Earlier this week we announced the addition of a new full-time martial arts school to the StudyMartialArts.Org site.
The Bajiquan International Training Center is one of the best places in China to learn the martial art of Bajiquan. All the masters at this school are dedicated and trainined primarily in this art. The Masters skills, the Wu family lineage and knowledge plus the teaching focus on the practical use of the art, the standardized comprehensive curriculum and the Mengcun facility itself are all huge draws.
The Bajiquan International Training Center simply put is one of the biggest and most famous Bajiquan schools in the world. How students will learn Bajiquan at this school as opposed to some other Shaolin or Wudang based schools which teach to a smorgasboard of styles is very different.
The location of the school in Mengcun on the outskirts of Cangzhou City firmly puts the focus on training. Site seeing opportunities in Mengcun and Cangzhou City are limited. With so few distractions for students it makes the 6 day training regime easy to stick to. This is one reason why the facilities at the school are so good.
Additionally, another benefit of the school is that it can easily cater to both western and muslim cultures, this makes the Bajiquan International Training Center an attractive multicultural choice.
Stepping of the plane in Chiangmai, I instantly liked the place. The warmth of the air was somewhat different to the dry February cold of Beijing.
Rather unwisely though I failed to print of the directions and contact number for where I would spend the next 3 weeks training. “Mai Pen Rai” with a single step I’d quickly adopted the Thai go with the flow attitude like a natural, after all I was in Thailand and what better why to honor my hosts.
I’d only just touched down in Thailand and the journey was already exceeding my expectations and I felt completely relaxed about the weeks ahead. What I love about traveling is meeting people. My experiences to date have shown me that people vibrate on different frequencies depending on their state of mind. When people are on similar frequencies it’s natural for them to attract and connect. With my mind on exploration, discovery and anticipation for the journey ahead it would be this energetic principle that had drawn me to meet a fellow martial arts traveler.
Energetic principle or fait I met Dr David Lertzman at the boarding gate at Hong Kong international airport heading for Chiangmai. Both of us where surveying the room for a suitable plug socket to charge our respective apple products.
David a professor from Calgary University in Canada was a man who’d spent the last 7 years working with indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest. He was traveling to a place called Pai for 3 weeks of Shaolin training in order to follow a passion for martial arts that remained with him from his youth.
We rearranged our seats on the plane and from Hong Kong to Chiangmai the professor and I swapped stories and enjoyed the back and forth of good conversation.
Walking Street
An instantly likeable and approachable man he had a way of making people around him feel comfortable. I pondered the thought of how this character trait would be one that would serve him well in the rain forests of the Amazon where he would have to communicate with numerous indigenous peoples. I pictured him bounding through the rain forests like Sean Connery from the medicine man.
We parted company in Chiang Mai with the intension of staying in touch to share our separate training experiences. He set off for the Nam Yang Shaolin Kung Fu Retreat in Pi and I to meet and train with Sifu Mark Rasmus.
Arriving late at Susan Pailomn it was dark but with a warm welcome and smile I was greeted by Sifu Rasmus. I could feel I was in a good place geographically, mentally and spiritually. Mark showed me to my chalet and we headed out to grab some food.
We talked about our respective martial arts journeys, about the training ahead, about life in Chiangmai, places to eat and places to visit. I new I was in the right place studying with the right master. When we finished it was late.
My first night in Chiangmai my plan ahead of arrival had been to make it to base camp familurize myself with the area and get a good nights rest. Mission accomplished.
Nestled among bamboo groves and trees I woke up from my first nights sleep to the morning chants of Buddhist monks and bell chimes, refreshed and ready to begin my training.The days ahead in Chiang Mai would be filled with excellent tuition under the supervision of Sifu Rasmus.
In addition to this there would be amazing temple visits and location based training, delicious local food and one or two healing Thai massages.Each evening as part of my training regime I would journal my progress. Likewise Professor David Lertzman had also been chronicling his training experience in Pai and was emailing the details of what would become a great blog for those thinking about training at Nam Yang Shaolin Kung Fu School. This is a blog I will post at a later date on the SMA bloggers wordpress site.
The School
Before we parted company in Chiangmai I’d told David about the Study Martial Arts project, about our mission statement and company ethos. I also explained how I was always on the lookout for quality schools and masters to work with, so any insight he had about the school would be much appreciated.
With David’s regular up dates and emails filling my inbox with detailed accounts of his experience I knew that if an opportunity presented itself I would head to Pai, visit the school and catch up with my fellow martial arts adventurer.
On the second week of training a Thai national holiday fell on the Friday. Intuitively, Sifu Rasmus a keen motorcyclist proposed the idea of a road trip to Pai. With his help I rented a scotter and followed Sifu Rasmus along the beautiful, and somewhat infamous winding road from Chiangmai to Pai. We arrived in Pai dropped off our bags then headed out to explore Walking Street.
Walking Street Market in Pai is located on Rungsiyanon Road. It is a shopper’s paradise offering a wide range of souvenirs big and small, unique handicrafts, lacquerware and hand-made clothes some of which come direct from highland villages or local artists. Along with these gift stalls and shops I delighted in the sights smells and tastes of the authentic street food. Thai, Chinese, Western in such variety all fresh and delicious. The Thai street food experience was living up to the hype. The following day a Saturday would be a day off from training for the students at Nam Yang, so I explored Pai a little soaking in the Friday night before returning to my hotel. After breakfast I headed out to the school to meet David and also one of the instructors Eddie.
The school a ten minute bike ride away from my hotel is on the outskirts of Pai close to its small airport. David met me and showed me around the school and introduced me to some of his fellow students.
Mork Fa Waterfall
Some of these students were beginners studying martial arts for the first time, others had been students who had studied in China and were somewhat jaded of the experience and some were seasoned and experienced martial artists. After David showed me around he demonstrated one of the forms he’d been working on, then we sat and took tea with Eddie who at the time was one of the schools instructors.”Out door training areas”Normally the journey from Chiangmai to Pai takes 3-5 hours depending on your pace. I’d recommend taking it slow and taking in the scenery. The road itself is super fun but beware, those that get carried away and go to fast might end up as one of the roads numerous casualties. Both experienced and inexperienced drivers have cut short their holiday on this road which snakes it’s way up and over the mountains to Pai.
We stopped midway for lunch on the journey up and on the return I cooled down with a swim at this amazing waterfall at Mork Fa. For more information on martial arts training at this school or training experiences throughout China and Thailand visit the http://www.StudyMartialArts.Org website.
The StudyMartialArts.Org website has discounts on martial arts training and travel experiences as well as exclusive offers only available to those who book through SMA.
