Li Youfu’s Martial Arts Stories — Master Xue Dian’s Kung Fu

In the process of making the documentary: Kung Fu . Seeking the Tao, Mr. Li Youfu told us stories of Kung Fu masters in the past. Here we share some with our audience. 

Below is a story of Master Xue Dian, told by Mr. Li Youfu.

My martial arts master once shared a true story with me. It’s what he had witnessed firsthand.

This took place when he had been living in Tianjin. At the time, Master Xue Dian was the director of Martial Art Academy of Tianjin. He was a grandmaster of the Xingyi style of martial arts, or Xingyi Quan. He was highly achieved in his techniques.

Once, a man went to his martial arts school and issued a challenge. Master Xue Dian wasn’t at the school that day. So how did he (Li Youfu’s master) learn about this? On that day, he happened to be sipping tea with Master Xue at home. Then a phone call came in. Right. Master Xue learned that a man had issued a challenge in his school. His disciples were no match, so they sought out Xue Dian’s help.

So my master accompanied Xue Dian to his school. When they arrived there, what had the challenger been doing? He was tearing down the school building. He drove his hand into the brick wall, and he pulled out bricks just like that. His hand was tough like iron. And it pulled out pieces of the wall easily. What if the man tore down the building? The students didn’t know what to do.

Master Xue said to the man: “Hey my friend, stop what you’re doing. Come inside! Have some Tea!”

“Have some tea.” Master Xue Chuckled. He invited the challenger inside. The two of them sat down.

But Xue Dian didn’t serve him tea. Instead, he asked for two large empty glasses. One of his disciples held a large kettle. The kettle contained boiled tap water which had already become cool. The disciple filled the two glasses with water from the kettle. Xue Dian sat and waited for the challenger to talk. But the challenger just sat there and said nothing. From the moment he started pulling out bricks, he never said a word. He placed his hand on one of the glasses, and with one press, the glass broke into pieces.

Seeing this, Xue Dian chuckled. He too placed his hand over the other glass. And with a pull of the hand, the water in the glass rose like a liquid cable. When he let it go, the water fell back into the glass. The glass was full and not a single drop of water had escaped.

The challenger stared at it for a moment. Then he just stood up and left without saying anything. From the moment he arrived to the moment left, he never said a word. The incident had been resolved. Yup!

What Master Xue Dian used was a kind of technique, right? It may sound inconceivable to you. But it was a type of martial art he had been practicing. He had his way of practicing it. How much hard work must he have put into it? What must his moral character, or xinxing, be like, to master the technique? Of course, this was just martial arts at that particular level. His martial arts skills were at that level. And it was what he specialized in.

Related Posts: