Zhao Bin

An account of his formative years, of which I’ve translated an extract below (written by Zhao’s son, Zhao Youbin, who teaches in Xi’an), is a precious snapshot of growing up in one of the ‘homes’ of taiji.

“…Yang Jianhou had 3 sons, Yang Zhaoxiong (known as Yang Shaohou), Yang Zhaoyuan (Yang Zhonghou), and Yang Zhaoqing (otherwise known as Yang Chengfu). Yang Zhaoyuan inherited much of his uncle Banhou’s temperament and was quick-tempered and had a prodigious appetite for food and drink. Because he had no son but two daughters [in those days it was considered most unfortunate to not have to son to carry on the family line], he became depressed. Later, he developed diverticulitis and died at a young age. He left behind two daughters, Yang Cong and Yang Min, who were brought up by Yang Jianhou and his wife.

During the years of these events, another Yongnian family, the Zhaos, was prosperous and growing. The master of the house, Zhao Lin (Zhao Bin’s grandfather) had five sons, who people called ‘the 5 tigers of the Zhao family’. The Zhao family owned a restaurant near the front gate of Guangfu village called ‘Wan Xing Lou’, which was run by the second son. The eldest son was a scholar, the third was purchaser for the restaurant, the fourth was the restaurant’s book-keeper and the fifth studied in Beijing.

The fourth son, Zhao Bin’s father, was called Zhao Shutang (1882-1951). From a young age he displayed a cautious and loyal nature and was generous to others less fortunate. In his years as book-keeper of the family’s restaurant, he was very generous to customers, always rounding bills down to the nearest 10. Whenever poor people came into the restaurant begging for food, he would straight away instruct the waiters to give them mantou (steamed buns) with some meat and veg. Friends who came to him to borrow money found that he was only too happy to help. As Zhao Shutang got older, his elder brother kept an eye out for suitable girls in the town for him to marry. As luck would have it, he set his sights on Yang Zhaoyuan’s elder daughter, Yang Cong (1888-1962). Both families agreed at once to the match, and the two were married in 1904 when Yang Cong was 17 years old.

Legend has it that, at the ‘hui men’ part of the wedding ceremony [where the new groom visits the home of his new in-laws according to Chinese custom], Yang Zhaoyuan had already passed away a year before, so it fell to Yang Jianhou and Yang Shaohou to welcome the new groom. During the banquet, they asked Zhao Shutang if he knew any martial arts. With a shy smile, Zhao pulled aside his chair and performed the Yang family’s low frame set underneath the table. At this, Yang Jianhou laughed and said ‘You’ve got potential; when you have some free time, please come over, I’ll have Shaohou take your studies further’. And so this episode has come to be called ‘Yang Jianhou tests his new son-in-law at the banquet’ by their descendants.

From then on, Zhao Shutang took on the responsibility of looking after his new wife’s mother and sister. Two years later, Yang Cong gave birth to a son (Zhao Bin 1906 – 1999) and two daughters: Zhao Guizhen (1908 – 1875, who would later marry Fu Zhongwen) and Zhao Xiuzhen.

Yang Chengfu (L) with Zhao Bin (R) c.1930

Zhao Bin was not only Zhao Shutang’s only son, but also the Yang family’s precious first grandson. Although his grandfather Yang Zhaoyuan had passed away, his great-uncles Yang Shaohou and Yang Chengfu treated him as if he were their own grandson. Zhao spent much of his early years playing at his grandmother’s house, and from the age of 6 or 7 would deliver roast chicken, donkey meat and crispy pancakes (you su bing) to the Yangs. His great-uncles also taught him to practice taiji from an early age. Even Zhao’s original name ‘Zhao Wu’, carried the meaning of inheriting the Yang family’s martial traditions. Zhao’s primary school teacher was none other than the famous Wu (Hao) style master Hao Weizhen, who taught taiji as a one of the school subjects. Zhao was intelligent, had a good memory and liked to fight…At that time, there were a dozen or so male cousins in the Zhao family, and Zhao Bin would be the one leading the fights…

