Li had six Rolex watches and two Montblanc pens when he was only in junior high school, and, he said, "I had no idea what those things were worth. It wasn't until my father was framed by his partners and all our possessions were seized that I understood that I had had 'gifts' expensive enough to pay for a whole house in Yonghe!"
"When I was rich, I looked down on everyone," he said. "When I couldn't treat people to food and drink anymore, and I had to wear the same clothes again and again, my classmates started to laugh at me. I weighed 79 kilograms then, and they would call me a 'damned fatty' and say that I had no money and no power, my schoolwork wasn't good, and I wouldn't amount to anything, ever."
After he was beaten up by five boys, Li made up his mind that he would find a way to belittle them one day, rich or not. He sought out a Chinese martial arts teacher to learn “Kampfringen,” practicing until his entire body was a mass of muscle and he could beat anyone he took on. He spent four or five years this way, "Thinking that I was the toughest thing going and that everyone was afraid of me the moment they saw me."
Li loved to paint and design, but because of his family's tough economic situation, he gave up his dreams of studying at Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School and instead studied at an Army officers' school, going on to join a marine squadron. At 26, he met a kickboxing trainer. "That guy weighed over 100 kilograms, and he was half a head shorter than me. But his fists were so quick, he knocked me silly. That's when I realized I wasn't so tough after all, and there were lots of accomplished people throughout the world of martial arts."
Li traveled to Thailand to study boxing for six months. He also fought in some bouts there. For the next decade, he studied Brazilian capoeira, Chinese tai-chi and Japanese ju-jitsu, as well as Sanshou, karate, taekwondo, Jeet Kun Do, Ju Kwon Do, sansetsukon, Shaolin staff fighting, baduanjin qigong, mantis, qigong and yijinjing. He discovered that "true power lies in constantly trying to improve."
After all this hard study, Li worked as an assistant coach, and he took home honors at the first Dajiang Cup for Thai boxing in the 65-kilogram class. He also worked as a fight coach for the movie "Butterfly," directed by Chang Tso-chi.
Li also worked as a personal bodyguard for a corporate VIP for over a year. When he was threatened by vehicles boxing them in front and rear, he saved his employer's life by cutting them off. From this real-life combat experience, Li came up with his own system of "suihu gongfang" ("retinue attack and defense") and also made his own martial arts weapons, including bolas and truncheons.
During three years as head of security for Taipei's "Depo" luxury residences, Li opened car doors for 160-plus rich people. He saw how some heads of companies rode bicycles, while others drove ordinary cars. He studied their low-key and philosophical approaches to life, and also thought hard about how to turn a lifetime in the martial arts into a business.
Thinking back on how he himself lost 13 kilograms in two years of studying martial arts, Li has distilled a decade in the martial arts into his new book, "Slimming through the Martial Arts." Li believes that martial arts help to calm the spirit while building the body, and are a good way for people working office jobs to blow off steam. "Relax, and just do some martial arts for 30 minutes each day. They will become a part of your life, and if you just keep on without worrying about a goal, you'll discover the fascination of practicing them," he said.
(This article first appeared Jan. 25, 2010 in the “Liberty Times.”)