Mike Moy on Triads, Chinatown Gangs, and Real Violence (Action Talks #33)

Mike Moy is filmmaker and retired police specializing in Chinese organized crime in America. We talk about his history as a gangster and transitioning to being a police officer. You can see his KZbin channel here: / @chinatowngangstories
Edited by Rustic Bodomov
Action Talks on KZbin: • Action Talks with Eric...
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Telegram: t.me/ericjacobus
My studio SuperAlloy: www.superalloyinteractive.com
Blog: www.ericjacobus.com
Timestamps
0:00:45 Mike's Introduction
0:02:31 Childhood
0:03:36 Family Stories
0:03:47 Mike's uncle in the Triads
0:06:19 Gangsters in Movies
0:07:32 Difference between Triads and US gangs
0:10:53 Weapons used by Hong Kong gangsters'
0:12:55 Directors inspired by Chinatown gangs
0:15:50 Relationships between Police and Gangs
0:19:17 Being initiated into a Chinese Gang
0:20:43 Initiation and ceremonies in US vs HK Chinese gangs
0:22:13 Was there shared history between the gang Mike joined and the Triads?
0:24:20 1994: What did the Triads think about the Hong Kong Handover?
0:28:01 Gangsters don't make much money
0:28:31 Breakdown of the hourly rate of a young gangster
0:29:46 Bullying as cause of being a gangster
0:31:21 Triad involvement in the film industry.
0:34:02 Becoming a Police officer
0:37:58 How do people change even in a bad environment?
0:39:16 How did Mike's former gang member status factor into his Police work?
0:42:03 Working as an Officer in his old stomping grounds
0:42:50 What films portray Chinese gangs accurately?
0:47:19 Michael Chan Wai Man
0:48:24 Film industry's responsibility in violence?
0:50:47 Where can we watch more gangster stories?
0:53:53 Do Chinatown Gangsters train martial arts?
0:58:13 If a knife comes out, you run!

[@brucegreen5781]

Mike Moy🐲🔴💰💯

[@jamyangpelsang3099]

Thanks for putting this back up. Fascinating how the original Chinese triads treat the gang life as an impersonal business where even innocent family members can be considered collateral damage whereas chinatown gangs are more violent and hotheaded but contain their conflicts to only rival gang members.

[@marlonkwan8659]

Hong kong triads will mess with family. But the Gangs in u.s. don't involve family.

[@gotrice101]

Chinatown Gang Stories!!! 🔥🔥

[@colonylaser4860]

Awesome stuff, Mike, I'm definitely going to check out your work. Yeah, The Japanese talks about the katana and America the gun, but to us Southern Chinese the king of weapons has always been the "Watermelon Knife" (Sai Kwa Dou) and "Vegetable Knife" (Choi Dou). I grew up in Hong Kong until I was 11 in 1976. Never been in a gang but so many of my young friends and neighbors have family members in gangs. The adults may raise an eyebrow if they think the person could do better than being in a gang, but they were not looked upon with fear or distain, at least not back then. In fact, a lot of gangs serve a purpose in the structure of communities even today, especially when the government is lacking or unwilling. Everything from small loans to settling an argument between neighbors or even taking care of some lonely elderly in the apartment complex or fixing a pipe if they don't have enough money to hire professionals. Yes there is extortion and robbery and prostitution and violence and drugs and gambling joints, but they can also help you with a small loan for business when no one could lend you any (but you'll be fkd if you can't pay it back... I don't know the rates but I can't imagine it much higher than legit credit cards or check cashing joints over here.) It was clear to the young me there is a parallel government to the official one throughout Chinese history going back probably 2000 years. If you read classic literature like The Water Margin, the rebels in that novel were exactly like a gang. The terms "Martial World" (Wulin) or "Underworld" (Jiang-Hu, literally the lake, which probably came from The Water Margin) used in kungfu novels, movies, and comics, are just euphemism for gangs. When you hear someone in a movie talking about "taking over the Martial World", we know they are just talking about gang warfare. Heck, people here thought the world of John Wick was original, but the Chinese have been writing such an underworld for centuries. Just look at all the Shaw Brother weird swordsman movies. People may not fly in real life, but that world was very real and normal to us in the form of gangsters. The only time that shadow parallel govermebnt disappeared in Chinese history was during those years under Mao who literally wiped it out. But after Deng opened up the country, gangs in China have come roaring back.

[@EricJacobusOfficial]

Thanks for sharing your story

[@leekindler7505]

Here we go!

[@Ustuped3211]

Good interview. It was very informative. Thank you

[@RusticB]

I loved this!

[@disgruntled4627]

Interviewing one of the best for this niche in the true crime genre love to see it

[@marlonkwan8659]

Yeah the young lions, lion dance team. Was a neighborhood program that teaches some martial arts to keep kids off the street and into gangs. That started in the early 70's

[@epon1357]

Great interview, Eric! You ask great questions and you’re a great listener, you really know how to encourage your guests to tell more and more. One small correction - when you mentioned Michael Chan Wai-Man, you put the wikipedia article about the other Michael Chen (aka Scientist, whom I think they also talk about on the CGS channel). Anyone who’s curious about Chan Wai-Man can read about him at en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chan_(actor).

[@EricJacobusOfficial]

Thanks for pointing it out we missed that on the spot check. I'll see if I can blur it.

[@SwampBeats666]

41:40 One of the best HK movie about the triads was Election 2.

[@user-zx9cl8mk2r]

Thanks to Mike Moy i've become one of the top gangster in my area. He taught me a lot of things.

