Authored by Liu Yanling (刘燕玲) Translated by Joshua Hehr
Early morning, on the shores of Beijing's Shichahai Lake. One can often see an agile, spirited old man practicing Taijiquan. This is Wang Peisheng, a member of the Beijing Wushu Association, over sixty years old. When it comes to Wang Peisheng, colleagues in the martial arts world all know that it was this old man who, at a martial arts experience exchange meeting, defeated a Japanese martial arts master in one stroke, becoming famous far and wide.
In May 1981, Wang Peisheng was entrusted by the Sports Commission to go to Shenyang to compile the rules for Taijiquan push hands competitions. At that time, a "National Wushu Observation and Exchange Conference" was being held there, with heroes from all quarters gathering in Shenyang, and even the Japan Shaolin Kempo Federation delegation had specially rushed over upon hearing the news. People in the martial arts world all knew that Japan's martial arts skills were extraordinary, especially during our country's ten years of internal turmoil, their development had advanced by leaps and bounds, and they had even established a national Shaolin Kempo school. In recent years, whenever our country held martial arts exchange conferences, they would come to observe and repeatedly requested to compete with our country's representatives. Out of diplomatic considerations, this was refused multiple times by our country's martial arts community, but they mistook our humility for incompetence, even making insolent remarks like "The Shaolin Temple is still in China, but Shaolin boxing is no longer in China!" Hearing these words that damaged national dignity, the martial arts heroes could no longer restrain themselves, wishing they could immediately roll up their sleeves and compete with them. Later, the Chinese side finally produced "technical exchange" representatives. They were Wang Peisheng from Beijing and Jiang Xingwu from Guangxi.
The "technical exchange" was held in the reception hall of the Liaoning Provincial Stadium. Although this was not a formal competition, everyone understood this was a martial arts contest between two nations, a test of courage, will, and spirit.
The Japanese side first demonstrated sparring, with the robust team leader weighing about 200 jin on one side, and the 1.80-meter-tall, lean and agile dean of instruction on the other. As soon as they engaged, they were like hungry tigers descending the mountain, with fierce and sharp movements, their skill truly extraordinary. Especially the dean of instruction from Japan's Shaolin Kempo Specialized School—within just a few exchanges, seizing an opportunity, he grabbed the team leader's wrist and swung him around. The bulky team leader flew over the dean's head like a sack of flour and landed heavily on the ground with a "thud."
"They're trying to intimidate us from the start," Wang Peisheng understood. He calmly watched the Japanese representatives with their triumphant expressions, and suddenly his mind flashed back to the scene of his master Han Muxia defeating康泰尔 with his fists. At that moment, he made up his mind: if he was going to fight, he would not fight unless he could win—defeat the opponent and bring glory to the nation!
When the members of the Japanese delegation learned that Wang Peisheng would compete with them using Taijiquan, their expressions immediately changed. The team leader stood up and said: "The Shaolin Kempo delegation has come to China a total of 9 times and has seen Taijiquan many times. Japan has this too, it's just used for health." Having said this, he sat down. Although he didn't explicitly say he refused to spar with Wang Peisheng, his disdain was obvious. Wang Peisheng was immediately filled with anger. He stood up, really wanting to grab the team leader and immediately compete with him, but thinking that what they were belittling was not just himself, but our country's traditional martial arts and countless colleagues in the martial arts world, he must not act impulsively. He instead calmly said: "Your understanding of Taijiquan shows that you fundamentally don't understand Taijiquan. And not understanding Taijiquan means not understanding martial arts. The fact that Taijiquan stands alongside Shaolin boxing, Hua boxing, Cha boxing and others in the martial arts world shows that it is not just for health. I believe that Taijiquan not only has combat applications, but can prevail over everything! Taijiquan emphasizes yin and yang, movement and stillness, emptiness and fullness. Those who grasp its essence can make an opponent's attack like an iron hammer striking cotton, like sinking into water, helpless against me. Meanwhile, I can advance or retreat at will, overcoming hardness with softness, awaiting exertion with ease." Wang Peisheng spoke at length about Taijiquan's origins and development, its scientific principles,
and its physiological effects on the human body. Finally, Wang Peisheng stood in the center and said: "Let's not just talk without action. Come on, which of you wants to try me?"
Before his words had faded, the dean of instruction, taking advantage of Wang Peisheng's unpreparedness, had already leaped in front of him, grasping Wang Peisheng's wrist with his right hand while raising his left hand high and chopping down fiercely through the air. If this blow had landed, the arm would certainly have broken. But in that split second, Wang Peisheng executed a "Raise Hands" technique, pulling the dean up onto his tiptoes, then immediately whirled around, twisted his arm and delivered a "Step Forward and Plant the Fist." With a "thud," the dean fell to his knees with his head striking the ground.
