HO CHANG-HAI

Zhejiang Province, can boast a long and varied history in the field of Chinese martial arts (Wushu). The Provincial Capital, Hangzhou, was the location for the prestigious Zhejiang Province Martial Arts Academy which, during the first half of the twentieth century, attracted some of the greatest Chinese Kungfu masters and fighters of the twentieth century. Many of them are still well-remembered and their particular styles are still practised by their students and descendants.

One of the most famous of the old generation masters was Ho Chang-Hai known throughout China as a master of several styles, wrestler, weight-lifter, and fighter, who lived in the Hangzhou area up until the early 1980's. Ho Chang-Hai was born in 1913 in Zhuji, near Hangzhou. As a young boy he loved to fight and usually won, but at the age of twelve he fought with another boy and was beaten. He wanted to know how the boy had acquired the ability to defeat him.

One day when he was walking up on Wu Mountain, he saw some people practising martial arts. One of them was the boy that had beaten him. They were also doing some weight-training using somewhat primitive stone and wooden equipment. He went up to them and attempted to lift one of the weights. Although only a twelve year old boy, he managed to press 40kg (88lbs).

He was observed by the teacher who came forward to have a closer look. The teacher was Han Ching-Tang, a very highly regarded master of north Shaolin kungfu in China at that time and later in Taiwan. In 1929 Han won the National Martial Arts Tournament. When the communists took over in China in 1949 Han moved to Taiwan where he continued to teach Wushu until his death in the 1970's. He was considered to be the leading expert in Chin-Na which he taught at the Central Police Academy in Taipei.

Han, impressed by the boy's strength and excellent physical condition, told Ho he could join the class if he was interested in martial arts. Thus began Ho Chang-Hai's life-long study of the Chinese fighting arts and for him the emphasis was to be on the 'fighting'. Every day in the early morning, Ho went up Wu Mountain and practiced North Shaolin style kungfu and various aspects of the Chinese martial arts such as Shuai-jiao (Chinese wrestling), and Chin-Na (grasping and locking techniques).

He spent most of the day up on the mountain training but, as he was a schoolboy, his training interfered with his attendance at school. He found no difficulty in solving that problem: he just gave up going to school. The money his parents gave him to pay his school fees Ho gave to the martial arts school. At that time the school authorities did not pay much attention to, or care about whether students did or did not attend their classes, so Ho's absence was not remarked on. Four years later, having reached the age at which students usually graduate, Ho surprised his parents by still asking for the tuition fees for school. In order to find out what Ho was up to, his parents decided to follow him and finally discovered what he had been doing instead of going to school. By that time, though, there was not much anyone could do about it.

Clearly Ho's interests were directed solely to the study of martial arts and in 1929 he entered the Zhejiang Provincial Kuoshugwan (martial arts academy) as a full-time student of martial arts. The school was then a well-known centre for martial arts training, employing some of the most respected masters in China. For example, the registrar of the school was the famous master of the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan, Yang Cheng-Fu, who taught his family's style of Tai Chi. Ho learned Chin-Na from Liu Jin-Shen and Shuai-jiao from Liu Bai-Chuan, the vice-registrar. Liu Bai-Chuan was himself one of the greatest fighters and masters of his time and had been an assistant instructor for Huo Yuanjia at the Ching-Wu school in Shanghai. He had learned real Shaolin boxing from Yang Deng-Yun, (also known as Abbot Liao-Tsuan) a senior Shaolin monk. Liu specialised in San-Da practical fighting, Lohan style, Shuai-jiao, and Tui-Gong, i.e. powerful leg techniques and kicks. He also taught at the famous Huang-Pu military academy and was a bodyguard for Sun Yat-Sen and later for Chiang Kai-Shek. Liu Bai-Chuan became Ho's main instructor, teaching him Lohan style, Shuai-jiao, and staff.

Ho also became proficient in several other internal and external styles including Hsing-Yi, Pa-Kua, Praying Mantis, and Ba-Ji. Between 1932 and 1934 he met and studied with Li Jing-Lin, known in China as the 'sword king.' Li was a famous master of real sword fighting and taught Ho the Wu-Tang style combat sword techniques.

At the time of his graduation Ho, aged 18, entered the academy's tournament. This was a no-rules, no-holds-barred, free-style fighting contest. There were no weight categories and competitors arranged by themselves who they would fight, basing their choices on the level or estimated level of skill of the participants, not their weight. Before they fought they signed an agreement that no action would be taken if one of them was killed or seriously injured. There was a referee but, as there were no rules, there was not much for him to do other than stop a fight if he felt he could prevent a.death. In fact, participants were rarely killed, although injuries could sometimes be quite serious. All techniques were allowed, including the Chin-Na holds and locks and the Shuai-jiao wrestling; any part of the body could be used as a weapon or as a target. Ho took first place.

