Guo Yunshen

Guo Yunshen ( Chinese  郭雲 深  /  郭云 深 , Pinyin Guō Yúnshēn , W.-G. Kuo Yun Shen , Zi - majority name Yu Sheng 峪 深 , Yùshēn  - "deep valley"; * 1829 in Shenzhou Province Hebei , China ; † 1901 ), was a Chinese martial arts expert and master of the internal martial art Xingyiquan (Xingyichuan). He embodied the philosophy of Xingyi ( 形 意 ) to bring as few techniques as possible to high mastery instead of mastering many of them mediocre. His “Bēngquán technique” ( 崩 拳 , peng ch'uan  - “splintering fist”, outdated “Beng Chuan”) was legendary. It was said that with his “Bànbù Bēngquán” ( 半步 崩 拳  - “ Half- step splintering fist”) he could fight everyone under heaven without finding his own kind ( 半步 崩 拳打 遍 天下 無敵 手  /  半步 崩拳打 遍 天下 无敌 手 , bànbù bēngquán dǎbiàn tiānxià wú díshǒu ) and he was nicknamed " Budǎotā - the steadfast" ( 不 倒塌  - "literally the one who does not fall over") and the "heavenly hand of the demon".

One of the most famous stories about him is his alleged fight against the founder of the Baguazhang , Dong Hai Chuan , in which no one was able to gain the upper hand. The result of the fight was that the practitioners of these two martial arts subsequently respected each other and often shared their knowledge and techniques. Some well-known martial arts masters , including Sun Lutang's daughter Sun Jianyun, contradict the truth of this story and say that the meeting between the two never took place. Guo Yunshen very much intended to challenge Dong Hai Chuan, but first visited his student Cheng Tinghua . After two effortlessly dodging his deadly Bengquan, he refrained from challenging Dong, who he knew was of a much higher level.

Guo's teaching was based on the “three truths” ( sān lǐ , 三 理 ), the “three contents” ( sān gong ), the “three methods” ( sān fǎ , 三法 ) and the principle of one and two weightings ( dānzhòng, shuāngzhòng - 單 重  /  单 重 , 雙重  /  双重 ) during santishi standing training. His students had to practice the standing exercise for at least three years before they were instructed in the forms.

Guo Yunshen was a student of Li Luo Neng and also a member of the Hebei Xingyiquan School. He has trained many famous students, including Qian Yantang, Xu Zhanao, Li Kui Yuan and his master student Sun Lutang. His nephew Wang Xiangzhai , founder of Yiquan or Dachengquan , was his last "disciple of the inner circle" ( 閉門 弟子  /  闭门 弟子 , bìmén dìzǐ , English closed doors disciple ), and learned from him traditional Xingyiquan. It is said that without further explanation, Master Guo Wang made the Santi position hold until a puddle of sweat formed around his feet. This exercise was called Zhan Zhuang by Wang Xiangzhai , a term well known in martial arts circles these days.

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• Yunting Jin, John Groschwitz: The Xingyi Boxing Manual: Hebei Style's Five Principles and Seven Words , 2004 (English), ISBN 978-1556434730