走進(jìn)浙江余姚紅陽(yáng)武術(shù)館，正墻上的那幅“拳打南山猛虎，腳踢北海蛟龍”的對(duì)聯(lián)顯得氣勢(shì)逼人，對(duì)聯(lián)兩側(cè)擺放著的十八般兵器更讓人感到寒光閃閃，若不是靠門(mén)口由小到大整齊排列的17雙練功鞋提醒這里是練功房，真讓人感覺(jué)走進(jìn)了冷兵器時(shí)代。

這些兵器都是武術(shù)館的主人沈紅陽(yáng)的父親沈傲臍親手打造的，沈家?guī)状藢?duì)中華傳統(tǒng)武術(shù)的摯愛(ài)，都凝聚在那些劍鋒刀刃上。

2006年10月8日，紅陽(yáng)武術(shù)館收到“2007年第二屆香港國(guó)際武術(shù)大獎(jiǎng)賽”組委會(huì)的邀請(qǐng)函，祖?zhèn)鞯奈湫g(shù)又有機(jī)會(huì)在國(guó)際舞臺(tái)上展示，沈家的十八般兵器又可以派上大用場(chǎng)了，這讓沈家老小喜出望外！

“大頭鱷魚(yú)”

據(jù)80歲的沈傲臍回憶，沈家習(xí)武的歷史可追溯到他的曾祖父。曾祖人稱“紅毛師傅”，爺爺人稱“阿水師傅”，他們都曾在鎮(zhèn)海保護(hù)過(guò)海防，沈傲臍的武功則是父親沈?qū)毶接H傳。沈?qū)毶?30年前隨幾個(gè)老鄉(xiāng)來(lái)余姚發(fā)展，在舜江樓邊開(kāi)了一家萬(wàn)順糕餅店，人稱“狗頭頸”香糕店，店里的香糕、豬油麻酥糖、小方片等幾十種點(diǎn)心很有名，香糕店一直開(kāi)到解放前。

開(kāi)糕餅店不過(guò)是個(gè)謀生手段，每到夜深人靜時(shí)，沈?qū)毶骄蛶е?歲的兒子到姚江的北橋洞下偷偷練水上功夫，早上天不亮又躲在棧房里習(xí)武。因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)候?qū)W武是秘密進(jìn)行的，不敢張揚(yáng)，怕惹禍上身。沈傲臍雖然對(duì)學(xué)武之事守口如瓶，但天性好打抱不平，加上水性好，所以有時(shí)候還是“偶爾露崢嶸”，孩子們因此稱他“大頭鱷魚(yú)”。

學(xué)武行善

“學(xué)得武藝不為打打殺殺逞兇稱霸，只為仗義行善?！鄙虬聊氁簧斡浐哇`行祖上這一訓(xùn)誡。沈傲臍15歲就參加了“余姚義務(wù)救火會(huì)”，有次余姚一家國(guó)營(yíng)飯店失火，沈傲臍在滅火時(shí)一根約莫20厘米長(zhǎng)的鐵釘從他的腳底穿透，穿到腳背，他忍痛拔下釘子又去滅火。沈傲臍至今保存著余姚縣公安局頒發(fā)給他的一張“奮勇救火，保障人民資產(chǎn)有功”的“二等消防模范”獎(jiǎng)狀。

有一年寒冬臘月，一條裝載大米的船遇風(fēng)浪沉沒(méi)在余姚通濟(jì)橋北洞，水不停地打著漩渦，沒(méi)人敢下去撈救，此時(shí)練得一套過(guò)硬水上功夫的沈傲臍赤膊躍入寒冰刺骨的深水中，他用父親教他“釣大鰻魚(yú)”的技巧，手執(zhí)帶鉤長(zhǎng)繩潛水從河底鉤撈了87袋大米，每袋重達(dá)100公斤！

在姚江，沈傲臍憑著好水性先后搶救過(guò)十幾個(gè)人的生命。他不但掌握了用腳踩水，還練就了倒立水面用手踩水的絕技，就是把他的手腳同時(shí)綁起來(lái)丟到河里，他也能照樣浮水而不下沉，故鄉(xiāng)鄰又送他“浪里白條”的美稱。

后來(lái)沈傲臍到上海江南造船廠工作，擔(dān)任過(guò)上海老精武會(huì)會(huì)員、江南造船廠武術(shù)隊(duì)教練，至今沈傲臍還保存著通過(guò)中國(guó)體育運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)一級(jí)游泳測(cè)試的徽章和國(guó)家一級(jí)舉重運(yùn)動(dòng)員證書(shū)，還有他率領(lǐng)的舉重隊(duì)連續(xù)3年獲得全國(guó)工礦企業(yè)團(tuán)體冠軍的證書(shū)，以及當(dāng)年《新民晚報(bào)》《體育報(bào)》《江南工人報(bào)》等報(bào)道他表演水上特技和“江南大力士舉重”的詳細(xì)報(bào)道。

