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Peter 'The Rock' Sifu Garry McKenzie - Combat Magazine - November 2004 'For every disciple seeks a good master and in turn, every master seeks a good disciple.' I write this article in the hope that masters and disciples will be inspired by the man, my friend, brother and disciple, Peter Coker. I met Peter Coker around thirteen years ago, at the second school I opened for the Simon Lau Martial Arts Academy in Edmonton Green, North London. Peter, like myself, was originally a Simon Lau student, and followed me merely because at the time it was more convenient, my school being closer to where he lived in Tottenham. The word 'Hoksaang' ( student ) in Chinese terminology is a person who partakes in some kind of study. This term is rarely used to describe the relationship between a master and his protege. One would never say, 'I am a student of Master So-and-So.' Rather, one would say, 'I am a follower ( or disciple ) of Master So-and-So.' 'Tou dai', or 'hok tou' are Cantonese used to describe the individual as an apprentice learning the Master's skills - rather like a Jedi in the Star Wars movies. The relationship between master and apprentice is a special one. For martial art traditions still exist, even in this modern world. From the time I knew him, 'Brother Peter' as I called him, was the epitome of a tou dai. Where many students have come and gone, disciples like Peter 'The Rock' Coker, have deviated neither to the left or to the right, have uplifted, built up and complemented their sifu ( 'master' ) and their Wing Chun brethren. Fellow students admire such disciples. Their skills are unsurpassed and respected because they emulate the master so closely. Even in the master's absence he is in a sense still with them, since the master's co-worker and apprentice has everything in hand. Standing in for the master is never a chore for a disciple since he has the same passion for the art as his sifu. No money changes hands and his actions are inspired simply through a love for the art and his sifu. The master's co-worker treats younger students with care and attention - as if they were his own. The tou dai has no desire to take what is not his, knowing there can be one master. This was the calibre of my Brother Peter. Peter 'The Rock' - Part 2

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