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 Yang Fu-Kui, also known as Yang Lu-Chan, was a native of Yongnianxian, Guangping Country, Hebei Province He was born in the fourth year of Jiaqing, the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1799 A.D.). When he was young he went to the Chen's village in Henan to study Tajiquan from Chen Chang-xing. At that time, those that learned from the Chens were mostly Chen relatives.
Outsiders were seldom allowed to practice with them. Yang, an outsider, was no exception. But because his heart was set on learning, he never gave up. Yang stayed at the Chen's village for several years without learning anything. One night, Yang woke up and heard "Heng" and "Ha" sounds in the adjacent yard. He got up and traced the phenomenon to a compound with several buildings. He peeked through a crack in the wall.
There he saw his master teaching a few disciples the techniques of grasping and controlling and emitting power. Dumbfounded by the techniques, he went to watch the practice sessions every night. After every observation, he immediately went back to his room to ponder and study what he observed, Because of this, his martial arts skills improved significantly. One day, Chen ordered Yang to spar with the other disciples. All the disciples lost to Yang. Chen Chang-Xing was surprised and realized Yang's talent. He then began to teach Yang the complete secrets of the art.
 Yang Cheng Fu in single whip stance -1918
Yang was hard headed person, and loved to compare and try his techniques against other styles of martial arts. He often carried a spear and a small bag as he travelled around the northern provinces. Wherever he went, he would challenge local well-known martial artists. Whenever he heard of anyone claiming to be unmatched by anybody, he would insist and force the person to a challenge. He never hurt anyone in his challenges. Because his skill was a high level, he was undefeated in all his matches. Therefore, he was nicknamed Undefeatable Yang.
There were many interesting stories about Yang's life. Here are a few selected stories:
1. When Yang was at Guangping, he often fought with people on the castle wall. One opponent was unable to defend against Yang's attacks and kept on retreating to the edge of the wall. Yang's opponent, unable to keep his balance began to fall over the edge. At the instant before the opponent fell, Yang, from about thirty feet away, leaped forward, caught the opponent's foot and saved him from falling to his death.
2. On yet, another day, Yang was fishing at a lake. Two other martial artists were passing behind Yang. Because of Yang's high reputation, they dared not challenge Yang. They saw Yang facing the lake fishing and thought of taking advantage of this opportunity. They plotted to push Yang in the water, and ruin his reputation. They approached Yang until they were a few steps away, then they rushed forward and attacked him. Yang had already sensed the attacker's intention. Just as the two attackers' hands reached his back, he arched his chest and rounded his back and executed the High Pat on Horse technique. As his back arched and head bowed, the two attackers were bounced into the water simultaneously. He then said to them that he would be easy on them today; but if they were on the ground, he would have punished them more severely. The two attackers quickly swam away.
Ref: Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia .
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