Interview with Kunyu Shan's Master Guo Xin Min

Master Guo Xin Min is a master at Kunyu Shan Kung Fu Academy, he is the successor of Grandmaster Yu Xian Hua for Jin Gang Li（金刚力）, a system of Qigong specialising in developing incredible power. He is the only person in the world to successfully break a slab of marble resting on tofu, and has managed many other feats of power, such as breaking marble with 2 fingers. He is also a master of Ba Ji Quan, Wing Chun and Chen Style Tai Chi. He has studied martial arts for over 30 years, and has much experience, both in performance and combat. He is currently ranked at level 8 in Chinese martial arts, and has created his own qigong techniques, which have been listed by the Chinese Martial Arts Committee. He is also vice-secretary general of the Kunyu Mountain Cultural Research Association.

He teaches Baji Quan and Wing Chun together, and has a friendly, easy going teaching style. He believes it is up to the student to get what he wants from training, and will give students back as much as they put it. His training regime includes a balance of all aspects, mainly concentrating on both forms and applications, with supplementary qigong, power training and sanda/wrestling.

W (Will, me): Master Guo, please could you tell us about your experiences in learning kung fu:

MG: My grandfather’s master was a monk from the Shaolin temple. He taught him several styles including monkey and Da Hong Quan. Then, during the Japanese invasion of China, my father learnt a rare style called Guan Xi Xiao Jia. My family at that time were farmers, during spring and autumn they were working on the farm, winter and summer there was no work, so they had a lot of free time and would hire travelling kung fu masters to teach them for a period of time. You see, there was a very big family in our village, which would bully the other smaller families and were like a mafia, so we learnt kung fu to protect ourselves. My father was very strong from farm work, he used to carry very heavy bags around and operate heavy machinery. He was very skilled at wrestling and locking skills. When I was very young, I saw him fight with someone, and he knocked the man flying several metres! This left a deep impression on me and I knew I wanted to learn that.

When I was very young, I was often bullied, I was the youngest of several brothers and sisters, and my parents were very poor, so I didn’t get much milk as a baby. I was very weak and small, and the other children bullied me. I started kung fu at about 3 or 4 years old, but even at the age of 8, I still couldn’t fight. I spent too much time learning acrobatics and flexibility skills. When I was 8, I started to learn more practical kung fu, and when I was 10 I had my first fight. My sister was being picked on by some much older kids, so I went and beat them up. When I was a teenager I had a lot of fights with much bigger and older kids, and gained a reputation among kids in my village.

W: Can you tell me about your qigong training:

MG: My parents wanted me to have a good education, but I always wanted to do kung fu professionally. When I was 14, I became a student of a qigong master. He taught me Shaolin Nei Jia Yi Zhi Chan (少林内家一指禅shaolin 1 finger zen). I would stand in horse stance for at least an hour, with bricks on my arms. I sweated so much, there was a huge puddle underneath me, and in winter my whole body would steam. Sometimes I would even stand like this for up to 4 hours, and I could feel the Qi shooting out of my fingers.

Then, when I entered high school, I changed to learn Jin Gang Li, which included martial arts, as Yi Zhi Chan was just developing qi. In 1992 I lived with my master, first I would stay with him in the holidays, later I quit school to study full time. I would do qigong in the morning and free fighting in the afternoon. After 1 year, I began to help my master to teach. In 1999 I travelled overseas to teach and perform kung fu.

W: Your teaching focus is on Baji and Wing Chun, could you talk a bit about them:

MG: In 1995 I felt like I wanted to learn more kung fu, so I travelled around looking at different styles. At that time I started Wing Chun. Most northern Chinese would make fun of Wing Chun, saying it’s for women and it lacks strength, so I was already biased against it. It wasn’t until 2000, that I was invited to teach some bodyguards in Guangdong, that I really came to appreciate it. You see before I was young and liked beautiful forms.

My master often travelled to Hong Kong in secret during the revolution to exchange ideas on kung fu there. So the lineage I teach is a mixture of mainland and Hong Kong Wing Chun. The big difference people notice in my Wing Chun to what they learn in the west is there is an extra form, which comes before Siu Lim Tao. This form is called Shi Er San Shou (十二散手12 free hands), this form gives the student the fundamentals of wing chun, it is 12 principles for combat, which are practical and easy to learn. For most of my short term students, I will teach them this form. In Guangdong they say if you just want to learn self defence, this form is enough.

