In the history of the development of Chinese martial arts, there is a martial artist who can be described as an outstanding successor. He founded a martial arts school that once attracted more than 30,000 students to learn the arts, including an Olympic sanda champion. Who the hell is this martial artist? How did he step by step make his martial arts school a top martial arts school in the country and even in the world? What kind of story is hidden behind his success? Let's trace the legendary life of this martial arts master and discover the essence of martial arts that he cherished.
I. The path of growth of a descendant of a martial arts family
Liu Baoshan was born in 1931 in a small village at the foot of Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, Henan Province. Although the village is remote, it has been known for its martial arts for generations. According to the old people in the village, the Liu family has been associated with the Shaolin Temple since the Qing Dynasty.
In the middle school of Liu Jiazu, there were two warrior monks who won the national martial arts championship at that time during the Republic of China. Although the exact names of these two warrior monks are no longer verifiable, their outstanding martial arts skills have made the Liu family famous in the local area. In addition, among the ancestors of the Liu family, there were also those who served as the head of the Shaolin Temple warrior monks and the head of the sect, such as Liu Tingxuan, Liu Fatai and others. The deeds of these legendary figures were repeatedly told by his family during Liu Baoshan's childhood, instilling in him a fanatical love for martial arts.
Since he was a child, under the influence of a martial arts family, Liu Baoshan naturally received strict martial arts training. Every morning, Liu Baoshan and his family went to the river at the edge of the village to practice basic kung fu. When the sun is shining, they move to the shade of a tree to practice some boxing and weapon moves. Liu Baoshan is extremely talented, learns everything very quickly, and quickly learns something. At the age of 12, Liu Baoshan was able to win a village-wide martial arts competition.
However, the results were not all smooth sailing. When Liu Baoshan was 15 years old, he participated in a martial arts competition in the county, but was eliminated from the competition by a sliding shovel. The defeat dealt him a heavy blow and made him realize that there is a world of difference between talking on paper and playing in action. Since then, Liu Baoshan has made up his mind to personally experience the gains and losses of martial arts in various places in actual combat, and improve himself in an all-round way. So he began to visit the masters everywhere to observe and learn the martial arts of various schools.
II. The difficult process of a martial arts school starting from scratch
In the early days of reform and opening up, there were few specialized martial arts halls or martial arts schools in the small villages at the foot of Songshan Mountain. In 1978, Liu Baoshan, who was already 47 years old, accepted his first apprentice and started his bumpy but eventual achievement of the road of martial arts.
When he first accepted apprentices, Liu Baoshan did not have any profit-making purpose, but just wanted to pass on what he had learned all his life to future generations without reservation. He simply asked his apprentices to take two steamed buns when they were apprentices, and they only needed to help with some farm work in the fields every day. The apprenticeship location was even more simple, and the first few apprentices lived in two small earthen caves near Liu Baoshan's house.
In 1982, with the popularity of the movie "Shaolin Temple", there was a large increase in the number of young people who came to the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts. Liu Baoshan's "small martial arts hall" has also expanded from a few people to more than 20 people, and it is no longer possible to use the cave as a station. In order to accommodate more apprentices, Liu Baoshan had to build a few tiled houses on the homestead near his home.
As the number of apprentices grew, the original free apprenticeship model could not provide enough food for everyone. In 1984, Liu Baoshan gritted his teeth and charged the first tuition fee - 5 yuan per month. However, for a native farmer, he hesitated to ask for tuition, for fear of breaking the law. Finally, after consulting with the county magistrate and receiving a positive answer, he let go of his hands and feet to devote himself to teaching.
In 1985, the number of students who studied art with Liu Baoshan had exceeded 300. But in this year, the Tagou Martial Arts School suffered a setback. Liu Baoshan's third son, Liu Haike, led 7 students to Zhengzhou City to participate in the competition, but the whole army was wiped out. As the most famous martial artist in the area, Liu's disciples won nothing in the competition, which seriously shook the confidence of the students. At one point, the number of students plummeted to less than 200.