楊家太極拳各藝要義 武術偶談 THE SKILLS & ESSENTIALS OF YANG STYLE TAIJI BOXING and MARTIAL ARTS DISCUSSIONS 黃文叔先生著 by Huang Wenshu [Yuanxiu] [published by 國術統一月刊社 Martial Arts United Monthly Magazine Society, June 15, 1936]
[translation by Paul Brennan, June, 2014]
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國術界泰斗合影 Group photo of leading figures in Chinese martial arts: 景中人自右而左前列田紹先鄭佐平杜心五李芳辰劉百川孫祿堂楊澄甫後列沈爾喬黃文叔褚桂亭高振東錢西樵蘇景由 The people in this photo are (from right to left): Front row: Tian Shaoxian [Zhaolin], Zheng Zuoping, Du Xinwu, Li Fangchen [Jinglin], Liu Baichuan, Sun Lutang, Yang Chengfu Back row: Shen Erqiao, Huang Wenshu [Yuanxiu], Chu Guiting, Gao Zhendong, Qian Xiqiao, Su Jingyou
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燕趙國術名人合影 Group photo of famous martial artists from Hebei [from right to left]: 黃文叔 褚桂亭 蘇景由 王向齋 趙道新 張兆東 李星階 高振東 孫汝江 李子揚 Huang Yuanxiu, Chu Guiting, Su Jingyou, Wang Xiangzhai, Zhao Daoxin, Zhang Zhaodong, Li Xingjie, Gao Zhendong, Sun Rujiang, Li Ziyang
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河北國術名人合影 Group photo of famous martial artists from Hebei: [back row, right to left:] 騎兵團國術敎習 方瑞臣 Fang Ruichen, cavalry corps martial arts…
Let’s start this essay, and it is an essay, with a little test. No wait come back, don’t worry, this will be a fun one I promise. Give yourself thirty seconds to read through the following list of words. It’ll help to say them out loud as you read, and visualise items as you go. Ready, set, go:
Finished? Right no cheating, cover up the words and write down as many as you can remember.
How did you get on? If you got 10, 11 or 12, stop reading this and go join Mensa right now, you’re a genius. If you got 1, 2 or 3, maybe try again later when you’re not driving, or fall-down drunk. Really I’m not being funny, there’s probably something wrong with you if you got 1-3. Get help.
If you got anything between 4 and 9, congratulations – you’re average. You’re in the normal range of people who take this test. If you got 6, 7 or 8 then you’re right at the top of the bell curve, in the good company of the vast majority of the population. The most average of the average, if you will. If you were a colour, it would be beige.
Well that was a jolly nice bit of fun. Now that we’ve broken the ice you and I, keeping your score in mind, let me tell you a little tale…
There’s a city in Latin America which bears the lofty accolade, quite literally, of being the highest metropolis in the world – rubbing shoulders with the mountains and the sky at a dizzying 2,800 meters above sea level. It’s so high that if you fly there from a lower locale, you run a very real risk of altitude sickness as soon as you get out of the airplane – not, perhaps, the best way to start a relaxing holiday.
This is why many people choose instead to fly to a nearby city near the coast, where the mountains dip their toes into the cool surf of the Pacific Ocean. There you can catch a train up the mountain, gradually acclimatising to the altitude as you ascend. Well, I say gradually, but the path from coast to crest is nothing of the sort scaling, as it does, the sheer face of the mountain.
To do this, the train has carved tracks out of the very stuff of the mountainside and to make its’ ascent it zig-zags its’ way across the slope, reversing on itself at the end of each section to make the next climb.
This takes time. The flight from city to city takes 50 minutes, the drive five hours, and the train a stately four days to reach its destination. But to dismiss such a journey based on time alone would be to miss out on some astonishing views as the lush, equatorial rainforest that bursts from the coast gradually dissolves into green rolling hills, which in turn give way to purple, jagged mountain tops.
And what a train! We are not talking about some creaking metal worm in whose innards you perch uncomfortably on plastic seats, sipping bad coffee from a polystyrene cup and nibbling a dried, curled egg sandwich. No in this train the stately Victorian carriages are made of the finest carved wood, dripping with luxury and excess. The sound is deadened by the rich, deep carpets and the thick bound curtains whilst tea is served from the finest silverware and china.
All this, and the gentle incline allows the traveller by train to reach the top energised and ready to explore the city, whilst his counterpart alighting an airplane clutches his throat and collapses, vainly clawing the sky as he gasps for oxygen from the thin, mountain air….
I wonder, if we asked these two men as one draws a satisfied breath and takes in the view, and the other takes panicked gasps for oxygen as he drops to his knees, how many words from the list at the start of this story they might recall. One no doubt will breeze through as he gently takes satisfied sips of air whilst the other will stare at you confused, pre-occupied perhaps with the one single dominating thought of his continued survival. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you which is which.
A man I know, let’s call him Ted, recently made such a trip, which as you can probably guess is why I’m able to wax so lyrically about this little-known attraction. True to form, the gentle ascent meant he positively leaped from the train, ready to explore the beautiful city it took him to backpack on his back, camera at the ready. Eagerly Ted strode forward, and out of the station. Here he paused, taking in the extended views of rooftops vanishing into the distance; the crystal clear air making the distant buildings look like a quilt of Lego, or an over-zealous domino track made by a particularly enthusiastic nine year old.
And then, with but a cursory glance to those asphyxiating at the airport, Ted set off. And immediately into a local man coming the other way, who spilled hot coffee all over our hero’s shirt, trousers and rucksack. Luckily the local was not annoyed, more troubled in fact by the mess he’d made of Ted. He began to help, padding with a hankie as Ted tried to deal with the hot coffee on his shirt and trousers, the fear his camera could be ruined, and this man industriously patting at his clothing. It was at this point that another man arrived on the scene, equally concerned, and began helping Ted off with his rucksack as the coffee was seeping into the pockets, and running down Ted’s back. Off came the rucksack, which the man then appeared to drop on the ground by mistake. Another man appeared, picked up the rucksack, and in the blink of an eye all three dissolved into the crowd.
And Ted was left alone, dazed, and with the growing realisation that he had just been mugged.
Speaking about it afterwards, he told me his strongest memory was just how good the four people who did it were. There was no noise, no violence, no force – just a well rehearsed set of actions that left him on the ground without his rucksack.
“By the time I was off my knees, they had gone. I still have no idea where they went. The hotel doorman saw nothing. There were people in the street but nobody reacted. Everything was normal and quiet, apart from the fact that I was standing on the pavement, without my rucksack and with no idea where it was and these people had gone.”
I should mention here that Ted’s not your average holiday-maker. He’s a seasoned traveller who has seen half the globe over the years; he’s a martial artist of 20 years experience, and he’s an ex-professional rugby player. And all that was for nought because of seven little things.
Seven little things. Spilled coffee. Wet clothes. Wet rucksack. Apologising, fussing man. Second, fussing man. Dropped rucksack. Third man.
