Martial Arts Legends and Heroes

Martial Arts Legends and Heroes

When I was young, I used to get glued next to the radio at 6 pm sharp daily to hear from the famous Cantonese story teller Lee Tai Soh (Singapore Radio Broadcasting) on historical and martial arts stories of the Legends and Heroes of the past such as Fok Yeen Kap (Huo Yuan Jia), Wong Fei Hung (Hwang Fei Hung), Cheung Sam Foong (Chang San Feng), Fong Sai Yuk (Fang Ser Yi) and others. At that time the radio was like what television is today. A black and white TV was a luxurious item (only the wealthy could afford).  Black and white Cantonese movies (with my family) was something I would look forward to. Kwan Tak Hing had always play Wong Fei Hung (in more than a hundred Wong Fei Hung movies) and Sek Kin the bad guy. Some elderly people thought Kwan Tak Hing was Wong Fei Hung then. Unlike most martial arts actors, Kwan Tak Hing and Sek Kin had real wushu abilities and can handle the pole, broad sword, sword and other wushu weapons. Some of the stars especially the bad guys like Lau Hak Sean were really hated by the fans and would occasionally got pelted with rotten eggs. Tickets were cheap but you will have to book in advance or line up in long ques. Those were the nostalgic days. Just like the song "Yesterday once more". The difference was she was waiting for her favorite songs and me, my favorite stories.

                                  Kwan Tak Hing as Wong Fei Hung

What is a hero? What is a legend? It is someone's perception of a certain individual who stand out above the ordinary. They must have done something great to merit being called a hero or legend. He/she does not always have to be the best fighter.  A hero would not ambush or hit someone from behind. He would also not fight against an injured or sick man. He would not gang up on a single opponent. A hero would not take advantage of others in any fight deem unfair. He leads by example with his noble conducts, deeds and words. There is hardly anyone that fit this description except for the real hero. Wong Fei Hung movies by Kwan Tak Hing portrayed this traits - Yi Tak Fuk Yan (Yi Ter Fu Ren in Mandarin). Use your conducts to made others yield to you. If you win by an unfair mean, you would not be respected by other martial artists. After Master Huo Yuan Jia success against bandits, European and Japanese fighters, he was a Chinese national hero. No one would want to challenge him.  

In today's world, with western influence, people are no longer going to be the nice guy and follow the rules. They drive past red lights and cheat whenever they can. It is catch me if you can. In soccer, Argentina's legend Maradonna's "hands of God" guided a ball into the opponent goal.  He repeated it in another game by using his hand to prevent a goal by England. He was one of the shortest player and yet no one ever caught him for cheating. He would have been red carded for trying to cheat. He got a red card for kicking Brazilian legend Zico. Zico being the nice guy was probably the one player whom everyone love to kick. His jersey was also frequently torn by defenders. The referee then were very lenient toward the defenders. The Italians love to kick and tore his jersey yet the referee did not even bother to give a yellow card.  Maradona cheated all the time. Maradona was so irritated by Zico that he sent a powerful kick into Zico's stomach. In my opinion, Zico have to be better than Maraona. He was the true soccer hero. He does not need to cheat to win. Even when Zico was injured and came in as a substitute for the last 10 minutes, the defenders had to hack him down mercilessly.

In the fastest racket sport, Badminton, most player will not admit the ball has stuck the racket before going out. If the Umpire does not notice it, the player win a point. The same applies to tennis. To me the real hero was Luan Jin in the Thomas Cup held in England in the seventies. Luan Jin was playing against the legendary Rudy Hartono of Indonesia. Against such a strong opponent and the enormous pressure to win for China, it take real courage to tell the referee that the ball has indeed struck his racket before going out. What would happen if as a consequence he actually lost the match and China were to lose the cup to Indonesia? People will blame him for the lost and heads will fall. Badminton is one of Asia's most watched sports.

