[setsu nin to]

Mizong Quan

HongKongDragon
Mizong Quan

Mizong is a major classical system. It ingeniously blends various Nei Jia(internal) and Wia Jia (external) styles, fusing soft and hard, as well as fast and slow elements of Tai Ji, Xing Yi, Ba Gua and Shao Lin into an integrated whole. The results characterized by powerful techniques which are combat effective yet aesthetic and graceful. As one would expect of a northern system, Mizong incorporates a full range of kicks, sweeps, jumps, low squats, ground and other leg manoeuvres. What distinguishes it from other northern styles however an equal emphasis is on hand techniques including a wide variety of fist, palm and pressure point strikes. Add to this a complete arsenal of the classical "18 weaponry" and the trained Mizong fighter is well equipped for hand to hand combat.

History of Mizong Quan

Practitioners of Mizong Quan have legends about the birth of their style, in much the same way as other styles do. Confusion can abound because of the length of time these styles exist. Over long periods of time linguistically names change as well as for historical reasons. However the styles’ lineage can be reliably traced back to the middle period of the Qing Dynasty.

Note. Other names for this style are YanQing Quan, Mizong Yi and Nizong Quan.

The Legends


Tang Dynasty

Jin Naluo

Jin Naluo could well be the earliest practitioner of Mizong Quan. Legend has it that during his travels he spotted gibbons fighting and chasing one another along a mountainside path. Even at the height of the encounters the attacking gibbons were never tense but always remained quick and agile, particularly one older looking gibbon who looked graceful, strong and supple. With the eye of an experienced martial artist, Jin Naluo was so inspired that he incorporated the ape’s movements into his own fighting system. This he name Nizong Quan (Wild animal Fists). The suggestion has been that Nizong became Mizong because the character Ni is pronounced Mi in the Beijing accent.

Song Dynasty

Lu Junyi

Lu Junyi was one of 108 martial heroes immortalized in the epic novel Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh). He was said to have developed a fighting style that fused Shaolin techniques and neigong (internal exercises to cultivate Ji). Whilst living at the Shaolin temple he earned notoriety by testing his various methods against challengers. Although many sought him out for instruction he resisted the idea until he caught a young man named Yan Jing (a servant in his household who took the job to observe Lu Junyi) practicing his techniques having secretly observed Lu. Rather than get angry he recognized Yan’s potential and accepted him as a disciple.

Yan Jing

As victims of government injustice both took refuge at the outlaw’s mountain retreat and became major characters in the legend. Lu taught Yan Jing the entire system and the responsibility to pass on this, meant that Yan had his own band of disciples. They initially called their style YangJing Quan to honour their teacher, but realizing that this threatened to compromise their still fugitive teacher they renamed it Mizong Quan: Secret (Buddhist) Sect Boxing. This was in honour of its Shaolin roots.

Another version on the name Mizong for this period was that Yan Jing had tricked government troops trying to capture him at the mountain hideout by leading them through a maze of false trails and the retracing his own tracks to safety. They called their style Mizong Yi (the art of Lost Track).

History

Qing Dynasty
Sun Tong (1st Generation Mizong Master)

Most modern day Mizong practitioners trace the arts origin to a man named Sun Tong who popularized the form in the 18th Century. He was a native of Shandong province and was born in 1722. He learned martial arts from a teacher named Zhang and then spent ten years refining his skills whilst living in the Shaolin Temple. After he left the temple, he travelled around China, teaching martial arts in Hebei Province, ending up settling in Hebei’s Cangzhou Prefecture. He was not only skilled in Shaolin systems but a practioner of Jinna (joint locking), dianmai (pressure point striking), bagua (eight trigrams) and the use of classical weapons. One of Sun’s top disciples was a man named Chen Shan (2nd Generation Mizong Master) who in turn taught his style to others. They named their style Mizong Quan (Secret Buddhist Sect Boxing)

Huo Yuanjia

Another branch of Mizong (a cousin style of the one practiced here) grew in the mid 19th Century in Jinhai County, which neighbours Cangzhou in a family led by a caravan bodyguard/armed escort Huo Endi. According to the China Sports Publication, Huo was a well known boxer who passed on his skills to sons, including Huo Yuanjia (1869-1909). Although he was the weakest and smallest of the Huo children his reputed courage and exploits made famous the Huo family system, which they called Mizong Yi During the decline of the Qing Dynasty and the encroachment of the foreign powers in China, he became a national hero and source of Chinese pride when he won several encounters with foreign strongmen in highly publicized encounters.

The story of his life is familiar to many martial arts fans and fans of Bruce Lee who played Huo’s disciple in the film “Fists of Fury” and in Jet Li’s film “Fists of Legend”. Huo established the Jingwu Physical Culture association, but after his death (allegedly poisoned by unsuccessful challengers) other popular styles of the period were incorporated into it. This colourful heritage gave birth to a branch of the art called Mizong Luohan. (Lost Track Buddha Guardian Fist). This style formed the core of the martial arts curriculum taught at Hong Kong’s South China Athletic Association.

