At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, a group of martial arts masters with superb martial arts appeared. Among these martial artists, the Yang Luchan family is the most eye-catching. Three generations are tai chi masters and have made great contributions to the promotion of tai chi, so there has always been a saying that "Lu Zen Ban Hou fights the world, and Jianhou Chengfu passes on the world". Among them, Banhou and Jianhou were both sons of Yang Luchan, and Chengfu was his grandson. What we want to talk about today is Yang Chengfu.
(Yang Chengfu)
Yang Chengfu is the son of Yang Jianhou, and when he was born, Yang Luchan was already a martial artist who "shot will see red, and one shot will succeed". His father Yang Jianhou and uncle Yang Banhou were also famous boxers in Beiping City. Under the development of Yang Luchan's father and son for two generations, Taijiquan has become the most influential martial arts in the martial arts circles of northern and southern China.
Due to the reputation, the people who come to learn the art are endless, so just by teaching boxing, the Yang family's income is very considerable.
The children of the Yang family began to learn martial arts from an early age, and when Yang Luchan taught his sons to learn martial arts, he made a very strict practice plan for them every day. Not to mention boxing and firearms, just practicing the basic skills will tire their sons half to death.
Although Yang Jianhou had become a generation of martial arts masters through hard training, he shuddered when he remembered the time when he first followed his father Yang Luchan to learn martial arts. It can be said that he originally had no interest in martial arts, and was completely forced to learn by Yang Luchan. Yang Lu Zen's kung fu was too much, so he not only had to learn boxing, but also sword and gun swords, as well as internal and external skills, hidden weapon slingshots, and so on. Feeling that no matter how he learned, he could not finish it, so that he was so miserable that in order to avoid practicing martial arts, he also committed suicide.
It is conceivable that Yang Jianhou's psychological shadow is how big his psychological shadow is because of his kung fu practice. Therefore, when Yang Chengfu reached the time of learning kung fu, Yang Jianhou could not bear to let him suffer the pain he had suffered in the past, and when he taught him kung fu, he would not strictly restrain him. In this way, after Yang Chengfu learned for a few years, although he practiced all kinds of frame styles such as fist, sword, sword, and gun, pushing hand and scattering, because the basic skills were not good, it could only be regarded as a flower frame.
As an adult, Yang Chengfu built a boxing ring in Beijing's Zhongshan Park to make a living. Under the name of Yang Luchan, he recruited disciples and taught Yang-style Taijiquan swords and guns. However, Yang Chengfu only taught some tai chi moves, and if he wanted to further his studies, he had to learn from Yang Jianhou in the boxing arena of Yang Mansion.
In fact, letting Yang Chengfu go to the boxing ring was also decided by Yang Jianhou after careful consideration. After all, at that time, the practice of martial arts was very popular, and even the imperial relatives and nobles liked to invite martial arts masters to the palace to learn martial arts, such as Yang Luchan's father and son who had worked as boxers in Prince Duan's palace. However, these dignitaries and dignitaries have been dressed in fine clothes since they were young, and they simply cannot eat the pain of martial arts training. Therefore, when martial arts masters teach them to learn martial arts, they often improve the martial arts of their own sects, so that martial arts focus on health care and health, and it is easy to get started.
Yang Chengfu did not have very deep internal and external skills, but his frame style, one move and one style, were all in place. Therefore, those rich people followed him to learn tai chi, which not only satisfied the vanity of practicing martial arts, but also did not work too hard.
Of course, among the many people who learn the art of the master, there are also many people who have a high pursuit of martial arts. In that case, let them go to Yang Jianhou.
Not to mention, there was nothing wrong with Yang Jianhou's arrangement. For many years, because of his support behind, Yang Chengfu had never played in the boxing ring of Zhongshan Park.
However, if you can hold out for a while, you can't last a lifetime. In 1917, Yang Jianhou came to the end of his life. Before his death, Yang Jianhou couldn't stop the old tears when he thought of Yang Chengfu's poor martial arts. Looking at Yang Chengfu standing in front of the sickbed, he who has always had a gentle personality could not help but reprimand him fiercely: "Your eldest brother practiced boxing with his uncle, worked hard, and has long been famous." You open the door to discipleship, and I hold on in the back. Now I'm leaving, if there are masters who come to compete, in case you lose your hand, Yang Jiawei will be swept away. You don't have to work, the Yang family kung fu is lost, it is really not filial piety. I'm dead! ”
(Yang Jianhou)
Yang Jianhou's words made Yang Chengfu feel guilty, and he immediately knelt down and prostrated his head, and while he was in tears, he vowed to work hard.
Yang Chengfu kept his promise and closed the boxing ring after Yang Jianhou's death.
At that time, Yang Jianhou had an apprentice with a solid family, and he would give 30 yuan to Yang Chengfu every month, which was considered to be his living expenses. Yang Chengfu took out 6 yuan to hire a strong man to be a "human pile", which is to put it bluntly, a live target to pick up his fist.
Originally, people who practiced martial arts often used wooden stakes or stone tablets as "piles", and this scene was presented in martial arts movies, such as Ip Man in "Ip Man", who practiced boxing with wooden stakes. The Yang family, who have been practicing martial arts for generations, have also been practicing stickiness with tree stumps or ash poles, which is also a basic skill. Constantly pushing the palm on the stump or ash pole every day is actually brushing repeatedly. But whether it is a wooden stake or a white ash pole, they cannot dodge and fight back like a living person, nor can they verify their strength. Therefore, in order to learn real kung fu, Yang Chengfu paid for the "human pile".
