An inheritance most treasured

Sixty-four-year-old Guo Zhenya's most cherished family heirloom is not a big house, expensive piece of jewelry, or ancient masterpiece.

"What I have held as precious as my own life are the taichi quan, xingyi quan and bagua zhang martial art skills I inherited from my father," says Guo.

The kungfu master from Hebei province is the fourth-generation holder of the Liu style bagua zhang kungfu.

"My father devoted all his life and energy into these martial arts skills," says Guo. "I must live up to his expectations."

His father Guo Mengshen (1890-1973) began practicing kungfu at the age of 12, learning from various kungfu masters. Guo Zhenya was first trained in bagua zhang then in xingyi quan - and finally tai chi quan, all by his father.

The training between father and son even continued in secrecy during the cultural revolution (1966-76), Guo recalls.

"My father set a good example for me," says Guo. "A kungfu practitioner keeps learning throughout his entire lifetime."

Xingyi quan, bagua zhang and taichi quan are the top three Chinese kungfu styles, which are widely considered to be typical Chinese internal schools of marital arts. The martial art forms put a greater emphasis on developing a balance between internal and external strength. According to Guo, Chinese kungfu is divided into two types: the school of outer form and the school of internal art.

"The outer form school looks really beautiful and put on a good show. Meanwhile, the internal school does not look good at all, but it is real kungfu," says Guo.

Those who practice the outer form become weaker as they grow older, while those practicing the internal art grow stronger as they age, claims Guo, who has never missed a day of training over the past four decades.