Yang Kunshan (4th Generation Mizong Master)

Yang was disciple of Chen Guanzhi (3rd Generation Mizong Master) who studied under 2nd Generation Mizong master Chen Shan. He taught a young man by the name of Lu ZhenDuo who impressed him so much with his intellect, outstanding character and physical capabilities that he accepted him as a disciple teaching him his entire knowledge of Mizong Quan, Jingping swordsmanship and Yang style Tai Ji.

Lu ZhenDuo (5th Generation Mizong Master)
Lu ZhenDuo (1903-1980), was a renowned martial art master in China; he came from Cangzhou, Hebei Province. At 7, he began to study martial arts from Master Yang Kunshan (alias swift-hand Yang), a very well known master in China in late 1880s/early 1890s. Master Lu excelled in his intellect and physical abilities, and gained Master Yang’s attention eventually becoming his disciple. Master Yang taught him the true essence of martial arts especially Mizong Boxing and Jingping Sword.

In 1922, Master Lu went to the Northern Provinces in China, next to the Korean and Russian border and opened ZhenWei martial art school Martial art Association. In the following year, he entered the Shenyan Martial Art Championship in a Lei-Tai style fighting competition (where competitors fought in combat on a raised platform) and won the championship. He became famous for his skill in Yueya Shovel (a long weapon) and sword. He was also known for his palm strikes (Iron Sand Palm) and earned the nick name “Lu the Hero” there. During this time he also became a close friend with Master Li Jinling who was a noted master in the skill of sword, they exchanged many technique.

Master Lu’s expertise was so well recognized that General Zhang Xueliang, a major warlord engaged him as his bodyguard. He also taught General Zhang some martial arts. For those who are not familiar with Chinese History, General Zhang was infamous for kidnapping the then Peoples Republic of China President Chaing Kai Shak in the so-called “Chungking Incident”.

In 1932, Master Lu entered the Tiajin Wushu Challenge Competition and again won the championship. In recognition of his skill, he was nicked named “Swift-hand Lu”.

In 1934, Master Lu under the assumed name of Lu Jianhua took part in the First National Championship and again won first prize in two events.

Master Lu was also proficient in traditional Chinese traumatology, and practiced Chinese medicine.

Master Lu held many positions in various martial arts in China, notably, as Vice- Chairman of Cangzhou Wushu Association, Head Coach and Adviser to Shanghai Physical Culture Instituted, Shanghai Sport Palace Association, Xuhui District Branch, Luwan District Branch and Changin District Association. He spent his whole life in the martial arts and had thousands of students.

He was said to have attended perfection in his arts and was a master with no equal in his time.

Lu JunHai (6th Generation Mizong Master)
Lu JunHai was born in Cangzhou on October 11, 1941. He began studying martial arts with his father at the age of six years of age. His father was a strict teacher and Lu JunHai spent the first three years just perfected his basic stances, punches, kicks and footwork (Tan Tui). His flawless execution even to this day is undoubtedly the result of this earlier foundation.

He began performing at twelve years of age, in public and at martial arts tournaments. By the time he was eighteen years old he was the captain of the Shanghai Traditional Martial Arts Youth Team. He did not lose his passion for the martial arts even during the Cultural Revolution and was once voted one of Shanghai's top ten martial arts masters.

In the 1980's he was a technical advisor for a popular Chinese television series based upon the novel Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh...not the English version of the novel), as well as several feature films. He was a Class 1 Competition judge in China and has trained many talented students who invariably capture top prizes at various martial arts tournaments.

He has held several important positions in the martial arts community in Shanghai, among them martial arts instructor to Shanghai University and Shanghai Normal College. He was vice-secretary to the Luwan District Martial Arts Association. He was coach and advisor for the Shanghai Workers Martial Arts Team, the Zhejian Provincial Martial Arts Academy and Jingwu Association, the municipality of Shanghai, and the China-Japan Tai Ji Association. He was also the chief instructor for the St Petersburg Chinese Martial Arts Academy in Russia. He is also a level one judge for the Jingwu International Martial Arts Committee.

In 1984, he participated in China's National Research Project for Traditional Martial Arts. He helped to produce a manuscript for a book on the six Jingping sword routines, and received an award in recognition of his contributions to China in helping to preserve the martial arts.

During a career spanning more than forty years, he has trained thousands of students. Like his father before him, he sets high standards for himself and his students. He insists on teaching techniques that can be used in actual combat and has little use for showy, impractical moves. Many of his students have won top honour's at regional and national martial arts competitions. Martial arts masters from all over the world have sought him out and given him such honour titles as "Master of the martial arts" and "national treasure". His profound knowledge and martial arts mastery enable him to execute techniques with the grace and power of someone half his age. Although he continues to receive accolades for his artistry, Lu remains remarkably humble. He not only downplays his own talents, but exemplifies someone who believes martial virtue trumps martial skill. He guides his students by personal example and stresses the need to "xue ren, xue yi, xu gonfir" (first learn kindness, the learn justice and finally learn Kung Fu). According to Lu, "A person with outstanding martial skills but who treats others unkindly or unjustly brings only shame to himself and his art."
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