Speaking of group fights, my father mentioned enthusiastically that back then it was mainly the Zhao family kids fighting against the Li family (the grandchildren of the taiji master Li Yiyu). In these fights, Zhao Bin would lead the Zhao family, while the Lis were led by Li Huaiyin (Li Yiyu’s grandson, who would also later go on to become a master of his family’s taiji). Of course, these fights weren’t serious, and neither side held grudges. When Zhao Bin met Li Huaiyin many years later in Nanjing, they had great fun reminiscing over their childhood escapades and decided there and then to become sworn brothers. Unfortunately they never met again. In the early 90s, the chief editor of ‘China Taiji’ magazine, Li Guangfan, wrote to Zhao requesting him to submit an article. My father casually asked Li if he knew of Li Huaiyin’s whereabouts, and was stunned to be told that he was Li Guangfan’s father! Upon hearing that Li Huaiyin had already passed away, Zhao began corresponding with Li Guangfan and the two became good friends.”

Zhao Bin performing Yang taiji

Tong Zhongyi

His ancestors were bannermen in the Qing army who followed the Manchu royal family from Liaoning into ‘Han’ China and eventually settled in Cangzhou. Tong’s grandfather Tong Mingkui was garrisoned on China’s frontiers and gave his life defending them. Tong’s father, Tong Enrui，was a skilled martial artist as well as an accomplished bone-setter. At the age of 6, Tong Zhongyi began to learn both the martial and medical arts which had been passed down within the Tong family, which included shuai jiao and liu he quan. By the time he was an adult, he was a master in his own right and was particularly adept at shuai jiao and flicking shot-pellets (tan wan).

In the dying days of the Qing dynasty (in 1902), Tong followed his elder brother (Tong Zhongcheng) to work as a caravan guard in the De  Sheng guarding agency in Fengtian (modern-day Shenyang). His work as a guard took him all over China, and in his travels he met many great masters of the time. It was during this period that Tong and Wang Ziping won the accolade of ‘the 2 heroes of Cangzhou’. After the fall of the Qing and the Xin Hai revolution, Tong spent most of the early Republican period working as a martial arts instructor in various local militias in Fengtian, Baoding, Anhui, etc.

In 1922, Tong arrived in Shanghai at the invitation of the Guo Yu Wushu Research Society and soon afterwards set up the ‘Zhongyi Guoshu Academy’, which taught 5 subjects, namely shuai jiao, quanshu, weightlifting, archery and weapons. In the 1928 ‘Guo Kao’ inNanjing, Tong placed in the ‘Excellent’ category.

Upon opening the ‘Zhongyi Boxing Academy’, Tong set 3 rules:

-         he would not compete with swords or spears;

-         he would not compete with sticks and staffs;

-         he would not compete at kicking and punching.

He made clear that challengers could only challenge him at 4 contests:

1)     Pole-shaking: whoever shook the pole the most times was considered the winner;

2)     Drawing a bow: whoever could fully draw a 100-pound bow the most times was considered the winner;

3)     Flicking pellets: whoever could hit bronze cymbals suspended from a tree at a distance of 30m the most times with 30 pellets won; and

4)     Shuai Jiao: whoever could beat him 2 times out of 3 bouts would be considered the winner.

No challenger ever managed to beat him at these 4 contests.

Tong’s methods of teaching shuai jiao were very special.  He would first teach willpower and endurance, along with leg and arm strength drills. For example, he would have his students practice the shuai jiao techniques  ’single hook and comb’ (dan gou gua) and ‘double hook and comb’ (shuang gou gua) in a horse-riding stance in order to train leg and arm strength at the same time. Each session of horse-riding stance training would last about half an hour.

Tong Zhongyi in traditional shuai jiao uniform, the 'dalian'

He would also have his students train in common shuai jiao methods such as low-stepping whilst doing left and right kicks, shaking leather strips, ‘wringing’ small and big sticks (bangzi – much like the ‘rolling pin’ type stick used in taiji ruler), and ‘jumping and exploding’ (tiao bengzi – see link here: http://www.ycgf.org/ShuaiJiao/Training/BanZiGongTraining.html) . There were also characteristic training methods of his like carrying wicker baskets, moving vats of water, etc. Although these methods may seem a bit unsophisticated, they were extremely effective.

Tong Zhongyi practicing thows with his disciple Liu Fei

(Note that both photos above were taken in 1948, when Tong was 69 years old!)

