Zhao Zhu Xi
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:
Zhao Zhu Ji / Chiu Chuk Kai / Chiu Mon Sui /Chao Chu Chi / Chou Chu Hsi / Chiu Tsu Tse / Chao Ju See / Zhao Wen Xiou - Wen Xiou (civil study/cultivation) was shifu Zhao Zhu Xi�s monk name.
Nicknamed Bamboo Creek.
Born in Loo Wan Village, Sha Ho Town, Yick County, Shan Dong Province in 1900. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi started his martial art training at the Gi Chong Ji Buddhist temple (Canon of Wisdom) on Mount TaiDzai (Shan Dong Province) at the age of 10, studying Tai Zu Quan (Great Ancestor Boxing), which has both Chang Quan (Long Fist) and Duan Da (Short Strikes). He studied about 10 years under two teachers until they both passed away.
After his master died he came across the training sessions of the Tai Ji Tang Lang masters shifu Ren Feng Rui and his gong fu brother shifu Chi Shou Jin who ran a security Service. Having no money to afford lessons shifu Zhao Zhu Xi would watch the training class daily in all kinds of weather never missing a day. After a while the two masters noticed him and invited him to join the class. After explaining he was unable to pay, the masters who were so impressed with his dedication offered to instruct him anyway, being shifu Ren Feng Rui his first Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan master. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi, grateful for the opportunity, said that he would work for the Service as a guard in exchange for his classes. He worked, studied and lived in shifu Chi Shou Jin's guan for around seven years until he was 18, time when shifu Chi Shou Jin passed away.
His job was to help guard gold shipments against the bandits in his native Shan Dong during the 1920's. During this time shifu Zhao Zhu Xi caravan was ambushed by 100 bandits and he encountered one of the most notorious bandits of the time. After a fierce battle which almost became a draw shifu Zhao Zhu Xi killed the bandit. Thereby gaining a wide spread reputation a great fighter, and became known by the nick name of Chuk Kai, which means Bamboo Creek (the place the famous battle took place).
In the '30s shifu Zhao Zhu Xi started his own business with three partners exporting silk to Guang Zhou. Therefore, he left Shan Dong province and he moved to the south of China where he kept teaching his boxing style. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi set up schools in Macao and Guang Zhou until World War II.
In 1945, after the World War II shifu Zhao Zhu Xi moved to Vietnam, settling down in the port of Hai Phong, in North Vietnam. In 1954, following the separation of Vietnam into two countries (North and South), he moved to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), where he became member of the association of martial arts Tinh Vo Mon (The Magnificent Door of the Martial Arts) located in an area called Tigh On (where most of the Chinese people lived). From this association he took a considerable number of forms to introduce in his teaching program. During his stay in Saigon, shifu Zhao Zhu Xi created his own school in Cholon district.
He introduced the Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan style to military officers in South Vietnam, where he sent one of his personally taught students to be the bodyguard for the South Vietnamese President. While teaching in Vietnam in the 50's shifu Zhao Zhu Xi had over 60.000 students distributed in 32 schools. Most of the Tai Ji Tang Lang presently seen in the US was learned in these schools by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi lived in Vietnam (Saigon and Choloon) more than 20 years.
There are some rumors spread in the USA that mention that shifu Zhao Zhu Xi and shifu Li Kun Shan (Hua Lin Tang Lang Quan) met in Vietnam and were good friends. This is incorrect because shifu Zhao Zhu Xi moved to Vietnam from Macau in 1945 and could not meet shifu Li Kun Shan in Vietnam because the later had already left Vietnam long time ago (early '30s).
In 1968 shifu Zhao Zhu Xi moved to Hong Kong. When living in Hong Kong, shifu Zhao Zhu Xi remained active even in his later years teaching Tai Ji Tang Lang Quan. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi used to live in Hong Kong in the apartment flat above his Tai Ji Tang Lang School with his daughter Zhao Han Ping and his grandson Stephen Tsang (an accupunturist currently living in Canada).
One of the things that is not listed in any of shifu Zhao Zhu Xi's bios is that he was also a brilliant acupuncturist and healer. Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi developed his own brand of massage oil and herbal plaster; and he run a clinic practising acupuncture, acupressure and bone/joint adjustment side by side in his martial art school. His grandson Stephen Tsang still teaches some of shifu Zhao Zhu Xi techniques to his acupressure students in Canada.
Shifu Zhao Zhu Xi passed away in August 3,1991 at the age of 91.
Page Updated: 1st October 2004.
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Fernando Blanco Dopazo .