Thirty years later – Makro tells it all

I've always liked the book “The Three Musketeers” and even more so the Soviet film based upon it. Among my favourite scenes is the game of chess between D’Artagnan and the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu. A clash of styles and views on life seen through the prism of a game played with huge chivalric pieces. Without the character of the cardinal – mysterious and sinister – it’s unlikely the story would have become one of the most popular in history. Well, our chess kingdom also has just such a colourful figure. In many ways Georgios Makropoulos has even managed to surpass his famous predecessor: if the Frenchman was appointed Secretary of State at the age of 31, then our hero joined the hierarchy of power at 29; Armand Jean du Plessis retained his post right up until his death at 57, but at 58 Georgios continues to occupy the commanding heights. At a certain point even the location of our encounter – the Radisson, formerly the Kievskaya, Hotel, struck me as a huge Catholic church…
Three Versions

Vladislav Tkachiev: Georgios, in a recent interview for our site Kramnik made serious accusations against the Appeals Committee in Elista in 2006. What can you say in response?

Georgios Makropoulos: Ok, I’ll tell you how I understand what went on back then. Perhaps after that you’ll have a better understanding of the situation that arose. Above all, it was a match between a Russian and a Bulgarian in Russia. FIDE, of course, did all it could to demonstrate its impartiality and that it wasn’t playing into the hands of Kramnik. Can you imagine what would have happened if everyone around the world had begun to believe that everything went wrong because Kirsan, a Russian citizen, had succumbed to pressure from the authorities and aided Kramnik? Vladimir’s overly frequent visits to the toilet became the grounds for complaints from the Topalov camp. All of that’s perfectly well-known – there are video recording of all the games and the number of visits to the toilet was very high.

Many chess players do that after every move.

After every one?

Yes.

I don’t know anyone like that. I was a player myself and might have gone 2-3 times, but not 15 or 20.

But after all you realise it was a World Championship match, nerves, stress…

I don’t know anyone who would have done that so often. That was the problem which created the whole conflict. So after receiving the protest from Danailov I discussed it with Carsten Hensel [Kramnik’s manager at the time - ed.], and he gave me a very improper explanation. Two years later, before the Anand match, he gave me yet another version. So, first he said that Kramnik needed space to walk about. I have to say that such an explanation was completely unsatisfactory – if he needed more space then why go into the toilet? Of course it’s well-known that Zurab’s a friend of Danailov’s. Silvio was Azmaiparashvili’s commercial agent in Spain, but in any case he couldn’t have convinced the Appeals Committee to take an incorrect decision. By the way, I still think we did everything correctly. Topalov felt there was something wrong with the toilets, and we decided to close those in the rest rooms and open another one – a joint one, with three cabins.

But after all, what was wrong with the toilets in the rest rooms?

No-one could know for definite what the players were doing there. That night I phoned Ilyumzhinov and explained the situation with the complaints, to which he immediately responded: “Close the toilets!” So it wasn’t even our decision, it was Kirsan’s. I later talked about that at a press conference but, by the way, my statements disappeared from all the websites.

You mean there was some sort of conspiracy?

Some people didn’t particularly want that to be published. It was only later, much later, that ChessBase nevertheless published what I’d said after the protests and complaints.

And would you say it’s admissible to change the playing conditions after the start of the match?

According to the regulations the Appeals Committee had to ensure equal conditions for both players.

And they weren’t equal?

They were. But as soon as one of the players expressed his suspicions, and we couldn’t prove the opposite, it was decided to change the toilets. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the match was held in Russia, the country of one of the participants. It wasn’t a change of clocks, pieces or chairs and it didn’t alter the playing conditions. Among other things, according to the contract and regulations we weren’t obliged to provide toilets within the rest rooms. I understand Kramnik, he’s a very sensitive guy and took our decision as an insult: if we were closing the toilets it meant we were confirming to the whole world that something was up. Vladimir’s reaction at that moment was inappropriate.

Why?

He shouldn’t have boycotted play. He could have submitted a protest, but it was still essential to appear for the game. And then there was all that debate about the letter Kirsan sent to the arbiter…

Kramnik claims Ilyumzhinov didn’t sign it as at the time he was at a government meeting.

I don’t know how the letter was drawn up, I really don’t. Perhaps FIDE did put some kind of stamp there, but in any case the letter was sent by Kirsan or, let’s say, by his “soldier”. Kramnik’s reaction was excessive, although perhaps at the end of the day it actually helped him, as I don’t think Topalov was glad to receive a point in that manner. Do you remember what happened during the Fischer-Spassky match?

