Martial arts master passes on his skills up north

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-02-26

A wushu (martial arts) master referred to as the "Inner Mongolia Monkey King" has been teaching students his own brand of monkey martial arts in the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia to contribute to traditional Chinese martial arts using a style he developed and perfected by combining monkey movements with swordsmanship.

Master Lv Changchun was born into a martial arts family and began learning the monkey form of martial arts when he was 5, and recalls, "At first I learned from my father, then my father set up an amateur martial arts team so I practiced with them."

He goes on to say that he spent many mornings in People's Park near his home which has a monkey hill where he carefully watched the movements of the monkeys living there and tried to imitate them.

He had a habit of getting up early to practice for many years and as a result, has won numerous awards in martial art competitions. After he made a name for himself and got some recognition, Lv started his own classes on the monkey form and comments, "I hope to carry on the traditional Chinese art form and promote it under newer conditions."

Chinese martial arts, or kungfu, has evolved over the ages with many different styles, including Bagua, Drunken Boxing, Eagle Claw, Five Animals, Hsing I, Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Monkey, Bak Mei Pai, Praying Mantis, Fujian White Crane, Wing Chun and taijiquan.

Lv Changchun teaches monkey martial art forms. [Photo/baotounews.com.cn]