It would be very unlikely to happen again. Players like Ronaldo fall before you even touch him to earn easy free kicks and penalties. They want to win at all cost. This urge to win make people including World Champions cheat. The difference between a winner and a failure is only one point or one goal. If you cheat and win, you become a hero. Even if you get caught but the referee did not see it, they still call you a genius like Maradona with his hands of god. I have no respect for people who need luck or cheat to win. These people feel no shame of what they have done. A lot of these people are on drugs and alcholic drinks.

Obviously they are many ancient past masters who does not fight for their personal glory and are seldom in the limelight. These masters lived a hermit live in the jungle or mountain such as Wudang Shan, Soong Shan, Hua Shan, Kunlun Shan, Ermei Shan and etc. Founding Legendary Master Chang San Feng of Wudang seldom venture out of Wudang. Damo (Boddhidarma) the legendary Indian Buddhist monk that teaches the Shaolin martial arts also seldom fight and was holed up in a cave on top of Mount Soong (Soong Shan). 

Then there are others who will try every mean to challenge the established masters to become famous. Fong Sai Yuk was known for "his bronze skin iron bones" ( toong pei tik kuat - impregnable / invincible). When he was young, his mother Miu Chui Fa (daughter of Miu Hin one of the 5 Southern Shaolin masters who escaped the burning of the Southern Shaolin Temple in Fukien Province) used to beat him up daily and soak him in a barrel fill with medicinal herbs purportedly to make him impregnable. Most part of his body was like bronze. He was a mischievous person who love to fight and get himself into all sort of troubles. Kind of remind us of Bruce Lee when he was young. In those days they like to have fight to death/submission "luitoi"(platform/on stage) matches. His victory over Lui Low Fu made him very famous and became extremely arrogant. He was always looking for a fight. He was accidentally killed by Ng Mui See Tai (Wu Mei Ser Tai) in a "luitoi" platform fight. She had no intention of killing Fong Sai Yuk. Ng Mui See Tai was just trying to teach Fong Sai Yuk to be more humble and not to be too arrogant (and think too highly of himself as if there was no one who could beat him). Ng Mui See Tai and Fong Sai Yuk's grand father Miu Hin were masters from the southern Shaolin Temple which means she was considered grandmaster to Fong Sai Yuk. 

Wu Mei Ser Tai (Ng Mui See Tai)

Jit Sin Sim See 

                                                       
We see movies about Shaolin Temple but most of us are not aware there were two Shaolin temples. The northern Shaolin  is on Soong Shan (Mount Soong) while the Southern Shaolin was in Fukien Province. At the request of the Ming Dynasty, a militia unit was form (consisting of monks and patriotic Hsiah (original version of Samurai) to help the government fight against Japanese pirates trying to rob the local people living along the vast coastline. Most of the movies about Shaolin were exploits from masters from the south such as Hung Hei Kun (Hung Shi Kuan in Mandarin). Wu Chu Chuan (Five Ancestors Fist) are martial arts based on the five masters (Miu Hin, Ng Mui See Tai, Pak Mei Tow Yan (became Taoist and turned traitor), Fung Tow Tak (became Taoist and turned traitor) and Jit Sin Sim See (the Cha'an master that taught Hung Hei Kun the Tiger style) of Southern Shaolin that managed to escaped the burning of their temple by the Manchu Emperor during the eighteen century. The Southern Shaolin were thought to side with the previous Ming regime.       


One of Ng Mui See Tai's disciple was Yim Wing Chun, the lady founder of Wing Chun. A bandit chief wanted to marry Yim Wing Chun by force. They agreed to a duel in which if the bandit chief was to win she would have to marry him.  If Yim won, he would have to call her mother. Yim Weng Chun knew she would not be able to match the bandit chief with pure raw brute power (external martial art). She had to come out with something special that can counter and neutralized his powerful external martial art. Together with the heavy spear the bandit chief used, there was no way she could absorb and neutralized such powerful strikes. She was on the verge of given up hope and resigned to becoming the bandit's wife when she suddenly remembered some of Ng Mui See Tai's teachings. She thoroughly analysed what her master told her. She came out with Wing Chun techniques to neutralize and overcame him.  It is kind of David vs Goliath.  Of course there are other famous figure such as Hung Hei Kun, the Southern Shaolin rebel that escaped capture and end up as the founder of Hung Kuen / Hung Ga. 

