Master Su Yu Chang Kung Fu and Qigong seminar

[baji-fist]

Master Su Yu Chang will be returning to Anchorage, Alaska to offer several seminars. The seminars will be from June 7-11, 2002. Master Su will be teaching the following seminars:

Six Harmony Preying Mantis:
Days: Friday, June 7 and Monday, June 10
Time: 7-9pm
Cost: $100


Kung Fu Usage and Applications:
Day: Saturday, June 8
Time: 10am-1pm
Cost: $90


18 Lohan Qigong
Days: Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9
Time: Saturday 7-9pm and Sunday 2-4pm
Cost: $120

For more information, you can reach me at guobaolo@hotmail.com

[woliveri]

geezzz do you think you could find a more obscure location?



What's up in Alaska?

[yu shan]

The lower 48 would be beneficial for both sides. Should post out in advance to feel the response.

[Tainan Mantis]

baji-fist,
Could you find out where Su Yuzhang learned 18 Lohan Gung?
There is a HK version which is slightly different from from the original 1764 manuscript.

A Taiwan version, also different from the old manuscript, which was supposedly only passed from one teacher to one student.
This version traces its lineage to Southern China.

Choy Li Fut also does it which I have never seen. But the technique names of it that I have seen don't match the old manuscript so it may or may not be related.

Then there is the Su Yuzhang version which doesn't connect to some of his famous teachers in Taiwan such as...
-Wei Hsiaotang
-Zhang Dekuei
-Li Kunshan
-Gao Daosheng
-Liu Yunchiao

[Stacey]

Tainan, how can you know what those Master knew or did not know. From what I heard, Master Wei did know that.

[Tainan Mantis]

Stacey,
Those names I listed are of people who did not learn or teach 18 Lohan Gung.
So you are correct in saying that Master Wei did not know that form.

It is said that his students practiced some of the exercises from that form. It is possible, though not certain, that Su Yuzhang taught them or maybe some other unknown person taught it.

My "facts" are mostly based on circumstantial evidence that have been verified by 2 or more sources.
I try to rely on disciples as they usually know the most.

In some cases it can be decieving.
For example; Liu Yunchiao didn't teach 6 Harmony PM, but he has supposedly been seen doing those forms in private.

If one disciple says one thing and another says another thing then who to believe?

So I try to get more than several sources where possible.

[baji-fist]

Tainan Mantis,

I'll go ahead and ask Sifu Wong where Master Su picked up the 18 Lohan. If he doesn't know, I will ask Master Su when he comes up.

Also about GM Liu, yes he didn't teach Liu He Tanglang, but I have heard that he did demonstrate it on occasion. While in Toronto, I believe he was asked a question about one of the forms and did demonstrate portions of it. I don't think my sifu has seen him perform it as his focus was primarily on Bajiquan and Piguzhang.

I can't really verify any of of these stories since I am still only an infant in our lineage compared to the other practitioners. The only thing I can verify are the skills of my sifu and the other sifus I have seen.

[RAF]

Tainan Mantis:

Here is an adoption of Guo Laoshi's writing on 6 Harmony and GM Liu (you can get a bit more on his website):

Also if you go to Su Yu Chang's website and click on his Xiao Hu Yan video advertisement, you will get some explanation of the form.


Six Harmony Praying Mantis, or liuhetanglang, is a style popular in the ZhaoYuan and HuangXian regions in the ShangDong province of China. It is also called the "soft praying mantis" because the style's movements can be described as primarily soft with hardness embedded within. This is in contrast with the more popular Seven Star Praying Mantis (qixingtanglang) where the movements are primarily hard with softness contained within. Except for the generation and utilization of the jing strengths, the two styles are essentially the same as far as techniques are concerned.

According to Mr. Zhang XiangSan's book "Liu He Tang Lang Quan", the primary lineage of Six Harmony Praying Mantis is Wang Lang - ? - Wei San - Lin ShiChun - Ding ZiCheng.

According to Zhang's book, Lin ShiChun was from ZhaoYuan of ShanDong province and was already accomplished in his own family's martial art. His grandfather took in a refugee from the army, who taught Lin the Six Harmony Fist (liuhequan). Later, Lin's father invited Wei San to teach Praying Mantis to the Lin family. Wei was a quiet and private man, and he said very little about his background and lineage. He only mentioned that he was from a direct lineage under Wang Lang, but he never mentioned his teacher's name.

Wei was nicknamed "Duck Palm Wei San" because the little, ring, and middle fingers of his left hand were always stuck together. He was also an eccentric character. When something pleased him during a teaching session, he would suddenly go into a lengthy monologue, and would become angry when interrupted. His comings and goings were quite secretive. He would go off without notice on a long journey and disappear for days. In some cases his absense lasted for years. Once in his old age he returned to the Lin family from the northeastern China, and showed Lin ShiChun a "cat-ear" spear-head. He told Lin about an encounter in the mountains of the northeast with a spear-wielding young man who had sought him out to challenge him. They fought for three days and nights until Wei finally killed the challenger. During the three days and nights Wei learned the man's spear techniques, and taught them to Lin. After his return Wei realized that he was becoming too old to travel, and settled down with Lin's family to concentrate on his teaching. He died of old age in a year.

Lin ShiChun and liuhetanglang became famous after a famed encounter in the city market. He was involved in a verbal dispute in the market, causing a gang of 20-odd men to attack him. Somehow his trouser sash burst open at the start of the encounter, thus he was forced to hold his pants up with his left hand. He was still able to defeat the entire gang of attackers using only his right hand and footwork.

The Six Harmony Mantis practiced today were probably developed by Lin ShiChun, and includes six routines of mantis forms and one routine of Six Harmony Short Punch (liuheduanchui). At the time, Six Harmony Mantis was only popular among the wealthy families in the region. Ding ZiCheng was from the wealthiest family in HuangXian, having a near monopoly of the pawn shop business in the region. He not only invited Lin ShiChun to his own family to teach Six Harmony Mantis, but also acquired substantial knowledge of other martial art systems from the bodyguards he hired for his pawn shops.

Both Zhang and Liu came to Taiwan separately during late 1940's, and was reunited through mutual friends. Because Zhang was senior to Grandmaster Liu both in age and under Ding's discipleship, Grandmaster Liu never taught liuhetanglang in Taiwan. Any students who were interested in this style were always referred, by Grandmaster Liu, to Zhang. When Grandmaster Liu visited Toronto in 1981 and was asked about the finer details of the style through Mr. Guo's copy of Ding ZiCheng's hand-written "Tang Lang Shou Fa Mi Jui", Grandmaster Liu demonstrated a mastery of Six Harmony Mantis techniques and was able to explain the techniques in great detail. Even though he had not publicly taught this style for almost half of a century, he was able to remember and perform all the routines with ease. It was evident that Grandmaster Liu's reluctance to teach the style was out of respect of his senior. This reflected the respect and loyalty among the older generation of Chinese martial artists.

-- this article adapted from Master James Guo official website.

[Tainan Mantis]

RAF,
Thank you for taking the time to post that history.

[sungzu]

IS HE A LEGIT MANTIS MASTER?