Chang Dongsheng
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Chang Dongsheng (;
Xiao'erjing Xiao'erjing, Xiaorjing, Xiaojing or Benjing, is a Arabic script, Perso-Arabic script used to write Sinitic languages, including Lanyin Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, and Dungan language, Dungan. It is used on occasion ...
: ) (1908–1986) was a Hui
martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...
. He was one of the best-known Chinese wrestling (also known as
Shuai jiao ''Shuai jiao'' () is the term pertaining to the ancient jacket wrestling Wushu (sport), wushu style of Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding of Hebei Province in the North China Plain which was codified by Shan Pu Ying (善撲营 The Battalion of Excel ...
) practitioners and teachers.


Biography

Born in 1908 in
Baoding Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...
,
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
, Chang was remarkably strong among his peers from his early life. Chang's family roasted chickens, and their business provided sufficient income to allow him private lessons with Zhang Fenyen, a local businessman and Shuai Chiao master who practiced ''baoding shuai jiao'' as instructed by Ping Jinyi. Chang distinguished himself early among Zhang's pupils as a promising martial artist. This led to close personal attention and training in areas normally reserved for more senior students. Zhang taught Chang unorthodox training drills and methods to aid him in developing his ''
shuai jiao ''Shuai jiao'' () is the term pertaining to the ancient jacket wrestling Wushu (sport), wushu style of Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding of Hebei Province in the North China Plain which was codified by Shan Pu Ying (善撲营 The Battalion of Excel ...
'' skill, including using leg sweeps to drive grasshoppers into the air where the correctly positioned hand could easily catch them. At 20, after marrying master Fenyen's second daughter, Chang left Hebei and moved to
Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...
to train at the Guoshu, where many Chinese martial artists trained and shared their knowledge. After five years, Chang competed in 1933 in the 5th National Guoshu Tournament (also called the "All China Full Contact Tournament") and won the heavyweight division over several hundred other practitioners, among them the renowned Liu Chiou-sheng, who went to be his biggest rival. Chang, now nicknamed the "Flying Butterfly," would go on to win numerous challenge matches before entering China's armed services - traveling across the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
controlled areas of China to seek out other ''shuai jiao'' practitioners in order to test his skills. He may also have first started learning
xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...
in this period. In one of his most famous matches, Chang challenged the Mongolian wrestling champion, Hukli, who was supposedly 7 ft tall and weighed near 400 pounds. The contest was judged under wrestling, without strikes or locks. Chang was victorious, throwing down Hukli repeatedly, despite the size difference.Grand Master Chang Tung Sheng - Shuai Chiao
Chang taught at the
Central Guoshu Institute The Central Guoshu Institute ( zh, t=中央國術館 , s= 中央国术馆, p=Zhōngyāng Guóshù Guǎn, l=Central Martial Arts Academy) was established in Nanjing by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China in March 1928 for the propaga ...
and was the youngest faculty member at the time. There, he exchanged knowledge with other martial arts experts. He created his own variation of
tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...
and xingyiquan, Chang-style tai chi, based on
Yang-style tai chi Yang-style tai chi ( zh, s=楊氏太极拳, p=Yángshì tàijíquán) is one of the five primary families of tai chi. Including its variations, it is the most popular and widely practised style of tai chi in the world today. It is second in term ...
, xingyiquan and his ''shuai jiao'' knowledge. Chang traveled across all China and studied under around 70 masters, always introducing himself as a simple student in order to learn everything possible. Throughout the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, of which China became a part, Chang instructed large numbers of
Chinese Nationalist Chinese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chinese people. According to Sun Yat-sen's philosophy in the Three Principles of the People, Chin ...
troops in Shuai Chiao (including the elite Red Wall paratroopers), while continuing to fend off numerous challenges. When not otherwise occupied, Chang visited several
POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
camps to test his Shuai Chiao against Japanese practitioners of
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
,
jujutsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...
and
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
. It was specially important his performance in the
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
prison, where he defeated judo practitioners Haido Takayama, Kuma Hisa and Masao Hichi. Chang represented the Army in 1948 when he was victorious in a nationwide competition for shuai jiao,
Chin Na Qin Na () is the set of joint lock techniques used in the Chinese martial arts to control or lock an opponent's joints or muscles/tendons so they cannot move, thus neutralizing the opponent's fighting ability. ''Qin Na Shu'' ( meaning "techniq ...
, grappling and throwing all together. When Kuomintang troops under Chiang Kai-shek were driven from mainland China to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
by the Communist rebels, Chang left for Taiwan. On the establishment of the National Police University, in
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
in the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, Chang was given a position of Senior Instructor in unarmed training by Presidential edict. He taught there for over 30 years. There are several famous anecdotes about Chang's short temper. In one occasion, a man came to the Taipei National Police University and asked to train with him; instead of answering, Chang attacked the visitor and threw him down, forcing him to confess that he had actually come to challenge him after the training, something Chang had already figured out. Similarly, Robert W. Smith once travelled to Taiwan to interview Chang and train with him, but when he asked the master to show him some of his skills, Chang just kicked Smith in the groin. Never defeated in martial arts challenge matches, Chang died in 1986 of aggressive
esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...
.


Personal life

Chang was a devout and practicing Muslim.


References


External links


Master Mollica - biography of Chang
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chang Dongsheng 1908 births 1986 deaths Taiwanese martial artists Taiwanese Muslims Taiwanese people of Hui descent Chinese Muslim Wushu practitioners Chinese male sport wrestlers Sportspeople from Baoding Martial artists from Hebei Taiwanese people from Hebei Hui sportspeople