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Shang Yunxiang (尚云祥), a.k.a. Shang Jiting (尚霁亭), was a renowned master of
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 ...
Kozma, A. (2013). Warrior guards the mountain: The internal martial traditions of China, Japan, and South East Asia. London: Singing DragonSmith, RW, Chinese Boxing: Masters And Methods, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California. Page 57. in the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) and early Minguo (Republic of China, 1911–1949). He was born in Leling City of Shandong Province, in 1864. He died at the age of 73 in 1937.Yunting, J., & Groshwitz, J. (2003). Xingyi boxing manual: Hebei Style's five principles and seven words. Berkeley, Calif: North Atlantic. Page 63. Shang was an inspector with the military of five cities and became the head of house security for the Qing Court Eunuch and Area Military Commander-in-Chief Li. He was known for his small limbs and big belly. His belly was said to have shown legendary strength—many boxers supposedly broke their wrists by punching him in the stomach.


Biography

Shang obtained his
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 ...
skills from
Li Cunyi Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political tec ...
(李存义, 1847–1927).Draeger, D. and Smith, R.W.(1980) Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts, Kodansha, Tokyo. Page 25. In the beginning, Li Cunyi refused to accept Shang as a student due to his “not-ideal-physique for martial arts”. Shang was skinny and short, of a height of less than 1.6 meters. It was under the intercede of Zhou Mingtai (周明泰, a student of
Liu Qilan Liu (; or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'battle axe', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the clas ...
) that Li Cunyi accepted Shang Yunxiang as his student. When he was older, Shang also learned
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 ...
from both Li Cunyi and
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 ...
(程庭华, 1848–1900). Shang was well known for his skill with the Beng Quan (one of the five basic skills of Xing Yi Quan). Because he was skilled in combat, Guo Yunshen (郭云深, 1820–1901) visited him personally to instruct him on his Beng Quan methods (for which he had also been known).Lu, S. (2006). Combat techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua: Principles and practices of internal martial arts. Berkeley, Calif: Blue Snake Books. Pages 27-28. Shang, like his shifu Li Cunyi, was famous with his combat ability, he earned nicknames like “Iron Arms”, “Iron Feet Buddha”, “Half Step Bengquan”, etc. for his real-life combat experiences and his ability to generate exceptionally strong explosive power. Shang's career had always been related to martial arts. He had worked as a biaotou (headman of a biaoju which is an establishment which provides services such as escorts, bodyguards, transport of goods (armed) for a fee), bodyguard, detective, martial and arts teacher. The style Shang taught was promoted as 'Shang Style
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 ...
' by his successors. The leading figures of Shang Style Xingyiquan were/are Li Wenbin (李文彬, 1918–1997, Shang's student), Shang Zhirong (尚芝容, 1923–2004, Shang's youngest daughter), Li Hong (李宏, born 1954), Zhang Shijie (张世杰, born 1946), etc. Shang's oldest living student was Han Boyan (韩伯言, 1907–1996), who at an old age became the first Internal Arts teacher 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 ...
master Chen Zhonghua. Shang style is still practiced by many people today, in China and abroad. It is thought to be the most popular Xingyi style in the
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
area in modern times. Shang's lineage can be traced along the Xingyiquan lineage chart:


References

{{Reflist, 2 Chinese male martial artists Chinese xingyiquan practitioners Martial arts school founders 1864 births 1937 deaths Sportspeople from Shandong