Faced with a huge blow, Liu Haike once wanted to give up martial arts and set up a stall near the Shaolin Temple to sell tea eggs to make a living. Liu Baoshan encouraged his son not to be discouraged, but to take this opportunity to go out to observe and study, learn lessons and lessons, and practice martial arts well. With the encouragement of his father, Liu Haike led the students to visit the major sanda competitions across the country, learned from the masters, explored and summarized a set of practical and effective combat training system, and implemented it in the daily teaching of the martial arts school.
After a period of training, the six martial arts cadets who participated in the competition in 1986 achieved 5 championships and 1 runner-up. Since then, the reputation of Tagou Martial Arts School in Henan has finally been completely launched, and the number of students has also risen. With the gradual deepening of Liu Baoshan and Liu Haike's coaching philosophy, the development of the martial arts school has also been unparalleled, and finally achieved today's glory.
III. Three exclusive secrets of the development and growth of the martial arts school
The key to the development of Tagou Martial Arts School from a few people at the beginning to attracting tens of thousands of students from all over the country to come to practice martial arts lies in the continuous innovation of Liu Baoshan and Liu Haike's martial arts teaching concepts. They summed up three unique schools that have made the martial arts school what it is today.
The first is a brand-new actual combat training system. Traditional martial arts theory is important, but without actual training, it is difficult to perform it in real competitions. To this end, Liu Haike has learned a lot of experience from masters from all over the world and created a set of actual combat training processes.
For example, extreme physical training such as pulling rings and swinging iron sand should be carried out every day to ensure that students are physically fit in the competition; Another example is to wear a sandbag weighing 20 pounds to train explosiveness when simulating a sparring fight; Like many details such as learning to save oneself when you are injured in actual combat. Through these seemingly brutal but practical trainings, students will soon be able to take their theoretical skills to the extreme.
The second is a strict selection mechanism for teachers and students. The Liu family's master and apprentice adhere to the pure martial arts concept of "the winner is the king, and the loser is the villain". For students from other provinces, an internal competition will be arranged first. The winner will be able to formally learn the art, and the loser will leave. Even the disciples of the Liu family have to pass the internal martial arts test at every stage before they can advance to the next level.
This selection method seems to be harsh, but it ensures the quality of the teachers of the martial arts school and avoids the rampant "shelf masters" in vain. In a cruel but fair competitive environment, the students all learned martial arts and studied diligently, thus creating a steady stream of successors.
Finally, there is the unprecedented momentum of the game. At the beginning of the establishment of the martial arts school, Liu Haike led the team to Zhengzhou to participate in the competition, and he was defeated, leaving a painful lesson. After that, he was determined to institutionalize the competition in the school and implement the concept of actual combat to the end.
As a result, the annual intramural competition and the monthly small competition system came into being. In addition, Liu Haike also actively led the team to the major events across the country, so that the students could immerse themselves in the baptism of actual combat for a long time. After these interlocking competitions and training, the combat effectiveness of the martial arts school increased day by day, and finally became famous in the national arena.
It is the perfect combination of these three unique secrets that has created the incomparable Tagou Martial Arts School today. And all of this comes from Liu Baoshan and Liu Haike's father and son's unique insights and persistent pursuit of martial arts development.
IV. The glorious period of the flourishing of the martial arts school
In the 90s of the 20th century, with the gradual development of the reputation of Tagou Martial Arts School, the number of students who came to practice martial arts was also rising. By 1994, the number of students enrolled in the martial arts school had exceeded 3,000, setting a record for the largest number of martial arts schools in the country at that time.
Such a large number of students stems from the high reputation established by the martial arts school. On the one hand, the Tagou Martial Arts School has repeatedly performed miraculous feats in major sanda competitions across the country and won many awards. In 1987, Tagou Martial Arts School won 17 championships in one fell swoop in the first national aerobics competition in Henan Province; In the early 1990s, he won the top three in the total score of the team in the first national staff sanda championship.