Tong taught the 24 traditional shuai jiao techniques (banzi) in a sequential progression from easy to hard, simple to complex. He also allowed his students to learn techniques by applying them on him (i.e. allowing his students to throw him out).

One story will suffice to show the level of his shuai jiao skill:

Not long after Tong had established the ‘Zhongyi Boxing Academy’, one day a dozen young men walked in to the academy, saying that they wanted to become Tong’s students. However, it was clear from their tone and demeanour that they had actually come to challenge Tong.  At their head was a famous strongman called Zha Ruilong, who was not only good at martial arts but could also lift a 100+ pound stone barbell over his head as if it were a toy. Tong, discerning the visitors’ real intentions, agreed to a wrestling match. Zha’s friends took on Tong  one by one, losing each time. Finally, it came to Zha’s turn to wrestle Tong. Before the match, Tong asked Zha if he had a handkerchief. Zha, puzzled by this request, pulled one out and gave it to Tong.

Tong then took the handkerchief and blindfolded himself, saying “Before becoming a student of a shifu, of course students want to see the teacher’s skills – this is normal. I’m going to wrestle this young man blindfolded – if I say that I’m going to throw him to the front door but he actually lands somewhere else, that will count as losing the match.” So saying, the two of them started to wrestle. Suddenly, Tong employed the move ‘gai ba wo’ (盖把握) and said “Zha Ruilong, to the front door with you!”. And sure enough, Zha had been thrown so that he landed next to the front door.

In the second bout, Tong said “This time, I’m going to throw you to the back door.” A few moments later, Tong surprised Zha with a leg hook throw (tiao gouzi) – all onlookers saw was Zha flying behind Tong to land in front of the back door. Tong made to help Zha up and begin the 3rd bout, but by this point Zha was convinced of Tong’s skill, and asked to become Tong’s student there and then.

Tong passed away in Shanghai in 1963 at the age of 84, having trained dozens of champion wrestlers and published several books on Wushu, Qin Na, Shuai Jiao, and other subjects.

]]> http://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/tong-zhongyi-and-his-shuai-jiao/feed/ 2 yosaku Tong Zhongyi Tong Zhongyi in traditional shuai jiao uniform, the 'dalian' Tong Zhongyi practicing thows with his disciple Liu Fei http://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/xingyis-pangen-walking/ http://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/xingyis-pangen-walking/#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:29:17 +0000 yosaku http://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/?p=677 ]]> I have been intrigued by Xingyi’s Pangen exercise ever since I first read Joseph Crandall’s excellent translation of master Shang Ji’s introductory article (which can be found here: http://www.smilingtiger.net/pangen.html). It seems to have been created by Song Shirong after contact with practitioners of baguazhang. Although originally a practice of Song style, it seems to have spread to many other branches (Che, Hebei) through interchange over the years. How far it has spread it hard to tell, as it seems to be treated as ‘inside the door’ material by those branches that do practice it.

I recently found an interesting video of a Song style practitioner from Tianjin (Yu Chunhai) demonstrating their version of pan-gen: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjQ1MTk0OTQ4.html。

The version above seems slightly different to the exercise as described by Shang Ji. Can any readers who have had experience with Pan Gen comment on how it’s practiced in their line?

Yao Zongxun teaching dan shou (single hand) shi li

Yao Zongxun teaching yao fa (shaking) shi li

Yao Cheng-guang (right) striking focus mitts - notice the makeshift chestguard

The context for these photos is that they were taken in 1982 in Beijing, only a couple of years after Yao and his sons had returned to Beijing from the countryside, where they were sent during the Cultural Revolution.  Shortly after returning to Beijing, Yao decided to pick a batch of dedicated and talented students to essentially train full-time in Yiquan, much as Wang Xiangzhai had done with Han Xingqiao, Bu Enfu etc in the 1930s. Soon after these pictures were taken, Yao Cheng-guang would enter China’s first Sanshou competition (in April 1982), knocking his opponent out in the first minute of his bout.

Cui Yishi in Brush Knee Twist Step

I recently read an interview with Cui’s grandson, Zhang Yongtao (the original chinese is here: http://read.sportpaper.cn/zhwsmag/html/2011-06/02/content_213003.htm). Two passages of the interview struck me as particularly of interest, and I have translated them below.

