Hsu Hung-chi

Hsu Hung-chi

Hsu Hung-Chi (Wade-Giles), or Xu Hongji (Hanyu Pinyin) (許鴻基, 1934-1984) was a Taiwanese martial artist who specialized in the internal Chinese arts of xingyiquan, baguazhang and taijiquan.

Hsu Hong-Chi was born in Taibei, Taiwan in 1934 to a family of six brothers. In school, he was very atheletic and participated in swimming, soccer and judo. He began his study of Shaolin kungfu with his father at an early age. He also learned boxing and became a skilled street fighter. After studying the external styles of shaolin for many years, he discovered the unique effectiveness of the internal martial arts and began training with Hung I-Hsiang, a master of all three of the major Chinese internal arts, xingyiquan, baguazhang and taijiquan.

After many years of training, Hsu opened his own martial arts school. Hsu's school used a modified version of the Tang Shou Tao (唐手道; lit. Chinese Hand Way) system developed by his teacher Hung-I Hsiang. Hsu named his school Shen Long Tang Shou Tao (神龙唐手道; lit. Spirit Dragon Chinese Hand Way). Tang Shou Tao is not a separate style of martial art, but rather a practical, step-by-step, systematic approach to learning internal martial arts and developing highly refined levels of skill.

It incorporates elements of all three of the internal arts (xingyi, bagua, taiji) as well as shaolin kungfu and qigong. Although he incorporated elements learned from other teachers, Hsu's Tang Shou Tao curriculum was very similar to Hung's.

Hsu felt that if a person, no matter what their race or nationality, sincerely wanted to learn and was willing to work hard, then he would teach them. In the late 1960's he began teaching American and Japanese students in Taiwan. This lead to his falling out of grace with many of his fellow Chinese, including his teacher Hung I-Hsiang, even though Hsu was one of Hung's senior students at the time.

For many years, Hsu went to teach in Japan every year and several of his Japanese students opened schools there. He also went to the U.S. several times and taught a number of long-term American students in Taiwan. Many of his students now have schools in the United States, including Mike Patterson, James McNeil, Mike Bingo, Tom Bisio, John Price and Vince Black, among others.

References

• Miller, Dan, Pa Kua Chang Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4.

Links to Websites of Hsu Hung-Chi's Students

• Hsing-I Martial Arts Institute (Mike Patterson)
• Little Nine Heaven Kung Fu School (James McNeil)
• New York Internal Arts (Tom Bisio)
• American Tang Shou Tao Association (Dale Shigenaga)
• North American Tang Shou Tao Association (Vince Black)