Huo Yuan Jia

 

Huo Yuan Jia was born on 18 January 1868, the middle of three brothers  as the fourth of ten children in the village of Xiaonanhe which is today part of the Tianjin municipality. His father Huo Endi practiced a style of fighting known as Mizongquan and earned a living as a farmer and also as armed protection escorting merchant caravans to Manchuria and back.

Young Huo Yuan Jia was born weak and susceptible to illnessso his father refused to train him in the martial arts. It is said that he has asthma but that claim probably came from the movie “Fearless” there are no data what kind of illness young Huo suffered from. Huo Endi hired Chen Seng-ho, a tutor from Japan, to teach his son academics and moral values. In return, Chen was taught the Huo family's style of martial arts. Huo still desired to learn martial arts, against his father's wishes, so he observed his father teaching his students martial arts in the day and secretly practiced at night with Chen. In 1890, a martial artist from Henan visited the Huo family and fought with Huo's elder brother, who lost. To the surprise of his family, Huo fought with his brother's opponent and defeated the latter. Promising his father he would not take part in any competitions (a promise he would eventually break), his father agreed to train him and soon  Huo Yuanjia surpassed both of his brothers in skill. Huo joined his father at work as a caravan guard. At one occassion while escorting a group of monks, Huo was confronted by a group of bandits, who threatened to attack the monks. Huo fought the bandit chief and defeated him. The news about this fight spread quickly and this was a beginning of Huo’s fame

Soon after, in 1896 like a lot of other young men at the time, Huo Yuanjia migrated to the city. In Tianjin, did a variety of odd jobs including warehouseman and bill collector (house thug) for a promising young Tianjin merchant named Nong Jinsun  who dealt in herbs and Chinese medicines. Nong and Huo were to form a lifetime friendship.

 In 1902, Huo responded to a challenge advertised by a Russian wrestler in Xiyuan Park, Tianjin. The wrestler openly called the Chinese "sick men of Asia" because no one accepted his challenge to a fight. The Russian allegedly forfeited when Huo accepted his challenge and told Huo that he was merely putting on a performance to make a living and apologised for his earlier remark in the newspaper. 

In 1909, another foreign fighter, the English boxer Hercules O’Brien, put an advertisement in the Shanghai newspapers insulting the Chinese as weak. Huo asked his friends to go to Shanghai and arrange a fight. After considerable negotiations the terms of the fight were settled. According to most of the accounts, O’Brien grew so concerned about Huo’s fearsome reputation that he ended up fleeing the country and apparently the fight never took place.

Both of these stories couldn’t be proved true or false, simply there are not written evidence to support or disapprove any of these claims. 

Huo capitalized on his fame and with the help of investors, including his old friend Nong Jinsun, established his legacy: the Chin Woo Physical Training Centre later changed to "Chin Woo Athletic Association". He attracted many students as well as the attention of some of China’s leading figures. Sun Yat-sen himself praised the school and said, regarding the association, “To make a country strong, everyone must practice the martial arts. Dr. Sun even graced the school with his calligraphy inscribing the words for martial spirit  and giving it as a gift to the association. 

Huo Yuanjia died relatively young, and his death is surrounded by myth and mystery. According to the story told by Huo’s descendants, the Japanese Judo Association came to Huo Yuanjia’s school to ask for a competition. A disciple of Huo disciples broke the arm of one of the association leaders. After that, the Japanese nursed a grudge against Huo but feigned friendship. When Huo became ill, they took him to a Japanese doctor who then poisoned Huo.

Other sources say that it was Huo who, in competition, defeated the head of the Japanese Judo association. At the banquet that night, Huo suddenly became ill, violently coughing. Huo was taken to a Japanese hospital where he was given, allegedly on purpose, the wrong medicine. He then died a short time later. 

Like a lot of famous figures whose lives become encrusted by myth and legend, we might never know the actual truth. Huo apparently suffered from some kind of respiratory problem most of his life and it is not impossible that this might also have led to his death especially after nearly two decades in competitive fighting. Nevertheless, the story of the Japanese treacherously poisoning China’s most patriotic wushu champion persists. In 1989, Huo's and his wife's graves were excavated and their remains were relocated elsewhere. Black spots were discovered in Huo's pelvic bones. The Tianjin Municipality Police Laboratory confirmed that they contained arsenic. However, it is difficult to ascertain whether Huo's death was caused by malicious poisoning or by the prescription of medicine. This was because arsenic trioxide has been used therapeutically for approximately 2,400 years as part of traditional Chinese medicine. 

Huo became as a symbol, both in the early 20th century as well as today, of Chinese patriotism and nationalism. Legend about him grew over time, especially when he became a hero of Wu Xia novels.