Teaching the "Sage Arts" in Japan

Most Chinese of Zhang Yi Zhong's generation do not have many positive things to say about the Japanese. When the Japanese invaded China in the late 1930's through the end of WWlI, they were very brutal to the Chinese people. The Chinese people who lived through the tragedy still remember the brutality well and hate the Japanese aggressors for what they did to their country and their people. So why would Zhang Yi Zhong, a man who saw the Japanese brutality first hand during the war, want to live with these people and teach them his martial arts just 20 short years after his country was at war with Japan?

Zhang's long time student, Joe Deisher, who met Zhang while Zhang was teaching in Japan in 1967, says that the main reason Zhang wanted to teach the Chinese internal arts in Japan was to show the Japanese that gaining strength and power through aggression was not the way to live life or solve conflict. Deisher further explains that the Chinese character, wu, (the "martial" in "martial arts") combines the symbol for "spear" with the symbol for "stop." Thus the character "wu," which is central to both the Japanese and Chinese phrases for martial arts, refers to "stopping weapons." Zhang believes that "wu" of "martial arts" should not be about conquering an enemy, but about resolving a conflict. In Zhang's view, resolving the conflict does not mean that their must be a violent confrontation. The resolution can best be reached through nonviolent means. Zhang's purpose in teaching the Japanese about Chinese internal martial arts was to show that brute force, rigidity, power and aggression were not superior to flexibility, suppleness, refined skill, and intelligent employment of passiveness. True to his teaching and beliefs, when Zhang opened his school in Japan he called it a "Sage Arts" school instead of a "Martial Arts" school.

Zhang Yi Zhong says that it was not easy running a Chinese martial arts school in Japan in the 1960's. Many of the Japanese martial artists, proud of their martial tradition, came to Zhang's school challenging his abilities and questioning what he meant by calling his school "sage arts." Zhang certainly met these challenges, but he never viewed a challenge as a conflict where one person needed to "defeat" another. In conflict, if one person is determined to prove himself superior to the other, he might do so, however, the conflict is really not fully resolved. The person who was defeated might go away, but he will probably still hold resentment. Therefore the conflict remains. The one who was "defeated" might always want to come back and try again. The "way of the sage" is to resolve the conflict in such a manner that the opposing sides both feel as though they have gained something from the experience. In order to do this, one must give up the idea of being a victor, a winner, a conqueror, a warrior, and think about becoming a sage. This is why Zhang calls what he teaches the "sage arts." He says that the study of internal martial arts is not about becoming a warrior, it is about learning the way of the sage.

Zhang explains that when someone confronts you or challenges you in some way, you have entered into a relationship with that person. You must decide what you want from the relationship. If your idea is to defeat that person by physically harming him. humiliating him, or otherwise beating him down, you do not have the attitude of the sage. If someone comes to take away your money and you think, "I must beat this person so I can keep my money," then you have created a situation which leads to a "win-lose" confrontation. If you beat the person and keep your money, you win and he feels defeated. If he beats you and takes your money, you have been injured and have lost your money. Zhang's solution to this confrontation would be to just give the other person your money and walk away. Zhang says, "He feels good because he has your money, but you have really come out ahead in the long run. He will take your money and buy unhealthy food, cigarettes, liquor, and drugs. Eventually he will kill himself and you will still be healthy and happy." Zhang continues, "Look at me, I do not own many things, I do not have much money, but I am seventy-five years old and I am very happy and healthy. I am looking forward to the rest of my life."

Because Zhang wanted to teach the Japanese his philosophy of the "sage arts," when other martial artists came to Zhang's school to challenge him, he never took it as a personal challenge. The relationship he choose to have with these challengers, no matter how aggressive they were, was one of sharing and friendship. He would always meet their request for a physical demonstration of his skill and he was always able to show that he and his art deserved respect, but he also always showed compassion for his challenger. He was never brutal or excessive, even when the challengers tried cheap shots and dirty tricks. His challengers always went away feeling a bit humbled by the experience, but never felt "defeated." Zhang always made new friends Instead of enemies in these situations.

Zhang Yi Zhong taught his martial arts in Japan until 1972, when he returned to Taiwan. While Zhang was in Japan teaching, his family remained In Taiwan. During the summer, when his kids were out of school, Zhang would go back to Taiwan for one month to spend time with his family. When his daughter was old enough to attend college, she went to college in Japan, graduated with a degree in agriculture, and then moved to the United States. In 1972, his son entered the military in Taiwan, thus leaving Zhang's wife home alone. At this point, Zhang thought it best to move back to Taiwan to be with his wife. When he returned to Taiwan, Zhang reinstated his teaching in Tai Nan.

In 1979, Zhang moved to the United States at the invitation of Joe Deisher and a group of Tai Ji students on the Northern California coast. When the group submitted the paperwork to apply for Zhang's VISA to bring him to the United States as a martial arts instructor, as part of the VISA granting process, the American Embassy sent a young burly Chinese man to visit Zhang and verify his qualifications as a martial arts instructor. The man met Zhang and, with appropriate courtesies, told Zhang he had to test his ability as a martial artist. He said, "We have to know that you are real." The man tested Zhang's skill and was fully satisfied that Zhang was a martial artist. Later, when Deisher checked with the federal office through which the VISA was issued he was told that there was no doubt in their minds that Zhang was a fully capable martial artist. Zhang was issued a VISA to enter the United States as a professional martial arts instructor.