The first concerns Cui’s ‘dan tian gong’:

“In summer, my grandfather would normally sit in our courtyard practicing his taiji while wearing a dalian (Chinese sleeveless wrestler’s jacket). When the mood took him, he would let me feel his belly. To me, it felt as if there was a rubber ball in his belly which could move around to follow your hand. If you pushed on it, it felt as though your hand was ‘sucked’ in and you couldn’t pull it back. Then, the ‘ball’ would suddenly ‘spit’ your hand out, bouncing you back several steps.

Another time, we saw my grandfather sitting shirtless on a stool. He had stuck a flattened lump of dough onto his belly; as he went through his ‘seated taiji’, not only did the dough not fall off, it moved around with the movements of his belly. This kind of gongfu was amazing! Even now, I don’t really understand how he did it. ‘This gongfu of mine you won’t be able to practice, it’s a taiji training method called dan tian gong, most normal people can’t practice it. I’ve been training it since I was a kid. In pushing hands, I’m not afraid of people pushing directly on my stomach; if they do, they won’t be able to get away.”

It is obvious that the taijiquan that Cui practiced contained training methods that produced intense dan tian development. Do these training methods still exist in Yang style or have they been lost over time?

The second section of the interview that caught my eye is to do with the family’s experiences during the Cultural Revolution:

“During the Cultural Revolution, my grandfather was labeled and persecuted as a ‘Capitalist’, an ‘Anti-Revolutionary Academic Authority’, as was my mother (Cui Xiuchen).

Cui Yishi and his daughter Cui Xiuchen

Even though they both had gongfu, in that kind of environment, no-one dared to fight back. One day, I came home from the factory to see my mother and grandfather tied up and kneeling in the centre of our courtyard, a group of Red Guards searching our house. In that kind of atmosphere, no-one dared say a word. I quietly slipped to stand beside my mother and grandfather, thinking to protect them somehow. My grandfather whispered to me: “With my gongfu, they can’t tie me up. All I have to do is use a bit of jin, and these ropes will loosen.” So saying, he shook his body slightly, and the ropes did indeed loosen. My mother was so scared by this, she said “Don’t move! If you move an inch, we’re all dead.” Luckily the Red Guards didn’t notice.

Later, when the Red Guards publicly denounced my mother and grandfather, they made the two of them kneel down, then placed bricks under their legs. With the bricks in place, the guards then placed a staff over each person’s calves, and then had two people stand on the two ends of the staff so that their whole weight pressed the person’s shins into the bricks. My grandfather had good leg gongfu, so his shin muscles could take some of the weight (i.e. so that the bricks were not pressing on bone). My mother was not so fortunate, and passed out several times from the pain.

During the years of the Cultural Revolution, my grandfather not only suffered physical persecution,  his house was  also ransacked, and he was publicly denounced. As if this wasn’t enough, he was not allowed to teach taiji. To someone like my grandfather, for whom taiji was his life, this was perhaps the heaviest blow of all. He became depressed, and his health started to fail. Later, on a trip to the hospital, he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, which in those days was an untreatable disease.”

The article also mentions that another taiji teacher that was publicly denounced in the same sessions was Wang Peisheng’s teacher, Yang Yuting.  These kinds of stories are common amongst teachers who lived through that era – but that is probably a subject best left for another post.

HOW THE CENTRAL GUOSHU INSTITUTE CAME INTO BEING

The Central Guoshu Institute was originally called the “Guoshu Research Institute”. The founding mission of the CGI, apart from adminstrative management of martial arts and the production of teaching materials, was to train up wushu [1] teachers, in order to spread the practice of wushu and to overcome the mutual antagonism and secrecy between the different styles. As such, it was classified as an educational facility, and so General Zhang Zhijiang [2] applied to the Education Ministry for accreditation. However, the Education Ministry refused to grant approval, as it considered that wushu was something that had already been rendered pointless. Their position was that if wushu were to be promulgated, then it should be through grassroots clubs rather than as part of the education system. They invented one reason after another to justify rejecting Zhang Zhijiang’s application.

At his wit’s end, Zhang turned to the standing commissioner of the Republican government, Li Liejun. Li and Zhang were old war buddies who had fought together in the Yunnan revolt as part of the Xinhai revolution. At that time, the Republican government was led by Li Sen, with Li Liejun as his second-in-command. Li took the decision there and then: since the Education Ministry wouldn’t approve it, then the CGI would report directly to the government, with funds coming from the national coffers. On the 15th March 1927, the republican government issued its approval for the founding of the CGI.