Hung Hei Kun met with Fong Wing Chun who was the daughter of Fong Sai Yuk (nothing to do with Yim Wing Chun who founded Wing Chun). She taught him the Crane Style to balance the Tiger style he had learn earlier from Ji Sin Sim See. They later got married. Hung Hei Kun established his own martial art style Hung Ga /Hung Kuen (also known as Hung Chuan in Mandarin or Hung Fist). He was also thought to hide in some Chinese Junks (known as Hung Chuan or Red Boat) to avoid being captured by Ching soldiers.  There were lots of movies on Hung Hei Kun (Hung Shi Kuan in Mandarin). These movies were about how he managed to escape from the burning of the Southern Shaolin Temple in Fukien Province. He was after the traitors such as Pai Mei Tao Ren (Pak Mei Tow Yan or White Brow Taoist Priest ). He was the one who came out with the weapon against the Heet Tik Chii (Flying Guillotines) which was used against the rebels and enemies of the Ching government. The Flying Guillotines were flung onto and covered the heads of the targets. With a pull, the blades at the opening of the Flying Guillotine would severed the head of the target. Hung Hei Kun managed to make an iron umbrella (frame only) to neutralize the Flying Guillotines making it no longer as fearsome as before. So obviously he was public enemy number one for the Ching Government. He taught Lok Ah Choy (Lu Ah Chai in Mandarin) a fellow student (of Manchurian descend) of Ji Sin Sim See his Hung Ga.   
     
Lok Ah Choy  then pass his Hung Ga knowledge to several people. Among them were Wong Tai. Wong Tai then passed it to his son Wong Kei Ying. Wong Kei Ying then passed it to Wong Fei Hung. Wong Fei Hung passed it to his disciples such as Lam Sai Weng, Tang Fung and his 4th wife Mok Kwai Lan. One of Lam Sai Weng's disciple was Lau Cham. His sons were Lau Kar Leong (Liu Chia Liang) and Lau Kar Weng (Liu Chia Yung) who acted, choreograph and direct many Shaw Brothers movies . He also have a god son Lau Kar Fai (Liu Chia Hui) who starred in many Shaw Brothers blockbuster movies such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Heroes of the East and others. For a brief period after Bruce Lee's death, Lau Kar Fai (Liu Chia Hui) was one of the hottest star. The three of them appeared in hundreds of movies as actors, choreographers and director. I also have a housemate who learned Hung Chuen (Hung Ga) from a disciple of Lam Sai Weng in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia during the seventies. My housemate would hit the iron telephone pole outside the house and occasionally sparred with me. I had  collage mates who claimed to be a northern Shaolin instructor and another a Choy Le Fatt instructor.

                                            Wong Kei Ying

Chinese martial arts was like a religion which entails more than the art of fighting. In the olden days, the masters test your patience and character before accepting the prospective student to be a disciple. If the master choose the wrong disciple, the disciple might be a danger to others. With power comes responsibilities. The master need to choose his disciple carefully. You have to have the right aptitude and attitude to be considered as a potential student. Therefore there were equal emphasis on martial arts and human ethics. Through this rigorous training of both mind and body, it would equip the prospective disciple to be a future master. 

There is a Chinese saying of "Yat yat wai see chong san wai fu (It ret wei ser chong sern wei fu in Mandarin)". It simply means a master of one day is a father for life. So becoming a disciple is a very serious matter. It is not like the westerner's concept of teacher student relationship where the teacher is paid to teach the student. In many organization such as Wudang or Shaolin, the disciples are given names by their masters (as one would give to one's children). For instance, You Li Tai and You Li Han are all foreigners and disciples of Grandmaster You Xuande, the head Priest of Wudang Pai. You will notice all the students follow the master's surname You and a middle name Li probably to distinguish the generation. Then each disciple is given a special name by the master. This is usually done in a ceremony attended by all the heads of the various Wudang Palaces. It is available in Youtube. 

Of course due to western influence, many masters now are actually more realistic and following the western teacher student relationship (like Bruce Lee) rather than the ancient disciples master relationship. The masters now charged  thousands of dollars for a few days qigong classes. Previously the master had to absorb the disciple's food and logging and get nothing in return (treat the disciple like his own child). The disciple do household chores for the master such as sweeping the temple/house, serve guests/visitors, clean the dirty dishes, repair or do maintenance to the house/temple and etc. When the master is free and in good mood, he might teach the disciple something new. When the student had reached a certain standard, the disciple can help earn some money by demonstrating his martial arts skills and perform certain escorting tasks on behalf of the master. Some masters teach very little and try to test your patience. In many circumstances you learn practically nothing other than to be a more patient person. You get beaten up for trivial matters, humiliated in front of outsiders, doing temple works and end up learning nothing useful purely because the master think the time is not right for you. I wasted 6-7 years learning how to be more patient. In the end I was not interested in making statues and talismans of Buddha and monks which the master wanted me to do.      


Legendary Master Huo Yuan Jia was not allowed to learn martial art as he was frequently ill when he was young. His father was probably afraid it might tarnished their reputation should he lose to some unworthy opponents. He had even lost to smaller and younger kids and was therefore deemed as not suitable material as a martial artist. He was encouraged to be a scholar. He had to peep behind the bushes to watched his healthy brothers trained. He secretly trained on his own for the next ten years. One day a martial artist who lost to his father Huo En Di during his younger days came to seek revenge. As the father was not in the condition to fight, his sons (other than Huo Yuan Jia) fought on his behalf and were soundly beaten up. The atmosphere in the room was very tense and rather embarrassing as the intruder started to gloat about how pathetic and useless the Huo Chia Chuan (Huo Family Wushu) were. Suddenly the "untrained" Huo Yuan Jia stepped out to the horror of everyone. No one gave him any chance since he was not trained in wushu. Unexpectedly he made the intruder yield in submission. His father was pleasantly surprised and pleased with what he saw. From then on he was permitted to learn wushu like his other brothers.


Master Wong Fei Hung did not have such problems as he was able to learn from his father Grandmaster Wong Kei Ying of Canton 10 Tigers fame and many of his father's friends. He was born in a top martial artist's family and was destined for greatness. He was expected to surpass his father since he was also learning from so many other great masters (who were friends of his father).

It is a matter of opinion who was the best fighter. You have the Ten Tigers of Canton with their disciples who might be good fighters. You also have the Shaolin and Wudang masters and disciples. There were so many martial arts clans and schools in China all fighting for fame and prestige. That might be probably why Master Wong Fei Hung's Po Chi Lam had to close down when he died in 1924. Some of his sons and disciples were killed earlier on. His fourth wife Mok Kwai Lan together with his remaining two sons and disciples left the hostile environment for Hong Kong in 1924. Chin Woo never fought for territorial control had no such problem even after the death of GM Huo Yuan Jia in1910. Chin Woo continue to grow into one of the largest martial arts association in the world.

Bordhidharma (Damo) and Chang San Feng represent Shaolin and Wudang Pai respectively. Without them, Shaolin and Wudang would not be famous for their martial arts. So their legendary status as founding fathers of the two most famous martial arts styles cannot be questioned. Then there was Grandmaster Wang Chung Yang  who was the head of a Taoist sect called Chuan Chern Pai which was the dominant Taoist sect before Great Grandmaster Chang San Feng founded Wudang Pai. After Wang Chung Yang's death, there was no one capable of taking over. Later on they were so impressed with Great Grand master Chang San Feng that they decided to be absorbed into Wudang Pai. Even today you can still see Chung Yang Pai or Chuan Chern Pai within Wudang Pai.


Fong Sai Yuk's reckless and disrespectful attitude should be a lesson for all arrogant peoples. There is a need to be humble knowing that someday somehow someone will be better than you. Nothing last forever. 