子承父業(yè)

沈傲臍45歲時(shí)帶著妻子和剛滿5歲的兒子紅陽(yáng)回到余姚，為的是精心傳授武藝。他特地為兒子自制了木刀、竹劍，因?yàn)榱?xí)武之人喜歡家中每天有著“刀光劍影”。紅陽(yáng)很有武術(shù)天賦，每天從早到晚在老醬園街外婆家的天井里練拉韌帶、練內(nèi)氣、抓沙袋、倒立蜻蜓、扎馬步等，有時(shí)一個(gè)馬步要一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地蹲三炷香的工夫。

沈傲臍為了讓兒子練就眼觀六路、耳聽(tīng)八方的防身快速反應(yīng)能力，教兒子瞪著銅板練眼功、把銅板掛在窗戶上練耳功。他把希望寄托在兒子身上，而紅陽(yáng)也沒(méi)有辜負(fù)父親，武藝越練越精，少林內(nèi)功、少林八段錦、方大戟、宣花斧、月牙鏟、雙刀、春秋大刀、雙鉤等等，年僅12歲的紅陽(yáng)就集這些武藝于一身。

1990年上海舉行精武國(guó)際武術(shù)邀請(qǐng)賽，邀請(qǐng)22歲的紅陽(yáng)參加。離比賽還有幾個(gè)月了，但適合他的兵器卻無(wú)處可尋。沈傲臍決定使出江南造船廠造萬(wàn)噸巨輪和造潛水艇的八級(jí)鉗工手藝，用不銹鋼為兒子量身打造了比武的兵器“月牙鏟”，這把月牙鏟竟做了兩三個(gè)月。紅陽(yáng)用父親打造的這把月牙鏟拿到了國(guó)際武術(shù)邀請(qǐng)賽上比武，得了銀牌獎(jiǎng)，這是余姚獲得的第一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)武術(shù)套路銀牌。

自制兵器

兒子在國(guó)際武術(shù)邀請(qǐng)賽榮獲銀牌，沈傲臍這位60多歲還在舞臺(tái)表演頭碎青磚、掌斷青磚的硬漢子一時(shí)老淚縱橫，在他心里這比別人送給他金山銀山還高興！他知道世代習(xí)武的沈家后繼有人了，沈傲臍打算自己打造十八般兵器，以讓這些傳統(tǒng)兵器連同沈家世傳的武藝一起流傳子孫后代。

說(shuō)起十八般兵器沈家祖輩也曾有過(guò)，但后來(lái)都被官家沒(méi)收了，只有一桿130年前的紅纓槍被沈傲臍保留下來(lái)。好在從小習(xí)武的沈傲臍對(duì)自己早先練過(guò)的那些兵器有印象，于是他靠著反復(fù)的回想畫(huà)了圖紙并開(kāi)始選料，光選那些刀刃、刀背、刀柄的材料就難得如同沙里淘金，有的材料要用刀銼，有的要用鑿子，而且每樣兵器的長(zhǎng)短、分量都要根據(jù)人的身高來(lái)定，有嚴(yán)格的比例。

沈傲臍把他渾身的力氣和畢生技術(shù)都用在打造這些傳世兵器上，他點(diǎn)燃煤爐露天作業(yè)，找出了土制的大號(hào)啞鈴墊底打鐵，冬去春來(lái)，周而復(fù)始，不知身上曬脫了幾層皮，手上磨了幾層泡。為了這18種兵器不走樣，沈傲臍竟前前后后折騰了10年！

合家習(xí)武

沈傲臍一家除了老伴不練武，如今個(gè)個(gè)都絕技在身。沈傲臍的次子沈江紅、女兒沈紅妹都和紅陽(yáng)一樣自幼習(xí)武，連紅陽(yáng)的妻子葉秋紅，也是紅陽(yáng)在余姚保安學(xué)校擔(dān)任武術(shù)總教練時(shí)收的女弟子。8歲就習(xí)武的葉秋紅進(jìn)了沈家之后，公傳夫教，武功日增，現(xiàn)在跟丈夫?qū)W的太極拳、太極劍、太極槍、雙鉤、單戟可謂爐火純青；尤其可喜的是紅陽(yáng)的女兒沈小藝，4歲隨父親練功、拉韌帶，5歲就能做“朝天登”，柔性達(dá)到了專業(yè)要求，現(xiàn)在7歲的小藝已經(jīng)掌握了五步拳、初級(jí)長(zhǎng)拳、初級(jí)單刀、棍術(shù)、螳螂拳等武術(shù)套路。沈傲臍看在眼里喜在心里，他覺(jué)得家門(mén)武術(shù)能傳到第六代，總算上對(duì)得起祖宗，下對(duì)得住子孫了！

A Legendary Family of Kongfu Masters

By Padi Guli

A visit to the Hongyang Wushu House in Yuyao， Zhejiang Province seems to bring you back to the time of cold steel. The eighteen traditional Chinese weapons are tidily arranged on both sides of a couplet that emphasizes the magic power of Chinese martial arts.

