Du Xinwu
Chinese master of the Zi Ran Men style (1869–1953), personal bodyguard of Sun Yat-sen and teacher of Wan Laisheng, known for his exceptional kicking technique.
Quick Facts
ChinaBiography
Du Xinwu was a Chinese master of the Zi Ran Men style (Natural Fist), an armed bodyguard and later a state official. He was born in 1869 in Zhangjiajie in Hunan province and died in 1953 at the age of 83 or 84 from the effects of a recurring injury.
He began practicing martial arts at the age of six, and at nine became a student of Yang Ke. After a public challenge, he sought out a teacher named Xu, known as Dwarf Xu (Xu Ai'san), in Yunnan province, and at sixteen completed his training in the Zi Ran Men style under him.
He worked as an armed escort protecting goods and people. In 1900 he studied at the Tokyo Agricultural University. On the recommendation of the revolutionary Song Jiaoren, he became Sun Yat-sen's personal bodyguard and, using underworld contacts, helped found the Tongmenghui party. During the Second Sino-Japanese War he was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese; he later escaped and coordinated anti-Japanese resistance in Chongqing. After 1949 he served at the Ministry of Agriculture and as an advisor to the Hunan Provincial People's Political Committee.
He became famous for his exceptional kicking technique; he is said to have defeated the fighters Cheng Man-ch'ing and Liu Baichuan. His documented student was Wan Laisheng. According to sources, he passed on the Zi Ran Men style to his eldest son Du Xiusi and to Wan Laisheng.