Guo Yunshen
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Guo Yunshen (郭雲深, 1822 - 1898) was a famous Xingyiquan master. He represented the xingyi martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skill with one technique Beng Quan was legendary : it was said from him that "with his 'half-step bengquan,' he could fight anyone under heaven without finding an equal." (banbu bengquan da yu tianxia wu dishou), and earned the nickname "the steadfast" (bu daota).
Although it is not historically reliable, he is said to have fought Dong Hai Chuan, the founder of baguazhang. The outcome of their match was that practicitioners of both arts each highly respected the other. In another version of this story, desiring to fight Dong Hai Chuan, he first went to visit Cheng Tinghua, another native of Hebei province. Cheng invited him to dinner, and Guo wished to demonstrate his "Divine Crushing Fist," which Cheng evaded twice. Because of this, he rethought his plan to challenge Dong, knowing him to be a superior practitioner to Cheng.
His teaching was based on the "three truths" (san li), the "three capacities" (san gong), the "three methods" (san fa) and the single / double weight notion (danzhong / shuangzhong) during santishi standing practice. His students should stand still for at least three years before they could learn the forms.
Guo yunshen had learned with Li Luoneng and was so a member of the Hebei xingyi school. He taught many famous students including Wang Xiangzhai, Sun Lutang and Li cunyi.