Hung Hei Kun was a famous fighter who fight against all odd to try to get rid of the Ching Dynasty. He had to live a fugitive life and  hiding in Red Boats (Hung Chuan) to avoid being captured by the Ching Government. Though he did not accomplished the mission to bring down the Ching Government, his Hung Kuen / Hung Ga passed down for future generations deserve mentioned as a folk hero. Without Hung Hei Kun, there would be no Hung Ga / Hung Kuen. Luk Ah Choy, Wong Tai, Wong Kei Ying and Wong Fei Hung all might not be so famous.

Pak Mei Tow Yan and Fung Tow Tak both converted to Taoism and turned traitors against the Southern Shaolin and therefore cannot be considered heroes. Then you have the Ten Tigers of Canton who were considered the ten best fighters of Canton.









GM Wong Fei Hung (1847-1924)

Wong Fei Hung was a great master and folk hero probably due to the publicity from many sensationalized movies and prior to that by famous story tellers such as Lee Tai Soh. It was also rumored that he was a great healer and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He did not collect money from the poor for his services and was a good example of how a hero should be. It was surprising that he and his students were often ambushed by triad and local martial art organizations. China was a lawless society where survival of the fittest was most evident even in Canton.  His eldest son Wong Hon Sam and favorite disciple Leong Foon were killed in fights. Master Wong was invited to perform at the opening ceremony of Chin Woo Athletic Association's Guangzhou branch in 1919. While he might not be a Canton 10 Tigers and get ambushed all the time, he was still one of the most well known person in both Canton and China. For more on Wong Fei Hung, please click here.










Bruce Lee (1940-1973)

Bruce Lee came out as the first man to mainly use legs in a Chinese movie The Big Boss. There were very few high kicks in Chinese movies either from karate or wushu. The speed of the kicks and punches of Bruce Lee were exceptionally fast and powerful. There were big demands for such types of movies. Currently most martial artists can kicks high kicks and some even have more spectacular /exceptional kicks. Bruce's second film Fist of Fury (Ching Woo Men in Chinese) was about Chan Charn (a fictitious disciple of Master Huo Yuan Jia) seeking revenge for Master Huo's death. The film would be funny if you see it on the facts that it is karate vs karate. Even the the bow to start a fight is Karate. Previously most Chinese would start with a "It cher ting chung yuan" (One finger pointing to middle region - China). now you see lots of them just cover the left fist with the right palm in a salute. The weapons are Japanese swords vs Nun Chuck (used by Okinawan Karate). The real story was Master Huo Yuan Jia was poisoned by the Japanese doctor he seek treatment from. In the movie, it is the cook (a Japanese Agent) who poisoned Master Huo. Chan Charn (Bruce Lee) a disciple of Master Huo try to seek revenge. I have always wondered why everything look like karate to me. He was suppose to be a Wing Chun expert. The Wing Chun experts can land hundreds of punches in a minute. It is so different from Bruce Lee's (mixed martial arts). 

Bruce Lee only learn 5 years of Wing Chun from Grandmaster Yip Mun and his disciples. After that he learned other martial arts such as western boxing, jujitsu and karate from his friends and associates. Jhoon Rhee taught him some Taekwondo's kicks. This form the basis for mixed martial arts (MMA). He modernized his training methods to be in the best of shape physically. He also look after his nutrition saying that one cannot expect the body to perform if it is fueled by inferior fuel. He also said that one should take whatever that is good from anywhere and discard those that are useless. He trained harder than everyone else and his doctor said he had the body of an 18 years old (when he was actually 32 years old). Very soon he went into a coma and died. 

Bruce Lee was a western educated intellectual who trained the way any western educated man would. Somehow modern science is flawed and has not catch up with ancient Chinese medical science. The pot bellied Wudang founding legendary master Chang San Feng lived well past a century and founded Tai Chi Chuan in his golden years. Somehow the balance of Yin and Yang is more important than a perfect body like Bruce. No doubt he remind me of Fong Sai Yuk's arrogance. Similarly, they both die young. Before he left for America, Bruce was always involved in gang fighting around his school. The police informed his father that should Bruce be involved in one more fight they would have no choice but to put him behind bars. So he was a street wise person.  

