Martial Arts of Zhou Tong

Martial Arts Of Zhou Tong

Various martial arts have been attributed to or associated with Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Song Dynasty general, Yue Fei. This is because assorted wuxia novels and folk legends portray him as being either a Shaolin monk or a lay disciple of Shaolin. Some of these skills range from mastery of the bow, double swords and Chinese spear to that of Wudang hard qigong, Chuojiao boxing and even magical X-ray eyes. However, the oldest historical record that mentions his name only says he taught archery to Yue Fei. Nothing is ever said about him knowing or teaching a specific style of Chinese martial arts.

Zhou Tong can also be linked to these combat arts through his historical and folklore students. Practitioners of Eagle Claw, Chuojiao and Xingyi commonly include him within their lineage history because of his association with Yue Fei, the supposed progenitor of these styles. He is also linked to Northern Praying Mantis boxing through his fictional students, the Water Margin bandits Lin Chong and Yan Qing, the adopted son of Lu Junyi. One modern day folktale even represents him as a master of Drunken Eight Immortals boxing.

According to a Yangzhou Pinghua (扬州评话 – “Yangzhou storytelling”) folktale called Meeting Zhou Tong by Chance,

“Among the itinerant people of the rivers and lakes this man was of illustrious fame, a fame reverberating like thunder, an expert in both civilian and military matters. Iron Arm Zhou Tong, Old Master Zhou!” (“Iron Arm” being his martial nickname.) Another source makes the bold assumption that he was "known as the greatest of grand-masters of all times in the history of Chinese martial arts and has many disciples who scattered across the country to teach the martial arts and all the culture involved in its knowledge, such as calligraphy, painting, poetry, chess..."