What's even more remarkable is that at the 1992 Beijing Asian Games, Song Huiqing, an apprentice of Tagou Martial Arts School, won the first women's sanda championship. This result shocked the sports world at the time, and Song Huiqing's name spread all over the country and became the golden sign of the martial arts school. In the following years, Tagou Martial Arts School fought one after another in major competitions, and its performance in the field was amazing.
On the other hand, the strict teaching level and ruthless teaching style of Tagou Martial Arts School also make it famous in the martial arts. From the "one pass" that you have to pass the assessment at the beginning of the apprenticeship, to the "number pass" of the later stage test, coupled with the actual baptism of the school's large and small competitions, the disciples who can survive and be promoted by leapfrogging are naturally the elite of the elite.
It is precisely by virtue of excellent teachers and solid basic skills that the students of Tagou Martial Arts School have absolute self-confidence no matter what aspect they are in. They have repeatedly shown superb martial arts in martial arts arenas across the country, and they have all won the admiration of the audience.
This virtuous cycle effect lasted for more than ten years, so that the number of students in Tagou Martial Arts School rose steadily in the 90s, and finally exceeded the 30,000 mark. Students of all ages from all over the country flocked to the school, and even many entrepreneurs and officials came to seek advice.
And the "No. 1 martial arts school in the world" established by Liu Baoshan and Liu Haike father and son has of course left valuable spiritual wealth for future generations. Not only because the students learned an amazing martial art, but more importantly, they therein comprehended the essence of martial arts. That is a kind of fanatical pursuit of strength, persistent study of actual combat, and unremitting pursuit of victory.
It is these unique concepts that make Tagou Martial Arts School finally able to conquer the city and stand out in the martial arts, and truly achieve the reputation of "the first in the world".
V. The decline of the martial arts school without a successor
Everything that is good has its end. After entering the 21st century, the once famous Tagou Martial Arts School is no longer in the limelight, and it is gradually showing signs of decay.
The most direct trigger was the death of Liu Baoshan and Liu Haike, the founders of the martial arts school. In 2001, Liu Baoshan passed away at the age of 70. In 2005, Liu Haike also died of illness at the age of 55. The immortal death of the two martial arts masters undoubtedly brought a heavy blow to the martial arts school.
During their lifetimes, the father and son were the top leaders and decision-making cores of the Tagou Martial Arts School, both in terms of skills and school management concepts. Although there are still many high-level teachers in the school, after all, no one can replace them and dominate the overall situation.
Especially after the death of Liu Haike, the power within the martial arts school began to appear in a vacuum, and there were many struggles for power and profit in the school, which had a great impact and impact on the development of the martial arts school. It is reported that even Liu Haike's widow and son have had a violent conflict over the inheritance of the family property.
On the other hand, the rapid changes in contemporary society have also exposed some deficiencies in the original martial arts school enrollment model and teaching philosophy. In the past, relying on word-of-mouth propaganda and rigorous actual combat training, it was indeed able to attract many fanatics to come to Tagou to study. However, after entering the new century, with the tide of pan-entertainment, the trend of contemporary young people has shifted to emerging fields such as video games and online videos.
The simple life and arduous training of traditional martial arts schools have made it difficult to attract the attention of the new generation of students. Moreover, kung fu competitions and sanda competitions have gradually declined, and they can no longer become the publicity channels of Tagou Martial Arts School as before.
The most important thing is that Tagou Martial Arts School has also failed to adjust the school-running model in a timely manner and make innovative breakthroughs in content and form. It is still stuck in a single traditional martial arts teaching category, and has failed to open up a more diversified development path in line with the general trend of the times.
Under the pressure of these internal and external difficulties, the number of students enrolled in martial arts schools has been declining. By the 2010s, there were fewer than 1,000 students enrolled. The once glorious Tagou Martial Arts School finally gradually declined, and its former prestige can only be missed by future generations.
end
Today, this former "No. 1 martial arts school in the world" is only an old training hall and some old masters. Those protégés who once dominated the martial arts arena have also faded away, and they are no longer as vigorous and heroic as they were back then. This is how the legend ended, leaving only a few good memories.