Most Mysterious Martial Artists in Chinese History - Zhang Sanfeng

Immortality has been misinterpreted for centuries. The real immortal is the one who has gone beyond mere body identification. A real Taoist is a Yogi seeking enlightenment. For those seeking to cross over the three worlds I highly recommend pursuing Raja Yoga, and/or Kundalini and Siddha Yoga, with the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. These two compliment one another in marvelous fashion! Fare well.
All the best.
Laoshr #60
Ching Yi Kung Fu Association

Well, I am suprised by your channel. I am a taijiquan (楊式太極拳) practitioner who just retook my Chinese lessons as well. Quite interesting poetry materials. I plan to reproduce a few poetries as Chinese calligraphy for my teacher. However, my scope is to practice a good quality of taijiquan for health purposes. One more time 確實謝謝你

Awesome!

Exaggerated stories becomes a legend over time. I’ve only known of him as the creator of Tai Chi Chuan.

Your voice in Chinese sounds clear to understand, can you in the future put out a video in Chinese with English translation below in the screen,

Nicely done....

I just wanted to point out that during zhang sf's time the 18 dragon subduing palm manual had been lost for many generations.

Maybe I’m a weirdo, but pretty much ALL cultures have stories of people living close to 200 year lifespans. Particularly the Bible. So is it really that out of the realm of possibility that there could be some truth to this? I’ve heard Yogi’s describe Yoga as “Technology” and I thought that was fitting. I believe that it is quite possible that there a chemical & bioelectric processes in the body we have yet to understand, that practices like Tai Chi could possible enhance or restore with an effect on longevity.

I Have Been Studying Martial Arts Theory since 1997, thanks To Dr. Yang Jwing Ming And YMAA Publications.
And Have Read Some Of These stories And Legends.
And Truly Value The Information.
Thanks

Fantastic videos, thank you so much, Ben, Jared. Really appreciate the in-depth knowledge, and great effort in research. A great big thank you !!

I used to train old yang style taichi, and also other martial arts, more than 20 years. All I can say is this is not just good a story in this video.There really is things that someone can't get just by hard practice or having big desire, it just need something more. The missing part is cultivation. Nowadays people want only learn how to punch hard, how to hurt others, and the cultivation part they call "stories". Just like they have forgotten the buddhist or taoist origin of many martial art. You can say they only want an external part about it. I know there are students who really want to learn the hole art including the inner part, but they can't find the real master who is able to teach these inner things. All I can suggest is they read Master Li's book "Zhuan Falun", and think things in new eyes. The book is not about how to fight, but how to really cultivate your real self.

Very nice

No one lived past 120 years after the flood

This is amazing video. Thank you so much!!

Could you help me with a quick translation? I'm trying to understand the longquan acupressure point in the foot. Would I be right to translate that as dragon fist? I make no claims to speak Chinese beyond the odd word so my understanding is super limited. Is it pronounced chuan as in taijiquan? I can only find white teachers who don't speak Chinese and I want to go deeper than they cantake me ^_^ Cheers

Stop these lying stories, no body believe 🦍🦍🦍

Thanks Ben and may I add that Zhang is being immortalised by the Chinese novelist Louis Cha who is known as Jin Yung and Zhang appeared in his martial art novel title as The Heavenly Sword and Slay Sabre

200 years he lived? Definitely great fiction. People back in that day were lucky to live to 30.

Relinquish your desires to live longevity. Yup, I can agree with Zhang San Feng advice for life 👍👍