In the south of China, they use upper body techniques, but I am a northerner and my foundation is northern, so I like to use my legs a lot more. Traditional Wing Chun says kicks must be low, but I think that if you are good with your legs, high kicks are good too. In street fighting, low kicks are more effective, but in the ring, high kicks are better. Also, you can use a low kick, and then follow up with a high kick. They flow together. This is something I have added to the wing chun I teach.

Baji, however, I liked straight away. It’s strong, powerful and vicious. Wing Chun took me several years to appreciate. Wing Chun is like a gentleman’s art, it’s very reserved and humble. A Wing Chun fighter won’t move so much, and will act humbly. Baji is like a demon, it’s vicious, strong, and proud. So, it depends what mood I’m in as to what I practice, if I feel calm, I train my Wing Chun, if I’m excited, I train my Baji. Baji uses much more of the body than Wing Chun. In fact, Baji, Wing Chun and Taiji, in essence are very similar. Beginners can’t see that, but we all have the same body, there’s only so many ways of issuing power and moving it. In Wing Chun, we use the principle of leverage, in Taiji, it’s called Yin and Yang. They are both the same. In Baji, there are a lot of elbows and takedowns.

My Baji comes from Wu Lian Zhi, native of Meng County in Hebei. He is the oldest generation still alive. Our lineage is Wu Shi Kai Men (wu style “opening the door”) Baji. In fact, our basic zhan zhuang, or standing posture, is a horse stance, with the arms held one bent up, one bent down in the figure for the character 呉 (wu), the surname of my master.

W: Can you talk a little about the relationship between traditional forms and modern Sanda (散打kickboxing)

MG: Many young people in China really like Sanda now. But after they train for several years, they often feel they want to develop more. This is where traditional forms come in. Forms were created by old masters by taking their fighting experience and condensing into a form, like a catalogue of fighting techniques or strategies. So a fighter can research the forms to find fighting techniques suitable for them.

When you want to get a higher level, you can learn Qigong or Taiji. A lot of Sanda fighters get injuries; qigong training can help your body to heal faster, also to make it stronger and more resistant to injury. Many people who just practice hard kung fu get problems later in life, arthritis etc. I have a friend who was an iron head performer. He broke a concrete slab with his head one time and suffered a serious head injury. His face became partially paralysed and the doctors couldn’t do anything. I taught him qigong and he practiced for up to 8 hours a day! After breakfast, he would just do standing postures, and wouldn’t finish until dinner! After a period of time, his head had healed fairly well.

Thank you Master Guo for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!

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The Role of Forms in Wing Chun

Wing Chun is very unique in the world of Chinese martial arts. It only has 3 empty hand forms, 2 weapon forms and a form on the wooden dummy. The forms are put together differently too. Rather than being put together in a beautiful way, like a lot of other styles, the forms are like an encycopedia that show the basic principles and ideas of Wing Chun.


The first form, Siu Lim Tao, gives you the basic structures of Wing Chun and the core ideas, such as centreline, triangulation, straight lines etc. Siu Lim Tao gives you the ABCs of Wing Chun and translates as "small intention". This gives a clue as to the fact that Wing Chun, although being slightly hard in appearance, is an internal art. The form differs from most other Kung Fu forms, as it contains no footwork, or any other movement other than the arms. This is deceiving, as the body is in fact moving in a coordinated way (which will only be realised at higher levels), and the techniques, which are driven by the elbow, are in fact supported and driven by the whole body due to the structure. The stance is called Yee Jee Kim Yuen Ma, it is narrower than classical horse stance, and has the toes pointing in. The Dan Tian is pushed forward and it is a very compact and strong structure.


The first section as called Saam Bai Faat, which means 3 prayers to buddha, and is done very slowly, driving the elbow forward. This accustoms the practitioner to the basic pathway of having the elbow on the centre and when practiced slowly and regularly, builds up the internal power. At this part of the form it is especially important to concentrate the mind on the movements, in order to build up the internal power. The second and third sections train you to develop your Fa Jing, or force emission, which is a springy, explosive kind of power.


