My mother was my first martial art teacher. She taught me all of the fundamentals. The one that amazed me most and made me willing to work hard was one-legged squats. In order to do the same, I practiced over and over and over.
My mother did not really study martial arts. She was born and grew up in a village in Shandong Province, northern China, where knowing martial arts was a way of survival. Her father owned an orchard and was wealthy. She picked up a little here and there from her family guards.
In 1937, she joined the Tianfushan uprising against the occupying Japanese. One day, she was pursued and cornered by a group of Japanese solders. After knocking down 5, she climbed over an 8 foot wall and got away. Since then, the Japanese avoided confronting her. Even in 1980s, people in the village and nearby still remembered her as the big hero of the war against the Japanese.
I mentioned this story to her last year, she said: ”I did not really studied martial arts, I was young and I was fighting for my life. But it was true that the Japanese solders would pretend not knowing I was around after that event.”
We lived across street from the famous West Lake in Hangzhou, where my mother practiced with many martial artists. I picked up a little here and there since I was very young.
My mother started practicing Tai Chi in 1965. I joined her soon after. She was forced to stop practicing first by the Cultural Revolution and later for health conditions.
I've studied under many masters for various styles.
For Tai Chi, I studied under Grand Master Ma Xiangdong. Mr. Ma studied under the famous Chen Bangda. Mr. Chen studied under Han qingtang, Liu Baichuan and Chen Ziming.
For Shaolin, I studied under Master Jin Ming.
For Qinna, I studied under Master Cao feng.
In 1970, I joined the military. From my martial arts background, I was assigned to and intensively trained in a special unit.
In 1985, I started to help my masters teach. For me it was a process of perfecting what I had learned. If I could say I obtained a weapon by studying the martial arts, I would say I learned how to maintain the weapon in teaching.