The CGI opened its doors in March 1928 as the Central Guoshu Research Institute [zhongyang guoshu yanjiu hui], with the name officially changing to the Central Guoshu Institute [zhongyang guoshu guan] in June of that year. It was initially situated in Han Jia Xiang [Han family lane] in Nanjing, and had to ‘borrow’ some rooms from the Chinese Christian Association. Li Jinglin [3], the vice-dean of the institute, as well as Ma Yingtu, Liu Yinhu and others, moved over to Han Jia Xiang as well. Amongst the ‘founding fathers’ of the CGI were the famous educator Cai Yuanpei, Kong Xiangxi [4], Yu Youren [5], Niu Yongjian, Zhang Zhijiang and Zhang Shusheng. The CGI was administered by a board of governors, with warlord Feng Yuxiang as head governor. An advisory committee was also set up, composed of famous people of the time. Every semester, these famous names would hold advisory meetings and make recommendations to the board.

The CGI was divided into 3 faculties: the Teaching faculty, Materials faculty, and the General Affairs faculty. The teaching department was responsible for teacher training, and was led by a Head Instructor. The first Head Instructor was Wang Ziping (master of Chinese Muslim martial arts like Zha Quan and Hua Quan), later followed by Zhu Guofu (xingyiquan), Wu Junshan (baguazhang, student of Han Fushun and Cheng Haiting), Wu Yihui  (liu he ba fa) and Yang Songshan.

Wang Ziping practicing with a stone lock (shi suo) [reproduced from www.baguazhang.com.cn)

The Materials faculty was responsible for putting together instructional materials, as well as collating and organising traditional wushu practices, and was led initially by the famous bagua master Jiang Rongqiao, and later by Huang Bonian and Jin Yiming, among others. All of these people were well-educated as well as being skilled martial artists, and published numerous books and articles on the theory and practice of martial arts. They played an extremely important role in both developing the theory behind wushu and spreading martial arts in China. The general affairs faculty was responsible for logistics, admin and finance, and was headed first by Li Zimao, and later by Zhu Yonghua and Pang Yusen.

Apart from the faculty heads, Zhang Ruitang was head of the training department, Zhu Guozhen was team captain and taught sparring, vice-captain Zhu Guolu taught Chang Quan, Yang Fawu taught shuai jiao, Liu Hongqing taught weapons, He Fusheng taught the children’s classes, with Ma Zhengwu as an assistant  coach. Others famous masters who taught at the CGI were: Sun Lutang (xingyiquan); Yang Chengfu (Yang style taijiquan), Gong Runtian (Wu [Jianquan] style taijiquan), Chen Zirong (Chen style taijiquan), Wu Junshan & Sun Yukun (baguazhang & qin na), Ma Yingtu (piguaquan & bajiquan), Li Yushan (yanqingquan, aka mizong, or lost track boxing, as well as taiji whip), Sun Yuming (staff fighting), Chang Dongsheng (shuai jiao), and Guo Changsheng（tongbei, pigua and miao dao).

WUDANG-SHAOLIN CLASHES

In its original incarnation, the faculty at CGI was divided into two schools, the Shaolin School headed by Wang Ziping and the Wudang school headed by Gao Zhendong. [6] Whilst the Wudang School taught the familiar neijia arts of xingyi, bagua and taiji, the Shaolin School actually included many arts not directly related to Shaolin gongfu, such as bajiquan, piguazhang, zha quan, etc. Soon after the CGI was founded, this structure led to challenges between the two factions, eventually resulting in clashes between the subject heads of the respective schools, which led to both the vice-dean Li Jinglin and Wang Ziping resigning from their posts in late 1928 and the restructuring of the CGI. Post-restructuring, all individual subject heads reported to the vice-dean, a role first occupied by Zhang Xiangwu [7] and then after 1939, Chen Panling [8].

GUO KAO – THE NATIONAL GUOSHU ‘EXAM’

The national Guoshu ‘exams’ were the only official wushu exams ever organised by the Republican government, and were only held twice, the first in October 1928, and the second in October 1933. The venue was Nanjing Public Sports Stadium.