Yes.

You give your opponent a point and how can he play after that? That’s happened twice in history, and the “recipient” has gone on to lose both matches.

But Spassky lost the match by a big margin, while Topalov lost in the tiebreak, and the point was very important for him.

Ok, but don’t forget that at the time Topalov was one of the best three players in the world alongside Kramnik and Anand, and had beaten everyone easily in San Luis. I don’t think it was simple for him to win a game like that. But let’s return to our discussion. In Mexico I had a conversation with Carsten, and he told me that the real reason was that his charge had certain health problems. That was explanation no. 2. He also added back then: “Look, I should tell you that we know you weren’t involved in any conspiracy in Elista”. So after two years during which they’d said a lot of things against me, they’d come to the conclusion that I had nothing to do with any intrigue. He also expressed their wish for me to be the official FIDE Supervisor for the match in Bonn against Anand [the Supervisor’s decisions are final and must be complied with even by the Appeals Committee - ed.]. We’d created that post especially in order to guarantee equal conditions for the players. Anand was also happy with my candidature. In Bonn, by the way, Carsten gave me a third explanation: Kramnik’s frequent visits to the toilet were provoked by a desire to smoke.
He didn’t want to end up on video. He didn’t want his wife to see him smoking.

But how could she see that?

Others could see it and tell her. He didn’t know if the video would remain secret or not. After the match it might all have been published. In any case, that was the explanation. You know, I was a heavy smoker myself until my last operation, and that explanation was perfectly logical for me, and I accept it. “I want to smoke and I don’t want anyone to see”.

Particularly if you’re smoking marihuana :-))

Not marihuana, no. Let’s be serious. Of the three explanations that one satisfies me. I’ve stated many times that I don’t believe Kramnik cheated.

That’s obvious from the game scores in any case.

No, listen. The match was in Russia, the Bulgarian side had suspicions, and we were obliged to react. It’s the same as the case with the French grandmaster Feller. We took all the precautions we could so that there weren’t any complaints or pretensions. At the same time, we never claimed that cheating took place. And in general, if Anand thought I had special relations with Silvio he wouldn’t have proposed me in the role of FIDE Supervisor for the match in Sofia. Do you understand me? By the way, in Sofia I had a real fight with the organisers. Anand was going to be late and he wanted to postpone the match for three days. That didn’t suit the organisers and as a result I took the decision to delay the match by a day. After that Danailov didn’t talk to me for the whole course of the match.

Ok, but there’s still one detail I haven’t understood: how did Danailov know that Kramnik didn’t just go to the rest room but also to the toilet?

He asked the organisers for the video footage.

Ah, that’s something Vladimir has accused the Appeals Committee of. Did he really have the right…

He can’t accuse the Appeals Committee of that as the video footage was in the hands of the organisers, and from the very beginning they agreed that it could be watched.

They – the players?

Danailov arranged with the organisers that both teams could see the opponent’s video.

Kramnik claims that according to the regulations only the arbiter had that right.

No, that’s not true. Just imagine: you’re playing in my country against me, the best player in my country, and we both have separate rest rooms. You’d want to know, after all, what was going on in there, don’t you think?

An awkward situation, but what about privacy?

Privacy of what? There can’t be any privacy in a World Championship match. I’m convinced it’s a situation where there shouldn’t be rest rooms.

And there aren’t any longer?

There haven’t been since the match in Bonn. They still had them there, Carsten insisted on it, but in Sofia that was no longer the case. The spectators want to see the players on the stage, not two empty chairs. We want to show the spectators and sponsors that chess is a sport.

Then my question is as follows: during that match I talked a lot with my colleagues – overall, opinions were in Kramnik’s favour. The clear majority felt that what was going on was an attempt by Topalov’s team to put pressure on his opponent in a situation where the score was minus two after four games. What do you think yourself?

Perhaps. I can’t be sure, but I think that if Topalov had doubts he shouldn’t have informed Danailov about them, because after that he was no longer in a condition to play. As a result, Silvio became more convinced that something was wrong. They broke open the ceiling in the toilet and found some sort of cable. After the match he was still claiming it was a computer cable or something like that. I said: “Look, that’s enough. If you really think that you found what you were looking for then you should simply have left.”