Since then, Yang Chengfu has closed the door to thank guests and practiced hard every day. After practicing so hard for 6 years, his internal and external skills have been practiced very deeply. If he does his work at will, the "human pile" can be shocked out of the 2 zhang. Of course, the characteristic of Yang's Taijiquan method is that it can bounce the "human pile" several inches away, but the "human pile" will not be shocked out of the internal injury. Therefore, Yang Chengfu's "human pile" will be fine.
Despite this, Yang Chengfu was still not practical. After all, "Ren Pi" is not a person with strong martial arts, so he decided to find a martial arts master to try his hand, so he found Wu Jianquan, a famous taiji master.
Wu Jianquan had previously learned Taijiquan from Yang Luchan and Yang Banhou, and after completing his studies, he modified Taijiquan to become a school of his own, and he was also a well-known martial artist in martial arts.
Because of the friendship of the same door, when Yang Chengfu said that he wanted to test hands with Wu Jianquan, Wu Jianquan immediately opened the frame. As a result, when Yang Chengfu waved his palm to Wu Jianquan's abdomen, he quietly lifted it up 3 times, and Wu Jianquan felt that Yang Chengfu's palm strength was extremely large, and in order to fight it, he gently jumped 3 times, so that he was not shocked out.
Then the two competed against the pushers. In the past, Yang Chengfu simply could not stick to Wu Jianquan's palm strength. But this time, he not only stuck Wu Jianquan with his hand, but also retracted it freely.
After seeing this situation, Yang Chengfu finally believed that he had practiced the kung fu of the family tradition. So he confidently reopened the boxing ring and became a boxer with confidence.
Sure enough, after the news of Yang Chengfu's reopening of the boxing ring came out, the masters of the martial arts circle came to the door to challenge, and they all lost to his men. Several of them were even shot out of the air by him 3 meters away. Those martial arts masters were shocked, and never dared to underestimate Yang Chengfu again. And Yang Chengfu also made a name for himself with his brilliant achievements.
(Sun Lutang)
In 1928, Zhang Zhijiang and others founded the Chinese Guoshu Museum in Nanjing. Zhang Zhijiang admired Yang Chengfu's martial arts skills, so he hired him as the head of the Taiji Gate and hoped that he could bring several Taiji masters as boxers. However, Yang Chengfu did not leave for Nanjing because of the complicated affairs of the fist field and the large number of disciples.
A radish got a pit, and Li Jinglin saw that Yang Chengfu could not take office for a long time, so without informing Yang Chengfu, he hired Sun Lutang as the head of the Taiji Gate. Sun Lutang did not know that it was Yang Chengfu's position at the top, so after he took office, he changed the Taiji Gate to Wudang Gate.
Unexpectedly, soon after Sun Lutang took office, Yang Chengfu, who had explained the affairs of Beijing and Central China, came to the China National Art Museum with a few proud protégés. The arrival of Yang Chengfu made Zhang Zhijiang, who is the curator, very embarrassed. So he proposed that Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang compete in a martial arts match, with the winner staying and the loser going.
Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang were originally brothers in the exchange of posts, and they were both noodle figures in the martial arts world. Yang Chengfu felt that Zhang Zhijiang's idea was too unkind, and it was common to say that he and Sun Lutang practiced martial arts behind closed doors. Now in order to compete for a position, it is actually necessary to compete openly. No matter who loses or wins, this will become a joke in the martial arts world, so he refused and took his apprentices to resign.
Zhang Zhijiang also felt that this matter could not be done against Yang Chengfu, so he recommended Yang Chengfu as the provost of Zhejiang GuoshuGuan.
Of course, after Sun Lutang knew the truth here, Sun Lutang had always been righteous, and he felt that he had inadvertently served Yang Chengfu's rice bowl, which was really unkind. In order not to be criticized, he also resigned from the post of door chief and went to Jiangsu Guoshuguan as the provost.
After Yang Chengfu became a martial arts master, he did not stop practicing, but after gaining insight into the essence of Tai Chi, kung fu practice became more amazing.
However, no one expected that during the best period of his martial arts state, he would suddenly give up and return to the west.
Because Yang Chengfu's death was too sudden, there was a lot of public discussion at that time.
Some people say that he was too fierce and hurt Yang Qi. However, his apprentice Jing Huashi retorted that Yang's Tai Chi practiced spring gong, don't look at the pop-up to go a few zhang, but they can easily and freely perform the exercises. Besides, Yang Luchan also practiced this kung fu, but he lived for more than 70 years.
Some people also say that Yang Chengfu is lustful for women and excessive indulgence. Indeed, after Yang Chengfu arrived in Shanghai, because his reputation was too prominent, some ladies and ladies also came to learn from their teachers, and his side could be said to be beautiful like clouds.
However, for this statement, Jing Huashi was even more unhappy, and he proved that Yang Chengfu and his wife had a very loving relationship and attached great importance to honor. Ever since a young lady came to learn boxing, he has a beard and never talks much with his wife and lady.
So, what exactly did Yang Chengfu die for?
Jing Huashi, who was deeply familiar with medical science, gave an answer, saying that Yang Chengfu died of eating irregularities.
It turned out that when Yang Chengfu was practicing in his early years, due to the extremely large amount of exercise, his meal volume was also very large. Not only do you have to eat 30 steamed buns at the end of a meal, but also eat a whole pig's trotter plus a chicken or duck.
However, after becoming a martial arts master, his practice was not as good as before, but the amount of food did not decrease. And he had no meat and no joy, and he had to eat fatty food every meal. In this way, Yang Chengfu's weight soon exceeded 200 pounds. Obesity causes high cholesterol and lipids, and it cannot be lowered for a long time. This eventually triggered a serious heart attack, which was what led to his sudden death.
In any case, although Yang Chengfu was not hard enough in his early years, he only learned the flower shelf. But later, he worked hard and finally did not insult the reputation of Yang's Taijiquan, became a generation of masters, and made great contributions to the promotion of Taijiquan.