Twin Stars of Yiquan

-- Master Yao Chengguang and Yao Chengrong

by Mengshi

It is never merely because they are the sons of Yao Zongxun, great master of Yiquan, that Yao Chengguang and Yao Chengrong gained their fame. Born in 1953, these two brothers began to learn fist art at the age of nine, with their father as their teacher. Living in the atmosphere of orthodox Yiquan from the very beginning of their life, they were deeply influenced by what they saw and heard, and their every move and act were like those of a Yiquan practitioner. In addition, they were born bright with natural endowments. Thus, at a very young age, they had been among the favored students of Master Yao. In 1982, in the National Martial Arts Contest of Sanshou, with Yiquan skills, Yao Chengguang knocked down a quite famous martial artist in a short moment of 47 seconds. He displayed the power of orthodox Yiquan as well as his own gallant demeanor as the heir of a great martial master.

Yet, it was because they were the sons of Master Yao Zongxun that, under the strong wings of their father, they had never thought about the present state and the future of Yiquan. Everyday, they spent hours in diligent practice of Zhan Zhuang, Shi Li, Fa Li and real combat. The training life of Yiquan was as simple as a single line. Though their skills and artistry improved day by day, these twin brothers at that time could be only regarded as excellent boxing players, far away from their father's requirement of “to become a scholar in fist art”. In fact, the story of these twin brothers in real sense, began in the year 1985.

Father's death made Chengguang and Chengrong suddenly realize the heavy task on their shoulder. From that moment, they became mature.

In 1985, due to the diseases resulted from his overwork, with the deep regret of his noble aspirations not fulfilled, Master Yao Zongxun passed away. Father's departure made Chengguang and Chengrong suddenly realize the heavy task on their shoulder. At that moment, they suddenly came to understand the words their father had mentioned several times, “It is for the achievement of a scholar or a fist artist rather than just a fighter that one strives so hard to learn Yiquan.” They also came to a deeper understanding of the words their father often said with a sigh in the last few years of life, “You should press much harder to practice so as to master more theories and skills of boxing and understand more deeply about the theoretic system of training and the methods of it. Therefore, once the country calls for helps, we can send some qualified talents to serve the country as well to carry forward the national treasure of martial arts.”

Therefore, the twin brothers started again the harsh life of training. Though the contents were the same, hours of practice of Zhan Zhuang, Shi Li, Fa Li and real combat, the dull and monotonous training seemed to possess a deeper significance compared to before. The fierceness of punches and kicks and the swiftness of movements could no longer satisfy them whose mind was gradually being opened. Pondering over and over again their father's conclusion about how to be a human being and his thoughts on fist art as the result of a lifetime pursuit, they tried hard to explore the reasons behind these conclusions rather than just knowing the surface meaning. Friends who knew them keenly felt that after a decade's tempering and casting, the twin brothers had grown up and became mature. The strong sense of responsibility pushed them to strive unceasingly, and finally they sprang to fist artists from mere boxing players.

 

In 1988, the twin brothers went to Hong Kong and gave lectures. Their knowledge and skills caused a stir in the audience. The media of Hong Kong reported, “This is the orthodox Yiquan.”

In 1988, under the invitation of Mr. Huo Zhenhuan, the son of the famous patriot Mr. Huo Yingdong in Hong Kong, Yao Chengguang and Yao Chengrong went to Hong Kong to give lectures.

Since 1978, Mr. Huo Zhenhuan has came Beijing to learn Yiquan from Master Yao Zongxun on several business trips. Deeply in admiration of Master Yao's lofty virtue and excellent skills, Mr. Huo, when he went back to Hong Kong , founded Hong Kong Yiquan Learning Commission for the purpose to introduce and spread Yiquan. This time, with their long tradition of family learning, profound capabilities and outstanding boxing skills, the twin brothers made the martial arts circle of Hong Kong astir.

Once and once again, in either public exchanges of skills or those in internal circle, the twin brothers displayed their superb skills which were regarded as “magic”.

In the “Martial Arts Show Hall” which is about 20m × 20m, Yao Chengrong made his first show of Shi Li. With a succession of Tuishou with changing speed, he either pressed his opponent to the corner or caused the opponent to be thrown away and unable to strike back. Then, Yao Chengguang made his show. By provoking, or twisting, or a comprehensive control, while breaking down the opponent's balance, he released force immediately, and his opponent was thrown away right away. The twin brother won victories over every contest.

During their stay in Hong Kong , the twin brother also displayed various basic skills of Yiquan and tactics of attack and defense in real combats. Among them, the skill “Touch and Go” which is particularly keen and powerful, shocked the whole audience and aroused a roar of admiration. They showed what orthodox Yiquan should be to the fist fans of Hong Kong . Thus, Hong Kong 's press made comments as follows.