Bruce Lee trained harder than everyone else but his martial art hardly qualified as wushu. His favorite weapon was Nun Chuck (used occasionally by karate practitioners in Okinawa, Japan). His students were Karate Champions and has nothing to do with Wushu (Chinese Martial Arts). However for his part in promoting martial arts in movies, he deserve to be in the hero status. He did bring back much pride and respect for the Chinese, Asian and smaller size people all over the world. Whether he meant to do it or not, he had done for the Asian more than anyone else and deserve to be respected and admired. For more on Bruce Lee, please click here. He was criticized by Hong Kong's newspapers for not visiting his master Yip Mun. 

His former master Yip Mun also became very famous after it was revealed that Bruce lee had learned Wing Chun from him. There were 2 movies starring Donnie Yan Chi Tan which sensationalized Yip Mun as if he was a real legend. But the fact is Bruce Lee's martial arts evolved from mainly Wing Chun to mixed martial arts (karate, jujitsu, western boxing and some taekwondo kicks). His Wing Chun is nowhere near Yip Mun's as it was never his priority. Some non Chinese friends ask me about IP Man. Actually there is no IP Man but Yip Mun (in Cantonese). It was the movie by Donnie Yan. They just did not translate it properly. 

Gordon Liu Chia Hui (Lau Kar Fai) mastery of Chinese weapons and Southern Shaolin / Hung Ga in movies such as Heroes of The East, Shaolin 36th Chambers and etc would be more representative of Wushu. Jet Li's northern Shaolin wushu is also a joy to watch. They give us a glimse of what the Shaolin masters of the past were capable of. Of course past masters would definitely be more powerful, agile and speedy due to non existence of modern transport and conveniences.

  
Other notable names not mentioned so far are General Choi (formerly of North Korea) who was credited as the founder of Tae kwon do after the second world war. He compiled the moves and patterns with more emphasis on legs. Tae Kwon Do is the "Way of Kicks and Fists". The Chinese has a saying "Nan Chien Pei Tui" (or Nam Kuen Pak Tui in Cantonese) meaning Southern Fist, Northern Leg. As you see Wudang, northern Shaolin (at Soong Shan or Mount Soong) are all up north while Southern Shaolin (Fukien Province) is in the south. So it is not surprising the Korean were good at legs as they were greatly influenced by their Chinese neighbor who were once the most advanced country in the world. The South Korean later formed their own Taekwondo organisation calling it World Taekwondo Federation with its head office in Seoul, South Korea. Fearing being persecuted by the South Korean, General Choi moved to Canada and open his International Taekwondo Federation. It is said that the WTF (South Korean) wanted TaeKwondo to be a sport while ITF (General Choi) wanted Taekwondo to be a martial art meant for real combat. This is probably why you see some Taekwondo classes with injuries and bloodied nose/mouth while the other look very tame. Jhoon Goo Rhee or Jhoon Rhee is a 10 dan black belt with ITF now residing in the US credited with opening of several Taekwondo organisation especially in the US. He was also credited to have taught Bruce Lee the side kick which became famous in Bruce Lee's movies. Jhoon Rhee also acted in several Golden Harvest movies. He could lift an adult by the jaw with just his leg. 

When it come to western boxing, the legendary Mohammad Ali was well known for his antics of name calling and distracting his opponents. He was not the one with the hardest punch as most of his matches went the full distance of 15 rounds. Ironically the person who most boxers feared was George Foreman who knock out most opponents (including Ken Norton, Joe Frazier and others) within 1 or 2 rounds. Sometime he knocked out the opponents within 1 minute. Somehow Mohammad Ali was able to withstand the excruciating pain from the punches of George Foreman. It was more like the Shaolin's abilities to cut off pain using neigong and qigong techniques. 

Grand Master Anthony Wee has had a 9.36 tons double decker bus driven over his torso in Perth, Australia in 1987. This feat was performed twice in front of the TV camera and broadcasted there. He has in his book The Flow And Power Of Chi Dynamics, mentioned that Mohammad Ali had rang him to arrange a meeting at Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore in1972. Mohammad Ali wanted a demonstration of Qigong and Neigong from GM Anthony Wee and his instructor. Ali was amazed and impressed by their Qigong and Neigong (the ability to cut off the pain). From them, he learned the secret of deep breathings and withstanding pain - neigong and qigong. He might have also visited other masters and learn from them too. 

