Anecdotes Of Dachengquan Founder Wang Xiangzhai

by Wang Xuanjie (Translated by Chen Shengtao)

DACHENGQUAN is a set of barehanded exercises for health-keeping and combat. It was developed by my instructor Wang Xiangzhai in Beijing in the 1940s. The following anecdotes about him will help you learn something more about Wang and his dachengquan.

When Wang Xiangzhai created dachengquan half a century ago, wushu which waspopular among the folk was not much to the original and had become a showpiece rather than a fitness exercise and combat skill. To preserve thequintessence of traditional Chinese wushu, there was every need for allmartial artists to pay attention to the prevailing deviation and makeconcerted efforts for a renewal. His determined resolution strengthened ashe saw the Japanese invaders beating their victims of occupation for fun inBeijing. “We are a great nation,” he said indignantly. “How can we put upwith such insults?”

Then, while absorbing strong points of various schools of wushu, he createda style of barehanded exercises-dachengquan. To spread the newly- emergingroutine far and wide, Wang recruited a large number of youngsters and gavethem lessons personally. His aim was very clear and that was to help boostthe morale of the Chinese people and counter foreign pugilism. He issued astatement in a local newspaper and declared that he was ready to take on anyrivals including those coming from foreign countries.

Wang’s remark angered Kenichi Sawai, a Japanese martial artist then livingin Beijing. Sawai was good at karate, swordplay and judo. In his eyes,Chinese wushu was only something like gymnastics, having little value inactual fights. So, one day, he went to call at Wang’s in the hope of showingoff his prowess. When he saw Wang Xiangzhai, he found that the Chineseshadow boxer, a man of middle stature clad in long gown, looked very gentleand suave. He was very happy to meet with such a weakling, thinking that hewould win without fail. After introducing himself and explaining why he hadcome, he produced a newspaper which carried Wang’s statement and tossed iton a table.

“You are ready to have a dual fight, aren’t you?” asked the Japanese karatepractitioner, his face wreathed in contemptuous smiles. “Yes, I am,”retorted sneeringly my instructor. “I always mean what I have said. I wouldnever refuse anyone who wants to compete with me. Foreign martial artistsare especially welcome.” Hearing that, Sawai went out of the drawing roomand stood in the courtyard waiting for a duel. Without any hesitation, Wangcame out with hands placed behind his back. Directing his strength to bothhands through concentration, Sawai assumed a horse-riding stance andlaunched a sudden attack on Wang’s face with hands. Seeing this, myinstructor, his left hand remaining still, extended his right forearm toparry Sawai’s hands. Then, with a slight exertion of strength, Wang threwthe Japanese muscle man 10 feet away. Before realizing what had happened,Sawai was already Lying on the ground on his back.

Not admitting defeat, Sawai wanted to have a swordplay contest with Wangbecause he was so skilled at it that he could cut an apple on the head of aman into two without hurting the head. Considering that Sawai should get anidea of what Chinese swordplay was, Wang agreed to have another contest.With a sword held overhead in his hands, Sawai delivered a hard blow atWang’s head. Wang stepped a bit to the right and wielded his sword to blockthe opposing sword. As the two swords clanked, Sawai was also thrown severalfeet away and flattened with his palms benumbed. (According to the son ofSawai, they did not fight with swords but with sticks.)

Irreconciled, Sawai rose to his feet and pounced upon Wang with his swordtowards the throat. This skill is very famous in Japanese swordplay, withwhich one can catch his rival off guard. However, Wang was so good atChinese swordplay that it seemed as if he did not make use of eyes but senseonly in a fight. Wang turned his body to the right slightly, leaving Sawai’sattack wide of the mark. In another instant, Wang pressed his sword againsthis opponent’s. Sawai tried hard to draw his sword back, only to no avail,since it was “pasted” fast to Wang’s at the guard of the hilt. When Wangmustered up his strength, Sawai was flung out and slammed against a nearbydoor which caved in as a result.

Later on, Sawai engaged Wang in a qinna-something like judo- contest. Bythen, he was already a 5 – dan judoka in Japan. However, he could never gethold of Wang by the sleeve or the front in competition, no matter how hardhe tried. Instead, he was grasped by Wang as soon as they came to grips.

