Journal of The College ofChinese Martial Arts

www.taiji.net Volume 1January 2010

Yang Zheng Guo the son of Yang Chen Fu

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Published in London byThe College of Chinese Martial Arts

British Library Cataloguing in publication DataA catalogue record for this title is available from The British Library

First Published January 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul BrecherPaul Brecher asserts his moral right to be identified as

the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,electrostatic, magnetic tape, including photocopy, recording, or any

information storage and retreval system, without permission in writing fromthe publishers.

DisclaimerAll training should be under the supervision of a qualified instructor of theCollege of Chinese Martial Arts. All techniques, theories, training methods,and any other information contained in any part of this book are presented

for information purposes only! No liability whatsoever will be accepted, bythe author or publisher for any damage or injuries that may arise from the

use or misuse of information contained in this book.

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Index

Page 4 …..Editors Note

Page 5……Interview with Yang Zheng Guo

Page 9……The Death Touch

Page 13…..Ancient Martial Arts Texts

Page 20….End Note

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Editors Note

I would like to welcome you to the first edition of The Journal ofThe College of Chinese Martial Arts. This journal is producedmonthly and is free.

The purpose of this publication is to make available informationabout the Chinese martial arts and related subjects so that all thosepeople with an interest can increase their knowledge and so gainmore from their training.

Each edition will contain a mix of interviews, articles, analysis ofancient texts, discussions about various styles and principles thatare common to all styles.

Good luck in your training

Paul BrecherFounder & Chief Instructor of The College of Chinese Martial Arts

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An Interview with Yang Zheng GuoConducted by Paul Brecher in 2005

This interview originally appeared in the book,A Martial Arts Journey Part 2

I was exploring Chinasearching out and trainingwith some great martial artists,some well known in the westand some only famous withinChina. I was very fortunate tohave as my guide the greattravel writer David Leffman,who speaks fluent Chineseand has been visiting Chinafor over twenty years. He alsohas many contacts in Chinesemartial arts society.

Through David’s friend C. S.Tang the top student of Ho HoChoy we where put in contactwith Yang Zong Jie who wasthe editor of Yong Nian TaiChi Magazine and knew allthe local tai chi people andplaces of interest. He took usto the town of Handan to meetYang Zheng Guo the son ofYang Chen Fu.

We were warmly welcomedby Yang Zheng Guo in to hisfront room, we gave him thebags of food, that we had beenrecommended by Yang ZongJie would be an appropriategift to bring.

Yang Zheng Guo offered ustea and invited us to sit down.

There was a large book caseagainst the main wall and onthe top shelf was a statue of aneagle then a large picture ofhis father Yang Chen Fu thena picture of his uncle YangShao Hu and then a largerpicture of his greatgrandfather Yang Lu Chanand then a picture of hisgrandfather Yang Jiang Huand then a statue of a horse.

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On the next shelf down was aphotograph of his mother anda separate photograph of thewhole family showing himtogether with his father YangCheng Fu.

Paul Brecher with Yang Zheng Guo

With both Yang Zong Jie andDavid Leffman acting astranslators I asked seventyeight years old Yang ZhengGuo about his families history,he pointed to the photos andsaid:

“There was never anyphotographs taken of Yang LuChan and that the picture ofh i m i s a c t u a l l y areconstruction based on thepicture of Yang Shao Hu.”

( David said later that when hehad mentioned this toC.S.Tang many weeks laterthat CS had explained moreabout the story. Apparentlysomeone said many years agothat they had a picture of TungHai Chuan the creator of PaKua (Bagwa) and so there wasgreat pressure for there also tobe a picture of Yang Lu Chan,the creator of Tai Chi Chuan.In reality Yang Lu Chanlooked a lot like his son YangPan Hou but Yang Pan Houhad a very serious and intensecountenance. So they decidedto base the photo of Yang LuChan on his grandson YangShao Hu’s expression whichwas more serene instead ).

Yang Zheng Guo continuedthat “Yang Chen Fu and YangShao Hu studied MiddleFrame with their father Yang

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Jiang Hu and Yang Shao Hustudied Small Frame with hisuncle Yang Pan Hou. YangShao Hu invented a new SmallFrame which was very fastand explosive. Between 1920and 1930 he went to teachmartial arts in Nanjing andHangzhou.”

“Yang Shao Hu died aged 68in Wuxi and was buried in1930. In 1937 Yang Chen Fuand Yang Shao Hu’s bodieswere taken back to the familygrave yard near Gwan FuTown in Yong NianProvince.”