The human brain, constantly exposed to thousands of points of stimulus every second of every day, is actually only able to process and retain at any one time, seven simple things. That’s why you could only remember about that many from the list of objects at the beginning; it’s also why it takes three men twenty seconds to relieve a world-wise, very experienced traveller of a rucksack that was securely attached to his back, and vanish.
I had the fortune, the other day, to be walking along the road behind one of those ‘teenagers’ they have these days. It was of what I believe is called the ‘Hip-Hop’ variety; you know, the ones that wear lopsided baseball caps precariously balanced on their lopsided heads; the kind who somehow manage to appear to be constantly walking round in circles, even when they’re going in a straight line, as they saunter from one street corner to the next with their adorable lopsided strides.
I know I’m not the first to draw attention to the peculiar pack-conforming behaviours and fashion choices of the youth of today, and to be fair who am I to judge these attempts to belong – those who have read How Not to Get Hit will be all too aware of my own personal fashion choices from those lost years (it’s too painful to go back over here, buy the book – but if I were to tell you a doorman once exited me from a nightclub using the item he could get the best grip on, which happened to be my pony tail, you’ll begin to get the idea).
Still, even though I’m probably the last person who should be casting linguistic missiles from my cosy glass-pained abode, I can’t help thinking that of all the peculiar attire with which these ‘teenagers’ tend to adorn themselves, their method of wearing trousers is, frankly, witchcraft.
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to walk down a street with a pair of jeans sitting below your butt cheeks but frankly, it’s impossible. I can only assume that those precariously balanced baseball caps grant these ‘teenagers’ the magical ability to defy the laws of physics. Or perhaps it explains the lopsided walk, as they’re actually clenching their butt-cheeks tighter than a doorman clutching a ponytail in a desperate attempt to keep their hippety-hoppety jeans above their hippety-hoppety knees.
For god’s sake chaps, if you’re reading this, buy a belt. Not only will this free up your butt-cheeks for party tricks such as cracking walnuts, such must be your toning after years of clenching; not only will you discover walking in a straight line isn’t just something other people can do; not only will you be able to wear your comfy old worn-out underwear out of the house since two-thirds won’t constantly be on display; you’ll also learn a valuable lesson in self defence. Honestly.
You see belts aren’t just good for holding up trousers; they’re also a fantastic way of finding out where your centre of gravity is and this, my friends, is the road to the nirvana of combat.
Accessing your maximum power is all about identifying and using your centre of gravity. Taking away someone’s strength is all about destabilising their centre of gravity. Throwing someone is all about destabilising their centre of gravity. Tripping someone over is all about destabilising their centre of gravity. Neutralising an attack is all about destabilising the centre of gravity. Winning fights is all about destabilising the centre of gravity.
Power comes not from your muscles, it comes from your balance. This one’s easy to prove – try hitting a punch-bag as hard as you can whilst standing on one leg. Very little will happen save for an embarrassed cough from the bag and, perhaps, the floor hitting you. This is down to the fact that to realise the force in your skeletal stricture you need to anchor that structure against something. To anchor it, you need to be stable yourself or some of that force will be lost in your own, unplanned movement rather than transferring all the energy into your target. Ideally you would create this using three points of contact with the ground. Sadly most of us only have two, so we use our centre of balance as the third anchor point – moving it in relation to our feet to maintain balance and transfer energy into a target, rather than our own wasted movement. Think about those cool little desk toys from the 80’s, with four suspended metal balls knocking into each other. It’ll help.
Once this is understood in your own body (give it a few years), then it becomes a simple task to understand how an opponent is creating force (give it a few more years) and, through manipulation of their centre of gravity, nullify this force as the energy they would have put into a strike must be redirected into adjusting their balance, or falling over.
Throwing is a simple matter of finding your opponents centre of gravity and using your own as leverage to move it. If you’re big, and they’re small, you can move someone without leverage. The other way round, though, and you’ve got a problem. Have you ever tried to pick up a sack of potatoes? Actually no, you probably haven’t, this isn’t the 19th century after all. Um, modern analogy… ah – got it.
Have you ever been to IKEA and had to pick up a really heavy bag full of home furnishings? Think about how you use your bum as leverage to get the thing over your shoulder – you lift it halfway, and then kind of move your bum under it, yes? Well, that’s it – you’re moving your balance to a point where you can move the weight around through leverage against your core body, rather than trying to use your muscles to shift all those lampshades, picture frames and washing-up brushes (isn’t it odd how you always seem to leave with one of those washing-up brushes from the escalator).
To throw someone, you have to find their centre of gravity, move yours to a position where you can create leverage, and allow your opponent to ‘fall’ around your own, stable centre.
Tripping is similar to throwing, except instead of creating leverage against your opponents centre of gravity, you’re using their imaginary third leg to make them fall. No sniggering at the back – your third leg is actually the shifting point of balance created by your centre of gravity to stop you falling over, and ladies have it too. We all stand on two feet; when we move, we basically start falling over towards our ‘third leg’, or at least where it would be if we had one, and then stick a foot in the way. By placing a foot where our third leg should have been, we get it under our centre of gravity again to stop falling over and repeat (except those hippety-hoppety teenagers – God only knows how they do it).
So, to throw someone, we need to make sure that our own centre of gravity is rooted and stable, find the point where someone’s third leg is / should be, move their body toward this point (you’ll be surprised at how little resistance you encounter in doing this) and stop their leg from moving under their centre of gravity again. Hey presto – they are now falling.
Confused? Yeah me too; nobody said this was going to be easy. But trust me, you can’t go wrong if you start by buying yourself a good sturdy belt.
Cover of Chinese Kung Fu by Wang Guangxi. Cambridge UP, 2012.
Wang Guangxi. 2012. Chinese Kung Fu. Cambridge University Press. 115 pages.
Introduction
The prestigious Cambridge University Press published not one but two books on the topic of the Chinese martial arts in 2012. Most students of martial studies will already be familiar with Peter Lorge’s volume Chinese Martial Arts: From antiquity to the Twenty-First Century. This was the first monograph by a major academic publisher attempting to provide a single volume introduction to the history of the Chinese fighting systems. As one would expect Lorge’s work has been discussed and reviewed in a number of places since its release
Less well known in martial studies is a slim volume by Professor Wang Guangxi titled Chinese Kung Fu. The author of this second study brings impressive credentials to the table. According to his biography on the Cambridge…
The following modest wooden house is where I stayed in Chiang Mai, Thailand when I trained with Sifu Rasmus. Sifu Rasmus teaches Taji Fajin, Hermetics and Metaphysics in this idilic setting nestled at the foot of a mountain and within ear shot of a buddhist retreat.
Leaving the cold and smog of Beijing behind I headed to Chiang Mai for 1 month of intensive training.Sifu Rasmus courses run from 1 to 12 weeks or longer depending on the content. His students tend to be instructors or masters who are looking to add greater depth to their knowledge or a more internal flavour to their art.
