD MYSTIC ( No historical facts yet available about this "Will o the Wisp" [appears & disappears without warning] .... No ethnicity, no origin , no family, no firm location have been accurately recorded after several centuries of mysterious encounters of this grizzled [but very fit] old man pushing a carved wooden cart covered with strange carvings. He is believed somehow associated with Shen Ku [because of the 4 bells & other clues] .... This "Old mystic" has also been variously observed to execute martial arts techniques & has aided a long list of persons in various dilemmas .... "Hmm, very interesting .... What is your real name Old Mystic????" CARL.... SKI is not his full/real name [there is a bit missing in the middle for a start] BUT, this is a little of what he told me ... Carl came from an old & ellite intellectual family associated with the old soviet Union & advanced aeronautical designs, which was under serious pressure from the then quite ruthless KGB, forcing the family to flee to lierally all points of the compass.... Carl was in transit in the BVI [Caribbean Sea] looking for a hiding place for a VERY big bag of money .... when he met the beautiful Aloe Vera onboard the fine sailing yacht "Shen Ku" at anchor off the original Tearsure Island .... VERY GOOD LUCK to you both from Zeek ( there was a search for this "huge bag of money"[see photos below]) THE BOSUN (believed to have been born in southern China, at least one parent being a German national ... Unfortunately he was kidnapped at age 3 years & grew up on sampans in Hong Kong waters .... Because of a massive physique [ 6 feet 6 inches tall & heavily built ,he found easy but hazardous work as a bodyguard. Later he heard of the Black Hawk & was given a weeks trial as Bosun [foreman of the deck - that was 7 years ago] .... Tough but honourable & respected by the crew.)
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THIS IS THE REAL TREASURE ISLAND .... The expedition vessel (bottom right) is anchored in a huge sheltered & deserted bay close to the beach on the west coast of this uninhabited island ... which was well known by the famous Robert Louis Stevenson (& to many of The Real [not movie] Pirates of The Caribbean [who in past centuries anchored in this very same bay]) .... It is in the heart of the hurricane belt of the Caribbean Sea & the three dubious & suspicious characters pictured are (bottom left) 2 newly "chain ganged" deckhand novices, & (top left) the same 2 after 18 months hard & dangerous work before the mast (the expedition vessel is believed to be off the Azores by that time) .... The smirking galoot in the hat is believed to be the one eyed captain of that vessel, (& an associate of the notorious Carl ....ski [also of the beautiful Aloe Vera]) .... Did this bunch of modern day misfits from a bygone era actually uncover Carl's secret hoard buried in the haunted hills of that notorious pirate haven?... & if so where is it now?.... The story above is a part of our history. The photo is believed to be dated about 1994-6.... Good Luck & Fair Winds to all brave & honourable characters from our past (including Carl, Aloe & those in the photo above) .... from Zeek
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ANOTHER PHOTO OF THE EXPEDITION VESSEL (recently turned up) ... It is apparently hidden amongst trees in a secret location (like a ghost from past) ... & that suspicious crew are missing too!
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This Page not finished yet (Zeek has encountered a temporary holdup which should be sorted by Febuary 2011)
