Early Tanglangquan in Taiwan

[mooyingmantis]

The spread of Tanglangquan to Taiwan

In 1949, after losing control of mainland China to the People's Republic of China in the Chinese civil war, the Republic Of China government under the Kuomingtang leadership of Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan.

Tanglangquan practitioners who fled to Taiwan at this time include:

Wang Songting: qixing tanglangquan
Gao Daosheng: chuanquan tanglangquan
Li Kunshan: meihua tanglangquan
Zhang Dekui: meihua tanglangquan
Wei Xiaotang: babu tanglangquan
Zhang Xiansan: liuhe tanglangquan

[Tainan Mantis]

Hao Gensheng
Luan Xingfu

A student of Zhao Zhuxi-forget the name- studied under Zhao (Chu Chuck Kai) before he moved to Vietnam.

A student of Jiang Hualong-Jia Jingting

There were others, but not famous now, Taiwan did a historical survey on all the Tang Lang masters.

[MightyB]

an interesting topic to research would be to note how the move to Taiwan influenced how Tang Lang is practiced there in comparison to Mainland and HK.

Did the heavy influence of JMA and TKD in Taiwan change how Tang Lang is practiced, or how about the prevalence of the internal arts like the Yang and Sun styles of Tai Chi etc. influence Taiwanese Tang Lang?

[Jimbo]

an interesting topic to research would be to note how the move to Taiwan influenced how Tang Lang is practiced there in comparison to Mainland and HK.

Did the heavy influence of JMA and TKD in Taiwan change how Tang Lang is practiced, or how about the prevalence of the internal arts like the Yang and Sun styles of Tai Chi etc. influence Taiwanese Tang Lang?

I noticed in Taiwan that many of the students of Wu Tan Institute who practiced Tang Lang did so with some Baji flavor.

As far as TKD or JMA influence, I do know some of the students I trained with had experience in karate and especially TKD. The only influence I saw was in the way they would perform some of their kicks. For example, in the side kick they would turn their hips into a full TKD/karate-style side kick, with bladed foot, unlike the traditional Chinese-style side kick. Having come from such a background myself, so did I. And of course when they sparred, their kicks would be TKD.

I saw more TKD influence among a number of southern stylists, who trained Hung Gar, and also something called 'Taiwan Chuan', which looked to me like a mixture of Fujian Crane and TKD/karate.

[Jimbo]

I was told that Wei Xiaotang originally fled to Korea, but that while there he was forced to kill a Japanese gangster in self-defense. So he had to flee again to Taiwan and settled there.

[EarthDragon]

from what I have experienced so far, Taiwanese mantis is less stiff and has a greater emphasis on full body power generation than Hong Kong mantis.

this.... from my learnigns from my shifu, Shyun Kwon Long (Wei's student) was from xing yi and ba duan influence that was added after Ba bu left the mainland.

Jimbo,
you are correct, here is the story told in our family.... Wei Hsiao Tang practiced very hard and was a very dedicated student. He managed to develop phenomenal strength and incredible speed. So much so that he come to be known as "Thunder Hands". Wei Hsiao Tang was chief instructor in the Chinese Military. He was in charge of instructing the 25th Regiment in fighting techniques. After serving in China, Wei Hsiao Tang went to Korea where he was an instructor to their military. It was here that a famous incident occurred. It happened that one day while Wei Hsiao Tang was walking through town he came across a fellow Chinese, who was working as a merchant, involved in a dispute. As Wei Hsiao Tang came upon the scene a great many Koreans had begun beating the Chinese merchant. The situation was out of hand and Wei Hsiao Tang immediately intervened and asked for everyone to stop. Attacking with sticks and different manner of weapons, the mob would not quiet down. They soon turned on Wei Hsiao Tang, angered by his interference. The next day all of the of the papers told of the mob scene in which Wei Hsiao Tang drove off 50 men, injuring most and killing 4. The Korean government immediately set out to capture Wei Hsiao Tang. If it were not for friends in the Chinese underground, he might not of been able to escape. Back in China, hiding under an assumed name, then moved to Tai pei and was a cook in teh high school there for many years........

[mooyingmantis]

Hao Gensheng
Luan Xingfu

A student of Zhao Zhuxi-forget the name- studied under Zhao (Chu Chuck Kai) before he moved to Vietnam.

A student of Jiang Hualong-Jia Jingting

There were others, but not famous now, Taiwan did a historical survey on all the Tang Lang masters.

Kevin,
Thanks for the added information!