I named my first born after Zhang San feng

I just learned about your Chinese historical treatises'..
Good Job, Sir:, you have my attention
and visual enthusiasm...
At the moment, i dont speak Chinese,
however, my Language backgroung
are Japanese and Korean..
Therefore, its interesting to note the
That both of these Countries utilize
The Northern as well as the Southern
Chinese Dialects when reading Han Moon, (Chinese Ideograms or Characters.if you exclude their indigenous way of reading Chinese.)
Thus, (White Eye Brow) in the South
may be refered to as Pak Mei, and or,
in the North, know as Pei or in Manchurian:, (Pek Mei) hence, White
Eye Brow of the Shaolin Monk and also used to describe Lao Tzu, The
Author of Tao Te Ching,(Way of the
Life Force) A Taoist Sage from the
3rd Century B.C."Who does not eat
The Five Grains"...
At any rate most of these books were
Torn in Half due to the Japanese Imperial Armys' attempt to steal the
The Chinese Secrets of immortality and The Secret "Mandalas or Mantras" that could be danced foot
Steps (as in Kung Fu) and not merely
a vocalized Chant that supposedly
Opened up Portals of the Hidden Dimensions by way of syllables uttered Vocally(known in the West as
Quantum Particle Physics) hence,
in Chinese (FengShui or Wind and Water Concepts) which was also can
be applied to Music, in terms of distance between The Notes and
Timing thus, Tempo as in Thai Boxing,
Etc.
Therefore, in a Capsule:, even though
the Japanese have come a long way
with only retrieving half or slightly less
and then some, of the "Chinese Books" such as:, The Secrets and Foundations of Kung Fu. However,
alot still seems "Much to be Desired"
as you can hypothesize from their
Angular rigid interpretations of What
was Chinese Martial Arts, even though they now claim it as a synthethis, with only half a book ?
And many books if the Truth were
known by way of Espionage and
Skull Dugery, that is old as Time...

200 years? What a load of shit.....

God is in the Silence Within You<<<

You are one of a very very few Lao Wai who speak Chinese in native Chinese accent. And your knowledge about China history is remarkable. Impressive. 👏👏👏

The birth of bullshido 😂.

True teachings lost to the public would be more accurate.

What's really great about these Taoist practices be it Qui Gong or Tai Chi is for a person who sincerely wants to do seated meditation but has a problem quieting their mind doing Qui Gong or Tai Chi helps a person increase their energy and focus which over time can enable a person to quiet their mind of thoughts effortlessly it becomes automatic.
Which really helps a person to learn whatever they want to learn with incredible detail and depth of understanding.

About San SanFeng there are some Western style Academic studies - and those debunk Taiji myths completely. There were many SanFeng's in Chinese history -that was/is a quite common Taoist name, some of them lived at the same time-period. They were practitioners of different Taoist approaches from alchemy to meditation and anyone of them did not create Taiji Quan as we know it today. Today is known that Taiji roots are in Emperor Taizu Boxing with later added Inner Work. That's history is quite complicated, with many obvious fakes and with interesting twists (specially reason about big differences between Chen style "Taiji" (Famous Taiji master mongol Wu TuNan who visited Chenjiagou reached in agreement with local masters that ChenJia Quan is NOT Taiji). Every century onward Chinese "knew" more and more detailed elements about San ChanFeng - when exactly he was born and died, how he looked and which were his habits - 8 centuries after his hypothetical life there was long exact descriptions about his life - very different from some vague remarks in his lifetime.

He learned 13 posture qi gong from a famous Taoist, poet, monk named Ma(?), and choreographed them together to create tai chi. Zhaobao village is close to Chen village, and 1 famous Chen practitioner married a Zhaobao woman, and moved to her village. Zhaobao tai chi might have some Chen tai chi influence.

Interesting. Sure, Chinese history of the ancient times must have sages and saints, they were God send to humanity. A good narrator, thank you.

I love how this video emphasizes how tai chi is designed not to hurt or fight your opponent but simply to defuse the situation. A lot of people keep talking about how tai chi can’t be use in combat, how it’s not as good as mma and search for tai chi vs mma fights don’t understand this philosophy. A tai chi master has no desire to fight let alone compete in a ring for money. Because if he did, he would have never became a master in the first place. Great video.

Ben, you cut your hair, shave, & even trim nose hair ... but why don't you pluck your brow hair in between your brows? 🤔 Just curious .

