Every style has a story. We like to give readers a glimpse, a scene, a taste of the classical fighters and teachers who gambled in a deadly game of skill and courage.
In the 1920’s, houses in Beijing were heated with coal, which came from the mountains to the west. One day, a coal seller brought coal into town. He had a car full of coal and three horses pulling it. They were riding down the main commercial street of Beijing, called Chian Men Da Jie. There were lots of people around, including Master Wang (Wen Kui). For some reason, the horses bolted and began galloping down the street. The driver fell out of the car, and it looked like there was going to be a serious incident in which many people could get hurt, especially women and children. So the driver called out, “Help, anyone! Help!” Master Wang happened to be standing near the path of the galloping horses. When they came near, Master Wang raised his hand and let out a big yell, which startled the horses and slowed them down. Then, quickly, Master Wang stepped to the side of the first horses and pushing it from the side, using Yan Zhang…The horse fell down, and the other horses and the car came to a stop, preventing a disaster. The driver thanked him profusely and said that Master Wang had saved him…
From
Liu Bin’s Zhuang Gong Bagua Zhang: South District Beijing’s Strongly Rooted Style
Zhang Jie et al.