Having graduated, Ho was appointed assistant coach at the Kuoshu academy and continued his training under Liu Bai-Chuan. Ho also took up Western boxing which was attracting a certain amount of interest from Chinese martial artists in the 1920's and 30's. Ho then entered the Zhejiang Provincial Martial Arts Tournament and won all martial arts divisions, weight-lifting, and archery - then considered a martial art. Shortly after, Ho entered the National competition bringing him up against fighters from all parts of China. He came second in Olympic style weight-lifting which then comprised three lifts: the snatch; clean and jerk, and the press. In the martial arts section he came second overall and second in the Shuai-jiao. His performance had probably been adversely affected by entering too many events.

During the next few years Ho became known as one of the top fighters in China, both for his successes in organised tournaments and for his exploits in more unorthodox ways. His fame, and indeed notoriety, increased after his meeting with the Russian fighter Meijialov in 1933.

Meijialov, boxer and strongman, travelled around China in the early 30's, setting up a platform in various towns, demonstrating his feats of strength, and seeking challengers. He was known to the Chinese as a 'Da li Shi' which meant 'a man of great strength and power'. The strongman arrived in Hangzhou in 1933 and set up his platform. After three days no-one had come forward to take him on. Clearly despising the local people, he issued his famous insult,  "Chinese people are like cattle; not too bad as regards strength but when it comes to fighting they're afraid."

Ho, who was living in another part of Zhejiang, was visited by a couple of his friends from Hangzhou who told him of the Russian's taunts. Taking it as an insult both to the Chinese people and to himself, Ho's anger was aroused and he immediately left for Hangzhou.

Some people tried to dissuade the twenty-one year-old Ho from taking up the challenge but his colleagues at the Kuoshu academy encouraged him to try. The match was scheduled to take place in a local church hall and was not open to the public.

Although the Russian could not claim to be a champion or world class boxer he was undoubtedly a very competent and experienced fighter and wrestler, certainly much bigger and possibly stronger than Ho. During the match Ho tried to keep mainly to hand techniques including his knowledge of boxing; he had, prior to the match, agreed not to use his special Shaolin kicking and throwing skills. The fighters did not, however, wear gloves and did not follow the rules of boxing. After several gruelling bouts, Ho seized his opportunity: a straight left was thrown by Meijialov which Ho parried with his left palm. The punch went over Ho's right shoulder; Ho caught Meijialov's wrist with his left hand and trapped it on his shoulder at the same time straightening and turning Meijialov's arm over. Ho turned his body sideways and immediately applied a Chin-Na technique known as 'chuan-bi'. This involved bringing his right arm over the Russian's now locked left arm and smashing his elbow down on to Meijialov's elbow joint. Meijialov could do nothing but drop to his knees in pain, at which point Ho punched him in the face.

The Russian, incapable of getting up, knelt before Ho and admitted defeat. Meijialov was then ordered to leave Hangzhou straightaway. He said he would need some time to organise his departure and asked Ho if he could stay a few days longer. Ho agreed to let him remain another three days to attend to his affairs. The match was reported in the Hangzhou and South China newspapers and Ho's victory made the front page.

Three days later the Russian, who was supposed to have left, attempted to regain face by holding a banquet and invited all the senior martial arts people to attend, including Ho. The secretary of the Martial Arts Association advised Ho not to attend otherwise Meijialov would succeed. Ho, therefore, did not go but was amazed to read in the Hangzhou newspaper that he had not only been present but had also forgiven the Russian's insults and made peace with him.

Ho was outraged by this lack of regard for the truth and went to the newspaper office to complain. Ho had his own way of complaining: arriving at the newspaper office he kicked the door in and stormed into the main office. There were about twenty or thirty people in there at the time, working away at their desks but none of them dared to ask Ho what he wanted. They ran out of the building as Ho started to wreck the office. The newspaper people called the police and Ho just had time to run out through the back of the building to escape into the maze of small streets and alleys of the city.

Ho made it back to the martial arts academy and hid there. When the police went to search for him there they were unable to find him and the other members of the school did not seem to know anything about his whereabouts either. The police tried unsuccessfully for one week to find him. Then, through his influence with the governor of Zhejiang, the school's principal managed to get the search called off and Ho was able to go back to his job.

In the subsequent years Ho's reputation grew and he became known as an upright and honest man. On several occasions he used his fighting skills to help out people who were being harassed by others. For example, one evening when Ho was waiting outside a theatre to see a performance he noticed a soldier insulting a woman. Ho advised the soldier to leave her alone. The soldier then directed his abuse to Ho, who hit him knocking him to the ground. This might have been soon forgotten except that the soldier was the son of the commander of the airforce academy and a relative of Chiang Kai-Shek. The police were sent to arrest Ho who, once again, had to go into hiding.

