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JUN22

No Tracks in The Snow - Remembering Sun Lutang

There was an article in one of the Chinese newspapers today,on Sun Lu Tang and "lightness skills" . Here is my translation below.

Although many marital arts novels talk about this phenomena, most moderns tend todismiss it as the overactive imagination of our predecessors. However there were manyrecords of kung fu masters demonstrating light skills in the 1920s and 1930s of which

the most well known was Sun Lu Tang.

We do not lack for aerial acrobatic performances in the modern era, but according to

those of deep spiritual cultivation, if you are able to open the macroscopic orbit in yourbody, you will be able to levitate, but as the practitioner is no longer bound by the rulesof biology and physics and this exceeds the abilities of normal man, spiritual practitionerswill not lightly demonstrate this skill. During the Republican era, Sun Lu Tang himselfsaid that he had achieved the Dao through martial arts practice.

Sun Lu Tang's (1860-1933) birth name was Sun Fu Quan and was born in Wan

County in Hebei Province (currently part of Wang Du County). He was a master of Xingyi,Baguazhang and Taiji and the founder of Sun Style Taiji. He was a well known martialartist with the nickname "The First Hand under Heaven" .

According to the Society Daily - 1930511 the author Xiang Kai Ran

relates, "Although Sun Lu Tang was born in Hebei his reputation was respected

across the nation. In addition to his skills in Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji, he was also taught

by some unusual people, one of who was called Chen Letian whose skill was to be

able to fly in the sky, and he transmitted this skill to Sun. Sun was able to use this skill inthe North East, to escape from an explosion by jumping off a steep cliff, while helping the

troops stationed there to rid the area of bandits.

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In the previous year in Beijing, a number of masters from Shanghai related that Sun LuTang had jumped over the walls of the forbidden palace, and was the talk of the capital.Although I had heard this I was personally suspicious of its veracity.

At the beginning of the year Sun Lu Tang had come to Shanghai to teach at the Jian DeSavings Association and I had gone to listen. Sun said that the foundation of

martial arts was how to use the Shen and the Qi. The audience did not understand andasked Sun to demonstrate, and so he leapt into the air and moved flew backwards andforwards in the space of the hall, he was like the wind and it was difficult to discern his

shape until he finally landed safely on the ground.

I was greatly surprised, and heard the rising sound of applause, and it was like waking

from a dream, and finally believed that there was an art of flying using the Qi of thebody. This is the use of the Shen and the Qi, and requires the cultivation of the heart andthe emotions, if the heart and emotions are not suppressed, this results in an

expenditure of energy. Thus one must understand the importance of cultivation in yourdaily life, and it is not something that can be achieved by brute strength.

Sun Lu Tang has always been universally acclaimed, to be able to see such achievementsin the art today, there are no others who can compare to him."

2) According the the magazine of the Central Guoshu Academy and the

Records of Great Guoshu Masters they both recorded that that "Sun Lu

Tang was able to squeeze through narrow spaces and bridge large expanses, and was

able to move like a god on a knife's edge. And thus he was famous in the area of YanZhao, and none did not know the living monkey Sun Lu Tang.

The son of the Qing Minister Jizi, who loved martial arts and enjoyed riding horses,

went to visit Master Sun. One day Jizi received a new horse, and asked Sun toaccompany him to try out the horse in the countryside. Jizi rode first, like the frost

chasing the wind, he rode with all his ability, and upon return asked Master Sun to tryout the horse.

Sum demurred and said I am not proficient at riding, he waited for Jizi to ride a few morerounds, frowned and said that he should try his utmost to catch him. Upon that point Jizi

adjusted the saddle to jump the horse, and hastened it on with the whip. Sun waited forthe horse to run several bows' length, and then jumped on its back, like a flying swallowthrough the curtain, as a dragonfly skipping on the water, he placed both hands lightly

on Jizi's shoulder. At that time the horse was running as if in full flight, yet Sun was asswift as a monkey. Jizi did not realize what had happened, but the applause from thespectators was like the sound of lightning, and there was none who could compare to thespeed of Sun.

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3) According to the Tianjin Compendium of CulturalHistory and Wudang Magazine's 19959 editionSun Lu

Tang's light skills could chase down a good horseIn his early years he followed Guo Yun

Shen across many provinces in the north and south, and Guo often rode a horse with Sunholding on to the horse's tail, following behind in the dust.

