Obituaries and Memorials
Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强 1928-2012
2012/05/Mon 07
Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强 1928-2012
- written by Ian Sinclair ~ www.TaiChiCentral.com
[Original image from http://www.hunyuantaiji.com.cn] The world has lost one the great taijiquan masters of all time.
Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang passed away peacefully in Beijing at 2:29 pm May 5, 2012.
We will miss him, his talent, his humour, and his inspiration.
One of the most respected tai chi masters of the last 100 years, Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强 (1928 - May 5, 2012) was a true treasure.
He was born into a wushu family in ShuLu County, Hebei province, China. He first learned Shaolinquan and Tongbeiquan. Later he learned Xingyiquan from the famous Hu Yaozhen. But we know him as a top student of Chén Fā-Kē (the 17th generation standard bearer of Chen Style Taijiquan (Tai Chi),
Chén Fā-Kē was an unbeatable fighter, and a man of famously saint-like moral character. Chén Fā-Kē was largely responsible for bringing Chen Style Tai Chi to wide attention within the Chinese martial arts community. When he went to Beijing to replace his nephew as an instructor there, he took open challenges for more than 2 weeks and was undefeated. He opened the Zhongzhou Institute, becoming the first to teach Chen style tai chi openly outside of the Chen Village. Before that, such outside teaching had been done secretly.
Chen Fa-Ke taught a style called “new frame” of Chen Style Tai chi. (Sometimes confused with the “Small frame aka New Frame” taught in Chen Village.
Some of his senior students wereHong Junsheng 洪均生 1906–1996Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强 1928-2012Li Jingwu 李经悟 1912–1997Chen Zhaopei 陈照丕 1893–1972Chen Zhaokui 陈照奎1928–1981 (Chen Fa-Ke’s his son)Gu Liuxin 顧留馨 1908–1991Lei Muni 雷慕尼 1911–1986Tian Xiuchen 田秀臣 1917–1984Pan Yong-Zhou 潘詠周 1906-1996 (aka Zuo-Min. Taiwan)
There was a time when Chen Family would refer people to Feng Zhiqiang, especially for tuishou instruction, and some prominent Chen family people are known to have studied with him. The Chen family don’t seem to talk about Feng much anymore, for whatever reason. But I have a few pictures of Feng Zhiqiang demonstrating martial applications with the help of Chen Xiaowang.
If you had the opportunity to watch Feng in action, you would be blown away. His power, and the effortless with which he manifested it were quite incredible. Yet his demeanour always carried gentleness. He joked often and when he did his eyes would sparkle.
Anyone who questioned the validity of tai chi as a martial art would have their doubt put to rest simply by crossing hands with him. This was due, no doubt to his tireless dedication to his training. He seemed to always be practising. He never stood completely still. There was always some subtle tai chi going on in his body.
When he was learning from Chén Fā-Kē, Feng was one of the few students with the will and courage to train with the teacher. Others were intimidated by the fact that Chen could so easily send the flying into a wall, into the air, or against the ground, but Feng persisted, and he reaped the benefit from that experience. Feng became Chen Fa-Ke’s favourite student, and after a while, began taking on any challengers on behalf of his teacher.
We can all be grateful for Feng’s courage, his willpower and to his willingness to share his knowledge. It is largely thanks to him that we have so many great teachers alive today who are able to carry on the highest tradition of Chen style tai chi.
Feng was an executive member of the “China Martial Arts Association”, and of the “Beijing Municipal Martial Arts Association.” He was president of the “Beijing Chen Style Taijiquan Research Association,” and also President of the “Zhiqiang Martial Arts Academy.”
Feng created the Chen Shi Xinyi Hunyuan Taijiquan school. (Chen Style Primordial Chaos Tai chi School.)
“Hunyuan” refers to the original state of the universe as the void separated into yin and yang. This concept is reflected in the circular and spiral movements which essential to the practice.
“Xinyi” refers to the harmonization of the emotional mind (Xin) and the intentional mind (Yi)
When Feng was working as a labourer in Beijing during the 1960’s, a half-tonne electric motor fell from an overhead hoist. Feng said later that he didn’t take time to think about what was happening. He described feeling an explosion, in his dantian (the core energy centre in the lower abdomen), which rushed up his spine. Amid the screaming of his co-workers he appeared under the motor, caught it with his hands and directed it gently to the ground. Both he and the huge motor (which required 8 men to lift) were undamaged.
