The following is a message sent to us through this website by a former student from the late 70s. It has been slightly edited and formatted. It confirms what ex-students have suspected based on their personal experiences: that Peter Young’s character is questionable and he has undermined students for decades.
I’d like to tell you about Peter Y the Martial Artist. (I must apologise as I’m not the most educated but I’m trying to make this readable.)
My name is John and in the late 70’s I read a magazine article about Tai Chi (I believed it and wanted to know more). My best friend’s wife trained as a dancer and her teacher was a Master. I went to his Gym, it was on the corner of Clayton Street and Pink Lane in Newcastle. On the front door was a poster saying what was taught there, as I remember there was Tai-Chi, Shaolin Kung Fu, Ballroom Dancing, Something like Cha Cha Dancing?, Aerobics, Etc.
Anyway, Peter told me that I’d have to train in his Shaolin class as ‘the Internal Arts’ were reserved for his inner school.
Anyway, several months later, I was one of his ‘top’ students but I knew something was wrong (I come from a Travelling Family who fight for fun), there was no contact, and there was no inner school?
Anyway, I parted contact with Peter (however all his talk about Chinese Martial Arts had wetted my appetite) I joined Edmund Ng’s ‘Choy Lay Fut’ club in Newcastle.
Edmund is the guy who does the Lion Dancing at Chinese New Year. A Great Club, with Great fighters (Alan H, proper smashed me up).
Anyway, word got round that Peter was saying he was trained in Choy Lay Fut, Edmund was pretty pi##ed off, Arranged a meeting (it was at the Happiness Inn Restaurant at the Haymarket in Newcastle).
(I now understand about lineage in the Martial Arts, if you teach you state who your teacher was, Peter couldn’t.)
Anyway as I could fight, Edmund took me under his wing, (the bloke is a pretty tough guy) Edmund told Peter never to pretend to teach Chinese Martial Arts again and Peter barked back at Edmund, Edmund then walked up to him and beat Peter up (He beat Peter up bad, there was blood streaming from his left ear).
Peter then had to pay for our meal (there was at least 8 of us) and promised never to tell anyone he knew Choy Lay Fut.
For relevance to your site, Peter never told/taught me about Buddhism, he told me he was a Taoist Master (which I believed) he is pretty charismatic.
I know that some will question this however luckily I have been on his path gate website and you can see his martial arts videos, they are proper dancing videos, (any dancer can emulate any martial arts move only better) (the early ones feature KW, ask him).
Sorry for this ramble but this guy Peter is a nasty bit of work, he really undermined my confidence for the period I was with him.
(Just for reference, as well as training with Edmund I have also trained with a lot more Martial Artists (Peter used to forbid this), for example John Aiken from High Bridge but the best (in my view) is the Hartlepool Boy Mr John Dawson, a true Teacher.
I have given this a LOT of thought. I have read my e-mail and it reads pretty bad, I read like a thug (perhaps I am, I was A Doorman/Bouncer in Newcastle for 22 years). Peter, really tried to convince me that he was a Master and as a teenager I totally totally believed him, but luckily coming from a travelling family (where fighting is the norm) I finally understood he was lying to me. He did mess me up in the late 1970’s (I with “K” was his top student), he is good at twisting/bamboozling things, however I was showing my Uncle some techniques and without my compliance my Uncle spanked me. It took me a year and a half to realize Peter was a phony (but it still pi””es me off). I was lucky (he only wasted 18 months of my life) Please feel free to use any information I provide you with any way you want.
Its hard to admit to yourself that you have been duped. (Peter always used to say that Chinese Masters expected total loyalty. No they don’t!)
J.
Pathgate Survivors 