Grand master, Li Zun Si

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

Master Li Zun Si was born on 28th of May 1918 to a poor muslim family in Shenqiu, Henan. He loved martial arts from a young age and when he was 10 started to learn Bei Shaolin Chuan, from a local kung fu teacher. When he was 13 he went to the Shaolin temple to become a student, although he didn't want to be ordained as a monk (being a muslim), so he stayed as a non ordained student for 3 years.

After leaving Shaolin temple, he met the most famous Cha Chuan grand master Ma Zhong Qi, who was also living in Shenqiu. Ma Zhong Qi at one time was the body guard of Yuan Si Kai, who was the governor of Korea, during the Qing dynasty and who later became the emperor of China for 30 days.

At the age of 16,  master Li became Ma Zhong Qi's disciple, first learning Cha Chuan's shi lu tan tui (10 segment flicking legs), er shi lu (20 Forms) Cha Chuan and 18 different weapons.

Ma Zhong Qi saw that Li had a firm foundation, was clever, and trained very hard and relentless, therefore he inherited all his skills, becoming Ma Zhong Qi's top student.

With such a high level of Cha Chuan, master Li could have established his own school, though master Li decided instead to persist in searching for the higher levels of traditional martial arts.

Master Li travelled to Hankou to become a student of Xin Yi Liu He Chuan master Mai Jin Kui.  Master Li already possessed a high level of skill, so under the whole hearted teaching of Mai, he progressed rapidly, inheriting master Mai's skills, one of them which his master was famous for was the liang jie gun (2 segment staff).

In the beginning of the early 1940's, 25 year old master Li went to Shanghai to make his mark, he met his Cha Chuan brother Hai Zao Xiang and also another Cha Chuan master Yu Hua Long. The 3 of them had just arrived in Shanghai at roughly the same time, so they together started to follow Master Ji Jin San, who at that time had a fearsome reputation in the Shanghai Wu Lin (martial art world).

For the purpose of understanding other muslim martial art systems, Master Li became a student of Guo Wen Zhi (Qi Shi, 7 posture system grand master). Master Li was living in Zhejiang Road, Shanghai, and was located very close to a mosque. Within the close knit muslim community, master Li heard of a famous Xin Yi master named Lu Song Gao and was soon privileged to receive instruction from him.

After years of research on kung fu, Master Li came to the conclusion that Xin Yi Liu He Chuan Kung Fu was the ultimate martial art, so he practiced it harder and more persistently than ever before.

In early 1940s, for the purpose of covering up war atrocities and the invasion of China, Japan organized an East Asian games. At that time in history, the occupied area of China was governed by the Wang Jing Wei government. The delegation that participated in the games was led by the foreign minister, Chu Min Yi, from the Wang government. Also among the delegation to participate in the games was Shuai Jiao master Song Zhen Fu, Cha Chuan master Hai Zao Xiang (a disciple of Ma Zhong Qi), Wang Chang Sheng (Ma Jin Biao's disciple from Shandong) and master Li Zun Si, who was at that time was 27 years old. Master Li was representing the art of Xin Yi Liu He Chuan.

Master Li demonstrated Xin Yi’s , si ba (4 strikes), liang jie gun (2 segment staff) and Cha Chuan’s da lian zi (big sickle).

Master Li was tall and well built, so during the demonstration he looked quite formidable and won much applause from the crowd. Master Li was later awarded a medal for excellence from the Japanese Emperor however it was taken away from him by the red guards, during the communist revolution and was never returned. This medal incited a lot of jealousy from Japanese martial artists.

One Japanese martial artist issued a challenge to Master Li, to have a contest between skills. Although almost half of China was occupied by the Japanese, master Li could not give the impression that the Chinese would accept the mentality of being a colonized slave, so he readily accepted the challenge. He approached the delegation leader and said, "If I should die, I do so without no regret, just send my body back to China, then I will be eternally at peace". He then approached the platform where the fight was to take place, where the Japanese was standing Katana drawn, Master Li's weapon of choice was the chi mei gun (eyebrow high staff).

The Chi Mei Gun sutra states "Excellence in application, message all from the rear leg, hit with inch force, no breaks no postures, follow in, follow out. To sense the enemy's intention, using resistance in your sensing indicates a low level of skill, it should change spontaneously is the real essence, using hard force to block is also a low level skill, the true methods of ,xin yi liu he gun is very rare and precious, when the fighting is won by unexpected strike, it does not need to block, only follow the principles of xin yi gun, it never needs more than one strike to end the fight, focus on one strike to end the battle,  rather than on repeated strikes."

