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Men Baozhen, of Manchurian decent, was born in 1873 in Beijing. His family was fairly wealthy and part of the upper class of citizens in the city. As a child, he enjoyed being outdoors and taking on various physical activities. Like many bagua practitioners, he was not a good student in his early life and chose a life path that corresponded with his interests. In his teens, those interests were enforced by his parents, understanding his lack of focus in academics, when they allowed him to take military examinations. If he passed the exams he would be accepted in an Officer training program in the military. During the test, Men was injured during the horse riding examination and failed the overall entrance requirements. His early martial training was in Tan Tui, which is a low-level art that is based on leg attacks. He trained in this art for several years in his youth, but when the day came that he was able to utilize his training in a street fight, he was defeated. That event inspired him to search for a new instructor. A friend of his introduced him to Yin Fu, the lineage holder of Dong Haichuan’s baguazhang. During that meeting, which occurred in 1893, Yin Fu, looking at the physically fit Men, insulted him and the martial art that he trained. Men did not appreciate Yin’s comments and considered him arrogant for making them. At the time of this meeting, Yin was already starting to show the signs of aging and coupled with his naturally small frame, did not impress Men in the least. Men, in the prime of his youth and obviously a much bigger and stronger man, requested if he could test Yin Fu’s martial skills. No sooner than Men spoke the words, Yin Fu struck him and knocked him to the ground. This strike stunned the young Men and it took him several minutes to regain his bearings. Thus started a long relationship between the two men.
The initial training under Yin Fu consisted of first gaining a foundation in Lohan Quan. Men would start his practice in the early morning hours, before dawn, and train the entire day. He ignored the elements and practiced with no regard for hot or cold weather. He would perform chores at Yin Fu’s house after he was finished training. Men was very fortunate that his family was wealthy as he had no concern of money. He did not have to share his love of martial art training with the task of making a living. This allowed him the ability to focus all his attention on improving his skills and his training accelerated in comparison to other students. Men actually lived with Yin Fu for eleven years and gained a level of trust with Yin Fu that few, if any, of the other students shared. He was one of the hardest working disciples of Yin Fu and his character exhibited high degrees of kindness, loyalty, honesty, and generosity. Because of these attributes, Yin Fu taught him at a higher level than that of his other students. The late Dr. Xie Peiqi, a direct student of Men Baozhen, stated that his instructor was considered the third most technically proficient student of Yin Fu, behind Ma Gui and Li Yongqing, but given his age and demeanor was the “inner door” student. Yin Fu passed on to Men all the teachings of Dong Haichuan to include the martial, medical, qigong practices, and philosophies of the system. Men is reported to have carried for Yin Fu in the later years of his life. This bond between student and teacher ended in Yin Fu’s death in 1909. Yin Fu transmitted the entire system that he learned from his instructor, Dong Haichuan, to Men Baozhen. This made Men the third generation lineage holder of the system. Yin Style Baguazhang was to survive another generation.
Men Baozhen’s was gifted in the areas of qin na (seizing and grasping) and chopping (pi) palm. He was also know to be very talented in bagua interlocking leg skills. Through his studies with Yin Fu and his martial uncles and brothers, he was taught a high level of skill in Chinese Medicine and became a well-respected doctor. Physically, he was a large man with a solid, strong build and huge fists. Men Baozhen accepted many martial challenge matches during his life. It is reported that he was always careful to not badly hurt any of his opponents. Men would generally knock them out or apply a qin na attack to a nerve point that caused the opponent to submit. An interesting story concerning one of the challenge matches is centered around a visiting monk. The monk had come to Beijing to demonstrate his martial skills during the “Fifth Day of the Fifth Month” Festival. During his demonstration, the monk produced a bag full of two foot long iron rods. He would pull the rods out of the bag, one at a time, and beat them against his body until they broke. In the course of the demonstration he broke twelve rods in this manner. Men Baozhen, after observing this display, queried why the monk had learned such a skill, since it only trains you on how to get hit by others. The monk was angered by the remark and challenged Men. As the monk launched his attack, Men struck him with one blow and knocked him out. The stunned monk was unable to stand even after several minutes. Once he had recovered and about to leave, Men told him to take the rods with him, that they had no use for them. The monk, further insulted, vowed to return in two years, but never returned.
In 1930, Men along with his martial uncle, Ma Gui, erected the third stele at the tomb of Dong Haichuan to honor the founder of the system. According to Liu Shichang, a disciple of Dr. Xie Peiqi, Men Baozhen was known as Men “Big Hand” or “Requested Thrice”. At one point he was the Executive Official to a martial arts competition open to the whole country. Where did he get the nickname of Pin San or Requested Thrice? This was given to him by Zheng Jin. He had heard that in Beijing there was a man named Men Baozhen who was the lineage carrier of Dong Haichuan. He sent envoys to request him to the competition twice, but the old man did not accept. On the third time, Zheng Jin went personally to explain why he wished Men Baozhen to be an official at the martial arts competition. He said, “As I’ve came by train three times, I will give Men Baozhen the moniker of Requested Thrice. Men Baozhen wanted him to explain why he was needed and Zheng talked about this great competition that would feature great martial artists from all over China and how he wanted him to officiate. This was to be a full contact competition. Men Baozhen answered that he was seventy-two years old and as under heaven there were already many highly skilled martial artists that would probably not accept him as an official. Men suggested that he would put up an announcement to accept three days of challenges. If he could win them all, then he would be an official. If he lost, then better man would have to be found. Men Baozhen kept his challenge open for three days.” Needless to say, Men Baozhen, at seventy-two years of age, was not defeated and became the Executive Official of the competition. He also served as an advisor to the Hebei Martial Arts Academy during the 1930’s.
In 1935, Men Baozhen published a book on the art, Orthodox Bagua Penetrating Palm. He was sixty-two years of age at the time and was still respected as a fearsome fighter that
had dealt with many challenges from other martial artists throughout his career. He Jinbao, the current lineage holder of this system, refers to this book on many occasions. Yin Style Baguazhang was always a secretive art that had few practitioners in each generation. Within this style it was considered poor taste to accept payment for teaching. A practitioner would make their living through practicing medicine, working as a bodyguard, or some other manner. Men Baozhen held to this code. His teaching style, which was adopted from Yin Fu, was harsh with no focus on teaching the art in a systematic way. There was no commercial incentive to pass on the teachings to students. Many were just used as personal training tools and injuries to students were a common part of the training process. Those that toughed it out were still only taught part of the system. Enough to make them proficient, but lacking in the overall depth and understanding of the system. Generally, only one of each generation was taught the entire system. In 1933, Men Baozhen started training the son of a friend. That young man, Xie Peiqi, was just thirteen years old at the time, but given the age difference (Men Baozhen was sixty) a grandfather-grandson type relationship developed. Xie lived next door to Men and spent many days under his harsh guidance. Through the years, Xie’s knowledge and skill developed, and he was taught the entire system of Yin Style Baguazhang. Xie would eventually become a doctor in Chinese Medicine and would stay at Men’s home for periods of time. Like the bond between Men and his instructor, Yin Fu, Xie Peiqi cared from Men Baozhen until the time of his death in 1958. Dr. Xie Peiqi became the fourth generation lineage holder of Yin Style Baguazhang. The art was to survive yet another generation. |
