Grand Master Sin K. Thé
Grandmaster Sin K. The' has been teaching in the United States for close to 60 years. In that time thousands of students have learned and practiced the ancient art of Shaolin-Do. In the 1970's and into the 1980's Grandmaster The' held one of the largest east coast tournaments in the U.S. His influence and recognition is widely respected within the Chinese Martial Arts community here in the United States and abroad. To this day he still has a strong connection to his numerous affiliated Martial Arts schools and his countless students that span across the country. His annual visit to Boise attracts students from all over the western United States and the Pacific Northwest.
Background
In 1943, Sin Kwang Thé (pronounced Tay) was born in Bandung, Indonesia. His parents were Chinese but fled to Indonesia after the Communist Party of China came into power. Young Sin was drawn to the martial arts at a very young age. A friend of the family and a close friend of Grandmaster Ie Chang Ming introduced young Sin Thé to Grandmaster Ie’s school to watch and observe a class. He was amazed by what he saw. Grandmaster Ie's students were practicing empty hand forms, weapon forms, and sparring.
As it was at the Shaolin Temple, Grandmaster Ie was very strict with whom he admitted as a student. Potential students were studied from every conceivable angle to judge their temper, demeanor, and attitude. One wrong action would prevent a student from ever gaining admittance to the school. The six-year-old Sin Thé asked to join but was dismissed with polite excuses. After some time, he was then allowed to join the school, and then the real tests began.
Just like at the Shaolin temple, young Sin Thé's training began with stances. He would stand in horse stances, bow stances, and cat stances for hours at a time. As Sin The’s training continued he started earning the trust of his teacher. His training progressed and advanced at a faster-than-normal rate. At the age of thirteen, Sin tested for his black belt. A test that was extremely difficult.
As his training continued, Sin Thé's abilities increased greatly. He spent all his time training with Grandmaster Ie and even stayed at his house on weekends and during his vacations from school. It was at this time that Grandmaster Ie saw Sin's potential and began grooming him to become the next grandmaster of Shaolin-Do. The pace of the training became frantic. Grandmaster Ie began teaching him one form every day of the week. But forms were not the only thing Sin was being taught. He was also being taught countless training exercises and forms of Meditation, Chi Kung, and Nei Kung techniques.
In 1964, Master Sin was preparing to leave for college. A friend of the family, who was a professor from the University of Kentucky, convinced Master Sin and his parents that he could get an excellent education there. He began his studies at Transylvania University, and not long after started at the University of Kentucky. It was there that he started teaching Shaolin-Do (without his teacher's knowledge or permission) to supplement his income, the first time non-Chinese had ever learned the art of Shaolin-Do! Grandmaster Ie would later find out about his teaching and after some heartfelt correspondences, gave his student his blessing to teach Americans.
In 1968, his Shaolin training was complete and Grandmaster Ie awarded Master Sin Thé the rank of 10th Degree Black Belt and the Grandmaster's Red Belt. Sin Kwang Thé had become the youngest Grandmaster in the history of Shaolin martial arts!
Grandmaster Sin Thé continued his education at the University of Kentucky and had nearly completed his Doctorate Degree in Nuclear Engineering when Ie Chang Ming died in 1976 at the age of 96. Grandmaster Sin realized that the world had plenty of engineers and scientists, but only one Shaolin Grandmaster. He quit his studies and since has devoted all his time to teaching the art of Shaolin-Do!