心意六合棍总诀
六合棍，用法精，消息全在后腿蹬，打寸劲，莫消停，顺来顺去察他意，
横来横取察未精，变化无穷是真意，硬招硬架是蠢功，六合棍法世间稀，出奇制胜把敌击，不招不架随法使，只在一下不在多。

The Japanese had his katana pointing towards master Li, seeking an opening in Li's posture, though Li's posture remained neutral and calm, but his eyes reflected a venomous intention, so the Japanese used extreme caution and waited patiently.

Master Li used ji bu (chicken step) to move in quickly pointing the tip of the stick at the Japanese warrior's face. The Japanese reacted lightning fast and tried to chop the incoming stick in half, but failed to realize, that it was in fact a feint, hiding master Li's true intentions.

Master Li slid the stick back in his palm giving it the appearance of being shorter, so the Japanese chopped empty air; master Li however was using Xin Yi's unique footwork to chase him and to penetrate his unprotected flank. Following the momentum of the lifting of his stick, he uses the back of the staff to strike both wrists of the Japanese at the same time generating lei/shen (lightning, thunder). As soon as the sound had finished resonating from master Li's inner core the Japanese katana had flown several meters away and the Japanese himself had been blown back with the initial force.

As soon as the Japanese had fallen, master Li used kuai bu (fast stepping), likened to a horses' gallop and a tigers pouncing, turning the stick head towards his fallen opponents throat, using the technique "rotate the stick head, feared pointing". If at that moment, master Li had used dan tian jin (internal force), to deliver the killing blow, the staff head would have pierced his opponent's throat.

In sparing the Japanese his life, master Li demonstrated how high Chinese martial art's morality was. The impact he had made on those that were present was enough to end any further challenges. The Chinese martial art delegations triumphed at the games through unsurpassed skill and indomitable spirit.

Master Li never stopped his research and his learning in the arts, apart from humbly learning from Lu SongGao, he also had looked after and discussed Xin Yi with Li Hao You when he was visiting Shanghai in the 1940s. Li Hao You was the top disciple of Shang Xue Li. Later in life, around the 1970s, Master Li also looked after and discussed Xin Yi with Yang Dian Qing’s nephew and disciple, Master Yang Xian Lin.

Master Li's Xin Yi’s Chuan skill is well renowned throughout Shanghai. There was an old Xin Yi Master called Tie Guo Cheng, who had been teaching Xin Yi very close to Jing An Si (Jing An buddhist temple) in Shanghai.

When he was alive, Master Tie often commented of master Li Zun Si's skill. Master Tie's Xin Yi, however is different from Zhou Kou's branch.

Before his death master Tie requested his wife to gather all his students and then sent them to follow master Li Zun Si, including a student called Yu Quan Jin, who this year has turned 74. Master Tie Guo Cheng died just over 80 years of age at the beginning of the communist cultural revolution.

In Shanghai in 1961, Master Li performed Cha Chuan's broad sword and 9 segment chain, one held in each hand. China's Deputy Prime minister at that time, Chen Yi praised master Li for his outstanding performance and spoke to him after the demonstration. Soon after master Li was invited to be coach for Shaolin martial art's team, but declined because of difficulty with the communist revolution.


Master Li Zun Si also spent a lot of time tidying up old Xin Yi Chuan sutras, in the 1970's he let his student Wan Xiao Xian write 2 volumes of these sutras. (later in life these sutras and some of Hua To’s medical formulae were presented to Dr. Stephen Yan by master Li, for preservation and study).

After the cultural revolution, master Li was acquitted of any misunderstandings with the Chinese government. In 1982 master Li was elected the judicator of the China traditional committee. Also in 1982, he participated in the China 2nd minority sports games, winning 1st prize for his Kung Fu.

In 1985 he was awarded the title of leading instructor by the China National sports committee. This award placed master Li at the top of 1000 other instructors nation wide. Further on in 1986, he participated in the 3rd China minority games in which he was awarded 1st place.

Master Li Zun Si has over 100 students, among these the most famous are Han Hai Hua, Tao Guang Wen, Er Mao, Sun Shuang Xi, etc. Tao Guang Wen is known as the "oriental strongman", who can wield a 40 kg Kwan Dao and pull 5 heavy bows all at the same time.  Shun Shuang Xi, has been running his business in Yi Wu, Zhenjiang province, he has a big reputation with his Xin Yi Chuan.

Dr. Stephen Yan (Yan Zhi Yuan)
President of the International Wu Tao Federation
President of the Wellington branch, New Zealand Chinese Wu Shu and Kung Fu association.