The second form, Chum Kiu, means searching for the bridge, and formally introduces footwork, pivoting and more complicated structures. Once you have learnt the basic structures, you need to learn how to find the "bridge", which is contact with the opponents arms/legs. Wing Chun is a small frame art that specialises in trapping and sticking to the opponent and it redirects rather than blocks force. Chum Kiu is generally the level where a practitioner would become a proficient fighter, as grandmaster Yip Man said, someone who fully understands Siu Lim Tao and Chum Kiu should never lose a fight. Chum Kiu also introduces the student to Qin Na (Cantonese, Kam Na), which are locking and controlling techniques. These are important in modern times, as the law states that you must use reasonable force to defend yourself, so they can avoid a lot of trouble for you later on.


The third form, Biu Jee, is also known as first aid hand. Biu Jee itself translates as Thrusting Fingers. It was traditionally only taught to the students with the highest level and understanding of Wing Chun, the masters inner circle of trusted disciples. Biu Jee teaches you how to get out of bad situations, to fight off centreline and to regain centreline. At this level, the "rules" of Wing Chun have been learned well and practiced, and so the student can progress beyond the "rules" and explore the art him/herself. Biu Jee doesnt contain any "secret" or "hidden" techniques, but as with all forms, requires a lot of study, so that every movement, no matter how insignificant, is understood as a possible technique. The student should think outside the box, and explore the forms, not relying on a "Sifu says" mentality or being a robot. Biu Jee changes the structure too, it introduces the student to more circular movements, helping to internalise their power further.

I will only briefly introduce the weapons and dummy forms here, as I dont feel I am qualified to write about them in detail. The wooden dummy form throws everything from the hand forms into a melting pot, mixes them up and throws them out. It develops the students understanding of angles in a way that an empty hand form couldnt. It further develops power, as the dummy is wooden, you have to use the correct springy kind of power, or you risk injury. It also helps to condition the forearms, toughening them to deal with impact. The time at which a master teaches the student to use the dummy varies, some will teach it before Biu Jee, some after. The knife form uses 2 short Chinese broadswords, sometimes called butterfly knives. It takes the empty hand techniques as its basis, but due to the extra length of the knives, extends them. It develops wrist strength and very explosive power. The pole form uses a long pole, which can vary from 6 to 9 feet long. It is a simple form, having 6 movements and 1 "point". The pole form encourages the student to focus their power down a long pole, developing incredible internal power and develops the upper body strength too. Both these weapons have a whole lot more depth to them than I have written, like I said, they are above my level, so Im not qualified to explain them thoroughly.

correct translations of wing chun terminology

In the west, there are thousands of people who practice Wing Chun. Unfortunately, they often translate the words wrongly, so I thought I would outline some basic techniques, with the appropriate characters and translations.

詠春拳 (mandarin: yong chun quan/cantonese: wing chun kuen) literally: sing spring fist. the simplified version of the first character (咏）is made up of 永(forever, also pronounced yong) and the radical 口(mouth). there is no reference to beauty in the meaning of the character.

小念头 (xiao nian tou/siu lim tao) literally: little/small, and the second and third characters together mean thought/idea/intention

寻桥 (xun qiao/chum kiu) literally: seeking bridge

标指 (biao zhi/biu ji) literally: shoot fingers

摊手 (tan shou/taan sao) literally: spreading hand

膀手 (bang shou/bong sao) literally: wing hand (the first character has many meanings, including shoulder, wing, upper arm and swollen

覆手 (fu shou/fuk sao) literally: cover hand

黐手 (chi shou/chi sao) literally: glue/stick hand

my journey so far

I was first introduced to martial arts when I was 6 years old. After watching power rangers I told my parents I wanted to learn Karate, which I did for 2 years, and then when I moved to York, I started Taekwondo, but I have forgotten most of both styles.

Then, when I was 14, I began learning Wing Chun after watching some Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee films. I studied for 3 and a half years, going to class 3 times a week and doing a private lesson once a week. I got my black sash after just less than 3 years. At that point I began to seriously doubt what I had learnt, after training with people from other Wing Chun classes and the fact that our training lacked intensity. Most classes I attended I ended up teaching in and when I did the black grading, I was disappointed how easy it was, everyone thought I was really good, but I felt like I wasnt, just that they all rushed through easy to pass gradings the same as me. Plus the Sifu, was always saying his way was the only way to do martial arts and other ways were no use etc. Feeling like I would never improve if I stayed there, and that I still had so much to learn, I quit.