What do you mean? In that case the match would have been considered lost.

If they’d found something they should have left.

But they didn’t find anything.

I know. But he claimed he’d done that, although it’s clear the proof wasn’t convincing, which was why they stayed.

That’s just what I was talking about – it was done to apply psychological pressure.

Perhaps, but I don’t think he’d planned it before the match. I don’t think he’s that clever. Of course, he’s not stupid, but he’s not clever enough to plan something like that before the match. That would be too subtle for him.

And do you agree with Kramnik that Topalov’s team was trying to interrupt the match in Elista at all costs, counting on another one, in Baku?

I think Danailov was trying to stop the match, receive money for it and play another match against Kramnik.

And the second match would also be paid?

Of course.

And you believe that?

Yes, I’m almost convinced that was the plan at that point.

Because of the 0-2 on the scoreboard?

Because of the 0-2, because of fears that something had gone wrong… In general, I believe that was the plan.

What do you think overall, does chess need such scandals or not? When it came down to it that match was very widely covered in the media at some point, and that was the only reason. Danailov himself said something like: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”.

Yes, of course we didn’t expect such a wave of publicity. It was great promotion, but I’m not sure we need such notoriety. You know, unfortunately, that journalists, particularly those working on the Internet, never follow certain principles of the profession.

Which?

One of them is that you should never publish material denigrating someone without first finding out his opinion on that score. Things are a little different with newspapers: they phone and say: “We’re about to publish an article. Would you like to make a statement?” On the Internet it doesn’t work like that. The problem is that hundreds of thousands of people read something negative about you, and then you can reply, but your statement will be read by far from everyone, and people will retain their negative opinion about you. That’s particularly common in chess as, let’s put it like this, it’s boring for the wider public. Therefore among chess journalists there are always people willing to write about scandals and make accusations about players and officials.

Are you also talking about yourself?

es, about myself as well. You subsequently respond, but it’s already too late. For example, they wrote that Makro had stolen or lost a million dollars in Las Vegas in 1999 before the knockout World Championship. I replied: “That’s a complete lie! I wasn’t even in Las Vegas at the time! And of course Kirsan didn’t send the money there until the start of the tournament, so there was no way I could have done it”. And what of it? Of the hundred thousand people who read those accusations about me probably only twenty thousand read my reply. But eighty thousand still believe I lost one million dollars in the casino!

Yes, many people do think exactly that.

You see what I mean? How can you fight against that? I think our journalists should be better educated. We should be more responsible for what’s written. I could also accuse someone, but if you don’t have any facts and you don’t ask the other party for his opinion then simply don’t publish it.
The "Chess" Corporation

What, in your view, is the main problem facing the chess industry at the current moment in time?

Our main problem, whether within FIDE or the national federations, is that we can’t attract corporate sponsors. How many federations around the world support their best players?

Almost none of them.

Almost none, you see? Even the eight strongest players, the ones from whom you choose your national line-up, don’t have any kind of social security. They play, compete, give everything they can over many years, and then at the age of 55-60 they’re left without a pension and struggling to survive.

And why did the GMA and PCA succeed?

What did they succeed in doing?

Finding corporate sponsors. The GMA had SWIFT, while the PCA had Intel.

If they’d succeeded then they’d have continued to exist. We’re the ones who managed to survive. What we’re really good at is working with government, municipal and regional sponsors. In any case, during the Campomanes period and afterwards we’ve been very strong in that area, but finding corporate sponsors has turned out to be impossible. The one who actually managed that with the GMA and PCA was Kasparov.

And why did he manage it?

Just a moment. Who was the main sponsor? – SWIFT. Ok, Bessel Kok, who was a friend of Garry’s and the chairman of that company found the money, but that’s not enough to say that he managed. Subsequently Mr. Kok tried to become FIDE President and promised corporate sponsorship. After he lost the election Kirsan offered him the post of President of Global Chess with an initial investment of 2.1 million Euro in order to attract corporate sponsorship for FIDE. How much money did he find?

Zero?

Zero. He just spent Kirsan’s 2.1 million Euro… In order to achieve success in this matter you need unity between the players and FIDE. Now, for the first time, we’ve found someone who’s not from the chess world – David Kaplan, who’s spent a lot of money on chess. If things don’t work out for him with finding sponsors then I think the situation’s bad. After all, you know that things are getting worse and worse worldwide for all sports, not only chess.