During the training period Sifu Rasmus would from time to time hold his class in the grounds of some of Chiang Mai’s most spectacular temples. In this visual blog I share three of my favorite. Below you will see a picture of an impressive nagga (Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology).
Wat Umong
A place were I began training the air element, metaphysics and meditation.
Wat Umong was built in 1927 by King Manglai of the LAN dynasty underneath the stupa above there are caves and shrines, and in the grounds you can find a garden of broken sculptures and a fasting bodhisvista. A place of tranquility where resident monks provide willing students a meditation retreat.
“Where talking trees have words of wisdom”
The hidden jungle temple of Wat Palad below has a special energy and was overall my favorite temple in Chiang Mai.
“The monastery at the sloping rock, visited by the God of the Earth”
3 transformations at Wat Chedi Luang.
“Please, come to the monk chat”
The ancient temple of Wat Chedi Luang in the centre of Chiang Mai’s walled city is one of the most important temples in Chiang Mai. It houses the ashes of the 14th century King Saen Muang Ma’s father. The big stupa is guarded on each of its four sides by two mythical serpent naga’s at the base and further up by rows of elephants. Peaceful in the evening the stupa vibrates with energy. Monks and nuns chant sutras and welcome conversation with travelers.
Climbing to the top of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.
“Wat Phra That Doi Suthep’s Emerald Buddha overlooking Chiang Mai”
I visited this temple on the festival of Makhachkala Bucha. The festival honours the event when 1,250 of Buddha’s disciples congregated to hear an important sermon.Buddhists carry flowers, lightened candles and joss sticks while walking around the stupa three times on the day and night of the full moon in February.
Although this visual bog focuses on the temples I visited while training in Chiang Mai. It would be a miss of me not to say something of my training time with Sifu Rasmus. So I’ll keep it short and simply say that training with Sifu Rasmus was an excellent decision that helped demystify some of the secrets of Taichi fajin, as well as principles and themes explored in hermetics and metaphysics. Overall the course has been a great help for my own practice and I’d like to say a big personal thank you for Sifu Rasmus, guidance, welcome, coffee and of course friendship. Sifu Rasmus’s YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/SifuMarkRasmus
Zhou Zhen Dong is the head of the Yantai branch of Taiji Mantis. The sole inheritor to his teacher, Zhang Kai Tang, he teaches Taiji Mantis as well as Hao family Meihua Mantis. Highly respected both in China and the west, he has taught students from many countries, including UK, USA, Austria, Hungary, Russia and Japan as well as various parts of China.
Zhou Zhen Dong performing “facing the heavens elbow”
Zhou Shifu, please could you tell us how you started your training in Kung Fu
My first teacher was called Yu Zhi Ru. I was around 15 when I started training with him.
Master Yu was a Chinese doctor. He would read people’s pulse and prescribe them herbs for a small fee. He did this secretly. He was very skilled, you didn’t need to tell him what illness you had, he could tell by your pulse. Actually I met him because he was a friend of my grandfather. When I was a child he often came to our home, and sometimes he talked about kung fu, showing us some moves. I was interested, and started learning “sheng yuan men” (saintly ape style) from him. The forms included “bai yuan chu dong” (white ape exits the cave), “bai yuan kui yuan” (white ape spies the orchard), “bai yuan tou tao” (white ape steals a peach), “bai yuan gun” (white ape staff), “bai yuan xian tao” (white ape offers the peach), “bei dou quan” (fist of the north star). These are derived from a Chinese myth.
Could you share the myth for those unfamiliar
There was a white ape. His father died and then his mother got ill from depression. White ape heard there was an orchard on a mountain where the peaches of immortality grew every 500 years. He decided to get his mother a peach. So after leaving his cave he set off on a long journey. When he finally arrived on the slopes of the sacred mountain, he found the orchard, first spying it from afar to see if it was guarded. Seeing the coast was clear he ran right in and stole a peach. However he was caught by Er Lang and the two of them had a staff fight. Bai Yuan begged him to stop attacking. Once Er Lang realised Bai Yuan could talk he asked why he stole the peach. Moved by the story of his mother, he agreed to give him one peach. Bai Yuan returned home and gave the peach to his mother. Surely, his mother was cured, and so they bowed down and paid respects to the god of the north star.
Master Yu had a huge black cat which he really loved. That time China was really poor and people were hungry. One day the cat stole some neighbours dried fish, and they caught it and killed it. My teacher became really depressed and got sick. At that time, Master Yu was over 80 years old, and his wife was 30 years younger than him. He was retired at home, and she was still working. Everyday after school I helped to look after my teacher. He told me to go out and buy ginger, leek and radish, and then cook it and put it in a cloth. He then put the cloth on his body to sweat out the sickness. After doing that for a while he started to get better. But then after a year or two, he got sick again, this time more serious. He stopped teaching me kung fu as he got weaker, and taught me pulse reading and Chinese medicine, making me read a lot of old books I didn’t really understand. His wife and I looked after him until he passed away at 85. Me and his wife carried his body to be cremated.
How did you come to meet Zhang Kai Tang
Zhang Kai Tang was my neighbour. My sister was engaged to his son and she introduced me. Master Zhang asked me to show him what I learnt, so I performed “bai yuan tou tao”. I used all my power. That time, everybody said I was really good. But he wasnt impressed at all. He said I was just using my arms, and had no body power. He offered to teach me the form “beng bu”. Before, I never imagined kung fu could be so difficult! Also, at that time, I didn’t understand much, what was Taiji Mantis, what was Meihua Mantis. Slowly Master Zhang explained. Bengbu is Taiji Mantis, which comes from Cui Shou Shan. He didn’t plan on teaching me anything more. But I kept hanging around, determined to learn more. So he asked me what do I want to learn, Meihua Lu or Chuan Zhi? He showed me a few moves. I thought Chuan Zhi looked nice, so I said Chuan Zhi. He explained Chuan Zhi was Meihua Mantis, from the Hao family. Chuan Zhi was 4 forms, 20 roads in total.
Zhang Kai Tang
Can you tell us something about Zhang Kai Tang
Zhang Kai Tang studied with Hao Heng Xin for six years. Hao Heng Xin was one of six brothers who were the masters of the Hao family Meihua Mantis. After that, his uncle invited Cui Shou Shan to be his live in teacher for another 6 years. That time was very strict, a private teacher who ate and slept with them. In the morning, they did iron body training, trained kung fu all day, then at 11pm every night did meditation. Zhang Kai Tang had 2 brothers, but they couldn’t take the harsh training and dropped out.