This defeat, which occurred in an instant, enraged the dean. How could this be—a first-rate Japanese martial artist falling at the feet of this short, unremarkable-looking Taijiquan practitioner? What a loss of face! He roared and scrambled up, lunging at Wang Peisheng, wrapping one arm tightly around Wang Peisheng's neck while kicking fiercely with his right leg. Wang Peisheng extended his right hand with a wave: "This is 'Cloud Hands.' What you call 'groping for fish while sleeping.'" This gentle wave seemed to have the force of a thousand pounds. The dean looked as if struck by lightning, rolling away dazed and confused. In less than 10 minutes of sparring, the dean tumbled head over heels eight or nine times like a child being handled by an adult, exhausted and gasping for breath, drenched in sweat.
Desperately trying to save face, he came charging from behind again, gasping heavily, grabbing Wang Peisheng's lower back and trying to throw him to the ground. Wang Peisheng simply said: "Thousand Pound Drop." The tall dean, using all his strength, still couldn't topple this Chinese man who was a head shorter than himself. Wang Peisheng turned around, and with just a stroke of his right hand on the dean's mingmen acupoint, effortlessly lifted him to his front, saying: "That's enough!" Then with a flick of his right hand, the dean lost his footing and stumbled backward to the corner. Only then did he bend at the waist and bow deeply with his hands on his knees, conceding defeat with genuine conviction. At parting, the team leader humbly stated that although they had come to China many times, this visit yielded the greatest reward—they had learned that the true skill of Taijiquan is very great! Very great indeed! He hoped Wang could come lecture in Japan in the future.
Rome wasn't built in a day; Wang Peisheng's martial arts skill was the result of over half a century of hard training. Sixty-five years ago, in a Beijing courtyard house, he was born with a cry. In the old society, what parent didn't hope their son would become successful? The child was named "Peisheng" (cultivating life). But no matter how he was guided, Peisheng didn't "make progress"—from childhood he loved wielding weapons and didn't have a scholarly bone in his body. In one area, though, Peisheng was naturally gifted: at just 8 years old, he could do over 30 consecutive somersaults on a table. Only those little companions who had grown up closely with Peisheng knew that he was not without great ambition; it was just that his ambition was not to become an official or get rich, to become famous or successful, but to become a hero who eliminated violence and upheld justice, suppressing the strong and helping the weak! Around ten years old, Peisheng took four martial arts masters as teachers: he learned Tan Tui from Zhang Yulin "Hook and镗 Zhang," learned Bagua from Ma Gui, learned Taijiquan from Yang Yuting, and learned Bagua and Xingyi from Han Muxia. These teachers were all famous martial artists of the time, especially Han Muxia, who became famous after defeating the arrogant and unrivaled Russian strongman 康泰尔 at the Six Nations Hotel—even Zhou Enlai had been his student in his youth. Wang Peisheng was greatly influenced by Han Muxia. He resolved: to be a person one must be like Teacher Han—upright in character, unafraid of violence, bringing glory to the nation, possessing a noble spirit! Under the guidance of his four teachers, Wang Peisheng's martial arts skills increased daily. At just 18 years old, he was already invited to become a martial arts instructor.
Having cultivated his martial arts skills, Wang Peisheng lived up to his original intentions, truly coming to the aid of those facing injustice. Once, he saw six or seven Nationalist soldiers forcibly taking fish from a street vendor, who was desperately bowing and pleading. Many onlookers were indignant but dared not step forward to stop them. Wang Peisheng leaped into the circle with a single bound and shouted: "Stop! How dare you rob people in broad daylight!" The soldiers, seeing he was alone, paid him no mind, cursing "You're looking for death, boy!" as they rushed at him. Wang Peisheng leaped into the air and with one kick sent the foremost Nationalist soldier tumbling to the ground, then with a backhand punch sent another one flying ten feet away. The rest were stunned, apologizing with forced smiles and begging for mercy. "No way, you blocked the road and robbed him, you have to compensate for his lost time and money." Seeing Wang Peisheng's furious and unrelenting manner, the Nationalist soldiers had no choice but to empty their pockets, pool their money, and hand it over to the vendor.
Time flies like an arrow; in the blink of an eye Wang Peisheng is already 65 years old this year. Approaching seventy, this should be a time to peacefully enjoy his later years and family happiness, but he feels deeply the urgency of time. Every day, besides teaching those who come seeking instruction, he is bent over his desk writing furiously.
He has a grand plan: to organize all his experience into books during his lifetime and leave them to posterity. His 1953 work "Thirty-Seven Postures of Taijiquan" has already been printed and distributed abroad. Currently, he is working on writing "Taijiquan Weapons," a book in which he provides detailed introductions to the Taiji sword, Taiji saber, and Taiji sticky pole. At the same time, he has organized considerable materials and plans to successively write books on Taijiquan combat push hands, theoretical explorations of Taijiquan, and more. In short, his final wish is: seize the time, contribute his remaining energy, so that our nation's superior skills, like the martial world's noble spirit, will flow from generation to generation and exist for all time.