Things don’t strike me as being so bleak in football.

What I’d say to you is this: if so many Russian oligarchs hadn’t bought English clubs then you could be sure that many of those premier league teams wouldn’t have survived.

Yes, but if they buy them that means…

But what’s football? It’s the leading sport from the point of view of television and sponsor interest. Now, due to the crisis, the sponsors are redirecting their promotional budgets into direct advertising on television and in the print media, and they’re less and less interested in sponsoring sporting and cultural events. That’s the current position.

It’s hard, though, to compare our position to that of football, volleyball or tennis – we’re “playing in different leagues”.

We’ve never played in the same league, but what I want to say is that now everyone’s suffering big losses. For example, 7-8 years ago Russian basketball had a great deal of money, but that’s come to an end. Why? For the very same reason I mentioned before.

Well yes, we don’t even provide any kind of interesting product. There are empty halls everywhere – whether in Khanty-Mansiysk or in Sofia.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7654

Martial Arts of the Jingwu

he Jingwu Association was China's first modern martial arts academy. Though martial arts was not the only thing in its program, Jingwu's enduring legacy is its martial arts. In 1919, to celebrate its 10 year anniversary, the Jingwu Association released a book that shows in pictures and words its achievements through its first decade. One section of that book is devoted to what the Jingwu Association refers to as its "wushu" program. Though the Chinese word "wushu" has come to be closely associated with the performance sport developed by the Chinese in the 1960s, it actually means "martial arts," which is the meaning intended by the Jingwu Association.

Jingwu Northern Shaolin
The Jingwu's "wushu" curriculum was largely based on Northern Shaolin. By definition, a Northern Shaolin system or routine is one developed in the Northern Shaolin Temple (located in Henan Province) or derived from systems/routines coming from there. The routines are normally performed along a straight line running from left to right and back and forth, focus on expansive moves with the limbs extended out to their full length, and place more emphasis on leg techniques - such as sweeps, kicks, jumps - than on hand techniques.

Two comments about this classification: first, the whole issue of the historical authenticity of the Shaolin Temple and whether there was one or more Shaolin Temples is very much an open question; second, the Northern vs. Southern Shaolin classification scheme has many exceptions. It should also be noted that what is called Northern Shaolin is often referred to in older Chinese works (including the Jingwu Anniversary book) as "boxing from the Yellow River," the Yellow River being the major river in Northern China.
The Patron of Jingwu Martial Arts: Huo Yuanjia
The figure most commonly associated with the Jingwu's early martial arts program is Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia was a practitioner of the Mizhongquan system, which is a variant of Northern Shaolin. The name Mizhongquan means literally "confused tracks boxing." The Jingwu's signature routine is called "cross shaped routine," which is presented in its entirety in their Anniversary book with photos, text and a footwork diagram. The routine was clearly held in high regard. According to the Anniversary book, "It was said, 'If you know cross shaped form, you can defeat half the heroes in the world.' This may sound like boasting but it shows how popular the routine was."

The "cross shaped routine" is shown in detail with photographs and written description. There is also a diagram that shows the layout of the form. The form basically consists of one line that goes up and back. This training routine was also recorded in a separate book that featured the same photos. The person performing the routine in the photos was Zhao Lianhuo. Zhao was born in Zhao Family Village in Hopei. He was an expert in Shaolin boxing and had been hired by Huo Yuanjia to be the head martial arts teacher for the Jingwu Association. Soon after Huo's death, Zhao Lianhuo was named one of the chairmen of the Jingwu Association.

This routine that "could defeat half the heroes of the world" was one of the 5 core routines of the Jingwu program. According to the Anniversary book, the Jingwu Association's martial arts program was composed of "5 Battles Boxing," which consisted of 1) paired boxing (two-person pre-arranged routines); 2) big boxing routine; 3) short boxing routine; 4) escaping routine; 5) cross shaped routine.

The Jingwu curriculum aimed at giving students an all-around sample of the best of Northern Shaolin. The goal was to keep it interesting by having a variety of different martial arts routines.

The Jingwu program had many fine martial arts teachers during its Republican Era, and the Jing Wu Associations now scattered about the world are equally blessed with many outstanding instructors. This is made all the more important because Huo Yuanjia passed on quite early in the Jingwu's history, and the high quality of martial arts instruction for which Jingwu is noted owes heavily to the multitude of teachers who taught for the Jingwu over the years.