So first he learnt under Hao Heng Xin, later under Cui Shou Shan. Can you tell us something about these great masters
Hao Heng Xin was famous for his iron palm. It was said he could strike a match on his hand. Zhang Kai Tang learnt this skill from him. One time, during sparring, he hit his partner in the face. It made a cut on his eye which made his whole face swollen. This was due to the medicine they soaked their hands in before and after iron palm training. Hao Heng Xin had a student called Su Shi Chang. He was really strong, as he pulled the rickshaws for a living. He was out fighting one day and beat his opponent. He came back really happy to brag to his master. Hao Heng Xin was meditating, and got annoyed by his disturbance. Master Hao slipped his shoes half on and stood up with his eyes closed, offering to show the student some real skill. His left hand behind his back he held out his right hand softly and told the student to attack him. As soon as the student moved in, Master Hao palmed him in the face, cutting his eye. The next day it was swollen so bad he couldn’t even open it.
After 6 years, he learnt everything from Hao Heng Xin. His uncle offered to find him “a top level master from Laiyang, the home of mantis”. So he brought Cui Shou Shan to his home to teach the 3 brothers. As soon as he met Master Cui, he was really impressed by his depth of knowledge. His first teacher was really angry, and got his brothers together to beat Master Cui. My teacher went to Master Hao and explained, “You are always my shifu, I learnt everything from you. But I want to keep learning and developing, Master Cui has a lot to teach me.” My teacher always sent gifts to Master Hao during festivals. All his life he said “I have two masters, Master Hao and Master Cui.”
Cui Shou Shan
After 6 years, Master Cui left at the invitation of Sun Xiang Ting to teach in a school there. Hao Heng Lu (elder brother of Hao Heng Xin) approached him saying “your boxing is great, really great, but you still haven’t mastered all the weapons yet.” He then asked my teacher to teach Master Cui’s style in his school and taught him Damo Jian (bodhidharma sword), Baxian Jian (eight immortals sword), Qixing Jian (seven star sword) and Meihua Qiang (plum blossom spear) in return. Master Cui was really angry by this and forbid my teacher to continue doing this.
Could you explain about your training during the Cultural Revolution
During the Cultural Revolution, traditional martial arts were classed under the “four olds”. Any kind of old culture or antiques were forbidden and destroyed. All you were allowed to do was study “Mao Ze Dong thought”, sing “socialism is great” etc.
As far as traditional arts, they were replaced with modern wushu. “first level fist” “second level fist” “first level sabre” “second level sabre” etc. national regulated forms. This included the 24 posture form of taiji. You had to learn all the different Mao Ze Dong books and quotes, life were really boring. There was nothing you could do to enjoy yourself, no happiness. On top of that, life was harsh. Everything was planned and provided by the state. How much meat and grain you could eat every day was regulated.
So if you were engaged in traditional activities, people would condemn you, persecute you. So that time we had to train in secret. In my teacher’s home, or at night after dinner, I would find a dark place with no people to train. I was seen by people from time to time, if people saw me, they would leave immediately, didn’t dare to get involved. Actually, not many people really went outside at night, they were so poor, so after eating, normally they just slept. And there was no lighting outside anyway.
During the Cultural Revolution, the red guards just came into everyone’s homes, and took away anything old. Nobody could say or do anything, they took what they wanted and left. If you refused, they put a hat on your head and beat you in public. Called you a “right winger”, “bad element”, “counter revolutionary” etc. After Deng Xiao Ping came to power, these words were banned from use, and the hats were all burnt. He said we are all equal, nobody can persecute anyone else.
When the Japanese invaded China they banned martial arts training, calling it “iron man training”. That time my teacher buried his weapons and iron palm urn under the ground. After several years, the Japanese were defeated, he dug them up. But they were all rusted. The iron palm urn was totally wrecked, but he restored the weapons. He taught his oldest son with his sabre, and they would cut bricks with it. Then during the Cultural Revolution, this sabre was taken away again.
What about your view on the present state of martial arts in China
Nowadays, a lot of westerners like kung fu. In the beginning, westerners didn’t know what kung fu really is, and went to universities, or other places like shaolin temple, to learn kung fu. Cartwheels, flying kicks, actually that’s the same as gymnastics. Real kung fu is “among the people”. Slowly, westerners started to realise this, and are now looking among the people, rather than learning “flowery fists and embroidered kicks”, in the old days it was called “chou gong fu” “jun bashi”. Running around the hall leaping around, that isn’t martial arts, it’s gymastics or “yishu”. So after Deng Xiao Ping made the “open door policy” China realised the treasure of traditional culture and is trying to revive it. Tanglang quan has been included in the list of “intangeible cultural heritage”.
Nowadays due to higher living standards and especially the “one child policy”, Chinese people are afraid of “eating bitter”. This means to endure hardship. This is especially the case in the cities. If you look in the big kung fu schools, the kids are all from poor rural areas. City kids will learn piano, English, dance etc. a lot of old masters have nobody to teach, their arts die with them. A lot of westerners come to China, train hard, respect and love the art; of course a teacher will want to pass their art onto them. Before, a lot of old masters were persecuted, killed, we learnt in secret, we couldn’t open a school or openly teach people.
Zhou shifu with students, Chinese and western
Anyway, a lot of old styles are being lost. In fact, I believe, in 20-30 years, if Chinese want to revive our arts; we will have to go to the west to learn kung fu. Kids aren’t interested, parents don’t want their kids to learn.
Thank you for your time, Zhou Shifu
This interview was conducted by Will Wain-Williams. For more information on his teacher, and on praying mantis kung fu, you can visit his website here. http://www.monkeystealspeach.co.uk
You know, sometimes it’s easy to write a blog. Sometimes you’ll be walking along the street and you’ll see something, or something will happen, and you’ll think “that’s it!” and suddenly you’ll have a topic, or good entry into a point, or both and some deep insightful point about personal safety would be just around the corner.
A couple of years ago that kind of thing used to happen to me all the time, travelling around China for a year it’d be a strange day if I didn’t find something I could write about. These days, sadly, my experiences are not such blog fodder – my horizons have shrunk to England, a regular 9-5 job, a mortgage, a dog.
Well, no dog.
But I like the image.
And I want a dog.
Such a sedentary lifestyle also comes with its own problems – you don’t realise how much you moved in a day until it’s gone, and your commute consists of stumbling downstairs into the spare room (I work from home). If you’re over 30, this takes its toll – stiffness, low energy, short breath. If you’re under 30, you bastard, don’t worry you may not understand yet – but you will…
So, to try and defend against my creeping atrophy, I dedicated my early mornings to stretching, and breathing. Self defence against sloth, if you will. For me it was Qi Gong, a series of Chinese stretches and diaphragmatic breathing techniques using dynamic tension.
If that sounds a bit confusing, don’t worry it sounds harder than it is but you’re not alone – almost nobody I know knows how to breathe. Oh sure they think they do, and they manage to do it well enough to not collapse in a dying heap on the floor every 20 seconds, but trust me they don’t. No offence but there’s a pretty good chance that you, reading this, don’t know how to either.