He also had the skill of "hanging a painting on the wall" . In Mukden

(Manchuria)he once had a challlenge match in the Governor's mansionat that time

the walls of the hall were as glossy as a mirror, and rose up high perpendicular to thefloor. Sun leapt onto the fall and remained there with his back to the wall for 1-2 minutesbefore returning to the ground.

What was even more surprising was his ability not to leave tracks in the snow

. Once Sun lived in Tianjinand it was snowing heavilywith the snow half a foot deep

in the courtyardwhen the sun came upthe snowing had stoppedSun admired the

beautiful snowand demonstrated his Taiji set. The observers were very surprised as he

did not leave any footprints in the snow where he had stepped.

4) According to the Zhejiang Wulin Events In the spring of 1931 Sun

was travelling in Hangzhou and walking towards the West Lake with his disciples GaoZhen Dong and Cao Yan Hai . He was playing with his disciples and asked

them to chase himwith the one who was able to catch him being the winner and he

would teach them a secret technique. Although Sun looked as those he was walking

without effort, his disciples could not catch up with him.

5) According to the Stories of the Northern Guoshu Masters In the

year of the Emperor Guangxu there was a Sun Lu Tang from Puyang who

was known for his bravery and skills in pugulism, and was undefeated. He was well

trained in Xingyiquang, Baguazhang, Taiji which were the pinnacle of the internal arts

he also took studied the external arts, and was able to meld them together, so that hewas like a god, and was one of the most accomplished artists during the Qing period. Hewas known as the first hand under heaven.

There was once a palace guard - Big Nose Li who heard of his reputation, who hoped toarrange a fight with him.Those who knew of this tried to persuade him, that Sun hadexquisite form, and even the devils and gods found it hard to deal with him, and that heshould not have an open competition. Li thus visited Sun privately, at that time Sun had

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heard from Su Wang of Li's reputation, and he had said that Li was gracious and humble,and asked Sun to decline the request. Li suspected that Sun's reputation had no basis infact, and asked him three times for a match, so Sun finally agreed. The two faced eachother, with the observers shouting encouragement, once the signal was given, Li had not

yet began to move when he fell out of the ring, for Sun had already come behind Li. Theobservers did not see Sun move, it was like a spirit. Li left, humiliated and regretting his

actions.

6) According to the Study of Sun Style Martial Arts Yang Shi Huan

remembersIn the 12th year of the Republic (1923) I was in Nankai in Tianjin,

attending university, and in that year I began to study Xingyiquan, Baguazhang andTaijiquan under Sun Lu Tang. At that time Master Sun came to Tianjin one to two times

a month for 3 to five days. Sun often mentioned that to study the internal arts oneneeded a solid educational foundation. Perhaps for this reason, my kung fu brothers atthe time especially respected me.

During the winter of the second year, Master wanted me to accompany him to Beijing,and to stay at his house. I woke up early in the morning, and there was heavy snow, and

the courtyard was completely white. Coming out of the bedchamber, I saw Master Suncarrying a lantern coming from the back courtyard, he looked at the snow as though hecould not bear to step on it.

"This is a silver carpet from heaven." After his he finished speaking, he leapt up andreached the steps of the Northern rooms. I noted his footprint, and on the same day Iused a ruler to measure it and it was thirty feet, five inches. After this I told my brothers

that Master had been able to jump thirty feet carrying a lantern, and another also saidthat Guo Yun Shen had been able to leap 30 feet.

After Master heard this, he denied this and said that he was only able to jump 20 feet.Having said this he used the tiger form to jump and my brother used a ruler to

measure, and indeed it was 20 feet 5 inches I was bothered by this, why didn't Masterjump further? Afterwards my brother said to me, This is Master's way of honoring

his teacher. You used Master Guo to compare so Master deliberately did not leap past 30feet. So do not pick on the details."

7) According to the 1933 publication of Lao's explorations, , Sun's Taoist

Studies, Lightness Skills and Martial arts were of the highest leveland none in the

modern era can compare to him.

Zhao Bilu , a well known Daoist Teacher reckons that he is

approaching the Dao, while Sun resided in the Dao, and felt that he was the only one inmodern times to achieve the Dao through martial arts. I study the spirit, but am on the

path, and have experienced many hardships, but this is not something that one who doesnot study the Dao can understand, I have many friends who have an interest in thespiritual studies, but many have dropped out halfway, in recent times only Sun hasachieved a golden body, and is the only one who I know who was able to enter the Daothrough the martial arts. I follow the Longmen path while Master Sun is of Wenshi

although the lineage is different, they are the same.

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