This channel is awesome 👍

Not surprised Tai Chi is bastardized. It’s not even the matter of CCP, though the Han and Tang Dynasties praise Taoism but both dynasties have majorly rewritten Taoist core texts to fit their own political agenda. In dynasties where Confucianism reign supreme, Taoism is completely suppressed. CCP is just another ruler in the books where Taoism gets completely suppressed, but at a more extreme level, such as marking people that practice Taoist ideals as cultists since Taoism, unlike Confucianism doesn’t justify authoritarianism. Now in the recent 3 years things are a bit different. CCP is trying to bring back Taoism because they start to see that lack of religious belief or spirituality is corrupting Chinese society and since Taoism is more like a religion than Confucianism and it is an uniquely Chinese belief system, they are trying to promote it.

Most people don't know that Tai Chi is a grappling/wrestling art.

awesome video! thank you for the context and in-depth look at this figure. I really appreciate the mentioning of his written works as well as biography. Thanks!

I wonder if the Highlander shows were influenced by these legends

So many people claim Taijiquan originated in the Chen village. Others said in the Wudang Mtns. I asked my Taijiquan teacher and verified it began in Wuhang Mtns.

Hey sir you're very knowledgeable about Chinese history thanks you for that add oil

Can you please make a video on Bodhi Dama?

Once created, never lost, only hidden🙌


You do tremendous good work, thank you for all you do 🙏🙇🏻

I hope I will be able to visit Wudang Mountain.. But since I'm a VERY outspoken critic of the CCP, that won't happen until they're gone, or if I can somehow find another unseen way in and unseen way to Wudang Mountain...
😮‍💨😔

may be the real kong fu need to worship god, all the secret are hidden in the Akashic records that you need to link it by studying Buddhist scriptures and Meditation. Shaolin Kongfu are related to Da mo monk from India and "Akashic" is ancient Sanskrit language from India. May be Da mo can read Akashic records?

Yang Luchan didnt call his style Taiji Quan at first. This was later when he became famous in Beijing. Also Chen Fake went to Beijing and its said that he was the first who called their Chen family boxing Taiji Quan. This was after Yang Luchan called his style Taiji. So if there was a Taiji Quan from Zhang Sanfeng its very likely that it has no connection to what is known as Taiji Quan today.

👏👏👏

Sir, that is very inaccurate. Shan San Feng went to the Taoist temples to LEARN his art NOT to develop it. It's laughable. The Daoist have been around THOUSANDS of years before the Shaolin temple was ever conceived.

The Taoist arts are SUPREME in China. They gave birth NOT ONLY to China's culture and ALL martial arts in the world, but they also gave us alchemy that we call today chemistry, traditional Chinese medicine, plant medicine/herbology, acupuncture and astronomy.

ALL Shan San Feng did was learn from the Daoist temples, like many, many others before him AND after him, go out in public and make it famous.

There is a lineage of modern Tai Chi schools out there that come from him, but that doesn't mean he was the originator of Tai Chi. There are many parallels. If you interview a Daoist monk, he'll tell you.

Shan San Feng was truly a GREAT man with many, many achievements. He had a monkey following him one time walking thru a forest, and the monkey learned how to meditate by imitating him.

This monkey later on spawn the legend of The Monkey King. Which is really a story a master tells his disciples because it describes the 4 different types of students.

That's the problem this modern Tai Chi schools have with a guy named Cheng Man Ching because he doesn't come from Shan San Feng's lineage. Therefore, "nobody" knows where he learned his Tai Chi. 😂

Still, his book "Teatrise of Tai Chi" is not only amazing, it's a Tai Chi must read CLASSIC!

I did a 40 day fast years ago and I think if you did that once a year you would live well over 120.

Isn't Shen Yen affiliated to Fa Lung Kong?

Chen style tai chi is NOT tai chi

These types of videos are incredibly helpful as a Mandarin learner. Interest in the culture is a key motivator when pursuing any language and I find that with Chinese there are just not a lot of (English speaking) channels that bother, it's mainly focused on the language alone. Chinese culture is some of the most interesting in the world and these videos are invaluable.

My goal is to know Chinese well enough to read the 4 great masterpieces.