I asked Yang Zheng Guo if hecould correct my Yang StyleTai Chi Long Form. He saidhe would, so I went through itslowly.

Zheng Guo said “No mistakes,not bad”.

Yang Zheng Guo thendemonstrated his fathers formand said that this is what hisfather taught all his children.

His movements where calmand smooth and wonderful towatch, I hope to be as goodwhen I am 78 years old.

It was a great honour to havebeen drinking tea and talkingand training with the son ofYang Cheng Fu.

When we left he walked withus for a while. We then allshook hands and said farewell.

As we left I turned around andtook a photo of him standingoutside his home.

These pictures clearly show how the picture of Yang Lu Chan was based onthe image of his grandson Yang Shao Hou with the hat of Yang Jian Hou !However Yang Zheng Guo said that yang Lu Chan looked more like his sonYang Pan Hou.

The picture of Yang Lu Chan is accepted by many people as being authentic,it just shows that without proper research things are accepted withoutquestion. In martial arts (and in life !) it is so important to find the truth.

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An Explanation of The Death Touch andThe Delayed Death Touch !by Paul Brecher 2010

This information is from The College of Chinese Martial ArtsTraining Manual.

In the Chinese martial artsthere is an expression, ‘TheDelayed Death Touch’. Thissounds quite dramatic but isrealy not a mystical skillrather it is just a problem oflanguage.

Instead of people quite simplysaying that a combatant afterthe fight later died from theirinjuries, such as internalbleeding, or organ failure dueto major trauma, people startsaying they died due to a“delayed death touch” !

There are no “death touches”but there are plenty of deathstrikes. If enough force isused then strikes to thetemple, neck, throat and heartwill all cause death.

When discussing strikingthese areas, martial artists talk

about their locations byreferring to the acupuncturepoints that are on thoselocations.

An old Chinese acupuncture chart

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Some people ask if anacupuncture point is so small,how can we hit such a tinytarget on a moving opponent?

Well, we are using theacupuncture points to describegeneral areas of the body. Ifwe are in that general area wewill get a result even if we arenot exactly right on theacupuncture point.

A sketch of the acupuncture pointsthat are over vulnerable

parts of the body from a 1920’smartial arts training manual.

For example there is an areaon the right side of the torsothat is over the liver andthoracic diaphragm near thefloating rib. So if a person was

to strike this area it would do alot of damage, as theacupuncture points Liver 14,Gall Bladder 24 and Spleen 16are all over this area. So yes, ifone of these points was hitexactly it would have a verybig effect.

However, if this general areawas hit then it would still bevery damaging because theliver and thoracic diaphragmwould be injured. This couldcause shock, pain, collapse,difficulty to breath and evenunconsciousness if struck hardenough.

So the basic level of the use ofacupuncture points is a type ofcode to describe target areas.For example, instead of sayingwe strike to the throat we sayConception Meridian PointNumber 22, (CV 22). For thesolar plexus area we sayConception Meridian PointNumber 14 (CV 14) and forthe temple which is thethinnest part of the skull, wesay Gall Bladder MeridianPoint Number 3 (GB 3).

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We use the acupuncture pointnames to describe vulnerablelocations but we are notattacking the acupuncturepoints on the surface of theskin rather we are attackingthe vulnerable anatomicalparts of the body that areunder that location.

The situation is a bit confusedby these acupuncture pointsbeing referred to in other wayssuch as death point strikes,blood stop point strikes,restricted air point strikes,paralyse point strikes and faintpoints. Yes when they are hitthey can cause these effectshowever they are allacupuncture points.

So beginners get the basicidea, they are taught to attackareas that are not death strikesbut will definitely reduce thatopponent’s ability to attack orre attack, such as the eyes,groin and the joints.

Intermediates are taught themore dangerous areas to strikethat could cause paralysis,

unconsciousness and death,which are mainly on thethroat, neck and head (CV 22,CV 23, ST 9, St 10, SI 16, LI17, LI 18, GV 15, GV 16,BL10, GB 20 and GB 3).

An old Chinese acupuncture chart

There is an advanced level ofthe use of acupuncture pointswhich is beyond using them todamage or kill the opponent.

Acupuncture points are usedby acupuncturists to healpeople! After many years oflearning how to take a personapart, it is necessary, if onewants to have balance in one’s

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life, to know how to put themtogether again. Also, martialartists can use acupuncture toheal any injuries to themselvesor their students so that theycan keep on training.

A modern Chinese acupuncture chart

There is just one more thingthat needs to be mentionedabout striking the acupuncturepoints. There is the oftenrepeated misunderstandingthat certain points will onlywork if struck at a particulartime of day.