Subjects to be examined were split into 3 parts:

1) Routines (taolu)

2) Combat, which was further subdivided into: (a) kickboxing (quanjiao), (b)wrestling (shuaijiao), (c) swordfighting (dao jian), (d) staff and spear (gun qiang), and (e) free fighting (bo ji)

Picture of a bout from the swordfighting portion of the 1928 'Guo Kao'. Note the Kendo-like protective wear.

3) Oral test (on Sun Yat-sen’s ‘Three Principles of the People’)

THE END OF THE CGI

The Lugouqiao incident in July 1937 marked the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Soon after, the CGI was forced to leave Nanjing before it fell to the Japanese, and followed the retreating Republican government from Nanjing to Changsha, then Guilin, then Kunming and finally reaching Chongqing in 1940. By this point, the CGI’s source of funds was exhausted and most of the students had left. The CGI limped on for a further 8 years until 1948, when it was officially disbanded due to a lack of funds. In total, from beginning to end, there were 6 ‘cohorts’ (qi) of students. From beginning to end, the CGI probably taught no more than 500 students in total.

LEGACY OF THE CGI

The motto of the CGI was “morality and martial arts are equally important, one must train both martial and academic endeavours’ [shu de bing zhong, wen wu jian xiu], according to which the purpose of wushu was to defend oneself and strengthen the nation. A martial artist should not use his skills to show off, nor should he bully others. If one is forced to defend oneself, one’s response should be measured, you should not try and kill your oppponent. At the same time as learning wushu, a student had to learn the health side of the arts, investigate academic knowledge and science, and ‘digest’ martial art theories and materials. This ‘CGI spirit’ meant that the majority of its graduates were both skilled martial artists and men of letters. On the mainland, there was: Wu Jiangping, Zhang Wenguang, He Fusheng (Chairman of Yunnan province wushu association), Li Xisi (of Fudan university), Kang Shaoyuan (Northeastern Normal University), and Wen Jingming (Wuhan Sports Insitute). Abroad, there were: Fu Shuyun (Taiwan), Han Qingtang (Taiwan), Zhang Zhenhai (USA), Huang Jifu (UK), Chen Yuhe (Singapore), Gong Bangjie (Malaysia), Liu Jingxing (Thailand), Liu Zhenyuan (Brasil), Lin Ruixing (Indonesia), Kuang Rongtao (Burma), Zhang Jun (Vietnam), Yan Tanghua (HK), who all made positive contributions to the promulgation of wushu.

Footnotes

1. In English, ‘wushu’ has come to mean the flashy contemporary routines promoted by the Chinese government. However, in Chinese, wushu simply refers to (Chinese) martial arts, and it is in this sense I use it in this article.

2.Zhang Zhijiang – Chinese general from Yanshan in Cangzhou, traditional home of bajiquan and piguazhang. Part of the Zhili clique.

3. Li Jinglin – Chinese general and master of Wudang sword. As part of the Fengtian clique, on the opposite side to Zhang Zhijiang in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War.

4. Kong Xiangxi – wealthy Chinese banker and politician of the early 20th century, from Taigu in Shanxi, the home of xingyiquan. At one time the richest man in China.

5. Yu Youren – founding member of the Kuomintang (KMT) and president of the Control Yuan 1930 – 1964.

6. Gao Zhendong – master of xingyiquan, which he learnt from Li Cunyi’s disciple Ma Yutang. At one point was the wushu instructor to the army of Wu Peifu (Commander-in-Chief of the Zhili clique mentioned above).

7. Zhang Xiangwu – master of bajiquan (learnt from Li Shuwen), also studied Wudang sword under Song Weiyi together with his shixiong Li Jinglin.

8. Chen Panling – master of shaolin, taiji, bagua and xingyi who learnt from some of the greatest names of the time: taiji from Yang Shaohou and Xu Yusheng, bagua from Cheng Haiting, xingyi from Liu Caichen and Li Cunyi, etc. Ably profiled by Robert Smith in his book ‘Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods’.

