Huo Yuanjia and the Chin Woo Association

Huo Yuanjia was a real-life hero, who inspired mythic tales about his life. His life and exploits have been the basis of films starring Bruce Lee and Jet Li. The real Huo Yuanjia defeated foreign fighters when other countries were exploiting China in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His exploits were a source of pride at a time when China was at a low ebb in its history.
Huo Yuanjia was born on January 18, 1868. He was the son of a martial arts instructor, who did not want his son to train in martial arts. Huo Yuanjia saw his father teach during the day and practice with his tutor at night. Huo Yuanjia developed exceptional skills through this unorthodox training.

The family first learned of Huo Yuanjia’s skill, in 1890, when a martial artist beat his brother. Unlike Huo Yuanjia, his father openly trained his brother. Huo Yuanjia fought the victor and won. Hou Yuanjia was 22 years old.

Huo Yuanjia then defeated a Russian wrestler, other Chinese martial artists, and an English boxer by the name of Hercules O’Brien.

Hercules O’Brien posted insulting articles in local newspapers challenging local fighters to a match. O’Brien was an intimidating looking man, but Huo Yuanjia accepted the challenge.

Huo Yuanjia and Hercules O’Brien argued over the rules for months before they finally agreed that the first person knocked down would be the loser. Depending on the source, Huo Yuanjia knocked O’Brien down and took the victory. Other versions claim that O’Brien no showed. We do know Huo Yuanjia won one way or the other.

Huo Yuanjia set up the Chin Woo Athletic Association around 1900. He focused on teaching martial arts, exercise and diet for overall health improvement and protection. The Chin Woo Association still exists to this day.

On August 9, 1910, Huo Yuanjia passed away at the age of forty-two. For years, historians offered the opinion that enemies poisoned Huo Yuanjia. The motive for the poisoning theory was his defeat of all the foreign fighters. In 1989, Chinese authorities exhumed his body, and his sternum did have the tell-tale blemishes from arsenic poisoning.

However, doctors treated Huo Yuanjia for jaundice and tuberculosis in the decade prior to his death. One of the ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine at this time was arsenic. The medicine could have killed Huo Yuanjia without his enemies deliberately poisoning him.

Pin It