Background
Hsu was born in Taibei, Taiwan in 1934 to a family of six brothers. He began his study of Shaolin kung fu with his father at an early age.
许鸿基, 許鴻基
Hsu was born in Taibei, Taiwan in 1934 to a family of six brothers. He began his study of Shaolin kung fu with his father at an early age.
In school, he was very athletic and participated in swimming, soccer and judo. He also learned boxing and became a skilled street fighter. After studying the external styles of shaolin for many years, he discovered the unique effectiveness of the internal martial arts and began training with Hung I-Hsiang, a master of all three of the major Chinese internal arts, xingyiquan, baguazhang and taijiquan.
After many years of training, Hsu opened his own martial arts school.
Hsu"s school used a modified version of the Tang Shou Tao (唐手道. Literature Chinese Hand Way) system developed by his teacher Hung I-Hsiang.
Hsu named his school Shen Long Tang Shou Tao (神龙唐手道. Literature Spirit Dragon Chinese Hand Way).
Tang Shou Tao is not a separate style of martial art, but rather a practical, step-by-step, systematic approach to learning internal martial arts and developing highly refined levels of skill.
lieutenant incorporates elements of all three of the internal arts (xingyi, bagua, taiji) as well as Shaolin kung fu and qigong. Hsu felt that if a person, no matter what their race or nationality, sincerely wanted to learn and was willing to work hard, then he would teach them. In the late 1960s he began teaching American and Japanese students in Taiwan.
This led to his falling out of grace with many of his fellow Chinese, including his teacher Hung I-Hsiang, even though Hsu was one of Hung"s senior students at the time.
Foreign many years, Hsu went to teach in Japan every year and several of his Japanese students opened schools there, Senga Masaki being perhaps the most well known. He had several long-term American students in Taiwan, many of which now have schools in the United States, including James McNeil, Mike Patterson, Harold Bellamy, Mike Bingo, John Price, Thomas Snowden, Dale Shigenaga, Charles Alsip and Pam Holder.
He also had several grand students that also now have schools of their own in the United States including Vince Black, Steven Baugh, Tom Bisio, Alex Shpigel and Steve Cotter, among others