Liang Xue Xiang
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:
Liang Chue Xiang / Liang Hsueh Hsiang / Liang Chu Chan / Liang Hsuan Hsiang / Leung Si Heung / Leung Shi Heung / Leung Shih Huang.
Some genealogies from Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan register his name with the second character of his name as Shu4 (tree). This is a mistake, in Shan Dong dialect "xue" would sound like "shu", and it was probably recorded like that by one of shifu Zhao Zhu Xi (Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan) students in Hong Kong that was not aware of his Northern accent.
Born in 1810 (other Tai Ji Mei Hua Tang Lang sources date his birth to 1790) in Yushan Kuang village, Shan Dong Province. Shifu Liang Xue Xiang lived in Hai Yang county, Shan Dong Province.
Shifu Liang Xue Xiang was a very important master in the praying mantis history. The Korean branch of Mei Hua Tang Lang mentions this master as the creator of the Plum Flower branch of Praying Mantis Boxing. The Tai Ji Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan branch mentions him as the creator of the Zhai Yao (Summary) forms. In addition, he produced a Pu (handwritten manual) where he recorded several forms (including the names of the moves for them) and shifu Jiang Hua Long's branch of Mei Hua Tang Lang still teaches the Luan Jie form as recorded in this old manual.
According to the Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan tradition, shifu Liang Xue Xiang's father saved shifu Ma Qiang life. Shifu Ma Qiang was so grateful to that man that he taught praying mantis style to this son, shifu Liang Xue Xiang. According to the Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan and Tai Ji Mei Hua Tang Lang Quan, his master was shifu Zhao Qi Lu.
After learning praying mantis boxing sifu Liang Xue Xiang travelled in China looking for other masters to continue improving his boxing skills. Shifu Liang Xue Xiang was admired for his courtesy and he honored all other martial arts schools while still actively advancing his own style. In shifu Liang Xue Xiang's open mind there was something to be learned from all the styles.
The legend says that on the occasion of his eightieth birthday shifu Liang was honored by several recognized masters in Northern China. These masters gave shifu Liang Xue Xiang the ultimate gift of a martial artist, the precisely written and drawn principles of their best and last techniques. Two of these techniques, Sung Yu Tung's "Hei Kung" (enhancement of breathing method) and Suen Ke Yang's ground fighting movements were included and still trained in the Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan style. Other version says that these master's techniques inspired shifu Liang Shu Xiang when developing the form "Zhai Yao", that integrates the most essencial techniques.
We do not know the places he visited in his quest for gong fu knowledge but we know that he taught some students in Beijing.
Shifu Liang Xue Xiang was promoted to official on the 7th Army after passing the military examinations.
When he was 45 years old (around 1855) he returned to Shan Dong Province where he countinued teaching praying mantis boxing until he passed away in 1860 (other sources say he passed away in 1890).
Page Updated: 1st June 2006.
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Fernando Blanco Dopazo .