Then came an Italian boxer who had made a name for himself in West Europe.His surname was James. When he was on a tour in Beijing, he learned thatWang Xiangzhai, founder of dachengquan, was looking for a rival, so he wasalso eager to have a try believing that it was a good chance for him to earnfame in China.

After exchanging a few words at Wang’s, they came out into the courtyard andbegan to warm up for competition.

James, with shorts only on, put on a pairof gloves and gave several straight punches to a thick tree and leavesfluttered down from the swaying branches. When James took off his boxinggloves and changed into a pair of cotton-yarn ones and assumed a boxer’sclassic stance, the onlookers on the scene held their breath. The aliencontestant appeared so powerful, so muscular and so agile, and he dwarfedWang by a head. Could Wang be his match? Looking as calm as ever before,Wang was all geared for the contest, with his right hand in front of thechest.James was an experienced boxer endowed with long and powerful arms andhighly proficient in the art. With his right hand in front and left hand athis lower jaw, he suddenly delivered a straight left to Wang’s face. AsJames came up with his fist, Wang raised his right forearm for a parry andin quick succession made a powerful push that shot James up and grounded himsix feet off. Without knowing what it was all about, James rose to his feetand composed himself for another bout. This time, he changed tactics. Hefirst made an arm feint and then gave his chest a right uppercut. Turningslightly to the left, Wang put his right wrist gently on the right elbow ofJames, who felt benumbed all over at once, and collapsed on the ground aftertottering for a moment.

Now, he realized that he was not as good at fighting skills as Wang, whichshould account for his previous defeats. However, he thought he couldoutplay his rival in the third bout; he believed that he was much morepowerful than Wang. To show this Italian boxer what Chinese boxing wasreally like, Wang asked James to punch his chest and ribs. A hail of hardblows followed and Wang was as firm as a rock. Getting desperate, Jamesgathered all his strength and landed a heavy punch on Wang’s abdomen withhis right hand. Wang’s abdomen heaved a bit and James fell down onto theground with his right wrist sprained.

Later, a Mongolian wrestler, who had been living in the suburbs of Beijing,came to compete with Wang Xiangzhai. This story sounds quite incredible, butit has been on the lips of martial artists to date. Named Bator, this ladwas a son of a former official in charge of military affairs in the QingDynasty (1644-1911). Bator began to learn xingyiquan (form-and-will shadowboxing) from his father at the age of 14 and took a fancy to archery andhorsemanship four years later.When he was 20 years old, he started topractice wrestling under the guidance of a former imperial court trainer.After five or six years of training, he made rapid progress and became quiteversed in wrestling. He was strong enough that he could subdue a gallopinghorse. One day on his way home, a shying horse ran up to him, pursued by ayelling crowd. When the horse arrived in front of him, this Mongolianwrestler first moved aside, then, to the great surprise of the pursuers,jumped forth to catch the horse by the neck and upset it.

When he heard that Wang Xiangzhai was willing to have contests with otherwushu devotees, Bator went into the city to rise to the challenge. At thestart of the contest in Wang’s courtyard, the two stood a few meters apart,face to face. Bator moved forward, trying to throw Wang down with a uniqueskill he had mastered in wrestling training. As they were about to come intocontact, a small insect buzzed into Wang’s left ear. Disturbed as he was,Wang continued with his firm steps forward while picking his ear with hisleft little finger. At the sight of this, Bator jumped out of the way and,bowing to Wang with his hands folded in front, said: “You are so good atmartial arts. I am no match for you.” The two exchanged a smile out of theirtacit understanding for each other and the contest thus ended. The onlookerswere all in a maze. One of them asked Bator, “How come you acknowledgeddefeat? You should have a try for it.” “As an old saying goes, a masterknows what a man he is fighting against the moment he takes the opponent on.He was so sedate and self- assured at this juncture that he could afford topick his ear. If he was not an adept in the art, how could he have so muchconfidence in winning the contest?”

In the year he developed dachengquan, Wang Xiangzhai kept having contestswith dozens of martial artists, Chinese and foreign. They all came inconfidence, but went in failure. Since then, the name of Wang Xiangzhai hasspread far and wide and dachengquan become a beautiful blossom in the flowergarden of Chinese wushu.

Reference: Martial Arts of China Vol. 1, No. 7 , Page 297

Book:
Dachengquan
by Wang Xuanjie
Hai Feng Publishing Co. May 1988
ISBN: 9622381111