Master Zhang
Zhang Changwang was born in Beijing on the 27th of February in 1951. He has been mentioned in Hongkong-based "Famous people" and "Chinese talents" -publications. Zhang Changwang was 9 years old when he started to practice Shaolin Quan under the direction of a famous Shaolin master Kong Zhao Xiang. Zhang Changwang was master Kong's apprentice for 17 years until his master died. Zhang developed to a very high level in Shaolin Quan and in Wu Tang Tui especially.
Zhang Changwang wanted to deepen his knowledge of Chinese martial arts. Through a friend he got acquainted with a well known Yi Quan master Cui You Cheng. Training with Master Cui You Cheng helped Zhang achieve a holistic understanding of Yiquan's explosive power. Zhang realized that in Yi Quan lies the core of martial arts. Zhang began to practice Zhan Zhuang with the guidance of master Cui You Cheng. Through him he got to know other Yi Quan masters, Wang Bin Kui and Yao Zong Xun.
Zhang Changwang trained mostly with master Yao Zong Xun. In his older days Yao lived in Zhang's home for over a year. He taught Zhang with such determination that Zhang ended up devoting his life to comprehending and orientating Yi Quan. After master Yao had moved out he still taught Zhang regularly every Friday at Zhang's home. Zhang Changwang also took part in San Shou full contact combats in which he succeeded very well.
Zhang Changwang learned calligraphy in order to understand Yi Quan more deeply. His calligraphy teacher was famous Chinese artist and calligrapher Dong Shou Ping. In his younger years he had trained Yi Quan with the man who developed Yi Quan, Wang Xiang Zhai. According to Wang Xiang Zhai there is a deep connection between Yi Quan and calligraphy like there is between other arts and philosophies. Zhang has also tried to deepen his understanding in philosophy, physiology and medicine in addition to practicing Yi Quan and calligraphy.
Zhang Changwang says that training Yi Quan has helped him to comprehend the skill of being a human and all the phenomenons that are connected to life. Yi Quan has brought meaning and purpose to his own life and given him unlimited amount of good moments and joy. He keeps on teaching Yi Quan actively and he has pupils in China and Finland.
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Introduction to YiQuan
Yi Quan is an internal Chinese martial art that Master Wang Xiangzhai developed in the first half of the 20th century. Wang, a student of Xingyi Quan master Guo Yunshen, combined the fundamental principles of various Chinese martial arts to create an art that underlines the importance of good health and using the mind to training the whole body as one. In fact, "Yi" means "mind", "intention", or "will" while "quan" means "boxing" or "fist".
Yi Quan rejects the elaborate sets of pre-determined movements that are typical to other Chinese arts, be it Taiji or Shaolin gongfu. Instead, Yi Quan has different types of training methods that slowly build internal movement and then turn it step-by-step into external movement. This external movement is then internalized again as we return to the beginning to find that, although seemingly the same, the training that we did in the beginning has now taken a whole new meaning.
The very first training method and the core of Yi Quan is stationary posture training. We stand, sit, and lie in various postures and use mental images to stimulate internal movement. Slowly our whole body begins to respond to our mental images, and we begin feel internal movement.
Having thus united our body to work as one, we then begin to externalize this internal movement through testing the power exercises. Now we do slow movements against the resistance of our mind, as if moving in water. First we do testing the power exercises standing in place and then we incorporate stepping into it. Slowly our movements become freer and freer until we can dance against the resistance of the air like a dragon roving amidst the clouds.
Push-hand training involves two people doing testing the power training together.
As we learn to externalize the power through testing the power exercises and become more acutely aware of the resistance, we can start to learn how to release our internal power out. Releasing the power exercises engage the whole body to produce a short burst of power.
Finally, there is the actual martial art training involving punching, kicking, and wrestling for those who are interested in this aspect of Yi Quan. Most people, however, train Yi Quan simply to improve their health and quality of life.
Stationary posture training starts an internal process where our metabolism is stimulated to nourish and clean our bodies. That is why our bodies must be relaxed during the training: Our blood circulation has to reach every part of our bodies to bring nutrients and oxygen, and to remove waste products.
We feel this process as different types of sensations in our bodies. Slowly the internal sensations spread to the whole body and start to move from the skin surface all the way to the bone marrow and back again.
After years and years of training, we only need to use our minds to stimulate this process in our bodies. External forms have disappeared, and our body and mind are one.