This is not true, all theacupuncture points on thebody work all the time whichis how it is possible foracupuncturists to treat patientsat any time.

There is also the more obviousexplanation. If we are strikingGB 3 because it is over thetemple, the thinnest part of theskull that could fracture whenhit, then the time of day is notimportant. GB 3 will alwaysbe over the temple and thetemple will always be a weakpoint on the skull.

The same is true for all theother points I have mentioned:they will always be over thesame anatomical weak points.

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Chinese Martial Arts Historical Textsby Paul Brecher in 2010

This information is from The College of Chinese Martial ArtsTraining Manual.

There are various documentsfrom ancient China which aredetailed explanations ofvarious martial arts styleswhich contain the samepostures and principles thatwe have in Tai Chi Chuan, PaKua Chang and Wutang ShanChuan today, but are not aboutthese styles.

So we have textural evidencethat Tai Chi Chuan, Pa KuaChang and Wutang ShanC h u a n a r e a c t u a l l ydevelopments on much earliermartial arts systems. And thetexts about these systemsreveal them to be comprisedof a variety of even earliersystems.

This may have been obviousto some and a revelation toothers. To discuss these texts,is not only to show thatChinese internal martial artshave a real history and are the

results of efforts by peoplelike you and me to developsystems that give realisticskills, but also because theseold texts contain such a wealthof valuable information abouthow to practice ChineseMartial Arts.

Not to mention them would beto miss out on some keyprinciples that can help thestudent give depth andsubstance to their art.

An example of the greatantiquity of what we think ofas recent martial artsprinciples can be found in SunTzu’s classic text, The Art ofWar, which some people saymay be dated to as far back asthe sixth century BC.

It is a clear step-by-step guideon how to win large scaleconfrontations, full of everyconceivable type of warfare

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imaginable: battle fieldmaneuvers, siege warfare andespionage.

In this book it states:

I allow the enemy to initiatethe attack, but my blowlands first.

Just a little bit later, around2350 years ago, the Taoistphilosopher Chuang Tzuwrote:

I move only after he does,but my sword lands first.

And in the Tai Chi classicswritten about 160 years ago itsays:

If your opponent does notmove, you do not move,If the opponent makes theslightest move, you movefirst.

So clearly we can see thatwhat was thought of as aconcept from Tai Chi Chuanfor one-to-one fighting wasoriginally a concept frombattlefield tactics and was not

a closely guarded secret or arevolutionary idea.

Rather it was a wellestablished strategy that is atleast two thousand years oldwhich was incorporated intothe Chinese Internal MartialArts because it worked.

In this chapter, throughtextural comparisons, I willalso show that Tai Chi Chuan,Pa Kua Chang and WutangShan Chuan did not appear ina vaccum but are theinevitable concequance of along history of research anddevelopment over manythousands of years.

They are the culmination ofnot only the combination ofmartial arts with chi kung, butalso with large scale militarystrategy and what we now callTCM (Traditional ChineseMedicine), and the naturalisticphilosophy of Taoism.

By Taoism I am not referingto the religion of Taoism,which was partly a reaction tothe introduction of Buddhisminto China from India, but

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rather to the philosophy thatwe are part of nature andshould understand its ways tobetter understand ourselves.

For example: dress warmly inthe winter and be in the shadeduring the midday summerheat: eat more fruit andvegtables in the summer tocool and hydrate the blood andeat more meat in the winter tohave the energy to fight thecold, (fish is good all yearround).

Try and go to sleep early andrise up early; be in tune withthe natural cycles andunderstand the ebb and flowof life. Beginners feel as ifthey are in a boat beingcarried by the wind and tide,but at an advanced level, whenone knows how to sail theocean of life, it is possible totack against the wind.

Essentials of the Classic ofPugilism Published in 1584by General Chi Chi Kuang1528 -1587

Before Tai Chi Chuan and PaKua Chang where invented,

there was another style,created by General Chi ChiKuang. It combined 16 otherstyles, some very ancient,General Chi used thiscombination style to train histroops.

What is interesting about thisstyle is that at least 29 of thepostures of this system laterappear in the Old Chen FamilyStyle of Tai Chi and the OldYang Family Style of Tai Chi,and many of the movementsare also in Pa Kua Chang.