A demonstration of Jingwu technique Huo Yuanjia's Martial Arts
One thing needs to be pointed out about Huo Yuanjia's martial arts, and this is not discussed in the Anniversary book but is mentioned in other records. Mizongquan is a very complex and physically demanding variant of Northern Shaolin, and it was the "indoor" system of Huo's family. By that we mean it was a system of martial arts that was kept secret and reserved exclusively for members of Huo's family. This may sound eccentric to modern ears, but keeping martial arts systems secret in China was commonly done for the same reason modern businesses keep "trade secrets" for competitive advantage. Martial arts was a business in China, and the systems were the "trade secrets" of the business.

When Huo Yuanjia started to teach the general public at Jingwu, he changed the name of what he was teaching from Mizongyquan ("Mizong boxing system") to Mizongyi ("Mizong techniques"). The implication was that Huo did not want to reveal his clan's closed door system in its entirety. So he picked various techniques and training routines out of his family's system and then changed the name of the system slightly.The Huo/Jingwu Legends
The historical reality of the Jingwu Association is only part of the picture; in many ways the myth and the legend of the Jingwu is equally important. So examining the Jingwu legend can reveal more of the Jingwu's story. In this section we will compile typical elements and episodes from the life of Huo. But keep in mind that contemporaneous, trustworthy accounts of Huo's life are non-existent.

Though the very first photo in the Jingwu Anniversary book is a big, handsome full-page portrait of Huo, bearing the caption, "Founder of Jingwu," the book does not retell any of the stock stories of his life (e.g., how he fought the evil slimy British dude, recovered his friends dead body from the corrupt Germans, posted the notice in the paper about weak men of Asia, was poisoned by that sleazy Japanese doctor, or any of the other stuff in the Bruce Lee/Jet Li movies). In fact, the Anniversary book does make any further mention of him, except in passing.
All we really know about Huo is the kind of general information one might find on a basic job application - born such-and-such a place, such-and-such a year, parents are so-and-so, has children, studied Lost Track Buddha Disciple system and taught very briefly for the Jingwu Association. In a sense, this makes the legend as important as the few known facts.

As professional historians, we must repeat the fact that almost no reliable information exists concerning Huo's life. Nonetheless, we will retell the standard "Huo myth" because it does have value - not as historical fact but rather to provide insight into what the Chinese, and for that matter Westerners, want in a martial arts hero. The myth is valuable as a "cultural mirror," reflecting what the Jingwu wanted for its image.

The Foreigner Fights
In both Chinese and English retellings of the Jingwu legend, the centerpiece of the story is usually the "foreigner fights" that Huo Yuanjia engaged in. Martial arts historians are often asked about "the truth" of these fights. Before attempting to determine who Huo actually fought, we need to clarify a couple of things that will have a major influence on the answer. First, the only information we have about Huo comes from either the Jingwu Association (which uses his name as their founder, so there is an inherent conflict of interest there), or from his descendants (who often try to make money off their respected grandfather's name and fame, despite never having laid eyes on him). Neither source can be trusted to be entirely "objective." Secondly, we have no reliable contemporaneous information about Huo other than some very basic information. The third complication is that the legend of the foreigner fights was probably a creation of Chinese journalists. The turn of the century was a time of pulp journalism both in the West and the East. Inflammatory and exaggerated stories were the norm, and journalists knew that any story with a racial aspect would ad "fuel to the fire" and increase newsstand sales. The point we are driving at is that turn-of-the-century newspapers are a very dubious source of information.
urning to the issue of "fights," part of the confusion about the Huo legend has to do with the meaning of "fight." Are we talking "worked matches," which were the mainstay of turn-of-the-century stage-fighting all over North America and Europe. A "worked match" was scripted and had a predetermined winner. Since worked matches often tied in with gamboling fraud, another word for a worked match is "a fix." Another common type of "fight" was an exhibition fight; it had rules, but neither side was trying to kill the other, the goal was just to "look good." The third possibility was a real competitive fight where the competitors were roughly equal in skill and both were "there to win." A real competitive fight was a great rarity at the turn of the century, at least in Europe or North America, and one suspects they were uncommon in China too. The bottom line is, from a historian's standpoint, it is quite hard to say which fights were worked matches, exhibitions or real fights.