[@TomYu-ul6wj]

At least you do some good thing for the Chinese community Keep up your good work

[@marlonkwan8659]

The people I know in the 90'S went to gun ranges. Some had legit pieces. Not in new york but gun licenses from other states. And some states gun shows did not need gun license to purchase. Lot of loopholes

[@kmoov90]

Chan Wai-Man is not Michael Chen as you showed in the clip.

[@saber26ful]

42:12 not Young and Dangerous!?

[@KuntAndtheGang-df2bz]

Now to answer his experience to when he went to hong kong near the end of the handover period, i used to live in Hong Kong during the late 60s till the early 80s hong kong in my views never treated me as a white British man as a man to be prioritised over, i was treated like everybody else was, sometimes rude customer service the typical stuff and attitude from the guy behind the desk, now since i moved back to London in 1981 and never been back to hong kong my guess to why he was treated like a second class citizen by his own people is that it might have been due to the hand over period being so near. And i know that many hong kongers didn't want the British to go. (only the communist sympathisers did at the time). so my guess is that due to the unknown fear everybody had at the time of not knowing what life would be like under scummy ccp Chinese hands, everyone acted differently. However that is my guess like i said i haven't been to hong kong since i left in 1981. But overall life under British rule in hong kong was wonderful during the 60s and 70s! True! there was crime and the Royal Hong Kong Police force was at times corrupted and there was sex trafficking and prostitution on the streets and in sex houses. Which the government tried to crack down! But people of a younger age who don't know their history! and are communist sympathisers! tend to look at all of the bad instead of the good! Without the freedoms that Hong kong had under British rule! the music scene would not had existed, meaning Cantopop would not have been a thing and Sam Hui! who was the founder of Cantopop would not have been able to make the music that he did in the 70s! now i remember when Sam Hui first became a huge pop star! he was everywhere at the time! during the early 70s! i still listen to his music to this day! furthermore the Hong kong movie scene would not have existed! Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and more had their first big break in the Hong kong movie scene under British rule! with out the British those two mega stars would not have been famous! because hong kong was the Hollywood of asia! making big and well known movies! and another one, if it was not for the british! ruling Hong Kong! Thousands of Vietnamese and Chinese people from the mainland would not have seeked refuge in hong kong for a freedom and for a better life away from communism! I remember during the boat period in the late 70s i made a few friends of the Vietnamese refugees and got to know them and what was going on in Vietnam. Anyways that my comment or rant over.

[@soldierofyhvh5966]

I was a Folk Gangster who survived five murder attempts. I didn't gang-bang because my set was about money, organization, and brains. The black gangs don't go after family, but if family is in the car, house, etc.,. when they do their thing, everybody dies. Most young bangers and gangsters of all races seem to fashion themselves after the black rapper mentality. That's why the level of violence and willingness to kill mimics those rappers who will kill your farting in a quiet room. I'm not gang active, but there's a button that, if you push, switches on the gangster and brings the devil out, which is why I don't associate with certain people and hate dealing with this fool Hollywood-muscles-and-beards-and-MMA-make-a-tough-guy civilians. You must become a devil to beat a demon. The name of our set was BTG, Black Triad Gangstas. Blacc Dragon Productions Inc. is the name of our production company, and ZenTao is the name of our agency. I studied Ninjutsu for 25 years and incorporated those principles into everything I did in the streets. I still abide by those principles, remaining unseen, low-key, and completely off the radar. If you google me, you won't find very much, no social media presences of which to speak, even though the entertainment business is my arena. I've also mastered I Ching in an innovative way that mixes the various occult studies and science, which was another factor in navigating the streets and circumventing those five murder attempts (I tested my 64 Levels of Power while street active). My immersion into Chinese and Japanese culture stems from several past live in both China and Japan. So, even though I' 'm part Irish, Occhenichi, and Black, I'm very much Asian. As YHVH is my Witness, I'm currently combating political persecution from the Ohio branch of the FBI and other federal acronyms, Columbus, Ohio municipalities are others working concertedly with powerful entertainment industry capitalists who are trying to take what my brother and I built legally. When you show no fear and a willingness to take on corrupt powers, they'll stop at nothing to break your will. You were police, but I despise law enforcement because they are the wickedest criminals in the game-they are criminals in the business of catching criminals. The first murder attempt on my life was orchestrated by a Hattiesburg, Mississippi, deputy sheriff who tried to have me killed in a club he owned! The Long Arm of the Law is the law working off the radar to get you in any way they can! I never feared death, and I look forward to it. This isn't a publicity stunt--I'm dead serious, and you will begin hearing about us suddenly and in a major way as summer starts heating up. I enjoyed your Insider interview. Most former gangsters and gangbangers, even when inactive, tend to watch gangster oriented shows-maybe its nostalgia. I am no longer a street soldier. I am a Soldier Of YHVH.

[@yip2454]

Hong kong and Singapore same shit. post colonial mindset.

[@KuntAndtheGang-df2bz]

oh piss off! do you know how many Vietnamese and Chinese people from the mainland the British helped and saved! and gave them a place to live elsewhere in the world!

[@AureliusRuiz]

Sorry man, I don't enjoy this one at all.

[@EricJacobusOfficial]

What would you like to see in future episodes?

[@AureliusRuiz]

@EricJacobusOfficial interviews with Jeff Speakman would be nice. American Kenpo has this dynamic pattern that looks pretty awesome in film. In the same vibe, Steven Segal, with his Aikido that in film, looks like a vortex or hurricane of mayhem. Lateef Crowder about the rhythm of Capoeira game(jogo) and his views in choreographing capoeria for film.