Some of these postures are:

Single WhipGolden Cockerel Stands onOne LegHigh Pat on HorseStep Up and Form 7 StarsPenetration PunchImmortal Points the Way toHeavenDouble Dragon PalmFishes in EightDouble flying Front KickParting The Wild Horse’sManeSparrow hawk flies to HeavenSpear the ArmorShoulder Strike

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So it looks like Tai Chi Chuanand Pa Kau Chang have theirorigins in a style that was formilitary training and was acomposite style taken frommany different sources.

The following pictures fromEssentials of the Classic ofPugilism by General Chi ChiKuang show some of themovements that are also in TaiChi Chuan.

In the Old Yang Style Tai Chi

Long Form this is movement

15, Double Dragon Palm

In the Old Yang Style Tai ChiLong Form this is movement19, Shoulder Strike

In the Old Yang Style Tai Chi

Long Form its movement 33,

Hammer Hand Punch, it is also in

the 4th form of The Wutang Shan

Chuan.

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In the Old Yang Style Tai ChiLong Form this is movement221, Immortal Points TheWay To Heaven

In the Old Yang Style Tai Chi

Long Form this is Movement 214,

Neck Break Punch. It is in the 5th

Wutang Shan Chuan form.

In the Old Yang Style Tai Chi

Long Form this is movement 224,

Pigeon Flies to Heaven. In Pa Kua

Chang this movement is called

Sparrow Hawk Pierces The Sky.

This movement is from the 1st

and 2nd forms of Wutang

Shan Chuan.

General Chi Chi Kuang’sbook was part of the ChenFamily manuscripts that whereuncovered in 1937, a strongindicator that Chen Tai Chi

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Chuan is at least partlyderived from this style.

Yang Lu Chan spent ten yearsstudying with Chen Chang-hsing, so this text is importantfor practitioners of both Chenand Yang styles of Tai Chi.

I would go further and say allpractitioners of Chinesemartial arts whatever theirstyle would find these writingsinteresting and useful.

Here are some ideas fromEssentials of the Classic ofPugilism by General Chi, Ihave added my comments inbrackets.

Eyes clearHands relaxed.

Kick to deceive(and then)Strike with fist

Strike high(when he reacts high)Strike low(This deceptive manoeuvre isevoked in an ancient sayingfrom Chinese books onmilitary strategy, Sheng Dong

Ji Xi - Make a noise in theeast then attack from thewest.)

Attack the opponent’s kicks(This means do not defendyourself from his attackinglimbs but attack them, as it isa well known concept in theChinese Martial Arts to usethe part of you that is closestto them to attack the part ofthem that is closest to you. Soif they make the mistake ofkicking you with a low kick,then kick their kick, if it ishigh then strike it. )

Lure the opponent inThen turn on him

Deflect leftAttack right

With a single blow take theopponent’s life(this would only be possible ifa very vulnerable part of thebody was hit, so it is anob l ique re fe rence toacupuncture point striking)

Deliver repeated kicksBeat the opponentHe is stunned and terrified

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Arch the backAdvance without delay(This is the C shaped back thatreleases the yang chi into thebody to make us morepowerful for combat, thisshape of the back in ancienttimes was called the turtleshell back)

Follow the opponentThen Strike(Fo l low he re meansunderstand his movementbefore you strike )

He retreatsI follow up(This is sometimes calledchasing the opponent,sticking, following or keepingthem on their back foot; it hasmany different names but theprinciple is the same. Once wehave hit them we hit themagain and again, as we want tohave the opponent constantlyin a state of reacting to ourstrikes. So it is we who aredictating the situation, it is wewho are keeping them underpressure. The reason forhaving unrelenting forwards

movement is to end the fightas soon as possible with thisopponent, so if there isanother opponent approachingwe do not have to fight twoenemies at once.)

Show no mercy to youropponent. Win the day withsuperior skill

Strike like thunder echoingin the valley(This means your fa jin –explosive strike should besudden and powerful)

You must go beyondpostures and technique.(Eventually you will knowwhat the martial arts are aboutand you will know yourself.With this deep understandingyou can have any moveexpressed in any way you likeand it will still be correct, youcan even express a move thatyou have never been taughtand it will still be correct).

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End Note

I hope you have enjoyed the first edition of The Journal of TheCollege of Chinese Martial Arts and I hope you are enjoying yourmartial arts training.

Whether you are training for health, self defence or selfdevelopment I wish you great success and hope that this journalcan contribute information that will be useful to you on yourjourney.

In the next edition there will be more interviews, articles, analysisof ancient texts, discussions about various styles and principles thatare common to all styles.

Good luck in your training

Paul BrecherFounder & Chief Instructor of The College of Chinese Martial Arts

www.taiji.net