Grandmaster Wang Dengzhou: Five Tigers Descend on the West River (wu hu xia xi chuan 五虎下西川)
Five Tigers Descend on the West River is attributed to Grandmaster Ma Desheng of the late Qing Dynasty. Grandmaster Ma was a slight man, shorter than five feet in height, so his fighting method was particularly ruthless. Five Tigers Descend on the West River comes from the Sheng Gate system, one of the eight special lineages of Emei Mountain. “Five Tigers Descend” is a common martial phrase often used to describe methods that are distinctly vicious.
Grandmaster Wang Dengzhou was born in 1913 in Yibing City of Sichuan Province, China. He studied martial arts from childhood and rose to become one of China’s greatest masters.
The Legendary Grandmasters of China series showcases many of the leading elder grandmasters of China. The footage was collected from 1983 to 1986 during China’s National Martial Arts Survey. When the department in charge of this survey was shut down by the government, much of the data was lost. Fortunately, some footage was recovered and has been re-mastered to include new lesson material. Each form demonstrated by the Grandmasters is broken down for instructional purposes by leading contemporary practitioners of these styles. TC Media is proud to present these historic videos in order to preserve the legacy of these extraordinary Grandmasters.