Further clouding matters, none of the foreigners involved in these fights have names that are traceable by modern historians. The "Russian wrestler" in the park fight doesn't even have a name - not much to go on there. Then there was the British boxer named Hercules O'Brien. Hercules is a stage name, and O'Brien is a common British Isles family name, so modern historians have no idea who this was. Having said this, we are not saying Huo never fought a foreigner or even several; what we're saying is that it cannot be historically verified. And that makes it a legend.
http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=924

Huo Yuanjia

Huo Yuanjia (January 18, 1868 – August 9, 1910[1]) was a Chinese martial artist and co-founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art mizongyi,[2] Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicized matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by colonization, foreign concessions, and spheres of influence. Due to his heroic status, legends and myths about events in his life are difficult to discern from facts.[3]
Huo was born in Xiaonanhe Village in Jinghai County, Tianjin, as the fourth of Huo Endi's ten children. The family's main source of income was from agriculture, but Huo Endi also made a living by escorting merchant caravans to Manchuria and back. Although he was from a family of traditional wushu practitioners, Huo was born weak and susceptible to illness (he had asthma and at an early age he contracted jaundice, that would recur periodically for the rest of his life), so his father discouraged him from learning traditional wushu.

Huo Endi hired a tutor named Chen Seng-ho from Japan to teach his son academics and the values of humility and perseverance. In return, Chen was taught the Huo family's style of martial arts, mizongyi. Against his father's wishes, Huo still wanted to learn wushu. He secretly observed his father teaching students martial arts during the day and practiced them at night with his tutor.

In 1890, a martial artist from Henan visited the Huo family and had a fight with Huo's older brother. Huo's brother was defeated and to the surprise of the family, Huo fought against his brother's opponent and defeated him. As Huo proved that he was physically able to practice wushu, his father accepted him as a student. In later years, Huo went on to challenge martial artists from neighboring lands and his fame grew as he defeated more and more opponents in bouts.

Huo joined his father at work as a caravan guard. One day, while escorting a group of monks, Huo was confronted by an aggressive bandit leader who threatened to attack the monks with his bandit followers. Huo fought against the bandit leader and defeated him. News of his feat spread and added on to his growing fame. In 1896, Huo went to Tianjin and made a living there by working as a porter in the Huaiqing pharmacy there and by selling firewood.
[edit] Rise to fame

In 1902, Huo responded to a challenge advertised by a Russian wrestler in Xiyuan Park, Tianjin. The wrestler openly called the Chinese "weak men of the East" as no one accepted his challenge to a fight. The Russian forfeited when Huo accepted his challenge. The Russian told Huo that he was merely putting on a performance in order to make a living and made an apology for his earlier remark in the newspaper.[citation needed]

Between 1909 and 1910, Huo traveled to Shanghai twice to accept an open challenge posed by a British boxer, Hercules O'Brien. The two of them had arguments over the rules governing such boxing matches and eventually agreed that whoever knocked down his opponent would be the victor. O'Brien fought Huo and lost. Huo's victory was a great inspiration to the Chinese people and had them questioning the basis of imperialistic dominance. There is a lot of controversy denying that the fight ever took place however. Even recently an article stated the same, that O'Brien[4] opted to leave town instead.[5]
[edit] Chin Woo Athletic Association

Between 1909 and 1910,[6] Huo founded the Chin Woo Physical Training Center (later known as Chin Woo Athletic Association) with his close friend Nong Jinsun as president of the association.[7] Huo was encouraged by close friends and sponsored by Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren who were living in Tokyo, Japan. The center was meant to be a school for learning the art of self-defense, improvement of health and mind.

Huo suffered from jaundice and tuberculosis and started seeing a Japanese physician for medication and treatment. The physician, a member of the Japanese Judo Association based in Shanghai, invited him to a competition upon hearing of his fame. Huo's student Liu Zhensheng competed with a judo practitioner. Although there were disputes over who won the match, both sides generally agreed that the disagreement culminated in a brawl and members of the judo team were injured, some with broken fingers and hands, including the head instructor.[citation needed]
[edit] Death

Huo died on August 9, 1910, at 42 years of age. In 1989, the tomb of Huo and his wife was relocated. Black spots were discovered in the pelvic bones, and Tianjin Municipality Police Laboratory confirmed that they contained arsenic.[citation needed] Consequently, it is difficult to ascertain whether his death was caused by malicious poisoning or the prescription of medicine. This was because arsenic trioxide has been used therapeutically for approximately 2,400 years as a part of traditional Chinese medicine.[8]

