Guo Yunshen () (1829 - 1898) was a famous

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 ...

master. He represented the xingyiquan martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skill with one technique Beng Quan was legendary: it was said of him that "with his 'half-step bengquan', he could fight anyone under heaven without finding an equal." (banbu bengquan da yu tianxia wu dishou), and earned the nickname "the steadfast one" (bu daota). Although it is not historically reliable, he is said to have fought

Dong Haichuan Dong Haichuan (13 October 1797 or 1813 – 25 October 1882) is regarded as a skillful martial artist and widely credited to be the founder of Baguazhang. Most, if not all, existing schools of Baguazhang place Dong Haichuan at the beginning of ...

, the founder of

baguazhang ''Baguazhang'' () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the '' Wudang'' school, the other two being tai chi and '' xingyiquan''. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or ''neijia''). ''Baguazhang'' literally means "eigh ...

, whereby neither was able to defeat the other. The outcome of their purported match was that practitioners of both arts each highly respected the others. In another version of this story, Guo Yunshen, desiring to fight Dong Haichuan, he first went to visit

Cheng Tinghua Cheng Tinghua (also known as Cheng Yingfang) () (1848–1900) was a renowned master of Chinese ''neijia'' (internal) martial art ''baguazhang'' (''bagua''). Biography Born in the Cheng family village, Shen County, Hebei (now in Shandong), he w ...

, another native of Hebei province. Cheng invited Guo to dinner. Guo demonstrated his "Divine Crushing Fist", which Cheng evaded twice. Because of this, he rethought his plan to challenge Dong, knowing him to be a superior practitioner to Cheng. His teaching was based on the "three truths" (san li), the "three capacities" (san gong), the "three methods" (san fa) and the single/double weight notion (danzhong/shuangzhong) during santishi standing practice. His students should stand still for at least three years before they could learn the forms. Guo Yunshen had learned with

Li Luoneng Li Luoneng () (1807–1888) was a Chinese martial artist from Shen County, Hebei. He was also known by several other names, including Li Feiyu (李飞羽), Li Nengran (能然), and Li Nengjiang, and was nicknamed "Divine Fist Li". Li learned th ...

and was also a member of the

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 ...

xingyiquan school. He taught famous students like Qian Yantang, Xu Zhanao, Li Kui Yuan and his disciple

Sun Lutang Sun Lutang (1860-1933) was a master of Chinese ''neijia'' (internal) martial arts and was the progenitor of the Syncretism, syncretic art of Sun-style tai chi. He was also considered an accomplished Neo-Confucian and Taoist scholar (especiall ...

Wang Xiangzhai Wang Xiangzhai (; November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963), also known as Nibao, Zhenghe and Yuseng, was a Chinese xingyiquan master, responsible for founding the martial art of Yiquan. Biography Wang Xiangzhai was born in Hebei province, China. A ...

, founder of dachengquan was his last closed door disciple. Wang Xiangzhai was Guo Yunshen's nephew. Wang was taught Guo's traditional xingyiquan. It is stated that Master Guo would instruct young Wang to hold the San Ti posture, without explanation, until a puddle of perspiration formed at his feet. This latter has been publicly revealed "

zhan zhuang Zhan zhuang ( zh, t=站樁, s=站桩, p=zhàn zhuāng, l=standing ike apost) is a training method often practiced by students of neijia (internal kung fu), such as yiquan, xingyiquan, baguazhang and tai chi. ''Zhan zhuang'' is sometimes tran ...

" by Wang Xiangzhai, a term commonly in use throughout the martial community today.

References

External links

Xingyi Quan history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Yunshen 1829 births 1900 deaths Chinese xingyiquan practitioners Sportspeople from Hebei People from Hengshui