Adam Hsu – Bagua Zhang – Internal hands

HSU, ADAM In 1941, Master Adam Hsu was born in Shanghai, China.
His family relocated to Taiwan in 1949, where he spent the next twenty-five years learning with the most renowned kung fu instructors.
His primary instructor was the illustrious Grandmaster Liu Yun Chiao.
Master Hsu received his master’s degree in Chinese literature from Taiwan Normal University, one of numerous famous schools where he taught kung fu as well as Chinese literature.
He has held several distinguished positions, including General Secretary of Taiwan’s National Kung Fu Federation, Instructor to the Republic of Liberia, and Member of the Republic of China National Kung Fu Delegation.
He was the previous editor and publisher of Wu Tang Martial Arts Magazine, as well as a prior senior editor of Wu Chow Publishing Company’s Kung Fu Library, the largest publisher of kung fu literature.
He has many Chinese books and over a hundred articles in English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German.
He has also appeared on the covers of over eighteen magazines throughout the world.
Black Belt Hall of Fame, Black Belt Instructor of the Year, AAU National Senior Advisor, and recognized President of the International and Six-Harmony Praying Mantis Associations are among his most recent accolades.
He established the Ancient Wushu Association in 1990 as a non-profit international organization committed to the preservation, refinement, and promotion of traditional Chinese martial arts.
He wrote Sword Polisher’s Record, a significant English study on the origins and reality of traditional kung fu.
His two-volume “Essays on Chinese Martial Arts” (Chinese language version only) are regarded as kung fu classics.
He and his pupils have taken part in several concerts and seminars both in the United States and overseas.
Master Hsu’s teachers have been educated to integrate modern teaching methods with traditional kung fu training and techniques.
English language copies of Master Hsu’s kung fu teaching DVDs are now available.
Mr. Lin Huai-Min, the creator of Taiwan’s famous Cloud Gate Dance Theater, requested him to become an instructor for the group in 2000.
His work in instilling the fundamental concepts of traditional Chinese wushu into the bodies and minds of the dancers was so effective that he was asked to develop a children’s wushu training program.
This curriculum has been adopted at a number of Cloud Gate schools around Taiwan.
Sifu Hsu received the Taiwan Government’s Cultural Award in 2006 for his lifelong contributions to the traditional Chinese martial art of kung fu.
His most recent English language work, Lone Sword Against The Cold Cold Sky, was released in early 2007.
Sifu Hsu now lives in Taipei, Taiwan.
He is still giving seminars and classes throughout the United States, as well as Taiwan, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, and other countries.
BA GUA ZHANGBagua Zhang, also known as the eight-diagram palm, is one of China’s most popular schools.
Youshen Bagua (roving eight-diagram), Longxing Bagua (dragon-shaped eight-diagram), Xingyi Bagua (Xingyi eight-diagram Chuan), Yinyang Bapan Zhang (positive-negative eight-plate palm), and other names have been given to it.
There are several legends concerning the origins of this Chuan school.
Some claim it started with anti-Qing Dynasty factions, while others claim it was invented by the two Taoist priests Bi Yun and Jing Yun on Mount Emei in Sichuan Province during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties and has been passed down to the ninth generation of practitioners.
Hebei Province is home to the majority of Bagua Zhang boxers.
Some of them learnt Bagua Zhang from scratch from their teachers, while others sought help from the masters to better their own abilities.
Diverse fitness programs in various forms were developed over time.
The Dong Haichuan-style Bagua Zhang is the most popular.
Dong, a native of Zhujiawu, south of Wenan County in Hebei Province, was instrumental in spreading the eight-diagram plam, instructing many people in Bei-jing.
Dong’s most famous followers included Yin Fu, Cheng Tinghua, Liu Fengchun, and Li Cunyi, all of whom contributed to the spread and development of the Chuan style.
Some of the eight-diagram palm styles, such as the Yin-style, Cheng-style, Liang-style, and Sun-style, are named after these disciples.
Bagua Zhang’s Li Zhenqing style or the positive-negative eight-diagram plam Li (b. 1830-1900), a native of Weijiaying in Hebei Province, traveled to Henan Province to acquire the positive-negative eight-diagram palm in order to improve on the Chuan skills he already knew.
Li returned home about 1870 and conveyed his expertise to his neighbors.
Ren Zhicheng, a disciple of Li Zhenqing, authored a book on the Yinyang Bapan Zhang (positive-negative eight-plate palm) in 1937, which has since been passed down.
Tian, whose Chuan style is known as the Yinyang Bagua Zhang (positive-negative eight-diagram palm), was born in Shandong Province but subsequently relocated to Dengshangu Village in Tanggu, Hebei Province, during the late Ming Dynasty.
Tian noticed wrongdoings while on a trip to Emei and Qingcheng in Sichuan Province and offered to do justice.
Two Taoist priests rescued him while he was in danger.
Tian Ruhong recognised the priests as his Wushu professors after the event and followed them for 12 years, perfecting their martial arts technique.
Tian bid goodbye to his instructors and went home as the Ming Dynasty handed way to the Qing Dynasty.
Tian fled his native village again, this time with a kid named Tian Xuan, since he was resentful of the authoritarianism of the local officials during the Qing Dynasty.
Tian Xuan returned years later to teach the eight-diagram palm to Tian family members.
Initially, this Chuan style was only known to Tian family members.
It has just recently been taught to people outside of the Tian family.