The eighteen weapons were made by Shen Aoqi， father of Shen Hongyang who is the master of the Kongfu House. On October 8th， 2006， the house received an invitation from the organizing committee of 2007 Hong Kong International Wushu Competition. The kongfu masters of the Shen Family are happy about the invitation because they know it will be an opportunity to display their family martial arts to the world.

The 80-year-old Shen Aoqi remembers that the family Wushu tradition traces back to his great grandfather. The great grandfather and grandfather once joined the coast defense at Zhenhai， Ningbo. Shen Aoqi learned the martial arts from his father Shen Baoshan. Over 130 years ago， Shen Baoshan came to Yuyao and opened a cake shop， which shop closed in 1949. The cake business served as the means of winning their bread. The family’s real business was to pass along the family martial arts. Shen Aoqi started learning kongfu from his father when he was six. Every night， the father and son went to the riverside and practiced swimming and other Wushu tricks in water. Then in the early morning， they would practice in a secluded house. They dared not reveal to other people that they were a family of martial arts for fear that it might stir up trouble. Though Shen Aoqi never mentioned to anyone that he was learning Wushu， he was a boy who couldn’t stand injustice. As he was also a good swimmer， sometimes he would show his real skills to his playmates. For this reason， his little friends nicknamed him “Big-head crocodile”

“Learning Wushu is not to kill， not to be a tyrant who does evil things with the aid of violence. Wushu is for justice and kindness.” Shen Aoqi learned this family motto from his father who learned that from his father. And Shen Aoqi passed this family motto to his sons and daughters.

Shen Aoqi joined the Yuyao Volunteer Firemen Brigade at 15. He keeps a certificate of merit issued decades ago by the Yuyao Public Security Bureau for his bravery in fighting fire and salvaging public properties. One winter day， a freight ship loaded with sacks of rice sank in the Yao River. As currents were rapid and there were swirls， nobody dared to get into the river to salvage the rice. Shen Aoqi stood out. Barebacked， he dived into the chilly river and carried a long rope with a hook at one end and hooked up 87 sacks of rice， each weighing 100 kilograms. In his younger years， he was so good a swimmer that even if he was thrown into the river with his hands and feet tied， he would be able to float on the water. When young， Shen Aoqi rescued more than 10 lives from the river.

Later Shen Aoqi worked in Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard for years where he became a Wushu coach and won many honors and certificates. Under his coaching， the weightlifting team of the shipyard won three consecutive national championships. The local media in Shanghai ran detailed stories about his swimming prowess and weightlifting wins.

Thirty-five years ago， the 45-year-old Shen Aoqi returned to Yuyao with his wife and five-year-old son Shen Hongyang for the purpose of teaching his son the family martial arts. A genius for Wushu， the five-year-old boy practiced the basics of martial arts in the patio at his grandmother’s house. At 12， the boy was already a veteran master of various kongfu skills. In 1990， the 22-year-old Yu Hongyang was invited to an international Wushu contest held in Shanghai. With only a few months to go， the young master did not have a weapon to show the best of his arts. The senior， a top-class bench worker， decided to custom-make a stainless “Crescent-shaped Spade”for the junior. The father spent about three months on making the weapon. The son won a silver medal at the international competition. It was the first time that anyone in Yuyao had ever won a silver medal at any international kongfu competition.

Shen Aoqi， in his 60s， wept happily at learning the news. He realized that the family tradition was now unfailingly carried on by a younger generation. To make the legacy complete， he decided to manufacture all the eighteen weapons again. When he was a kid， the family had all the weapons， but these weapons were later confiscated by the government. The only thing left over from 130 years ago is a red-tasseled spear. The senior wanted to make the arsenal complete. He recalled shapes and sizes of these weapons and chose materials to make the lost pieces. It took him 10 years to complete his re-making project.

All the family members of the Shens are masters of martial arts， except Shen’s wife， who does not practice Kongfu. His second son and daughter are masters. Shen Hongyang met a girl at his kongfu house， who started practicing martial arts at the age of 8. Later Shen Hongyang married her. Their daughter started learning Wushu two years ago and now the seven-year-old girl has mastered the basic skills.

Shen Aoqi is pleased. From his great grandfather to his granddaughter， Wushu has run through the family for six generations. And the family is determined to carry the tradition on to the future.

(Translated by David)