Ali knocked out George in the 8th round in Zaire on Qctober 29 1974. George Foreman was reported to be able to break the skull of a young cow with just one punch.  Ali left his stomach area open and allowed George Foreman to rain down numerous punches there. It was an entrapment. Apparently George was exhausted and ran out of stamina. George Foreman had always finished his opponents inside 2 rounds and therefore had no experience of going more than that. As Ali absorbed Foreman's punches like a Shaolin master, Foreman's punches became weaker and weaker. It was then that Mohammad Ali started attacking George Foreman. It stunted George Foreman and sent him on the floor. There was nothing Foreman could do as Ali had planned it thoroughly. Ali not only out fought but also out thought George Foreman. 

Without the ability to withstand pain, there would be no way Ali or anyone else could have beaten George. Now Mohammad  Ali have all kind of diseases probably as a result of such beatings. 

So do not think with the ability to withstand pain, you can take all kind of punishments without any consequence. Past masters were known to take herbal medicine and apply medicine on the wounded areas to promote blood and qi flows. This would reduce blood clots and etc due to the beatings. Taking a punch from Foreman would be fatal for ordinary people. Even Joe Frazier (who only lost on points to Ali) got knocked out within seconds after several punches. It is incredible that Mohammad Ali could absorbed so many punches with his stomach. 



There are lots of other masters, some even more powerful which might escape being mention here. I am aware of the Tai Chi Chuan masters like Chen Fa Ke, Huang Shin Shyan and others. As there is no way we can compare any living person with people in the past, I have chosen not to mention any living person here. Wudang Pai Chief Priest GM You Xuande, GM Chen Xiao Wang (of Chen Tai Chi Chuan) and others might have reached a very high level but there is no comparison since past masters were always using their limbs for going from one place to another. Their qingkung (light foot kung fu) were exceptional. Ancient martial artist such as ninjas, samurais, hsiah (Chinese version of Samurai which the Japanese copy from the Chinese) and martial artists were able to leap up buildings and running on the roof tile due to qingkung. They would be too powerful for modern men.



The Master who impress me most was Grandmaster Huo Yuan Jia (Fok Yuen Kap) for his never giving up attitude. Hopefully, his sacrifices were not in vain and be remembered for generations to come as the man who changed modern Wushu.





 GM Huo Yuan Jia  (1867-1910)

Master Huo Yuan Jia was assisting his father to provide security for caravans around northern China when he defeated a bandit chief. Later on as a porter he was able to save his employer Nong Jin Sun's pharmaceutical company from paying ransoms to a large group of bandits by defeating the bandit chief and forcing them to disband.  Nong Jin Sun saw his exceptional martial arts abilities and pointed out to Huo Yuan Jia that the Chinese were helpless and oppressed by foreigners even in their own country. There was a need for someone to come out and help the Chinese people. After Huo Yuan Jia had managed to defeat/scare away more foreigners and bandits, Nong Jin Sun requested Master Huo Yuan Jia to set up a martial art school (Chin Woo Men) in Shanghai with the noble aim of providing training for all Chinese youth to enable them to learn the essences of Chinese Martial Arts to strengthen both their body and mind to fight/protect themselves and their country against foreign oppression / occupation. There were millions of martial artists in China but only Huo Yuan Jia came out to fight against the foreigners. He invited the other martial artists/organizations to join him and help their country. The others including Wong Fei Hung, masters from Shaolin and Wudang were only active against local Chinese triad and martial arts schools. Huo Yuan Jia never fight against local triad or other schools since very few Chinese would want to look unpatriotic. He was never fighting for control of any area/territory. All he wanted was to help the Chinese people get back their self respect and pride. If only he had lived longer, I am sure Chin Woo would have been a more powerful organization. None of his students had his abilities and his mizhong chuan is now things of the past.

