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Translation
of Wang Xiang Zhai
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Master
Yang Lin Sheng -
Tecnique of Pi Fa
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In Chinese Kung-Fu
scope, there is a simple and unadorned new star namely “Yi Quan”, which makes
all the Kung-Fu lovers, pay attention to it.
When people talk about Kung-Fu, they will think that Kung-Fu is
Shao Lin Quan, Tai Ji Quan, and Xing Yi Quan… But Yi Quan is not the same as them;
it is a special Kung-Fu of modern times. Yi Quan does not have forms and
regularized techniques. Based on of Xing Yi this new style was founded by the
great master Wang Xiang Zhai .
Master Wang Xiang Zhai called himself “the old man of spear and
shield”, when he was old. He was born in Wei Lin Village of Shen Town of Hei
Bei province in 1885 and he died in Tian Jin City in 1963 July. He died
at the age of 78 years old.
Master Wang Xiang Zhai was very weak when he was a little
child. He learned Xing Yi Quan with the grand famous Master Guo Yun Shen. He
studied hard and scrutinized it intensively, that made Master Guo Yun Shen
praise him a lot.
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At
the beginning of his Kung-Fu training, he did not make many differences between
all the different styles of Chinese Kung-Fu. He thought that Chinese Kung-Fu
has had 5000 years of history. There are many grand masters in different
regions and at different times, and they all have different styles and special
aptitudes. This is the most important reason why Chinese Kung-Fu could be
prosperous and flourishing for such a long time. Master Wang did not learn only
parts of techniques and forms, he spent most of his life to concentrate,
explore and study the essence of Chinese Kung-Fu.
Around 1907, Master Wang wanted to visit other grand masters to
get a higher objective, so he left his master and started his travel. He stayed
in Beijing around 1913. After 1918, he went
to Hei Nan, Hui Nan and Fu Jian provinces. He also taught in place of the Kung-Fu
master of Fu Zhou City. Then he went to the north of China and started
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Master
Yang Lin Sheng -
Du Li Zhuang
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his stage
in TianJin City. At that time, he
visited many grand masters of many styles of Kung-Fu. When he was in Hei Nan
province, he visited the heir of Xin Yi Quan ,Heng Lin, a Buddhist monk at Shao
Lin Temple on Song Moutain. Xing Yi Quan and Xin Yi Quan originated from the
same source, so if we look at it from the perspective of Master Wang’s research
for the true essence of Kung-Fu the visit to
Shao Lin Temple was a very important and significant experience for him.
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M°
Yang Lin Sheng -
showing the movement
of Xuan Fa in the application
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Between 1920 and 1930, Master Wang collected, arranged and
considered all his experiences and information. Then he invented “Yi Quan”,
which is the cream of Master Wang’s many years’ painstaking. At that time Yi
Quan was the important invention of Chinese traditional Kung-Fu. The two main
guidelines of Yi Quan are sustaining good health in a strong and harmonious
body, and prepare students for combat. The teachings of Yi Quan are based on
natural and true principles; in particular they must be in agreement with human
physiological mechanisms. Master Wang also pointed
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out that the mind has to be
concentrated but the muscles relaxed, improving the quality and efficiency of the
nerve center and the health of the human body. On behalf of the practice of Kung-Fu,
the invention of Yi Quan discarded the many hundreds years’ forms and
regularized techniques, and this displayed the original appearance and the new
theories of Chinese traditional Kung-Fu. If you practice Kung-Fu only focusing
on the techniques for fighting, concentrating rigidly on one posture or
technique, that will deviate from the broad aims of Yi Quan. Master Wang’s
synthesis enhanced Chinese traditional Kung-Fu’s training method, and it also
has very important relations with modern sports. Soccer, track field, gymnastics, dive etc are
all based on the fact that the mind has to be concentrated but the muscle has
to be relaxed. This is a fundamental principle both for Yi Quan and sports in
general.
When a new theory appears, it will be in contradiction with the
old traditional theory. The doctrine of Master Wang made a very big quake in Kung-Fu’s
territory. Immediately after the birth of Yi Chuan, many Chinese and foreign Kung-Fu
masters came to visit Master Wang to discuss about the cream of Kung-Fu. When Master Wang was teaching in ShangHai City, the world champion of
Boxing visited and challenged him. Master Wang defeated him in ten seconds
making him fall using only one hand. When he came back to England the Boxing champion
publicized Yi Quan writing an article on a newspaper.
Around 1940, the Japanese sixth Dan Judo champion,
Batianyilang, delegate for the eleventh Olympic sport meeting, came to China to challenge Master
Wang. As soon as he grabbed Master
Wang’s shirt, he was thrown on the floor by a huge force. He couldn’t
understand what happened and how he lost the match. The Japanese Master Sawai,
fifth Dan of Judo and third Dan of Kendo also tried to fight with Master Wang
and was defeated. After he lost the match, he became a sincere student of
Master Wang in the practice of Yi Quan. When he returned to Japan he worte a
book about Master Wang giving a very good praise of Yi Quan.
In 1951, Master Wang was invited to Bao Ding City Hospital of
Hei Bei province to teach Yi Quan. He taught the sick people how to get a
healthier body. The study of Yi Quan as a healing practice in modern Kung-Fu is
called Yi Gong. Master Wang died in
July of 1963 in TianJin City; his posthumous
writings were Yi Quan Zheng Qui and Quan Dao Zhong Shu.
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