THIS SPACE IS CONSTANTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!! CHECK BACK REGULARLY FOR UPDATES!!!

Please bear with me as I endeavor to redesign and reconstruct this page for all of you who travel Myspace. Things are constantly happening here, and I will make every effort to make this space more enjoyable!
I will do my best to present the martial arts and the martial way in the most pure and respectful light possible. Before anything else, I was a martial artist, and after everything in my life has come and gone, I will STILL be a martial artist. It is something that I live and breath everyday, and will do so until my final day.
It is my sincere desire that I can share that same passion for the martial arts and everything they have taught me with the world, and this seems to be the best medium for it right now. I pray my good energy and right influence transcend the hundreds and thousands of miles of this Earth, and I can make a beneficial impact on one, who can in turn make the same impact on another, and so on and so forth.
After all, it is the aim and duty of Shaolin to promote peace, harmony, and goodwill among all sentient beings of this world. Such is the purpose in life of that, who is I, Gaoshang Xiongshou.
True martial art is this: That in daily life, one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.

Xiongshou FAQ

Greetings, and welcome!!. I am Gaoshang Xiongshou. Thank you for stopping by and taking a few moments to view my space. In this section, I have posted the most commonly asked questions I get about myself to save you the trouble of asking. As I get more that start to be asked repeatedly, I will add them.
1.) What is your style?
I am a Shaolin martial artist, training since 1985. My first experience in the martial arts was with Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu in the sixth grade. A few months later, I started the study of traditional Taekwondo (no ITF or ATF or any sport variation). Soon after, the ninjutsu instructor moved, and I stayed with Taekwondo for a few years. Eventually, my Quan Jah Nim returned to his home in Seoul for a year, and when he returned, he had revamped his curriculum, and made it more appealing for the American market. He went commercial, and the Taekwondo was from that point on a hybrid system based on Taekwondo, with strong influences of Shotokan in the early ranks and Shaolin wushu at the later ranks. Still, I stayed, but in the ninth grade, I started training with another classmate... two actually... in Praying Mantis and Wing Chun. With the other classmate, he let me into the world of Koga-ryu Ninjutsu. After that class year was over, I lost touch with both of them, but I stayed with the Chinese arts, as I gravitated toward them and showed a greater strength there.So through the years, I have been able to have time to train in arts such as Shaolinquan, Baguazhang, Wu Style Taijiquan, Zuijiuquan, Xingyiquan, and Choy Li Fut, just to name a few. While attending Tennessee State University for a semester, I studied Muay Thai, and then upon returning home after that, I trained in Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do, along with Shootfighting in preparation for the UFC. I never went though, and do not regret that decision. Currently, I can be found revisiting past forms and styles... basically anything at any given moment. I am one to study anything, or at least anything that interests me, and dissect, reconstruct, and synthesize for my use as I see fit.
2. Is Gaoshang Xiongshou your real name?
No. When I signed up on Yahoo! in 1997, I intended to use my nickname 'Lei', after the popular Tekken character, Lei Wulong, given to me by my friends because they said I fought in a most confusing and unorthodox way like him (which I do not understand, as Wuxingquan is neither unorthodox or confusing). However, someone on Yahoo! was already using that name as a screen name. At the time, I was working on a comic book creation of mine, and one of my characters was a 'xiongshou'. I knew no one would be using this as a screen name, so I took it on for myself. It fits. I added 'Gaoshang' in 2002. Gaoshang will be the name of my firstborn son.
Gaoshang Xiongshou translates as 'Virtuous Assassain'.
3. So what is your real name then?
If you cannot deal with trying to say Gaoshang Xiongshou, I do not blame you!! It is a somewhat challenging. My name is Brandon Best:o)
4. How do you say your name?
Mandarin is a tonal language, quite interesting, poetic, and difficult. To say the name correctly, it is like so: Gaoshang, you should have no problem with (GOW-SHANE). For Xiongshou: Make a 'shhh' sound as if you were going to shush someone. Blend in a long 'e' sound (phonetically; do not drag out the sound, as 'Xiongshou' is two syllables, not three). Immediately follow that with 'ong', as in 'song' without the 's'. When you do this correctly, you produce a slight vibration in your throat, and your voice gets slightly deeper. This creates the proper tone for this portion of the word/name. The second syllable is simply pronounced 'SHOW' All together, you get what should sound like 'GOW-SHANE SHEEONG-SHOW'.
5. What are these different names you call me?
It depends. Some know them, some do not. If you are a martial artist in the Chinese arts, I will refer to you by proper title: Shihing (Elder gung-fu brother), Shidei (Younger Gung-Fu brother), Shije (Elder Gung-Fu sister) or Shimui (Younger Gung-Fu sister). On ocassion, you may also be referred to as, depending on who you are, one of the following:
Shimu - Wife of wushu teacher
Shigung - Wushu Grandfather (Teacher of Teacher)
Todai - Student (this would apply to any students of mine)
Despite not being a student of the same style or under the same shifu, if you are a student of any Chinese martial art, you are family to me.
6. Do you teach, and if yes, what?
Yes... and no. I do teach. My base is Shaolin, so I teach Shaolin basics first, and as the student and I progress, I branch off into what I feel he/she is best suited for (for instance, someone tall with long limbs is perfectly suited for Praying Mantis). Because my background is so varied though, anyone looking to learn a complete style will not find that with me, so I refer them elsewhere. This is also why I am actually a bit apprehensive to take on students casually, because I cannot give anyone (at least, I feel) entirely what they are looking for, although I will give them more than they expected.
Then it also depends on the person... if I got a student who turned out to be a one time or frequent victim of domestic violence, I would train them in Muay Thai, to get them ready for another possible encounter in the quickest amount of time.
7.) What are you on MySpace for?
Interestingly enough, I started on MySpace with no clear vision of what I wanted to do, or how to use it to my advantage. I was happy just to be part of the phenomenon, but then, one day, I sat back and paid attention to some of the people on MySpace, and saw how they were using it to further themselves in what they were doing, and where they were going. So I sat back and thought about who I was, and what I was doing. At first, I wanted to use this as a tool to rebuild my martial artist and bodybuilder network, and that worked with no problem. But somewhere along the way, I thought of something else...
I want to share myself with the world. I feel I am a positive light, and can be of benefit to someone. I want to make an impact on the world like Lee, Jun Fan did. And coincidentally, he and I share the same vehicle: martial arts. I am on MySpace to reach the world en masse, and through everything that I have to give... bodybuilding, martial arts, philosophy, humor, just everything that I am, I want to share with the world, and maybe... just maybe, help shape the fabric of existence. I know I have a lot to say, and I know people are paying attention. I see that I truly have a power of change. My intent is good. And I think it would be a shame to waste that. And if my influence sparks something good in just one person, I have done what I said I wanted to do. That one person can have a positive effect on another, and then them on someone else, and so on and so forth. Starting on MySpace will get me into other markets and be able to reach more people.
Ultimately, I use MySpace as my voice. And I know it will reach a lot of people.