Born and grown u p in a town where many Kung-fu masters and armed escorts had been raised and emerged in the hast
Mr. Li Jianfang was born and grown up in Xingwan Town, Ren County, Hebei Province, where many renowned Kung-fu masters and armed escorts were born and brought up in the past. He was keen on and infatuated with Tai Ji Quan(shadow boxing) from his childhood on, He was by nature endowed with remarkable talents, and could practice regular and elegant Tai Ji Quan when he was a teenager. No matter it was in cold winter or in hot summer, he studied and practiced Tai Ji Quan hard all around the clock. When he was 18 years old, he had thoroughly mastered the basic skill and technique of Tai Ji Quan, and revealed endowed talent and outstanding perseverance in practicing Tai Ji Quan.
Practicing “Wang Qi He” school of Tai Ji Quan with Mr.Liu Renhai as his tutor Recommended by Mr. Tan Wentang(his farther-in-law), Li Jianfang was given directions by Mr. Liu Renhai from 1971.He was and formally acknowledged by Mr. Liu as his disciple in 1975. Mr. Liu had given all his life and energy to study and spread "Wang Qi He" school of Tai Ji Quan. And he also asked his disciple to pay special attention to studying the orthodox "Yang" and "Wu" schools of Tai Ji Quan, so as to get a basic knowledge about the origin and strong points of "Wang Qi He' school. Li has an excellent savvy, practicing Tai Ji very hard, so he could fully understand the teacher's instructions. He also is greatly influenced by Mr. Liu's modest and dignified behavior. Soon he stood out from all Mr. Liu's disciples, and was thought highly by his teacher.
Acknowledging Mr. Yao Jizu as his teacher, and learning orthodox "Wu" school of Tai Ji Quan
At the end of 1983, Li entered politics. He was transferred to Pingxiang County in 1991, and served successively as the head of the County, and being the Party Secretary of the county. Though he was tightly occupied by public affairs during this period, he never stopped practicing Tai Ji Quan. Following his abecedarian---- Mr. Liu's last words, he mined to Mr. Yao Jizu for advice in 1983, and formally acknowledged Yao as his teacher in 1985. Yao and Liu were old acquaintance, and deeply esteemed and respected for each other. Thanks to Mr. Yao, Li learned the authentic "Wu" school of Tai Ji Quan, and listened respectfully to Mr. Yao's profound paraphrase on the theory of "Wu" school of Tai Ji Quan. As a result, both his theoretical and practical levels had come to a new ambit. With the help and instruction of Mr. Yao, he wrote some theoretical articles such as "Summary on Traditional Tai Ji Quan", which were full of incisive and original views, and highly praised by the famous Tai Ji Quan theorist---- Mr. Wu Wenhan.
Mr. Wang Rongtang initiated Li in person eight trigram palm and "Wu" school of Tai Ji Quan
In 1986, a silver medal winner in a national free combating contest was retained as a coach at a martial art gymnasium in Xingtai City.
Having a competition with Li, the martial art coach's hands and feet could not advance and retreat smoothly once "stuck" by Li. On hearing this, the master of the coach Mr. Mei Huizhi made a special trip to Xingtai to meet with Li. They two had a long and in-depth talk through the night, exchanging views and comparing notes freely. They both wished meeting each other earlier. Mei introduced Li to his mentor Mr. Wang Rongtang. Mr. Wang behaved cautiously and prudently, and was very picky to choose disciple. Persuaded by Mei, Mr. Wang left for Ren County from Beijing accompanied by his favorite disciple Li Wenzhang. After meeting with Li, Mr. Wang was very pleased to acknowledge Li as his disciple. Mr. Wang devoted all his attention and efforts to teach Li Ba Gua Zhang (eight trigram palm), "Wu" school of Tai Ji Quan, Xin Yi Quan, etc. and taught Li in person the practical skills. Since then, Li's combating skills and practical experience had got great improvements.
Mr. Fu Zhongwen teaching Li "Yang" school of Tai Ji Quan
In order to learn authentic "Yang" school of Tai Ji Quan, Li went to Mr. Fu Zhongwen a martial art magnate for advice and consultation. When he visited Mr. Fu one day in 1992 in Shanghai, he came across several boxers from Southeast Asia who also came to visit Mr. Fu. Mr. Fu asked Li to Tai Shou(push hands) with those boxers. One of the professional boxers could not stand steadily when he just began to push hands with Li, and he even jumped up when he wanted to push harder. Other boxers were very surprised and tried to compete with Li one by one, but all their efforts were in vain. In contrast, Li could practice smoothly, with his feet firmly rooted on the ground. Mr. Fu could tell at a glance that Li had a very strong internal strength and excellent self-restraint, and acknowledged Li as his disciple with delight. Since then, Li was given directions by Mr. Fu with meticulous care. Mr. Fu himself even came to Ren County----Li's hometown, and Pingxiang County where Li worked to teach Li in person for three times.
Learning and confrolling recomdife ''routines and techniques of Kung-fu controlling in one's mind" would never be late for anybody
At the beginning of 1998, Li was appointed as the Vice Governor of Bazhou in Xinjiang Province. Facing the vast Gobi Desert border land, he cultivated his moral character while practicing Tai Ji Quan, and widely made friends with other schools of Chinese boxing. A martial art master admired Li very much and often praised him in public after he met Li and exchanged views with each other. Li knows that skills and techniques are the primary stage of Tai Ji Quan, while the "heart law" is the most difficult to learn. It is "looseness", "flexibility" and "perception" that are the most difficult and important essences of Chinese Kung-fu.
Keeping enthusiastic for life and calm when dealing with affairs
Li is always calm whenever any event happened, and Tai Ji Quan is embodied both in his mind and body. He is full of enthusiasm and vigor in both his life and undertakings, and correctly looks upon wealth and fame. He always forgets himself when getting along with other people, and in turn other people show respect and trust in him. When dealing with stubborn and paroxysmal events, he is perfectly calm and collected. This is not only coming from his accumulation of practical experience, but also his possession of "Tai Ji philosophy". Li also shows great interests being of great attainments to other art ramification such as calligraphy and painting. He dabbles in all artistic forms beneficial mind to help him realize and master the laws of Tai Ji Quan and other arts.
