Chang tung sheng
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Chang Tung Sheng aslo known as the Flying Butterfly (1908 CE (1325 AH) - 1986 CE (1406 AH) was a Hui Muslim[1] from Hebei Province in China. He was one of China's most prominent experts in the ancient art of Shuai Chiao
According to Matt Mollica a student of Grandmaster Ch'ang
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attacking Chang Tung Sheng was like sticking your hand in a blender |
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[edit] Chang Tung Sheng and Islam
David Lin’s (a disciple of Ch'ang) parents saw their son’s passion for the art, and wanted him to go through the discipleship ceremony with Grandmaster Ch’ang. Ch’ang, however, was a devout Hui Muslim, and he replied that men should not be the masters of other men, as that was the role of God [2]
[edit] Early life of Chang Tung Sheng
Chang Tung Sheng was born in Bao Ding – a city in Hebei province of Mainland China where the Chang family had a business selling roast chicken. The Chang’s used vegetables and sauces produced by a neighbor, Zhang Feng Yan (left) – who lived just a few streets away, for their roast chicken business. Zhang Feng Yan was a very successful businessman, who also happened to be a shuai chiao champion. Zhang Feng Yan and his teacher, Ping Jing Yi were both famous in northern China for their shuai chiao.
[edit] In the Army
Chang Tung Sheng went on to join the army. While in the army, he served as a special agent in a group of elite paratroopers called “Hong Chiang”, which means “The Red Wall”. Originally an ordinary member of the group, he went on to become the commander of the unit. During his travels with the army he came into contact with many top martial artists from around China and learned kung fu from many of them. Chang himself estimates that he learned from over 50 different kung fu masters. He did not learn from them as a student, but rather on equal terms. In those days, if a person was a friend it was common to “test” each others skill rather fight a challenge match to determine who was better. If each person felt that the other’s skill was of a high enough level, they might decide to exchange knowledge. This is referred to as “jau huan”, which literally means “teaching exchange”. When other martial arts masters felt the speed and power of Chang’s shuai chiao they were eager to learn from him in exchange for their own special skills. Due to Chang’s level of skill and the vastness of shuai chiao itself, he was able to gain the essence of many other systems while giving away only a portion of his own.
[edit] Life in Taiwan
In Taiwan, Chang Tung Sheng lived with the army in Chia-Yi in southern Taiwan for the first two years. Later, he moved to Taipei where the government provided him with a house. As his grandson David Chang relates, “Chang Tung Sheng had been operating as a paratrooper and special agent in the army, so one day I was surprised when I came across some family records that listed his job title in Taiwan as the vice president of a government army hospital. At first, I couldn’t figure it out, but later it dawned on me that this title was probably used to cover up his actual position in order to prevent being executed in the event that the communists invaded Taiwan”.
In Taipei, Chang Tung Sheng had some influential friends. One was a teacher named Huang Jie, who was the former governor of Taiwan. The other was Bai Chung Xi, who was the Minister of Defense and also a Muslim (Chang Tung Sheng was a devout Muslim who never ate pork). They introduced Chang Tung Sheng to the Central Police University where he became an instructor for the next 30 years. During that time, he was also the head judge of the national shuai chiao tournaments in Taiwan. In addition to producing some top students at the Central Police University, he taught shuai chiao at the Army Internal Affairs School, the Chinese Culture University, the Military Police School, National Taiwan University, Shr Da University, Zheng Zhi University, and other schools. He taught some students at the Taipei Botanical Gardens and occasionally at his home. He also trained his grandson David privately from the time he was a young boy.
Zhang Feng Yan's business produced special foods such as bean paste, soy sauce, chili sauce, and various kinds of pickled vegetables. He lived only a few streets away from the Chang family - just a short walk. Zhang Feng Yan had a big yard with a large garden in which he grew the beans and vegetables for the business. In the yard there were many large clay pots used to make his products. Kids from the neighborhood loved to go there to get something to eat and play hide and seek amongst the clay pots. Because the business was quite large Zhang Feng Yan needed help with the chores. He would get the kids from the neighborhood to help him out and at the same time teach them shuai chiao. That was the way Chang Tung Sheng started to learn shuai chiao when he was 7 years old.
[edit] Fighting record
In Bao-Ding County of Hebei province, he was the undefeated champion of Shuai Chiao. He went on to compete in 2 all-China national tournaments and won both The first tournament was the 5th National Kuo Shu Tournament in 1933 CE (1351 AH) before he joined the army. There were over 300 participants of all martial arts styles from all over China and he won the heavyweight division - earning the nickname Flying Butterfly The second was in 1948 CE (1367 AH) when he entered the 7th National Athletic Meet representing the army. At 40 years of age, he again won first place in the heavyweight division.
[edit] Official Positions
When the government of the Republic of China established the Central Martial Arts Academy of the National Institute in Nanking, China he was appointed as one of the first officials there. After a career with the army, he moved to Taiwan in 1948 CE (1367 AH) where he taught at the Central Police University for over 30 years. He was the chief official for the national shuai chiao tournaments in Taiwan, and also traveled to the United States to preside over several national-level shuai chiao tournaments.
