1929 Hangzhou Leitai Tournament - Ma Chengzhi (XingYi) vs. Han Qingtang (long fist)
After the match, Han praised Ma’s movement, saying
“He’s like a shadow, constantly changing his angles of approach, I couldn’t even see him, never mind hit him.”IMO, if Han couldn't even see Ma's attack, Ma was moving very "fast".
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https://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2009 ... ournament/As the tournament progressed, the bouts became more and more exciting, with the crowds numbering in the tens of thousands. No longer did we see protracted battles of attrition: some of the matches were over within a couple of exchanges of blows. In the final stages of the tournament, the match between Ma Chengzhi and Han Qingtang [6] was a standout. Ma and Han met in the 6th round of the tournament, by which point there were only 10 competitors left. Han Qingtang was one of the representatives of Northern Shaolin of the era. He was particularly skilled at Praying Mantis and Taizu Long Fist.
At the beginning of the bout, Ma advanced on Han, with Han adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach. When they were about 3 or 4 feet apart, Han, thinking that Ma would keep advancing, launched his attack, only to find that Ma had already switched legs and use xingyi’s horse shape to ‘counter-attack. Thus, Han found that he had not made any substantial contact but instead moved right into Ma’s strike. Han was knocked back several steps, but did not go down. Having recovered his balance, Han once again adopted a ‘wait-and-see’ approach, whilst Ma slowly approached. Han then retreated, thinking to lure Ma into attacking. As soon as Ma followed, Han launched kick & punch combos. Ma didn’t retreat or block, but rather ducked into xingyi’s bear shape, advanced, evaded Han’s attack and punched Han in the jaw. Han instantly went down. After the match, Han praised Ma’s movement, saying
“He’s like a shadow, constantly changing his angles of approach, I couldn’t even see him, never mind hit him.”