And you know what, I’m not sure why. Babies know how to breathe – you watch the wee nappy wearing tykes as they trot along; you can see their belly thrusting in and out as their lungs remain pretty still. That’s because they’re breathing with their diaphragm. In fact you watch a running horse or dog, even an angry gorilla – diaphragm, diaphragm, diaphragm. (although if you are watching an angry Gorilla to be fair the fact that there is an angry Gorilla at close proximity is probably the main thought that’ll be running through your head. Rather than ‘ooh, look at how he uses his diaphragm to do such a fancy roar’).
Somehow, along the way, we forget on our path to adulthood and replace the correct muscle memory for breathing with a shallow, chest-led breathing that only accesses about 60% of our total lung capacity.
Now this is fine for our modern aged sedentary lifestyle of sitting at home, sitting in a car, sitting on the train then sitting at a desk. You don’t need much oxygen for that, and you’re not getting much. Job done.
The problem is, when you’re suddenly put into a high-stress situation like, say, being attacked, you’re not going to be able to cope. As soon as the adrenal response kicks in, your blood vessels dilate so that more blood can be pumped around the body, giving more oxygen to your limbs and organs to function at a much higher rate for short periods of time – to fight back, run swiftly in the opposite direction, or both. Any which way, you’re going to need oxygen, and lots of it.
The problem is that with all that shallow breathing you’ve spend all that time training your body to do that’s what you’re going to do in a pickle, and your body is making much higher demands of your oxygen supply, you’re just not going to get enough fuel to get the job done. It’d be like trying to drive a race car with half the sparkplugs, or running a steam train with half the coal. Or an angry Gorilla with half the bananas. Or something.
My advice, for what it’s worth, is to learn to breathe properly and then do it – all the time. This is easier than you might think. Qi Gong does it for me, but you can also get it from most traditional martial arts (with a good instructor), Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates, a good fitness instructor or even an actor or speech coach
Through QiGong and martial arts I learnt how to access breathing and use it to add power to movement, but I actually learned most about how to actively engage the diaphragm through a speech coach.
Whatever the source they key is to do it. As much as you can. When sitting, walking, exercising, everywhere. Because you need to turn it into a muscle memory, make it normal, replace that horrible shallow lung-breathing I see everywhere with some lovely, deep, diaphragmatic breathing.
Then, and only then, in a high-stress situation, will you will the correct muscle memory response kick in and get your enough of the 02 good stuff to do what you need to do. Your body will be primed to squeeze every last drop of goodness from the air and turning it to energy to fight back, escape, survive.
It’ll also help you sleep, and concentrate, and reduce stress, and increase energy and if you’re really luck, tenuously link a dull life of lethargy to a fundamental lesson on self defence for a blog promoting an awesome book.
Mantis boxing, which orginates from Eastern China, is a kung fu system which has distinctive characteristics and is famous both within China and overseas. With its distinctive characteristics it has attracted many experienced members of the martial arts world. Through hard training and dedication throughout the generations, mantis boxing has been refined and developed.
Wang Lang and Mantis 王朗 与 螳螂拳
statue of Wang Lang
When talking about mantis boxing, many people may be reminded of Wang Lang and his historic legend. In the story, Wang Lang is a handsome and skilful Wushu hero. He was defeated in a duel with a master of Tongbi style called Han Tong. Wang Lang was disappointed and set to training himself for a rematch.
He came across a praying mantis defending itself against a small bird. The mantis avoided the birds attack with great skill and body movement. Wang Lang had a talent for observation and realised the mantis’ movements could be studied and related to martial arts. Through several years of observation he created the unique style of mantis boxing. After creating the style, many people came to challenge Wang Lang and all were defeated. But this is all legend, what about the real history?
According to the Wushu dictionary published in 1985, Wang Lang was born around the end of Ming and beginning of Qing dynasty in Jimo district. At that time Jimo was under the administration of Laiyang County, so people also called Wang Lang “Laiyi”. According to this source, Wang Lang was a leading member in a revolutionary movement to overthrow the Manchu invaders, who started the Qing, and restore the Ming dynasty. After failing in the revolution, Wang Lang retreated to the mountains.
The existence of Wang Lang seems to be true, but how much contribution did he make to mantis boxing? According to my master (Zhang Kai Tang), through decades of combat he created “the mantis shape” and applied it successfully building a strong reputation. However he didn’t create the entire system, only the “mantis shape”, which was the beginning of the system. It seems the person who really created the system of mantis can’t be confirmed by any sources. Wang Lang can however be a figure the followers of mantis can admire and respect.
Li Bing Xiao and Zhao Zhu 李秉霄 与 赵珠
According the Laiyang History Annals, Li Bing Xiao accompanied his father in the south. There, a man in prison had fallen sick, so a prison guard requested a doctor. Li Bing Xiao was a very good doctor, so he went to read the thief’s pulse and treat him. After recovering, the thief ran away in the night.
Several months later, Li Bing Xiao was at home alone when the thief arrived suddenly at his home and thanked him for saving his life. They talked for a while and the thief agreed to teach him kung fu. Li Bing Xiao was talented and learnt quickly. After that the thief left and was never seen again.
The thief in this story was the first master of mantis boxing as remembered by all the successive generations. Who he was, and where he learnt mantis boxing is a mystery; only the name “heroic thief” has remained.
Li Bing Xiao, also known as “Li Er Gou” (Li 2 ditches), is the second master listed in the genealogy. His life is also full of amazing tales. During his youth, Li Bing Xiao was a scholar. However he failed the imperial exam and then fled to live in the mountains in recluse. His circle of friends was all swordsmen and Li Bing Xiao was fond of travelling around. However he never used his real name in public. It was said Li Bing Xiao was highly criticial of society and he cared nothing for the outside world. He was regarded a sage. His unique life had a great influence on the development of mantis boxing.
Zhao Zhu, also known as Qi Lu was the third master. According to Laiyang History Annals, Zhao Zhu was Li Bing Xiao’s best disciple. One time he was lying in bed when a thief broke in. Zhao Zhu merely waved his arm in the air and the thief collapsed on the floor. Surely this level of kung fu would be admired by everybody.
Zhao Zhu was taught by Li Bing Xiao and trained himself every day. After several years he had mastered the entire system. One winter he escorted his master to the river ferry to return home for Chinese New Year. At the river bank Master Li said to Zhao Zhu “I have taught you everything, the only thing left is Qing Gong (light body skills)”. With that jumped onto the thin ice and within seconds had run across the entire river! Li Bing Xiao’s internal power was incredible, so we can find mantis boxing is also a great internal system. Unfortunately, Li Bing Xiao never returned to teach the skill as he got ill and died. The skill “flying like a swallow” was never passed on, only this story to leave us to dream.
