Chang Dongsheng

Chang Dongsheng (; Xiao'erjing: ) (1908–1986) was a Hui martial artist. He was one of the best-known Chinese wrestling (also known as Shuai jiao) practitioners and teachers.

Biography Born in 1908 in Baoding, Hebei, Chang was remarkably strong among his peers from his early life. Chang's family roasted chickens, and their business provided sufficient income to allow him private lessons with Zhang Fenyen, a local businessman and Shuai Chiao master who practiced baoding shuai jiao as instructed by Ping Jinyi. Chang distinguished himself early among Zhang's pupils as a promising martial artist. This led to close personal attention and training in areas normally reserved for more senior students. Zhang taught Chang unorthodox training drills and methods to aid him in developing his shuai jiao skill, including using leg sweeps to drive grasshoppers into the air where the correctly positioned hand could easily catch them.

At 20, after marrying master Fenyen's second daughter, Chang left Hebei and moved to Nanjing to train at the Guoshu, where many Chinese martial artists trained and shared their knowledge. After five years, Chang competed in 1933 in the 5th National Guoshu Tournament (also called the "All China Full Contact Tournament") and won the heavyweight division over several hundred other practitioners, among them the renowned Liu Chiou-sheng, who went to be his biggest rival.

Chang taught at the Central Guoshu Institute and was the youngest faculty member at the time. There, he exchanged knowledge with other martial arts experts. He created his own variation of tai chi and xingyiquan, Chang-style tai chi, based on Yang-style tai chi, xingyiquan and his shuai jiao knowledge. Chang traveled across all China and studied under around 70 masters, always introducing himself as a simple student in order to learn everything possible. Similarly, Robert W. Smith once travelled to Taiwan to interview Chang and train with him, but when he asked the master to show him some of his skills, Chang just kicked Smith in the groin.

Never defeated in martial arts challenge matches, Chang died in 1986 of aggressive esophageal cancer.

Personal life Chang was a devout and practicing Muslim.