Then, a big milestone came. I met my second Sifu, who has been my most influencial. An old school friend was also learning Wing Chun and invited me along to his class. This Sifu taught Foshan Wing Chun and was really active and enthusiastic in class and we did a good mix of training, making me realise how much was missing before and how much I still have to learn. We always had an intense warm up with running, push ups, stretches etc for fitness, stamina, strength and flexibility. Sifu thought it was important to build up the body, not jut learn drilled techniques. He was open minded to all styles and ideas and his art was alive and dynamic and I really enjoyed it. Still now I regard him as my Sifu and as the biggest influence in my attitude to martial arts.

Then I took 5 months out to travel China (including Tibet), Nepal and India. The first 10 weeks I volunteered in Xi'an and I met a buddhist monk there who taught me the basic stances, kicks and punches of Shaolin. Then, I went to Hong Kong and spent a few days training with Master Kwok Wan Ping of Yuen Kay San Wing Chun, who was a true master, and confirmed what my second Sifu taught me was right. He was almost 70 and still covered in muscles and his arms were like steel. I knew he could still fight. I went back the following year to train another few days with him. On both occasions he was welcoming to me and his wife cooked me dinner several times and they treated me in a nice restaurant.

Then I had several personal spiritual experiences in Tibet, Nepal and India, stayed in some buddhist monasteries, stayed with a Tibetan nomad family and other amazing experiences. I returned back to the UK to work for a while, saved money, studied Wing Chun again and finally found a job teaching English in Qingdao, China.


The first Shifu I met there was an old man who taught in a park on the university campus every morning. He didnt charge and didnt teach any particular styles, just techniques he thought were effective and theories from different styles like Mantis, Shaolin and Mizongyi. Then, I met after a couple of brief encounters with some different styles, I met a teacher who taught me the basics of Shaolin and a basic form. He was very strict and not very friendly to me, which taught me perseverance and discipline, but then it appeared he wasnt interested in me real kung fu, he just wanted to teach me loads of forms.

The third big milestone came when I met my current Shifu, who is a Taiji master I was introduced to by the dad of a girl I was tutoring English. He doesnt teach forms, but focusses on Tui Shou (push hands), Qin Na, and Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation). I really enjoy learning from him and his skill is amazing, he is 70, but I cant move him or touch him.

Lao Zi said "a journey of a thousand miles is started by taking a single step." I feel like all I have learnt so far is the first step in a life long journey towards mastery of myself; mind,body and spirit. In the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, a buddhist monk, Xuan Zang, journeys to the Western Heaven to get scriptures from the Buddha. He is accompanied by a monkey, a pig and 2 other students. The monkey, Sun Wukong, is mischievous and violent, but intelligent and the pig, Zhu Bajie, is greedy. These 2 characters can be seen as a metaphore for aspects of the monks mind. The monkey is always causing trouble and represents the intellect, and the pig is always eating and wanting sex, and represents desire. In martial arts we strive to discipline ourselves by training our body, calming our mind and honing our spirit. It is easy to talk about this, the hard part for me is actually doing it.

This September my real journey will begin. I am going to study at a Shaolin Academy in the mountains of Kunyu Shan, Yantai, in Eastern China. Studying martial arts full time has always been my dream and will take me to a high level that I could never achieve from doing it casually.