This event led to some unwanted fame for Feng. Young men came to challenge him, doubting that the story could be true, but Feng refused all challenges from young hot heads who tried to bully him into a fight. Those who were skilled or persistent enough to deserve a response, were quickly defeated without being harmed. In this way he showed both his skill and his character.
There are many great stories about Feng Zhiqiang. However, the greatest testament to him is the legacy he leaves with us. Generations of tai chi and qigong students owe him a great debt.
Feng Zhiqiang’s funeral will be held on May 11, 2012 at 9:00 AM.
Location:
East Hall of Ba Bao Shan Funeral Home
Beijing
- Ian Sinclair
TaiChiCentral.com
Links
http://www.hunyuantaiji.com.cn/
http://hunyuantaijiacademy.com/
http://www.hunyuantaiji.co.uk/
http://www.silkreeler.com
http://practicalmethod.com
http://www.stltaiji.com
Comments
Wan Kean Chew May 6, 1939- April 8, 2011
2011/04/Sat 16
In August 1973, a big martial arts tournament was held in Kuching, Sarawak to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of independence from Britain. (Sarawak joined Malaysia in 1963.) A favourite to win the tournament was a Karate and Kungfu star from Hong Kong. He and his two brothers were competing in separate divisions. They were the grandsons of the chief martial arts instructor of the former Chinese Imperial Army." They had all won many tournaments, and this heavyweight had once challenged Mohammad Ali.
He would strike fear into his opponents as soon as he entered the arena, punching and kicking, his muscles rippling through his sleeveless upper torso, it was an intimidating sight sending fears through the opponents, Wan said. So much so that 'Mr Hong Kong' received a walkover each time he entered the ring, right up to the semi-final round.
There was a lot of money on this event, and no one expected the Hong Kong star to be taken down in mere seconds by a 34-year-old school teacher from Penang. He was known in Singapore for his tai chi, and was asked to represent them in the absence of a team from Penang. . ....................................................................................................... Read More...
Dave Harris June 10, 1939 - September 9, 2008
2008/09/Wed 17
It is with a sad heart that I pass on the news that Sensei Dave Harris has passed on.
Dave Harris MFA was a legend in life to those who knew of him. But he never sought fame, even though he could have owned the spotlight if he wanted to. In the words of Jesse Glover, “Dave Harris is one of the greatest unknown martial artists in the world.”
Those who knew of Dave’s skills were in awe of him. His abilities to sense intent and redirect energy made for some magical demonstrations. Those most impressed were experienced martial artists with considerable skill themselves.
When people first begin to learn martial arts they see the many styles as being very from each other. In fact they are just different paths up the same mountain. When a master approaches the top of the mountain all paths converge. Dave Harris was one of those to whom all martial arts were the same. This showed in his skill as well. As Andy Dale has said, “When aikidokas watched Dave they thought he was doing excellent Aikido. A wing chun student assumed he was doing soft style wingchun. a taiji person would assume Dave’s art was taiji and the bagua practitioner, bagua. After forty-five years of study, they were all the same to Dave.”
Perhaps one of the reasons that he was not better known was the fact that many of the skills that he demonstrated were often misunderstood by less experienced martial artists. He would invite visiting experts to attack him full force with all their cunning and skill. When they subsequently picked themselves off the ground, both the “attacker” and the spectators would be at a loss to explain what he had done. He could manipulate your mind and your frame reference in very subtle ways. He did so seemingly by employing a degree of rapport that left you convinced that you must have wanted to fall down. He could uproot you with a glance, and would often tease his students and others by keeping them on the edge of balance and unable to either recover or to fall.
Dave was a humble and generous teacher who never withheld secrets that could be shared. His teaching often extended beyond the regular class times.
Dave had been teaching ”Beginner’s Mind Karate” in Seattle since the early 1960s and also learned from such notable martial arts teachers as Tchoung Tatchen, Raymond Y.M. Chung, Yueng Fook, and many others. His styles included karate, aikijutsu, baguazhang, wingchun, and taijiquan. He was a certified teacher of Tchoung’s tai chi system, and the heir to Master Yueng’s system. (Current heirs to that system now include Andy Dale and Steve Smith.)
He was also an artist, art teacher, potter and jazz aficionado. (and who knows what else?)
In recent years, Dave had switched to a lighter teaching schedule in order to spend more time caring for his wife Geri. But his Monday and Wednesday classes will be greatly missed by his students.
Please take a moment to pray for or send good thoughts to Dave’s family, friends and students.
There are memorials to Dave Harris at www.wuji.com the www.thelittledojo.com