Long Ren Xia
Praying Mantis Shifu
The information presented in this chart was collected from different sources -see Bibliography-, therefore the romanizations in Pinyin according to the Mandarin pronunciation of the characters sometimes is not available. If you find any mistakes or inaccuracies please contact me.
His name is also romanized as:
Lung Jen Hsia.
Nicknamed as "Long Ge".
Born to a wealthy family in Sichuan Province, shifu Long Ren Xia started his martial arts training from an early age. He originally learned a style of boxing called "Shu Pu Quan" (Mouse Boxing) from one of the local teachers in his village. Conforming to the old tradition, students had to endure a year of basic training before progressing to learn forms and sparring. The basic training was grueling - consisting of stretching exercises for flexibility; standing in stances for long periods of time to strengthen the legs; lifting weights and catching thrown sandbags to strengthen grasping skills. This early training formed a solid foundation for shifu Long Ren Xia's future martial arts training.
Traditionally, the Chinese prefer to cultivate both literary and martial skills, so in keeping with tradition, shifu Long Ren Xia was sent to north of China to study the literary arts. Of course, shifu Long Ren Xia's endeavors in the literary world did not keep him away from his passion for the martial arts. He continued his training during his studies and made many friends among the martial art circles, like renowned Nanking Central Kuoshu Academy graduate and Cha Quan expert, shifu Zhang Wen Guang. Later on, shifu Long Ren Xia took up Yang Style Tai Ji Quan as his main style.
In 1950, shifu Long Ren Xia fled along with the Nationalist Government to Taiwan where he established himself as a reputable calligrapher. During his spare time, shifu Long Ren Xia continued to practice and teach Yang Style Tai Ji Quan; moreover, he also took up learning Tang Lang Quan with shifu Kao Tao Sheng.
At the moment, shifu Long Ren Xia is in his mid-80's and continues to practice and teach Tai Ji Quan, as well as giving valuable advice to the younger generation of students at shifu Kao Tao Sheng's school.
Page Updated: 1st June 2001.
If you have comments please contact me !!
Fernando Blanco Dopazo .