Tiek Soo Chang

We attribute our origins to a man named, among other things, Bodhidharma, Buddharama, Daruma, Lo Han, or Ta Mo. This man was raised as a prince in India. He gave up his worldy belongings to wander as an ascetic. We traveled north to China, where he taught the principles of Chan or Zen Buddhism. He also taught the monks at the Shao Lin temple some martial exercises called the 18 hands of Lo han. These movements gradually increased and spread to become the multitude of systems of martial arts that come out of the Shao Lin temple.

Tiek soo chang is an ancient form of Chinese Martial Arts. It is a combination of thirty-one forms developed by masters of different systems, of both Northern and Southern kung fu. The set of forms was compiled for these masters to practice together. These forms were adapted and selected for the way that they manipulate the practitioner's energy in progression. Grandmaster Alan Lee, abandoned at the temple as a child due to political unrest, was raised as a worker in the temple. Though his job was only to maintain the grounds, the young boy watched the monks and replicated their movements. Eventually, he was caught by one of the senior monks. Though the boy was not allowed to learn this master set, the monk took pity on him, and taught him in secret. Over time, he learned and mastered this unique system we now call Tiek Soo Chang.

Grandmaster Alan Lee was a small, humble, soft-spoken man. Though he was a practicioner of Tiek Soo Chang with deadly precision, he would never show off or brag. In fact, he didn't teach his art, until he met Grandmaster Cho.

At the time, Grandmaster Cho wasn't a Grandmaster. He was, however, a force to be reckoned with. Nearly six feet tall, he was a giant among the Chinese. he was one of the only survivors of the death matches of the Boxer Rebellion. He was also a drunk and a thug. It was not suprising that, on one fateful occasion, Grandmaster Cho found himself locked in jail.

This jail was more like a hut. It was a tiny room with only one cell. It so happened to be the humble Grandmaster Lee's job to sweep the tiny hut and watch after the prisoner. Now Grandmaster Cho, angry and hung-over, decided to throw a punch at Grandmaster Lee through the bars as he swept the floor near the cell. Quick as lightning, Grandmaster Lee caught the punch in his hand. When Grandmasten Cho tried to pull his hand back, he found he couldn't. The small, skinny janitor was holding his punch as though it were an egg, and the gigantic, muscled ruffian could not pull his hand out of that grip.

Upon release from jail, Grandmaster Cho came to Grandmaster Lee, asking him to teach him how he performed that feat. Grandmaster Lee told him to come to his house the next day.

T'sen Cho lived miles away from Alan Lee's house. He walked over, and when he saw him, the Grandmaster said
"My neice in the next village is sick , and I need to bring her some herbs. Come back tomorrow."

So he did. When he arrived, he came upon a note on the door saying "I needed to go to the next town for supplies, come tomorrow."

And he came the next day.

And the next.

Every day, Grandmaster Alan Lee had some excuse not to teach Grandmaster Cho.
After weeks of this, Cho carried his sleeping mat to Lee's house and rolled it out just in front of it.

Still, Grandmaster Alan Lee kept Grandmaster Cho waiting for months. This was to humble him. Eventually, Grandmaster Lee took Grandmaster Cho on as a student, and they practiced together for the rest of their lives.

Young William Roy trained with these two men in New York.
From them he gained a powerful foundation. He learned many things, including the secret to using chi to break boards with a single finger. Sifu Roy also became the super-lightweight world kickboxing champion with a record of 58-0 with 48 KOs

He now lives in the Moreno Valley in New Mexico where he still teaches a dedicated few.

In May, 2009, Sifu Roy was promoted to the rank of master and head of the American Tiek Soo Chang association.

Today, the practitioners of the Roy branch of the Lee hombu are spread throughout the United States. Sifu William Roy has to date only promoted eight black belts, five of which have students in Tiek Soo Chang. Every year, these black belts and their students travel to a gathering, where Master Roy lives, in the Moreno Valley in northern New Mexico. This is so that students can meet and share the experience gained over the past year, as well as participate in group workouts and test for higher rank.