1) Language. Bear in mind that even if you speak decent Mandarin (putonghua), you may not be able to understand the teacher. This is because most Chinese people, especially the older generation, speak their local dialect (often radically different from putonghua) in daily life, and only speak Mandarin as a ‘second language’.  As such, the degree to which martial arts masters can speak putonghua varies wildly. The rule of thumb is: the younger and better-educated someone is, the more likely they are to speak clear putonghua.

2) The method of teaching. Most teachers of the neijia arts are still passing them on in the traditional way, where the the teacher teaches for free, and the learning takes place either in a park or at the teacher’s home. There is still a big difference between being a student (outside the door) and a disciple (inside the door), with disciples being provided with more information but also subject to much higher expectations than ordinary students. Commercial martial arts schools that teach the neijia are still few and far between. Chen village is very unusual in this respect, in that it has several schools teaching taiji on a commercial basis.

3) The clear distinction between ‘inside the door’ (men nei) and ‘outside the door’ (men wai) information makes it very difficult to ask about aspects of the art that are considered ‘men nei’. An example in xingyi would be asking about Pan Gen, or in taiji asking about ‘heart methods’ (xin fa) – neither are likely to get you anywhere if you are an outsider.

Lastly, two general observations I would make are that:

1) I made sure to ask each master I met about how sparring was practiced in their system. None gave a specific answer as to how they trained their students to bridge the gap between structured pair work to full-contact free sparring, or indeed whether they practiced sparring at all. This can be interpreted in 3 ways: either (a) I was using the wrong word (I used ‘san shou’), (b) the schools/branches I met do not practice free sparring; or (c) that information is considered ‘inside the door’.

2) Even before this trip, I had the impression that very few young Chinese people (on the mainland at least) were learning and practicing neijia arts (or any traditional chinese MA). Comments by various masters and my own experience on this trip have reinforced that view.

For those not familiar with M Deng, he learnt his xingyi from 4 highly respected masters, namely:

(1) Dong Ziying, a disciple of Liu Qilan’s second son Liu Wenhua, and the younger brother of the famous Shanxi xingyi master Dong Xiusheng)

(2) Jia Chunyuan, a master of xingyi from Tianjin who had learnt his xingyi from Li Zhenbang, Li Luoneng’s grandson

(3) Jiang Rongqiao, famous master of bagua and xingyi who was a disciple of Zhang Zhaodong (aka Zhang Zhankui)

(4) Liu Molin, a grandstudent of Li Cunyi through his master Jiang Yuhe

As 3 out of M Deng’s 4 masters can trace their xingyi back to Liu Qilan, it has been said that his branch is a ‘melting pot’ of Hebei xingyiquan. M Wang himself is profiled on Rose’s site, here.

M Wang in San Ti stance

M Wang was very generous in demonstrating xingyi responses to possible attacks. I was impressed by his speed and explosive power, especially given that he is  in his mid-fifties! In conversation, he stressed that at advanced levels, xingyi prefers to target vital points (da xue wei), which echoes the article on Li Guoliang elsewhere on this blog.  Of the xingyi masters I met on this trip, M Wang seemed to place the most emphasis on xingyi as a practical fighting art. As we said our goodbyes, M Wang lamented that very few young Chinese people are interested in traditional chinese martial arts, often preferring to take up Tae Kwon Do instead.

At first blush, Chen village looks like any other northern Chinese farming village:

Chen village

However, a walk through the village soon corrects that notion: I would bet that not many northern Chinese villages of this size have 4 commercial martial arts schools! The first school you encounter as you walk into the village is Chen Bing’s new school, the Chen Bing Taiji Academy.

Chen Bing's school

Further along on the right-hand side is Zhu Tiancai’s school:

Zhu Tiancai's school

Now that Zhu Tiancai resides in Singapore, the school is nominally headed up by his sons Zhu Xiangyi and Zhu Xianghua. However, the school was shut on the day I visited, so I’m not sure how one would go about studying there.  A couple of hundred yards further on, on a road that forks right off the main drag, is the Chen Village Taiji School run by Chen Xiaoxing:

Chen Village Taijiquan School (Chenjiagou Taijiquan Xuexiao)

The Chen Village Taiji School is by far the largest school in the village, and is both a private academic school (minban xue xiao) as well as a martial arts training centre.  Next to the school is a Taiji ancestral temple built by Henan Tourist Board on the site of the Chen family graveyard. My guide, Mr Chen Shiyan, added as an aside that the Chen family had yet to receive compensation from the provincial government for the land, and so I skipped it without regret.

