Teacher Zhou Baofu

[bungbukuen]

There were some videos of Master Zhou Baofus Beng Bu, Mei Hua Lu, Mei Hua Quan, and most recently an Qing Dan Dao in the video thread. They were very excellent. I was wondering if you could kindly tell us a little more about his background, and who his teacher(s) were?

Much appreciated,
BBK

[bungbukuen]

I am sure you have been very busy Onyomi. I noticed you most recently put up another video of your teacher Zhou Baofu performing Yan Qing Dan Dao. I have also seen his other videos on the Yi Jing Jin. If it is not too much trouble I am still very interested in learning a little bit more about your teacher, Zhou Baofu, his background and his Mantis teacher (s).

Thanks again,
BBK

[Three Harmonies]

BBK
You may want to try him on EF as he seems to be around frequently there.
Cheers
Jake :cool:

[onyomi]

Zhou began his CMA studies at the age of six with 7* Master, Wang Songting, last martial Zhuangyuan of the Qing Dynasty and head instructor at the Qingdao Martial Arts Institute under Republic of China. Wang came to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalists.

With Wang, Zhou studied Mantis, Longfist, Qigong and various weapons until Wang's death, when Zhou was 14. Wang named him the successor of his system (apparently some debate this claim, probably because Zhou was so young at the time), called Bei Tanglang Ziran Benmen (The Original Natural School of Northern Praying Mantis). He continued studying with his Shijie under GM Wang until he had learned all the remaining material she could teach from Wang (though apparently Wang told him near his death that he had only learned 1/3 of what he had to teach).

Under Wang he learned over one hundred barehanded forms and as many as fifty weapon forms. He also had an opportunity to meet and study briefly with such famous masters as Han Qingtang, Zhang Xiangsan and Chang Dongsheng, also continuing his Longfist studies with students of Han, like Shen Maohui.

A few years after Wang's death, Zhou moved to Hong Kong to be an actor/movie director. Wang had been friends with Hong Kong Mantis master, Huang Hanxun, so Zhou got to meet him and study at his school as well. At Huang Hanxun's school, (Hong Kong Jingwu) he further refined his Mantis and studied Mizong-quan.

During the filming of a movie Zhou had a near-fatal fall that necessitated a long recovery period during which it was difficult to practice. He learned Taiji from another actor/martial artist friend. He realized then that Taiji also had great potential not only as a health exercise, but also as martial art. Therefore, when he returned to Taiwan a few years later, he sought out famous Taiji teachers to further his study, becoming a student of Chen master, Wang Meng Bi.

He's also lived and taught in Australia, Korea and Thailand. In addition to Mantis, Longfist, Mizong and Taiji, he's also dabbled in Baji, Pigua, Shuaijiao, Bagua and Western Fencing.

His favorite and most expert style is still Mantis as taught by GM Wang, though his Longfist and Taiji are both top-notch. He now runs a CMA school called "Kung-fu Loung" ("Kung-fu Dragon"--a nickname he was given in Hong Kong) in Taipei, teaching adults and children CMA and qigong.

He thinks the combination of Longfist, Mantis and Chen Taiji is complimentary, and these are the three styles he usually teaches. These past 10 years or so, he's devoted himself also to producing martial arts instructional DVDs. Anyway, that's all the general info. I can think of on Zhou Shifu right now. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions. :)

Also, if anyone has any more comments about the videos I posted, feel free to make them here. I forgot to start an accompanying thread when I posted the videos.