This time Ho escaped into the high hills and mountains surrounding Hangzhou. He was able to hide in some of the out-of-the-way temples and also found shelter in the homes of certain people that were friendly to him. However, as in the previous case, the search was eventually called off and Ho was again able to resume his life at the Kuoshu academy.

From the late 30's, and during the Sino-Japanese and Second World War, Ho was involved in teaching combat to various sections of the army but was not himself required to join the army. As an army instructor he was sent to different parts of South East China and spent several years in Wenzhou.

In 1948, Ho went to Shanghai to enter the important Shuai-jiao tournament held there. Several of the competitors were already national champions. These included the top five wrestlers of Shanghai known as the 'Five Tiger Generals.' He defeated them all. However, in the final he came up against a huge wrestler from Wuhan, weighing about 190 kg and standing about 180 cm tall, compared with Ho's height of 169 cm and weight of just under 100 kg. In the first few rounds neither of them was able to gain any advantage. Towards the end of the final round, Ho moved in to throw his opponent and, although successful, he was brought down at the same time, both men apparently hitting the ground simultaneously. There was some difficulty deciding the outcome but the referee ruled that Ho would lose as he had touched the ground slightly before his opponent.

From 1950 to 1952, Ho taught martial arts at a sort of YMCA in Hangzhou. But in the subsequent years he found it very hard to make a living and tried his hand at other endeavours such as farming. From 1966 to 1975, he was forbidden during the 'Cultural Revolution' to teach or practise martial arts. He was harassed and persecuted by the 'Red Guards'; they also entered his house and stole all his martial arts weapons, books and materials, and collections of photographs. Consequently no pictures of Ho other than the present ones, taken in his old age, were available for this article.

In 1972 he was allowed unofficially to teach a few of his old students in the park. After 1975 he was finally permitted to begin teaching openly again. The styles he taught represented his knowledge and experience distilled from decades of training. From 1962 he had tried to summarize his vast knowledge into a comprehensive style to which he gave the name Wulin Huo Chuan.

He developed the first of three forms before the 'Cultural Revolution' put an end to his training. This first form is intended to teach basic fighting techniques based mainly on North Shaolin style and includes strikes, grabs and locks, throws, and both long-and short-range movements. He started to teach this form to several students. It was not until 1972 that he was able to start on the second form; this was more advanced than the earlier one and contained the most important aspects of Hsing-Yi, Tong-Bi style, and Pa-Kua. In 1973 he finished the third and final form which was directed at increasing the power of the previous two forms' techniques, introduced aspects of Lohan style, and included techniques drawn from Western boxing, for example: bobbing; weaving and dodging, not normally found in traditional Wushu. He also developed his own version of Pa-Kua, a style he had learned many years before from Huang Wen-Sen. He kept most of the typical aspects of Pa-Kua but modified it somewhat in the direction of Shaolin Chuan. He called his style Rou Shen Pa-Kua, which he thought better exemplified the most natural and practical forms of Pa-Kua.
Ho tried, then, to incorporate into his teaching both the 'external' taken from Shuai-jiao, Chin-Na, Shaolin Chuan, etc., and the 'internal', influenced by Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing-Yi, and Pa-Kua, so that some of his movements were hard and fast, and others apparently slow and soft. But Ho had learned so much in his martial arts career that it is hardly possible that he could have passed on everything he knew.
Ho Chang-Hai continued to teach until the day he died in 1981. He went to the park early in the morning to practise and teach as usual, but on the way home after the class he collapsed due to a stroke and died within forty minutes.

Of his three sons, only the first two studied kungfu seriously: the third had to stop as a result of the 'Cultural Revolution'. His first son, Ho Zhi-Yuan learned Wulin Huo Chuan, Chin-Na, Ba-ji, and Shuai-jiao from him and his second son Ho Zhi-Chu, in addition to those styles, learned Pa-Kua and Ho Chang-Hai's own particular form of Praying Mantis known as Tai-Zung style, named after the Tang dynasty Emperor. Ho Zhi-Chu has become a master of this very 'mantis-like' form of Praying Mantis and in the 1986 National Wushu tournament won the Golden Lion award (Jin Shi Chiang) for his outstanding performance of one of the Praying Mantis forms.

Ho Chang-Hai also taught all the Wushu weapons, particularly the sword. His senior student Shen Bing-Hu, after only one year of training under Ho, took the first prize for his demonstration of the 'chun-yang' sword form at the Hangzhou Wushu tournament in the early 60's. Shen Bing-Hu continues to teach Master Ho's style of sword in Hangzhou. Ho Zhi-Chu is now teaching Praying Mantis and other styles taught by his father. Several other top students of Ho Chang-Hai are also now teaching his styles in Hangzhou. They include Meng Jun-Hua, Chen Hui-Zhong, and Ho's kungfu brother Shao Zhong-Yi, who actually initially studied under Liu Bai-Chuan, although Ho taught him mostly. Chen Qing-Xue, on Master Ho's left in the picture, has also taught in America.