When Xu Hongji formed the Shen Lung Tang Shou Tao, did he actually make any technical changes to the original TST material, or did he simply want to be independent?
I do not believe Master Hsu altered the Hubei style Hsing Yi forms of the Tang Shou Tao. I can not speak to the forms invented by Master Hung I Hsiang which combined Hsing Yi forms with other Chinese arts and the karate like forms (Ba Bu Da, etc.). But I don’t think so because Master Hsu was a very traditional and strict teacher. As to striking it out on his own, when Master Hsu was a small child he was taken to a fortune-teller who said one day he would be the leader of a large organization with members all over the world. It was his destiny.