Xun Guang Long
Praying Mantis Shifu
The information presented in this chart was collected from different sources -see Bibliography-, therefore the romanizations in Pinyin according to the Mandarin pronunciation of the characters sometimes is not available. If you find any mistakes or inaccuracies please contact me.
His name is also romanized as:
Hsun Kuang Long / Shyun Kwan Long / James Sun
Based on the bio published in his web site, shifu Xun Guang Long started his training under shifu Wei Xiao Tang when he was six years old. When shifu Xun Guang Long was 18 he won the International Full Contact Martial Arts Championships and remained champion through five consecutive years. He then retired from tournament fighting.
Shifu Xun Guang Long has taught martial arts in Taiwan, including instruction to the Taiwanese Marine Corp., and at age 26, once he had completed his training under shifu Wei Xiao Tang, he began travel in order to spread the system of Ba Bu Tang Lang.
Shifu Xun Guang Long traveled to Singapore, Japan, West Germany, France and Australia. He finally settled down in the USA in 1983 where he worked instructing law enforcement agencies. Shifu Xun Guang Long is also a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Professor at a Chinese Medical School.
He opened his school in San Francisco in 1984 and in 1990 he changed the name of his style to Xun (Shyun) Style Praying Mantis.
There has been some controversy in the USA related to authenticity of Xun Guang Long credentials and his claims about being the sole inheritor of the Ba Bu Tang Lang Quan style. It is not the purpose of this document to discuss that subject, therefore I will just not give any opinion. I'll write some facts and I hope the reader will make his own research:
* The praying mantis boxing taught by shifu Xun Guang Long has a strong Qi Xing flavor and bears no resemblance to shifu Wei Xiao Tang's Ba Bu Tang Lang Quan.
* His curriculum includes de form Lan Jie (a variation of shifu Zhang De Kuei version) that does not belong to the Ba Bu Tang Lang Quan style.
* Xun Guang Long teaching has differences with other Ba Bu Tang Lang Quan masters, while most of what other shifu Wei Xiao Tang's disciples teach is pretty similar. He claims shifu Wei Xiao Tang taught him a different version being the inheritor.
The San Francisco school is now headquarters for the American Chinese Martial Arts Federation, a network of martial arts schools throughout the United States and Canada (California, South Dakota, Alabama, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Georgia).
Page Updated: 1st May 2005.
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Fernando Blanco Dopazo .