Finally, about 1km outside the school proper is Wang Xi’an’s school, the Chenjiagou Wushu School, run by his son  Wang Zhanjun.

The Chenjiagou Wushu School

Like the Chen Village Taiji School, Wang Zhanjun’s school is both a martial arts training centre and a private academic school. The posters on the outside of the school detail Wang Zhanjun’s recent participation in CCTV’s Wulin Da Hui, as well as the new Guinness world record set  in 2008 when he tossed a 2kg weight 98cm with his dantian.

Unfortunately, as I was in town looking for masters of the ‘small frame’ (xiao jia) Chen style, I only had a brief peek into the schools above. Fortuitously, a large billboard has been fixed to the wall of one of the buildings on the main road with profiles of small frame masters past and present, along with contact details of local small frame masters. After a few phone calls and dead ends, I found myself at the home of local master Chen Zhijing, whose home doubles as the headquarters of the Chen Style Small Frame Research Association.

Chen Zhijing's home

M Chen kindly furnished me with some details about small frame and introduced me to some local masters, pictured below.

Front row L-R: Chen Lizhou, Chen Zhijing, Chen Qinghuan, Chen Bihua

All of the masters above are either disciples or grand-disciples of Chen Kezhong, the noted 18th-generation small frame master.

Chen Lizhou’s case is especially interesting, as he initially studied large frame  under Chen Zhaopi and Chen Maosen, then learnt xin jia (new frame) from Chen Zhaokui in the same ‘batch’ as the ’4 Buddha’s Warrior Attendants’  (i.e. Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xi’an and Zhu Tiancai), only converting to small frame later in life. All the masters were unanimous in refuting the commonly repeated misconception that the small frame system was created by removing difficult or vigorous movements from the original routines.

They also agreed that stance holding (zhan zhuang) is a relatively recent introduction into the Chen taiji curriculum, saying that neither large frame nor small frame practitioners practiced zhan zhuang prior to the 1980s, and that it was introduced by Feng Zhiqiang on his visits back to Chen village in the early 80s.

View of Guangfu (courtesy of www.wed114.cn)

For those thinking of studying taiji here, I should point out that Guangfu is a very small, rural town lacking in western comforts such as non-squat toilets and hot showers.  Also, as far as I can tell, although there are several taiji masters in Guangfu, there is only one taiji school, run by Han Qingmin (a disciple of Fu Zhongwen) in the town. The other masters teach from their houses when they are in Guangfu but are often away teaching in other cities.

For those interested in some historical sightseeing, the former residences of both the Yang and Wu families and can be visited for a small entrance fee:

Yang Luchan's former residence

Wu Yuxiang's former residence

Just from the size of the compounds alone one can see the difference in wealth between the Yang and Wu families: the Yang compound consists of only two courtyards, whereas the Wu family compound is made up of 5 or 6 interconnecting courtyards with wings running off each side.

The two sites also served as starting points for locating masters of the two styles: the Yang Banhou Taijiquan Research Association is located opposite Yang Luchan’s former residence, while the Wu (Yuxiang) Taijiquan Research Association (headed by Yao Jizu’s disciple Zhai Weichuan) is actually based within the former residence of the Wu family. Unfortunately, the heads of both associations were teaching in other cities when I visited. However, I did manage to talk to Su Yongqiang, who is a disciple of Jia Anshu, the current head of the Yang Banhou Taijiquan Research Association.

Su kindly took some time from running his restaurant to talk to me about the system he practices.

Su Yongqiang in 'Tongzi Bao Qiu' posture

According to Su, the posture demonstrated above is one of those removed by Yang Chengfu in the process of arriving at the standard Yang large frame that we know today. In the traditional middle frame passed down by Li Wancheng, ‘Tongzi Bao Qiu’ (‘Child embracing a ball’) comes before the first ‘Needle at sea bottom’.

After our chat, I had the oppportunity to do a little fixed step push hands with Su, during which he exhibited that spring-like, ‘uncompressible’ quality common to experienced taiji practitioners. Su then demonstrated some moving step push hands with one of M Jia’s junior students, during which he used some nasty leg traps that invariably ended up with the poor student flat on his back.

Su pushing hands with a student

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