Sifu Chin Cheng-Yen

The Lineage

Sifu Chin Cheng-Yen

Chin Cheng-Yen was born in 1925 in Canton City. He was a student of the late Master Hsiung, and was assigned the duty of executive secretary of the Tzu Men Chuan Association in 1975, a position he held until his death in 1998. He also studied Tai-Chi under Master Tao Ping-Siang and Master Wang Yen-Nien, and learned Chi-Kung from the legendary Master Chiao Chang-Hung.

In 1941 Chin Cheng-Yen joined the armed forces of the Republic of China. He served with distinction for forty years, retiring in 1981 with the rank of Colonel. His martial arts mastery and military service were deeply intertwined — he brought both the precision of a soldier and the depth of a true internal arts practitioner to everything he taught.

Sifu Chin was among the very few teachers who possessed knowledge of the special vital points of the body — what is sometimes referred to as the "death touch" — and the complete fighting techniques of Tzu Men Chuan. He was known for the deadly precision of his Poison Fingers technique, one of the rarest and most closely guarded skills in the entire Shaolin tradition.

James McNeil studied under Sifu Chin from 1984 to 1987 in Taipei, Taiwan, receiving training in the complete Tzu Men Chuan system and advanced Iron Hand conditioning. This period of study added a rare and powerful dimension to McNeil's already extensive knowledge of the internal arts.