Historian Chen Gongzhe, who was also one of Huo's students, believed that the cause of his master's death was hemoptysis disease. Chen wrote that Huo was introduced to a Japanese physician by the judo instructor as his health declined. The physician prescribed some medicine for his condition, but Huo's health continued to deteriorate. Huo was admitted to Shanghai Red Cross Hospital, where he died two weeks later. Although Chen did not mention that the medicine prescribed by the Japanese physician contained arsenic or any other poison, some leaders of the Chin Woo Athletic Association speculate that Huo was poisoned around the time of his death.[9]
[edit] Legacy and expansion of Chin Woo
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2010)

Huo died only months after helping to found the Chin Woo Athletic Association. Before his death, he invited Zhao Lianhe of Shaolin Mizong Style to teach in Chin Woo and Zhao agreed. Subsequently, a number of other martial arts masters agreed to teach at the school. They included Eagle Claw master Chen Zizheng, Seven Star Praying Mantis master Luo Guangyu, Xingyiquan master Geng Xiaguang, and Wu Chien Chuan, the founder of Wu style Taijiquan. In June 1910, the Eastern Times announced the establishment of the Chin Woo association in Huo's name. It was the first civil martial arts organization in China that was not associated with a particular school or style.

During the period of the Japanese sphere of influence, the Twenty-One Demands sent to the Chinese government resulted in two treaties with Japan on May 25, 1915. This prevented the Manchu ruling class from exercising full control over the Han Chinese. With their new freedom, Huo's students purchased a new building as headquarters for the organisation and renamed it "Chin Woo Athletic Association". Re-organization, publications of books and magazines, and new styles of martial arts other than what Huo taught, were accepted under the mantle of the new association. In 1918, Chin Woo opened a branch at Nathan Road in Hong Kong.

In July 1919, the Chin Woo Association sent five representatives to Southeast Asia to perform a missionary program to expand activities overseas. They were Chen Gongzhe, Li Huisheng, Luo Xiaoao, Chen Shizhao and Ye Shutian. They made their first stop in Saigon, Vietnam where they opened the first Chin Woo school outside of China. Later, they opened schools in Malaysia and Singapore as well. By 1923, these five masters had opened schools all over Southeast Asia and visited nine different countries.

In 1966, Shanghai's Chin Woo school was forced to discontinue its activities by the Chinese Communist Party due to the Cultural Revolution plan, whose goal was to destroy old ideas, culture, customs in order to modernize China. Those restrictions were later lifted in 1976 and activities were continued in Shanghai's Chin Woo.

Currently, Chin Woo is one of the largest wushu organizations in the world with branches in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Poland, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Switzerland.[citation needed]

Huo was survived by three sons and two daughters, and now has seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.[citation needed]
[edit] In popular culture

Huo's life story has been adapted into a number of films and television series. In these adaptations, Huo is depicted as a heroic martial artist who fights to uphold the dignity of the Chinese people in the face of foreign aggression. His death is portrayed dramatically: he is secretly poisoned to death by foreigners, usually the Japanese, who see him as a threat to their interests in their exploitation of China.

A notable feature in some of these adaptations is the appearance of Chen Zhen, a fictional student of Huo, who brings his teacher's murderers to justice and continues to uphold Huo's legacy.

* The Legendary Fok, a 1981 Hong Kong television series produced by RTV, starring Wong Yuen-sun as Fok Yuen-gap (Cantonese for Huo Yuanjia) and Bruce Leung as Chan Zan (Cantonese for Chen Zhen).

* Legend of a Fighter, a 1982 Hong Kong film starring Bryan Leung as Huo Yuanjia.

* Fist of Fury, a 1995 Hong Kong television series based on the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Produced by ATV, the series starred Donnie Yen as Chan Zan and Eddy Ko in a supporting role as Fok Yuen-gap.

* Huo Yuanjia, a 2002 Chinese television series starring Vincent Zhao as the titular character and Wu Yue as Chen Zhen. It was followed by a sequel Jingwu Yingxiong Chen Zhen.

* Fearless,[10] a 2006 film starring Jet Li as Huo Yuanjia.

* Huo Yuanjia, also known as The Legendary Fok 2008, a 2008 television series starring Ekin Cheng as Huo Yuanjia and Jordan Chan as Chen Zhen. Jordan Chan reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the sequel Jingwu Chen Zhen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huo_Yuanjia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_%282006_film%29