Liang Xue Xiang 梁学香
Mantis practioners from Yantai and Qingdao visit the grave of Liang Xue Xiang
According to the Laiyang History Annals, Liang Xue Xiang was the fourth master of mantis boxing. Liang was physically short and thin, but his movements were fast and powerful. Once he asked his students to get an “eight immortals table”, and he went underneath the table and started performing his kung fu, his long clothes never even got tangled up. During a competition he killed a man with a single blow and gained the name “Liang the hammer”. In other aspects he was physically weak however. His father often criticised him as he couldn’t even carry a sack of rice or do farm work in his youth. From this we can make the conclusion that the power required in kung fu is different to the power required for physical labour. This is internal and external power.
Liang Xue Xiang worked as a bodyguard escorting good s caravans to the north. After one particularly dangerous battle, he decided to quit. That time he was escorting caskets of silver. They got as far as Cangzhou in Hebei province. The time was late so they hitched up at a local inn. Suddenly a group of about thirty or forty armed robbers gathered. Liang grabbed a long plank of wood and fought them off in the yard. The scene was a mess and so noisy nobody could hear a thing. Suddenly Liang’s plank of wood got hacked up, so he had to fight them barehanded. The robbers eventually fled and Liang and his team left Cangzhou. During the fight, Liang had got injured in his right eye and became blinded. Since then he got the nickname “One eyed Liang”.
After that event, Liang gave up his job and took his experience back to his hometown of Haiyang to teach mantis boxing. Master Liang was the first master to document mantis boxing in writing.
In his old days his disciple Jiang Hua Long had a house built for him. Liang went to see the house and said “this isn’t well built at all!” Jiang disagreed, claiming he had used the best materials. Liang didn’t say anything; he just struck a wall with his hip and made a huge crack down the wall! (This house is in a small village in Haiyang and the crack can still be seen to this day.)
His good condition didn’t last forever, one autumn after practicing the form Luan Jie, he sat on a chair, closed his eyes and died.
Jiang Hua Long and Li Dan Bai 姜化龙 与 李丹伯
The fifth master of mantis boxing in Laiyang was Jiang Hua Long. According to the Laiyang History annals ” Mr Zhu often said, ‘my footprints have touched seven provinces, I don’t need to worry if one thousand people attack me. There are only two people who I hold in awe; one is Mr Zhen from Shanxi, the other is Jiang Hua Long…… Hua Long is from Huang Jin Gou village, studies mantis boxing….. his height is barely five foot and he is overweight. He looks completely useless, but when you try to get close to him, you immediately feel his speed and power is like a strong ape…….”
In his young age Jiang Hua Long started training under Liang Xue Xiang. However, due to his young age he liked to play and was always naughty. He didn’t train hard and thought highly of his own skill. His master saw talent in him, so much that others couldn’t compare to him; so he couldn’t stand to watch him grow up in this bad way. So one day Master Liang wrote a letter to his elder student and asked little Jiang to take it to him. He wanted to teach the kid a lesson. When the elder student received it, he immediately beat the child! Little Jiang ran back to his master crying to tell him what happened. Master Liang scolded him, saying “look at you, such great kung fu and you can’t even fend for yourself against others!” Little Jiang realised the error of his ways and that his master cared about him. He changed his outlook and trained as hard as he could and eventually became the next inheritor to the system of mantis.
Jiang Hua Long’s character was tough and enduring. He really enjoyed fighting; so much so that as soon as he heard a new school opened, he would go and challenge them! Many teachers made a living from their kung fu, so they deeply hated Jiang and often plotted against him. One time, several masters got together to attack him while he went to the toilet. While he was in the middle of his business, they all ganged up on him. Luckily, he managed to beat them all off, and later they were all very worried he wouldn’t let it go. They convinced the village elders to pacify Jiang; due to their position, he had no choice but to accept the apology.
During Jiang’s lifetime, more and more people began learning mantis boxing, and would mix the mantis posture with other styles, creating new forms. As many new branches appeared, so mantis boxing became more popular. When talking about Jiang Hua Long, we must also mention Li Dan Bai. Towards the end fo the Qing dynasty and beginning of the republic, these two men had big reputations as fighters; their kung fu was considered “as high as Mount Tai”. Li Dan Bai had originally studied Chang Quan (long fist) and enjoyed fighting even more than Jiang. Every time he learnt a new move, he would go out and test it out against members of other schools. As his school was held responsible, his master had no choice but to expel him. At that time, other schools would not accept a student who had been expelled, so he never found another school to train at.
When Li Dan Bai was training at the Chang Quan school, he learnt one form, which became known as the unbeatable Zhong Lu Fan Che. He put his blood and sweat into the form in a way no modern person could match. Master Zhang Kai Tang said about him “as soon as he lifted a hand and stepped a foot, the dirt on the ground flew up, his power was unmatched. When doing this form, he looked like a dragon rising up. When he fought his long sleeves whipped against the floor creating a blinding whirl and sending dirt into the opponent’s eyes and he moved in to attack.”
Jiang Hua Long heard of this unbeaten man and went to find him. He saw him at the challenge ground in a yellow outfit, Master Jiang was wearing green. He mounted the platform and mocked Li. The two stood facing each other, both undefeated; what a sight it must have been!
Master Zhang Kai Tang described the event as a match between a yellow dragon and a green butterfly. The two were fairly evenly matched, but eventually Jiang knocked Li out and was victorious.
Jiang Hua Long and Li Dan Bai became like brothers after this event. They exchanged techniques and Li gave Jiang his notorious form “zhong lu fan che”, as well as a heavy spear form, and in return Jiang taught him mantis boxing. In later years, Li Dan Bai defeated all opponents who came and opened many schools. However due to overtraining hard techniques, he became disabled and required the help of others to do simple daily tasks. Jiang Hua Long stayed in Laiyang and taught many students well into old age.
Song Zi De and the “theee mountains two pavilions” 宋子德 与 三山两亭
Master Song Zi De
According to the Laiyang history Annals, Song Zi De (pictured to the left) who also went by the name Song Yao Kun, was the sixth generation master of Mantis boxing.
The Song family was a very rich family which owned a lot of land around Laiyang. Due to his comfortable life, Song Zi De didn’t have to work hard and so could devote all his time to training kung fu. He spent a lot of time researching many styles of kung fu and had a deep understanding of mantis boxing. Master Zhang said of Song Zi De that in the development of mantis boxing, he was the most important person.
Song Zi De looked very soft and unassuming, but he had immense power. Whenever he went into Laiyang, people would come to challenge him; with one movement, he would send them flying away. Master Song taught hundreds of people in his life, but his most famous students were known as “3 mountains 2 pavilions” (mountain in Chinese is Shan, pavilion is Ting). They were Cui Shou Shan, Li Kun Shan, Wang Yu Shan, Song Fu Ting and Zhao Xi Ting. These five students trained with their whole heart, as well as receiving extra care from Master Song, and mastered the entire system of mantis boxing.
Amongst the “3 mountains 2 pavilions” Song Fu Ting was the grandson of Song Zi De. He was very talented in martial arts, but was a lonely person and spent his days at home training by himself. Apart from occasionally overseeing classes at the kung fu school, he took no formal students of his own.