“Yiquan is a school of fist art which is extremely powerful and effective in real combats. With its swiftness and its unique Hunyuan Li, it knocks down its opponent in a short moment. It is only in real combats that its power and practical value can be seen.

“In Yiquan's Tuishou, forces from six directions come together on one point. With its explosive force as powerful as roaring waters, it can destroy everything wherever it runs over.

“At the very beginning, the opponent felt his hands were as if wound and his force could not be released. If he insisted on resisting, he would put himself under much larger pressure and would be thrown down more quickly and more heavily.

“The twin brothers of Yao are able to release force towards the opponent in a twinkle of eyes. Even if you are tall and strong, you would also be sprung out right away.

“They are able to change their speed suddenly to induce the opponent sideward and then give a push to him. And as always, one push is enough to knock down the opponent.”

The excellent skills of the twin brothers first gave a shock to Hong Kong 's martial arts circle, then aroused their respect and admiration, and then ignited an unprecedented “Fad of Yiquan”. The originally three-month lecture tour was prolonged another three months. Visitors streamed to them, either asking advices personally or taking part in the training courses to learn Yiquan. Such a passion for Yiquan, according to the press of Hong Kong, was “rare in the history of Hong Kong 's martial arts circle”.

Keniqi Takuike, the “Sage of Fist Art” in Japan , told his disciple in his last words, “I am the No.1 in Japan , but Master Yao Zongxun was the No. 1 in the world. You must go to Beijing to learn from his children.”

Keniqi Takuike, learning Yiquan from Master Wang Xiangzhai in 1930s, was a fellow student of Master Yao Zongxun who helped him a lot during that time. When he came back to Japan , Takuike established Taikiken and gained popularity gradually and finally was regarded the “Sage of Fist Art”. After 50 years, when he saw the video about the demonstrating movements of Master Yao Zongxun, he exclaimed emotionally with a sigh, “I am the No.1 in Japan , while Master Yao is the No. 1 in the world.” He told his students, “I have only grasped the inkling of fist art. In the future, if you have the chance to meet Master Yao, you must go and see his superb skills.” In 1988, he died of illness. On his deathbed, he said, “I'm old, and my life is near the end. Master Yao had also passed away. You must go to Beijing in the future and learn from his children to know what Yiquan really is.”

In December of 1990, following their teacher's last words, Bin Amano, the national champion and the second place in Europe of karate, Akira Saito, national champion, and Kubo Isato, also national champion, came directly to Yao Chengrong's house.

In front of these three stalwart persons who were all 180 cm tall and weighed 80 or even 90 kg, the ability of Yao Chengrong, who was only 169 cm tall and weighed 63 kg, was really doubtable. A real combat for the purpose of exchange of skills started immediately in alley in front of Yao 's house.

The first one who fought Yao Chengrong was Bin Amano. Just had he touched Yao , he was thrown away without knowing how. After being beaten several times, he changed his strategy and raised his hand to clutch. When he was about to raise his leg also, Yao Chengrong, like a flashing lightening, twisted his body suddenly and released force sideward, and Amano was again knocked down. Akira Saito replaced Amano to fight Yao . Seeing that his opponent was shifting his gravity center downward, Yao Chengrong rotated to the side and issued force at the moment when the other one was imbalanced. Akira Saito was also thrown away heavily. After that, by exerting force to the front and by spiral force, Yao pushed the Saito away twice continuously. Yet, it was Kubo Isato who got the most severe falls. Though drawing lessons from the other two, he moved left and right without face-to-face confrontation with Yao , still Yao was able to seek an opportunity to release force. As a result, Isato was thrown away from the steps to the street out of the door, with his face upward.

The next day, the three again had a contest with Yao Chengguang in Minzu Hotel (National Hotel). In the end, all of them were knocked down successively with such a strong force that even the wall in the room was crashed with a hole.

All these three disciples of Takuike were completely convinced. They said, “It is unbelievable that such short persons are possessed so high level of marital arts. It's really hard to imagine. The twin brothers of Yao are very outstanding fist artists. They've got the true essence of Yiquan.”

In December of 1992, under the invitation of Yokohama Taikiken Research Association in Japan , the twin brothers of Yao went there to give lectures and exchanged views and skills. During their stay, the Japanese side invited many strong martial artists to compete with them. And the result turned out to be that every victory belonged to the twin brothers. Such glorious victories aroused attention of Japan 's marital arts circle. Five Japanese marital magazines covered the stories on Yiquan as well as on the boxing skills of the twin brothers. It became commonly recognized that Yiquan is a very excellent boxing school and its training methods are the most advanced in not only China and Japan , but also in the whole world. As the twin brothers of Yao gained fame and admiration in Japan , another round of “fad of Yiquan” was started in Japan .

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All rights reserved. Yao Chengguang, Beijing Zongxun Wuguan,Beijing Institue of YiQuan