Originally Posted by
Royal Dragon
My focus is the stuff that came from Zhao Kuang Yin. There are only a hand full of sets that can be traced to him. Much of that is oral legend only though. These are the sets we know of.
1, Yuan Hou Quan (Ape Monkey) - Zhao was known to do this set (maybe just a collection of lose techniques when he did it though), but Shaolin got it from the same source as he did, rather than from him directly.
2. Lao Hong Quan - Based on Sal's research, I am saying that this is the only set he personally passed directly to Shaolin, and has written documentation. It's based on all the techniques he traded to the Monks for study of thier Rouquan stuff.
Since he was trading his stuff, for thiers, one can only assume he offered his personal favorite and most successful skills. This makes this set, if anything, the representation of his personal art.
3. 6 Roads Da Hong Quan - This set was made from the notes Zhao Kuang Yin left at Shaolin, hundreds of years after he died. To me, it looks like a big collection of techniques collected from who only knows where.
4. Guandong & GuanXi - Both are said to have been passed by him personally, but I have never found anything on the mechanism for that (When, where and who he passed it too, what was the circumstances etc..). My best guess is that these sets are ones he created to document the martial arts he picked up from those geographic areas, more than being his personal arts.
With few exceptions, everything else was created by others, and just attributed to him. This is especially true of sets actually called "Tai Tzu". The famous Shaolin 32 posture Tai Tzu Chang Chuan set is an example of this.
The Guandong quan, and GuanXi quan are the big mystery. I have heard rumurs that these sets area around, but have yet to find them. I am hoping this thread shed some light on them.