Hsing I

Yue Fei, (1103-1141), a native of T'sang-Yin in Hunan. As a youth he divided his time
between practicing martial arts and reading Sun Wu's Art of War. He studied from the
famous martial artist Chou Tung, who could draw a bow of three hundred catties. In the
early days of the Tartar conflict, he raised a troop of five hundred horsemen, and defeated a
force of more than one hundred thousand under Wu-shu (chieftain), the heir apparent of the
tartars. He then served as lieutenant under Chang Chun, and for his services in inducing a
formidable leader of brigands to submit to Imperial authority, Yue was raised to the rank of
general.

Ji Long Feng, (also known as (Ji Ji Ke), of Shanxi province born during the end of the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1628). After sitting for the imperial examination, he passed with such
great marks that he became an official in Shanxi, but because of the corruption he
encountered, he was eventually forced out of office. After leaving office, he decided to
travel throughout China. It was in Xian, at the temple honoring Yue Fei, he noticed a crack
in the figure of the general. Within the opening he found books on Yue Fei's Hsing I. He
later mastered the skills laid out in Yue's books.

Cao Ji Wu, succeeded Ji Long Feng, himself a winner of the military examination of
1693 of the Kang Shing Period of the Ching Dynasty. He become the brigade general at Jing
Yuan in Shanxi Province when the two met. After his retirement, he accepted as his pupil
Dai Lung Bang, nicknamed "Two Donkey Dai" because of his great strength. During
which time he referred to this art form as "Liu He Hsing I Chuan".

Wong Yen Chai (Wang Xiangzhai), (1885-1963) was born in Weilin Village in Hebei
Province. He first learned from Guo Yun Shen. Because of Wang's talents, Guo passed on
all of his skills to him, laying the foundation for his career in the martial art world. In 1907,
he engaged on an extensive journey throughout China. After several years, he settled in
Beijing, serving as an instructor in one of Yuan Shi Kai's military units.

In 1918, he continued his journey, in the hope of engaging the top

martial artists in order to seek out the best. During his travel of central
and eastern China, he engaged in combat with nearly a thousand
opponents.

After years of practice he created the "will" boxing known as I Chuan,

characterized by concentration and naturalness instead of the one-side
emphasis on physical exercises. In 1940, some of Wong's friends
suggested that he change the name into "dacheng" meaning a
combination of many schools. During his lifetime he received an endless
number of challenges from his homeland as well as abroad, such as a
world boxing champion from Hungary, top level Japanese judoists and
swordsmen. He, however, easily defeated them. He once proclaimed that there were only
three people in all of China whom he could not defeat. The first was Hunan's Dai Tit Fu,
known as the number 1 boxer south of the Yangtze River, whom he would became his
student and great friend. The second was a White Crane disciple from Fukien, whom he tied
with, and finally Shanghai's Wu Yik Fan to whom he instructed his own top student, Han
Hsing-Ch'iao, to learn Wu's art form of Liu Ho Ba Fa.

In 1947, Wong set up an academy at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing. Three years
later, the communist government put him in charge of the All-China Sports Federation.

The Five Elements of Hsing I Chuan (photos)