An inheritance most treasured
Zhu Linyong
China Daily
Publication Date: 13-08-2008




Sixty-four-year-old Guo Zhenya's most cherished family heirloom is not a big house, expensive piece of jewelry, or ancient masterpiece.
"What I have held as precious as my own life are the taichi quan, xingyi quan and bagua zhang martial art skills I inherited from my father," says Guo.
The kungfu master from Hebei province is the fourth-generation holder of the Liu style bagua zhang kungfu.
"My father devoted all his life and energy into these martial arts skills," says Guo. "I must live up to his expectations."
His father Guo Mengshen (1890-1973) began practicing kungfu at the age of 12, learning from various kungfu masters. Guo Zhenya was first trained in bagua zhang then in xingyi quan--and finally tai chi quan, all by his father.
The training between father and son even continued in secrecy during the cultural revolution (1966-76), Guo recalls.
"My father set a good example for me," says Guo. "A kungfu practitioner keeps learning throughout his entire lifetime."
Xingyi quan, bagua zhang and taichi quan are the top three Chinese kungfu styles, which are widely considered to be typical Chinese internal schools of marital arts. The martial art forms put a greater emphasis on developing a balance between internal and external strength. According to Guo, Chinese kungfu is divided into two types: the school of outer form and the school of internal art.
"The outer form school looks really beautiful and puts on a good show. Meanwhile, the internal school does not look good at all, but it is real kungfu," says Guo.
Those who practice the outer form become weaker as they grow older, while those practicing the internal art grow stronger as they age, claims Guo, who has never missed a day of training over the past four decades.
But, the internal art training is painful in the beginning.
"Gradually, you will enjoy doing it and be unwilling to give it up no matter what happens in your personal life. Devotion to martial arts not only maintains your health, but also makes your willpower stronger," says Guo, smiling.
In the late 1970s, Guo worked as a sports teacher at a local high school. But when he learned wushu (kungfu) contests were to resume in China after the politically turbulent years, he began devoting his time to self-training.
"It was hard time for me: I worked during the daytime and trained either in the early morning or evening. I also had to support my mom, wife and children," Guo recalls.
His hard work, however, paid off. From 1980-1982, Guo won three gold medals and a silver for his barehanded performance of Bagua Zhang and for performances with dangerous weapons including hooked swords and large knives.
His book Bagua Knife has been a bestseller for the past two decades. Many people have since come forward seeking an apprenticeship from Guo.
But, Guo doesn't just take on any student. Like his father did, Guo screens his students and requires them to partake in a solemn oath-taking ceremony to ensure their commitment to learning the martial art and preserving its Chinese culture.
"Family heirlooms, or what people call intangible cultural heritages must be handled with genuine respect," explains Guo, who also completed a ceremony before learning from his father.
Both of Guo's sons, Guo Hao, 36, and Guo Yong, 34, have also gone through such kowtow ceremonies. His grandson Guo Zhongjia has also begun learning the basics of xingyi quan from his elder son.
"When he grows up and takes learning kungfu seriously, he will still have to go through such a sacred ceremony," says Guo. "Only those who are trust-worthy will get the chance to inherit and then pass on the treasures to future generations."
To date, Guo has trained about 300 students, including some from Japan and South Korea. "Compared to other kungfu masters, this is a very humble number," admits Guo. "(The) quality of the students is far more important than quantity."
Youngsters today have all kinds of opportunity to learn about martial arts through some 15,000 wushu (kungfu) clubs and schools across the country. Many eager kungfu students can find teachers at parks, who offer lessons at a low price, or even free-of-charge, says Beijing news editor Wu Jianlu, who also manages www.wushu2008.cn, which is one of the hottest websites for Chinese kungfu aficionados.
While an abundance of books, video materials and kungfu websites are also aplenty these days, Guo's old-school teaching methods are still the best way to learn the art form, says Wu.
"Guo's seemingly outdated way of teaching traditional Chinese marital arts makes one rethink how (we should) pass on the cherished cultural heritage effectively," says Wu.
Guo agrees and says modern technological advancements play, at best, a helping role in mastering kungfu.
"Indirect learning may enrich your knowledge about Chinese kungfu, but it may also confuse you as you can not really digest the overwhelming and in many cases conflicting information," says Guo. "In a nutshell, Chinese kungfu is a human art; it must be transmitted from hand to hand (and) from heart to heart."