Grandmaster Pan Qing Fu passed Thursday June 29, 2017, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He was one of the few who earned more than one cover of Kung Fu Tai Chi : April+May 1996 and February 2000. Beyond these, he leaves behind an outstanding legacy in the tournament rings with numerous world class champion students, on screens with his work on the groundbreaking film Shaolin Temple, and on the streets with his legendary battle against a Shenyang gang (see Master Pan’s “Gangbuster!” by Dianne Naughton, November 1998.

Like many, my first experience of Grandmaster Pan Qing Fu was through Iron and Silk, Mark Salzman's unprecedented book published in 1986. The book was a collection of Mark's experiences living in China. It was made into a movie in 1990 in which both Salzman and Grandmaster Pan played themselves. It's a great book and a good film, particularly groundbreaking because in those days there was simply nothing else like it available yet. Mark's pioneering book brought Grandmaster Pan into a very special spotlight seldom seen in the martial world, even today.

I had an oblique connection to Mark. He married Jessica Yu, a documentary filmmaker who won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject with her 1997 film Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brian. Back when we were teenagers, Jessica defeated me in fencing several times. I'm not at all ashamed of that because Jessica was a topnotch fencer who went on to make the Junior World Team and the U.S. National Team. Her sister and her mom were champion fencers as well. Her mom, Connie, used to get her fencing gear from American Fencing Supply, where I worked in the late eighties to mid-nineties. I met Mark Salzman there once when he was accompanying his mother-in-law. I don't remember when that was exactly, just that it was after my first trip to China in '91. I was already doing some freelance writing for the martial arts magazines, and we had a lively conversation about the Chinese Martial Arts. It wasn't until later that I realized Grandmaster Pan had a hand in one of my favorite Kung Fu movies of all time, Shaolin Temple. He doesn't have a big role as an actor there but he was one of the action directors, and you can see him as one of the main villain's generals in the initial scenes of the film.

Gigi Oh, our Publisher Emeritus, has fond memories of Grandmaster Pan. “It's sad to hear that Grandmaster Pan has passed away,” she says. “He has been very generous to us. He always insisted to pay for his own hotel fees.” This is in sharp contrast to so many masters today. Of course, every tournament provides for their VIPs, but nowadays, even some local masters might demand to have their hotel fees covered for "the honor" of their presence. Only a few ever offer to pay their own way. “I remembered that on 2002 Valentine Day, I received a phone call from him. He said, ‘Gigi, I decided to come to Kung Fu Magazine 10th Anniversary Celebration on August 22nd and this is my Valentine Day gift to you!’ He was among the first few Grandmasters who gave me a positive answer.  He was our Gold Sponsor on the KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS, even he could not come in person.” Gigi has fond memories of him always whipping out his striking tile whenever he had a free moment and hitting it as part of his Iron Fist regimen. Those knuckles were his signature. It’s difficult to find a photo of him where they aren’t prominently in frame. Some conservative martial artists disregarded Grandmaster Pan's knuckles as being a deformity caused by training that was too extreme to be healthy. Any kind of training that appears so graphic is controversial, but I'd bet that none of those critics ever got hit by those knuckles.

Once I became part of Kung Fu Tai Chi, I met Grandmaster Pan on several occasions, both at the office and on the road at tournaments. At our 10th Anniversary Gala, I remember watching with amusement as he rapped some of my Kung Fu brothers on the head with those calloused knuckles, his go-to stunt to impress his martial fans. And they all winced accordingly. Even a light rap on the noggin with those hardened knuckles was like being tapped on the skull with a ball-peen hammer.

Just before he went on stage, he pulled me aside and said, “Introduce me as 'Grandmaster' or else you insult me.” I had fully planned on doing so anyway, but no one had ever said that to me, and no one has since then. It tripped me out at the time, but he earned it. He was flamboyant for sure, donning a garish gold lame demo uniform which also shocked those more conservative attendees. But it was actually foresight on Grandmaster Pan's part. Back in 2002, Kung Fu uniforms were still fairly plain, just silks with little adornment, nothing like the gaudy embroidered rayons we have nowadays. Now, all the modern masters and competitors don uniforms that are boisterously colorful and they don’t have one-tenth of the level of skill that Grandmaster Pan had. Grandmaster Pan was way ahead of the pack, a true trailblazer and trendsetter, not just in fashion but in his whole approach to being a martial arts master in the modern world.

When it comes to Grandmaster demos like our 10th Anniversary Gala, we always try to set strict time limits for all the participants because we want everyone to get their fair spotlight, and not to go overtime. Most abide by this, but it's really impossible for us to enforce without a shepherd's crook or something, and that would be tacky. Grandmaster Pan did go overtime, not so much with his demonstration (which was spectacular and impressive) but with his multiple bows on his exit. He did love that spotlight, and we won't begrudge him that now because he did have the skills to back that up.

On the road, he was always generous to me personally. Given his showmanship, he was always surrounded by eager fans. That's the great thing about martial arts tournaments and gatherings. They allow us to connect with each other and witness Grandmasters like Grandmaster Pan firsthand, in the flesh. But he always made sure to connect with me privately at some point. He seemed genuinely interested in how I was doing, which was very gracious of him. I was honored that he would take the time, especially because this was early in my career when few of the martial upper echelon gave me as much face.

“He gave me a hongbao (a traditional red envelope containing a monetary gift) for his poster we designed for him,” recalls Gigi. Just like covering hotel fees for VIPs, usually it’s the other way around. “He told me, ‘I know you are working hard to promote Chinese martial arts and this is not an easy thing. I like to help you any way I can.’" But it was Grandmaster Pan who did so much to promote the Chinese Martial Arts. He did so by living by example, never failing to deliver his Gangbusting Iron Fist when the spotlight shone. If there’s a Kung Fu Valhalla, I’m sure Grandmaster Pan is seated prominently at the table, punching his training tile, and smiling upon those who forward the cause of the Chinese martial arts.