Li Kun Shan on the right with student
Li Kun Shan (pictured right) was the grandson of Li Dan Bai; he actually studied under Jiang Hua Long. Li Kun Shan took part in a national kung fu competition where he beat all competitors in free fighting and was awarded a gold medal for spear by Chiang Kai Shek himself. Later Li Kun Shan relocated to Taiwan where he opened a school and the art spread overseas from there.
Wang Yu Shan
Wang Yu Shan (on the left) moved to Qingdao where he opened up a school, and had many students too.
Zhao Xi Ting’s life was unrecorded.
Cui Shou Shan and the Mantis Texts 崔寿山 与 螳螂拳谱
Cui Shou Shan
Master Cui Shou Shan became known as the seventh generation in our lineage. Master Cui opened the National Martial arts school in Laiyang, then later moved to Da Lian city (Liaoning province, northeast China) to teach. During the 1930’s Master Zhang Kai Tang invited him to move to Yantai to live with him and teach him mantis boxing.
Master Cui had three main disciples: Ji Chun Ting, Zhang Kai Tang and Sun Xiang Ting.
Ji Chun Ting
Ji Chun Ting originally learnt from Song Zi De for a short time, and then sought out master Cui. He informally taught Hao Bin of Hao family Meihua mantis, who moved to Qingdao where he spread the art.
While living in Yantai, Master Cui’s son was sick. He was cured by Sun Xiang Ting and so Master Cui taught him mantis to thank him. Sun Xiang Ting never took any disciples.
In his lifetime, his greatest achievement was in writing a complete manuscript on mantis. The manuscript begins with:
“Martial arts may be departed into the internal and external families. The external draws its roots from Shaolin, and emphasises combat effectiveness. The internal uses stillness to overcome movement, and originates from a man named Zhang San Feng. Song Yi had a high level of martial skill, and even united the country. But his skill was only external; he had mastered Chang Quan. During the Ming Dynasty, the borders of China had a lot of conflict, and a lot of brave warriors were recruited by rebellious states. Master Li was the greatest; he had learnt all 18 skills. During the Qing Dynasty, there were two departments of government; military and civil, but they both used the same examination system. At that time, Li Bing Xiao, who was a scholar, didn’t pass the imperial examinations and so went into recluse in the mountains. He spent a long time living amongst swordsmen and warriors. He knew many skilled masters, and mastered both internal and external together; formulating the system of mantis. He travelled around, but didn’t use his real name, so he avoided fame. He passed on his skills to Master Liang, named Xue Xiang. He passed away and Master Jiang, named Hua Long inherited the skills. Master Jiang passed the skills onto my teacher, Master Song Zi De, also named Yao Kun. Up to now it has about 100 years of history. Song Zi De passed it on to Peng Nian and some other students. He wasn’t very clever and couldn’t meet Song Zi De’s requirements, but when he practiced with other students, when he came across an idea, he would write it down and now I have researched his notes. When Master Song came across some principles during his training and fighting, he wrote it down. Now I have gathered and collected these notes to make this text. I hope this content; whoever receives this knowledge can pass this on. I wish whoever could get this from Song Zi De could pass it down too, as I admire his virtue. I worry after a long time, the skills will be lost, so I write this down so as to encourage myself.”
Cui Shou Shan demonstrates the horse stance
This manuscript expounds mantis boxing in great detail; giving the later generations a first-hand picture of mantis boxing. It expounds the methods of correct use of power and body mechanics, as well as combat application of the art. In this way it exceeds any other written texts on martial arts.
Cui Shou Shan passed on his art to Zhang Kai Tang, then returned to Laiyang, where he passed away in 1969.
Zhang Meng Jia & Zhang Kai Tang 张蒙家 与 张楷堂
In the city of Yantai, the Zhang family have run a kung fu school since the Ming dynasty. Later on, the family became rich. Before the revolution they were the richest family in old Yantai. When Zhang Meng Jia was young he worked hard and business was really successful, this enabled him to devote his energy to mantis boxing.
Zhang Kai Tang
Zhang Meng Jia originally knew of mantis boxing through Jiang Hua Long, but because he didn’t train hard enough, he didn’t attain a high level. In fact, Zhang Meng Jia’s hobby wasn’t really kung fu, but chess. Later he invited Song Zi De to his home to teach him kung fu, but really wanted to learn chess. Master Song once asked Zhang “little brother, what do you understand about Master Jiang’s teaching?” He turned his glass and replied “my understanding of kung fu all went into my stomach with this alcohol!” Although he didn’t really attain much in kung fu, he had a good relationship with the main branch of mantis masters.
Zhang Kai Tang (pictured seated with disciple Zhou Zhen Dong) was the grandson of Zhang Meng Jia and he really liked kung fu. Originally he studied the Hao family Meihua mantis. At that time, the Hao family were very famous in Yantai and their forms included Luohan Quan, Meihua Pi (later renamed Taiji Pi), Tie Sha Zhang and Chuan Zhi. The founder, Hao Lian Ru was friends with Liang Jing Chuan (son of Liang Xue Xiang) and studied the form Luan Jie from him, which he combined with his own knowledge to create the Hao family style. Master Zhang learnt from Hao Heng Lu and Hao Heng Xin (two sons of Hao Lian Ru) for six years, and mastered their art.
In the beginning of the 1930s, Master Zhang and Zhang Meng Jia went to Dalian to invite Cui Shou Shan to their home to teach martial arts. Because Zhang Meng Jia was well known to the martial arts circles, Master Cui agreed. Master Zhang provided Cui Shou Shan with four plates and six bowls of food a day. Every year he paid 300 Da Yang, a price higher than any other!
Master Cui soon found out Zhang Kai Tang excelled in martial arts. He really trained as hard as he could. Master Cui to him “when you practice, you look just like my master!” But Zhang Kai Tang was very humble and didn’t boast. He trained as hard as he could and mastered the entire system in just six years. Zhang Kai Tang practiced every day without fail, people said he was the top student of Cui Shou Shan, but he dismissed this claim. In 1993 he passed away at the age of 83.
Zhang Kai Tang seated with his successor, Zhou Zhen Dong behind
(Zhang Kai Tang passed the art onto his own sons, as well as my shifu, Zhou Zhen Dong. Zhou Zhen Dong is currently the only person teaching the art of Zhang Kai Tang, which includes the Taiji Mantis of Cui Shou Shan as well as the old forms of the Hao family.)
Earlier this week we announced the addition of a new full-time martial arts school to the StudyMartialArts.Org site.
Leaving the cold and smog of Beijing behind I headed to Chiang Mai for 1 month of intensive training.Sifu Rasmus courses run from 1 to 12 weeks or longer depending on the content. His students tend to be instructors or masters who are looking to add greater depth to their knowledge or a more internal flavour to their art.
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