Chin Woo Men became the first registered Wushu institution in both Shanghai (where most foreigners were  active) and China. It took real heroic courage to open shop in the "tiger den" where the real lawlessness and free for all was most evident. Shanghai was in the control of foreigners such as Japanese, British, US, Russian, Portugal, Spain and French.  Wong Fei Hung had a torrid time fending off other local martial art schools and triad members in Canton. He even lost his eldest son Wong Hon Sam and favourite disciple Leong Foon. Wong Fei Hung himself was injured many times in ambushes by his enemies. So you can imagine how much more difficult it was in Shanghai where guns were frequently used to settle disputes. They even had signs such as "Chinese and Dogs not allowed" in many areas. Everyone were fighting for territories with protection from triad and foreign countries. It was survival of the fittest in a "dog eat dog world". With that kind of gut and no apparent fear of his own personal safety, Master Huo was the true Chinese hero. 

With many foreigners defeated or chickened out against Master Huo, he became a national hero of China.  Unfortunately it would be only a matter of time for the foreigners to seek revenge. He was poisoned by a Japanese doctor who happen to be a martial artist who had lost to Master Huo's students. When the 10 Japanese experts tried to ambushed Master Huo simultaneously, Master Huo quickly floored them and in the process injured the Chief instructor and some others. Since Dr. Sun Yat Sen was hiding in exile in Japan, Nong Jin Sun (a Dr Sun's man and financier backer of Chin Woo) must had encouraged Master Huo to see the Japanese doctor for his illness. I personally think Master Huo was naive to think the Japanese would still help him after he injured their Chief instructor. Japan was a powerful nation and such a loss of face would normally get them to commit suicide by slashing their own belly and a friend on hand to chopped off the head to ensure the man was dead to atoned for such humiliation to their race and country. To complicate matters, the Japanese were pretending to help their fellow Asian such as China. They were really trying to get rid of their other competitors

Sometimes we let our guard down and paid the price. China was politically unstable and economically weak and often known as the sick man of Asia. There was no way the spineless Chinese government would dare to accuse Japan a super power then of such hideous deeds. Everything was quietly swept under the carpet until many years later when his body was relocated. There were traces of arsenic poison. If Dr Sun Yat Sen is the father of modern China surely Grandmaster Huo Juan Jia is the father of modern Wushu. He was the one that provide the opportunity for all Chinese to learn Wushu and encourage other martial arts schools to share their skills and knowledge at Chin Woo. No other individual or group has managed to gather so much support for Wushu. Therefore he was truly the legend and hero of the twentieth century without actually seeking to be anything but ordinary. He was a hero and legend forced by circumstances beyond his control. He was a pawn manipulated by politicians. He was often sick yet he had more courage than everyone else to fight against the foreigners and bandits. I am still wondering why the millions of other martial artists (especially those experts from Wudang and Shaolin) did not come out to help. When the big size Westerners make fun of Chinese and calling them sick men of Asia and the Japanese write in their books that Chinese and Koreans were worst than pigs and deserve to die, no one bother to fight back. Chin Woo does not belong to Huo Yuan Jia. He was only the chief instructor for military training and martial arts. The money was from Nong Jin Sun, the first president of Chin Woo Shanghai. After that it was in the hands of his students. So Huo Yuan Jia did not have any reason to risk his life other than being plain naively heroic fighting for the Chinese people. The only thing he gained at the expense of his life was the recognition from some individuals who are aware of his sacrifices. For more about Huo Yuan Jia, please click here.

Bruce Lee was fighting for fame and wealth in his movies. He changed the martial arts way of training especially with gymnasium equipment. His learning of other martial arts such as Jujitsu, Karate, Western Boxing and some Taekwondo kicks is exactly what MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is about. He should be credited as the father of MMA or at least the person who inspired it. 

Wong Fei Hung was also after fame and wealth or else he would never be attacked by triad and other martial art organization in Canton. 

So obviously the true hero and legend should be Master Huo Yuan Jia.    

See my articles on Bruce Lee, Wong Fei Hung and Huo Yan Jia for more details.