A Second Meeting with Master Kwok Wan Ping

I had to return to Hong Kong to apply for a new visa for China. So I took the opportunityto meet with master Kwok Wan Ping again. However, this time my focus was on the Taoist martial art Ba Gua Zhang, of which Kwok Sifu is a respected master.
After warming up with some Wing Chun Chi Sau with his son, I told Sifu that I have become more interested in the internal arts, particularly Ba Gua, but that I hadn't found anyone in Qingdao who taught it. Ba Gua Zhang translates as 8 trigram palms, which refers to the 8 trigrams in Taoist metaphysics. The 8 trigrams are fire, earth, lake, heaven, water, mountain, thunder and wind. Each one represents a change in the flow of the cosmos and is named after its personality. For example, mountain doesnt literally mean a mountain, rather it represents the characteristics of a mountain: immovability, stillness. Each trigram is made up of 3 lines, which can be broken or unbroken (broken representing Yin, passive, soft and unbroken representing Yang, active, hard). Im not really qualified to go into detail about taoist cosmology, so for more detailed and accurate information look Ba Gua up on Wikipedia.
So Ba Gua Zhang is a system of internal martial arts based on these 8 changes in the universal flux. Sifu taught me the foundation of Ba Gua which is circle walking. You have a central object and you walk in a circle around it, always keeping your guard facing this centre. In application you would use just 1 or 2 of these circular steps to avoid an attack and at the same time move closer to your opponent. He also taught me a basic Jiben Gong excercise where you stand in Ma Bu and put a ball orobject in your hand and keeping your palm facing the sky, move it around your body. This strengthens your legs and especially your back and side muscles.
From this experience I learnt that internal doesnt neccesarily mean weak or soft, as Ba Guais very dynamic and intense and gave me a very good workout. Master Kwok explained that Wing Chun is very easy to learn and that is why it is so effective. But if you can dedicate enough time to Ba Gua, it is immensly powerful and is a very deep and rich martial art. He likened it to a very advanced version of Tai Ji Quan. I feel Wing Chuns main weakness is that it is very limited in that it doesnt give you a full range of movements and is not very dynamic. It needs to be supplemented with fitness programs, whereas more classical arts give you an intense workout.

Yuen Kay San Wing Chun with Kwok Wan Ping

During my stay in Hong Kong I had the honour of meeting and training with Kwok Wan Ping, who many would say was the top disciple of grandmaster Sum Nung. Master Kwok was really easy going and had a good sense of humour. He seemed to always wear just a pair of shorts and sandals, and his figure was in top condition, even for a 70 odd year old man he was still covered in muscles. The first day I met with him, I was invited to dinner and his wife cooked traditional Cantonese food which was really nice. Then after our food had digested, we went on to the rooftop to train. The rooftop of his apartment had been the sight of many Beimo (illegal challenge matches, popular amoung kung fu students in the 60s) and he told me that when he fled mainland China for Hong Kong all the people were practicing Yip Man Wing Chun. So in order to start teaching Yuen Kay San lineage he had to prove himself and fought and beat several of Yip Mans students.
His style of Wing Chun was a fairly hard style in comparison to the other stuff ive seen. Chi Sau with master Kwok was very tiring, his arms felt immovable and really heavy, but they werent tense. He also put a lot of emphasis on arm conditioning drills, which I did so much with him that my arms were swollen next day! He was critical of many people who are too soft, which is good in theory, but it doesnt work in real fights. And if you doubt that is true, Im sure he would invite you to test your skills on him! He said that his tremendous internal power came from a lot of Tai Chi and Ba Gua Zhuang training. He had even created some training drills which combined Wing Chun with Tai Chi principles.
In the Yuen Kay San lineage, there is 12 basic excercises called San Sik, which means free excercise. These can be done with a partner, or alone and are a good way of developing a strong foundation in Wing Chun. They are a condensed way of demonstrating the basic principles of the art.

