By Gene Ching
The first time I encountered Grandmaster Liang Yiquan (梁以全), I had no idea who he was. I thought he was a Shaolin monk. He was travelling with the very first official tour of Shaolin monks to the United States. There were only seven ‘monks’ on that historic 1992 tour. Liang donned robes and used his layman disciple name Suyi (素一) and posed as one of them. Also on that tour were Shi Deqian (1943–2008 释德虔), who compiled the Encyclopedia of Shaolin Martial Arts (Shaolinsi Wushu Baike 少林寺武術百科), and the first two monks to immigrate to the US, Shi Yanming (釋延明) and Shi Guolin (釋果林). I didn’t interact with Liang or any of the others at that time, but I got to know them all over the years to come. I took a lesson in Damo Jian from one of the other monks who I never heard from again. However, if memory serves, Grandmaster Liang Damo Cane which was a specialty of his. It was the first time I ever saw that weapon, probably the first time it was ever even demonstrated in North America, and it became an influential Shaolin weapon in my arsenal. But that’s another story.
It was years later when I learned that Grandmaster Liang was Suyi. He told me so directly when I interviewed him in 1999. Liang was a reputed folk master from the Shaolin area that held the rank of 9th duan, which is the highest in the national Chinese ranking system. He was also acknowledged as one of China's Ten Great Contemporary Wushu Masters (Zhongguo Dang Dai Shi Da Wushu Ming Shi 中国当代十大武术名师). The former abbot was inaugurated in 1999, but prior to that, Liang arguably held the most political power, holding a seat on the Committee of the People’s Political Consultative Conference representing Dengfeng County where Shaolin Temple is located for the 5th through 8th annual meetings. Liang’s lifelong contributions to the promulgation and perpetuation of Shaolin are truly immeasurable.
Liang founded the Shaolin Epo Martial Arts School (Shaolin Epo Wushu Xuexiao 少林鹅坡武术学校), one of the three biggest schools in the city adjacent to Shaolin Temple, Dengfeng. Epo stands alongside the Shaolin Temple Tagou Martial Arts School (Shaolin Taguo Wushu Xuexiao 少林塔沟武术学校) and Shaolin Temple Xiaolong Martial Arts School (Shaolin Xiaolong Wushu Xuexiao 少林小龍武术学校). At their peaks, these schools had tens of thousands of live-in fulltime students. While Taguo is the largest, Epo was founded in 1972, six years prior Taguo, making Epo the first private mega-school in the Shaolin region. Epo is the name of Liang’s family’s town in Dengfeng. It translates as ‘goose hillside,’ a quaint name for village near the Songshan mountains. Liang lived in Dengfeng his entire life.
By 1999, I had made four pilgrimages to Shaolin Temple and was very aware of the great folk masters in the area. I was on a personal mission to shed light on the folk masters that year and had the opportunity to interview Grandmaster Liang, along with the headmasters of the Taguo and Xiaolong schools. It took me a few years to find the right time to drop those interviews. I published those stories in our November+December 2003, adding additional interview material that I procured later. That was the Shaolin Special with the former Abbot Yongxin on the cover. I was fresh from the 1st Shaolin Kung Fu International Academic Symposium that year. Consequently, that issue was densely packed with Shaolin news and research.
Despite being over a quarter century ago, I remember Grandmaster Liang being the epitome of hospitality and graciousness whenever I visited his school. He was always so generous with his interview time, even back in 1999, just before I took my position here with Kung Fu Tai Chi. What I remember most about him was his impeccable posture. He was in his late 60s when I first interviewed him and he sat powerfully, legs wide apart, back straight as an arrow. I imagined that if I kicked his chair out from under him, his stance wouldn’t budge. He was in horse stance even when he was sitting in a chair.
Liang was descended from a martial family that allegedly went back sixteen generations of practitioners. For the last six generations, his ancestors focused on Shaolin Kung Fu. Many non-monastic families near Shaolin Temple had folk masters. When the temple was oppressed by the Cultural Revolution, it was the folk masters that kept traditional martial arts alive. For Liang, preserving Kung Fu was a matter of honoring his family’s tradition. He told me he had to practice at night. He fashioned weapons out of wood so they would be quiet. That way he could practice and not get caught. For him, carrying his family’s Kung Fu lineage to the next generation was his familial duty.
Grandmaster Liang was instrumental in the reformation of Shaolin Kung Fu after the Cultural Revolution. He organized research teams, wrote books, and fought off challengers. There’s a famous tale of when Japan Shorinji Kempo Federation visited Shaolin Temple in 1979 (Shorinji is Shaolin Temple in Japanese). One of the emissaries dismissed Shaolin Kung Fu as having lost its true essence, and after Liang gave a powerful demonstration, he went to shake his hand. But martial artists bow. They don’t shake hands because it makes them vulnerable to joint lock attacks, which is exactly what the emissary had in mind. Liang sensed the deception and reversed the technique, almost causing the emissary to faint. But Liang caught him with his left hand, allowing his adversary regain composure so he wouldn’t lose face. It was a subtle duel, one that only those with a martial eye were able to understand. After witnessing that, even So Doshin (宗道臣), the founder and president of Shorinji Kempo who participated on that visit, had to acknowledge Liang’s mastery. It so impressed So Doshin that he went on to invite Grandmaster Liang to Japan to share his martial wisdom with his federation.
“If I stop practicing, it is like eating,” Liang told me. “If I miss one meal, I feel very uncomfortable.” That was his habit for his entire life. “My ancestors insist on practice,” Liang said. “Kung Fu is a treasure of my family, passed from generation to generation. All my descendants should practice hard and preserve it.”
Liang Yiquan is survived by two sons. His first son, Liang Shaozong (梁少宗), is the current president of Epo. His second son, Liang Shaofei (梁少飞), is the head coach there.
Author:
For more on Grandmaster Liang Yiquan, read ‘The “ONE” of the Top Ten” November+December 2003.
Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips.
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