Chang Tung Sheng
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chang
Chang Tung Sheng (1908-1986) was a Chinese martial artist. He was one of the best-known Chinese wrestling (also known as Shuai Chiao) practitioners and teachers.
Born in 1908 in Hebei, Chang was remarkably strong among his peers from his early life. Chang's family roasted chickens, and their business provided sufficient income to allow him private lessons with Zhang Fen Yen (also known as Chang Fong Yen), a local businessman and Shuai Chiao master who practiced bao ding shui chiao as instructed by Ping Jin Yi.
Chang distinguished himself early among Zhang's pupils as a promising martial artist. This led to close personal attention and training in areas normally reserved for more senior students. Zhang taught Chang unorthodox training drills and methods to aid him in developing his Shuai Chiao skill, including using leg sweeps to drive grasshoppers into the air where the correctly positioned hand could easily catch them.
Chang competed in 1933 in the 5th National Kuo Shu Tournament (also called the "All China Full Contact Tournament") and won the Lei tai heavyweight division over several hundred other practitioners. Now nicknamed the "Iron Butterfly," Chang would go on to win numberous challenge matches before entering China's armed services - traveling across the Nationalist-controlled areas of China to seek out other Shuai Chiao practitioners in order to test his skills. He may also have first started learning xingyi in this period.
He taught as the youngest faculty member in the National Control Martial Arts Academy and exchanged knowledge with other martial arts experts. He created his own variation of Tai Chi and xingyi, Ch'ang Tai Chi, based on Yang Tai Chi, xingyi and his Shuai Chiao knowledge.
Throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, of which China became a part, Chang instructed large numbers of Chinese Nationalist troops in Shuai Chiao (including the elite red wall paratroopers), while continuing to fend of numerous challenges. When not otherwise occupied, Chang visited several POW camps to test his Shuai Chiao against Japanese practitioners of judo, jujutsu and karate. Chang represented the Army in 1948 when he was victorious in a nationwide competition for Shui Chiao, Chin Na, grappling and throwing.
When the Chinese nationalist troops under Chiang Kai-shek were driven from mainland China by the Communist rebels, Chang remained with them. On the establishment of the National Police University, in Taipei in the Republic of China, Chang was given a position of Senior Instructor in unarmed training by Presidential edict. He taught there for over 30 years.
Never defeated in martial arts challenge matches, Chang died in 1986 of esophagus cancer which set on suddenly.