In need of updating: why I changed clubs

So, I thought it was about time I updated this blog. It has been a long time since I wrote anything. Since then I have changed clubs and travelled Asia for 5 months, to China, Hong Kong, Tibet, Nepal & India. I will write about my experiences regarding martial arts in a later post. Without sounding like Im having a bash at my old club I think I should explain the reason I left. After getting my black sash and beginning to attend seminars of other Sifus I began to question my art. My Sifu had always talked about validating things, so I wanted to validate what I was doing for myself. Now in the class it is very easy to say ok, so this guy is throwing 2 punches and I can do these techniques and Im in a good position. However, when you do this same technique against someone who isnt just standing there to take it, the result is not as successful. I also began to question the reason why we always do drills. So now I had learnt the whole system and I thought "what next?"
People always say, once you reach black you start learning, but I felt like I wasnt doing anything anymore. In short I was teaching and doing warm ups, while the Sifu was in the back room drinking tea. I thought to myself, "am I really developing?" So I had got to a stage where I had become totally stagnant, and on top of that I had a closed minded attitude towards other styles. I was always fault finding when I looked at other stuff, instead of thinking, well why do they do this. Now I realise that you cant criticise one element of a different system without understanding the whole.
So anyway, I decided to go along to the Foshan Wing Chun class and to do some private tuition with the Sifu. He was able to answer my questions and restore my faith in the fact that Wing Chun was an alive, conceptual art. Suddenly, things fell into place that had previously felt scattered and awkward.
Following that I had to take a break for 5 months, while I travelled around Asia. During my time in China & Hong Kong I met a couple of Sifus there from various styles and I also had a lot of time to think through my Kung Fu. I think this time to reflect helped me find the cause of my ignorance. Basically I had been looking for someone to come along and be a master and show me the way. So I accepted the first who came along and developed a close relationship with him. I began to believe everything he said and became like a robot, I wasnt myself.
Now I have come to the realisation that I am my own master, and that in this life people will come and go, and they will show me which way to turn next and then I must decide for myself and then move on. There is no humble monk who will come along and tell me the meaning of life or whatever, I must take it into my own hands.
So now I feel that everything fits into place, whereas before things were clashing. For example I was led to believe that Wing Chun is Wing Chun and we do what our Sifu says and anything else will hinder our progress. However I now see that all things fit into it, not go against it. I now understand when Bruce Lee says about the man who goes to a Zen master and asks him questions. The master decides to serve tea and overflows it so it spills everywhere. The man says "what are you doing, the cup is full, it cant hold any more tea!"
So the master replies "see, likethis cup you are so full of your own opinions and ideas, whatever I teach you ,there is no room to take it in."
So I guess what Im saying is that in this life we should be open minded. Dont get sucked in to other peoples bullshit, and if you have a doubt in your mind, dont keep quiet. Speak up, find an answer to your doubt, however that may be. Most people become stagnant because they develop a comfort zone. They dont want to affect the status quo or whatever. Its when you step into the danger zone, and are on the edge, that you really develop. So, if you have a doubt, dont just ignore it, whats the worst that can happen, your questions are answered? What Im saying applies to life, not just martial arts. Dont allow your mind to be someone elses prisoner, conquer it, its yours after all!!
Maybe people will read this and say "oh, what disrespect to his old Sifu" or that i am talking crap. Well I dont care, coz I dont want my learning to be held back by blind respect. I think I have a little insight into Bruce Lees thinking now.

Foshan vs Hong Kong Wing Chun

Although the Wing Chun I study comes from Yip Man in his later years in Hong Kong, I have recently visited and trained at another club, who come from a very different lineage. They trace their lineage back to Lun Gai, the first student of Yip Man in Foshan, bafore he fled to Hong Kong.
The main differences I noticed was that they placed more emphasis on the physical side of training, for instance the warm up was much more intense, involving press ups and such. The Hong Kong style is much more yielding to force, whereas looking at the Foshan style you can see how a younger Yip Man would have practiced, putting much more emphasis on power and directness.
Also looking at the forms the first thing I noticed was that whereas in Hong Kong style we place most of the emphasis on correct angles and positions, their emphasis was placed on the development of power. Also their forms were more flowery, ours looks more refined.
Also I noticed that they placed more emphasis on footwork drills than we do, when we practice Chi Gurk it is a freeflowing exercise similar to Chi Sau, whereas they practiced set drills more akin to Dan Chi Sau/Lap Sau. Whereas we practice more Chi Sau and set drills to ensure correct positions, they seemed to practice more sparring and grappling type exercises. The Foshan style also used a lot of armlocks as well, which we do not.
So to conclude I feel that from attending this other class I feel it has given me a greater understanding of Wing Chun, enabling me to see how Yip Man progressed through his life. I would not like to say that either style is better, only that they both reflect different aspects of the art. It is evident how Yip Man liked to simplify things, as looking at the Foshan Wing Chun it is much more traditional, Hong Kong Wing Chun appears more practical and faster to learn. The Foshan Wing Chun however does seem to have a much larger syllabus, incorporating a larger variety of techniques and applications of things.