Northern Shao lin, the 32nd Anniversary of Kuo Yu Chang's Death,
By Chen Hsin Mon

Source: Wu Lin,#2, 1984
Translated by Benton Dere, 1985
Edit by Robert Louie, January 15, 1992

Note: Chen Hsin Mon was a disciple of Kuo Yu Chang and was rated as one of the top ten disciples. This article is very important because it contains some insight about the style and about Kuo Yu Chang from someone who directly learned from him. It also gives us some idea of what the status of Northern Shao lin is in China today.

Shao lin kung fu took root and grew in Southern China and Ku Yu Chang played a major role in this. Kuo Yu Chang was from Huning Chiang Su. He was born in 1894 to a poor peasant family. At that time the country was in terrible shape. When he was 8 years old, Kuo Yu Chang started to learn kung fu from a Shangtung master, Yim Chi Wen. Yim Chi Wen was a man who lived during both the Ching dynasty and the beginning of the Republic. He was well verse in the Shao lin arts. People called him "Great Spear Yim". Kuo Yu Chang became well known for his Shao lin kung fu in several provinces such as Su Chiang, Che Chiang, Hunan, Hupei, etc.

In 1928, Nanking Central National Arts Institute held a national arts competition. Kuo Yu Chang came out with very high praise. When Kuo Yu Chang was in his twenties, he no longer feared hardship. He traveled all over Chiang nan province, and spread the Shao lin arts. In the late 1920's, he and four other men, Wan Li Sheng, Li Hsien Wu, and Fu Chen Sheng, who were all famous northern style masters, went to Kwangtung province. This was noted in the book of Wu Lin Chen Ku, "Five Tigers heading south of Chiang nan." In 1928, Kuo Yu Chang was appointed instructor for both of the Kungtung and Kwangsi National Arts schools. In 1929, Kuo Yu Chang formed the Kuang Chou National Arts Society with himself as the chief instructor. It was from here that Shao lin Kung fu began to spread into Southern China.

Kuo Yu Chang's kung fu was at a very high level. Anyone who saw him perform were really amazed. His kung fu was lively and people felt involved in the kung fu when they watched him perform. Because his iron palm was so good, he was nicknamed "Iron Palm Kuo Yu Chang". His hands were soft as cotton which was not unusual. But when he used his hands, it smashed rocks into many pieces and could bend raw iron. His palm strength reached a high level of development and it always amazed people when he demonstrated. When he used his Iron Palm, he could used different levels of force, that is, he had the ability to control the amount of force coming from his palms. Many Kwangchou people have seen him take ten tiles, one on top of another, strike the first tile, and the tiles between the top and the bottom tiles broke into pieces, but both the top and bottom tiles remained intact.

In 1931, a strong man from Russia came to Kwangchou at west Mellon Garden (now located at the People's Southern Road Kwangchou's Daily News Neighborhood), to demonstrate strength feats. We accompanied Kuo Yu Chang to see the strong man. When he came on stage, he pulled along a wild horse which no one could get near. If anyone could withstand a kick from the horse and not get killed, he would receive $200.00. Then someone in the audience shouted, "Russian, don't be so smug. Iron Palm Kuo is here to cut the strong man down to size and to show how proud Chinese are." Kuo Yu Chang went up on the stage. The strong man observed that Kuo Yu Chang appeared to be an uncommon man. Since the Russian did not know Kuo Yu Chang's background, he demanded Kuo Yu Chang have an examination by a medical doctor to insure that he was a normal human. Finally Kuo Yu Chang went to confront the wild horse. He got near the horse and using his palm lightly slapped it on the back. Immediately the horse did not move. On the second day, the horse did not eat and died. The doctor autopsied the horse and found severe internal injuries. The Russian quietly packed and left. This event of the 1930's is still much talked about among the old Kwangchou people today.