This is the time of year when it is only natural to pause and reflect on where we have been and what may be coming next. 2018 has been a busy year in the Chinese martial arts. Progress has been in made in certain areas, while suggestions of trouble have arisen in others. Lets explore all of this together as we count down the top ten news stories of the last year. As always, if you spotted a trend or article that you think should have made this list, please feel free to leave a link in the comments below!
A “Kung Fu” nun demonstrates a pole form at a Tibetan Temple in Nepal.
10. The first story on our list reflects one of my favorite themes (and research areas). Namely 2018 saw an expansion in the Chinese government’s efforts to harness its traditional martial arts as a tool of cultural and public diplomacy. Confucius Institutes around the world have a mandate to hold various sorts of cultural education events, and if you live near one in North America or Western Europe it is not that difficult to find a martial arts themed event once or twice a year. These efforts pale in comparison to the resources being invested in cultural exchange and education programs in Africa (where China has made substantial investments and is eager to maintain a positive public image) and in other regions affected by the “Belt and Road Initiative.” As I reviewed the last year’s news it seemed that we were hearing more about these sorts of efforts in South and Central Asia. This story, from back in July, nicely illustrates these trends as it discusses efforts to expand the profile of the Chinese martial arts in Nepal.
9. In a very real sense we are the product of our identities. They create us and impart a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives. Yet no identity is perfectly stable. These things are constantly shifting, slipping and being renegotiated as their relationship with society changes. As such, identity can be a source of anxiety, though people will go to remarkable lengths to suppress these feelings. Still, 2018 seems to have been a year when anxiety in the TCMA boiled to surface and entered into a number of (seemingly) unrelated discussions.
Certainly the ongoing trend of traditional “masters” being pummeled by journeyman MMA fighters on social media has helped to crystalize this. But it can be seen in other places as well. For instance, this account of a “Chinese Cultural Night” at a local University caught my attention as it argued that the traditional martial arts were a critical aspect of Asian American identity.
Yet Asian American media critics are increasingly reserving their praise for projects that distance the Asian American community from what they see as limiting activities and lazy media troupes. Indeed, on the media front 2018 will certainly be remembered as the year of “Crazy Rich Asians” rather than anything martial arts related. The value and place of these activities within the constellation of ideas, representations and practices that collectively comprise “Asian American Identity” seems to be up for explicit renegotiation.
A different, and more official, version of this debate seems to have emerged among certain Chinese policy makers. As our first story noted, the Chinese government has long sought to harness global interest in the martial arts, cooking and other traditional practices as a “soft power” resource in international politics. Yet another group of officials is becoming concerned that these self-Orientalizing strategies will backfire in the long run. They worry that China is not doing enough to showcase itself as a rich, technologically advanced and urban society. Individuals who travel to China may be disappointed when they discover a wonderland of modern materialism rather the romantic haven of “traditional” culture that they imagined. In any case, who is to say that this more realistic image of Chinese culture would not appeal to an ever greater segment of the world’s population (specifically, the sorts of people who enjoy scenes of rapid economic development, followed by the rise of soaring glass and steel skylines). Is it a problem that the identity which China seeks to cultivate on the world stage does not reflect the values and aspirations of many of its citizens? It will be interesting to see where this debate goes in 2019.
Xu Xiaodong Strikes again!
8. Xu Xiadong topped the 2017 news list, and he succeeded in making waves in 2018 as well. I had a particular fondness for this article which appeared Bloody Elbow back in April. It struck me as interesting on two counts. Its title, “MMA fighters batter Wing Chun Masters in China”, was a masterpiece of aspirational misstatement. A more accurate title would have read: “MMA (journeyman trainer) batters (unknown) Wing Chun (practitioner) in Japan.” Yeah, that is better.
Beyond that, this story, and others like it, capture so much of the anxiety that surrounds the Chinese martial arts. Xu has gotten in trouble with the government as they view his antics as devaluing China’s traditional culture and “humiliating the nation” (no matter how much he protests to the contrary). And the press coverage of Xu’s activities really frames an entire group of other stories chronicling the rise of MMA, Muay Thai and BBJ in China as activities to be taken up by regular citizens rather than just professional fighters (which is where Sanda and Olympic Judo had largely remained). My favorite of those pieces was the New York Times article titled “The First Rule of Chinese Fight Club: No Karaoke.” It provides a nice profile of a local “fight club,” inspired both by the founder’s love of the movie, and the growing popularity of Western combat sports in China. It discusses the legal and administrative hurdles that such a business faces, and in so doing gives a nice glimpse into the social anxieties that still surround the martial arts. Here is a quote to whet your appetite:
“…boxing, mixed martial arts and other high-energy fighting forms have been enjoying a minor boom in China in recent years. Gyms and audiences have multiplied across the country. Precise numbers are hard to come by, but one fan group estimates that the number of clubs had reached 8,300 in 2016, up from 2,700 in 2008.
Even so, commercial fight venues that draw a broader audience are rare. And Chengdu, with its zestful night life and hipster scene, seemed as good a place as any to try opening one. Yet even here the club has struggled to balance between being cool enough to draw customers and respectable enough to keep the inspectors at bay.
In a former venue, the fight club had to fend off complaints from the police, who deemed the weekly bouts undesirable, if not illegal. The authorities cut off their power and water late last year, Mr. Shi and Mr. Wang said. Tensions had also grown when a national controversy erupted last April after Xu Xiaodong, a mixed martial arts fighter, challenged masters of China’s gentler traditional martial arts to fight and flattened one of them in about 10 seconds.
Mr. Xu may have won that fight hands down, but the episode brought bad publicity for new martial arts in China.”
7. The government’s involvement with Xu’s various challenge fights should inspire students of martial arts studies to critically reflect on the various intersections of politics and Kung Fu. Indeed, the second half of 2018 saw a number of stories in which the Chinese government explicitly demanded a greater degree of loyalty from the nation’s institutions of traditional cultural.
The Shaolin Temple, in its double capacity as both a religious institution and center for martial arts training, found itself at the center of this controversy. Seeking to get ahead of new government policy directives designed to limit the independence of Chinese religious movements from the state and Communist Party, the temple’s leadership decided to take a much more visible and proactive role in promoting “patriotism” (rather than simply Buddhism) in the monks’ public performance. This is actually a somewhat nuanced topic as Chinese Buddhist monasteries have never been truly independent of the state and Shaolin, in particular, already carries a patriotic reputation. Still, the move has inspired some controversy and much discussion. A good overview of all this can be found in the South China Morning Post article titled: “Red flag for Buddhists? Shaolin Temple ‘takes the lead’ in Chinese patriotism push.” Here is a sample of the sort of pushback that has been encountered:
Tsui Chung-hui, of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre of Buddhist Studies, said Buddhist scripture already required its followers to respect the state.
“The government does not need to take pains to promote [this] and monasteries also do not need to pander to politics,” Tsui said on Tuesday. “They should let monks dedicate themselves to Buddhism and not waste their time performing various political propaganda activities.”
China has recently come under the spotlight for its efforts to clamp down on minority religions including Islam and Christianity, which it associates with foreign influence or ethnic separatism. Mosques and churches flying the national flag have become an increasingly common sight in China amid the crackdown.
6. When thinking about the Chinese martial arts and politics it would be a mistake to focus solely on the question of national identities. These systems are also invoked as part of efforts to define and shore up a wide variety of local and regional structures. This is something that we can see throughout the realm of the traditional Asian martial arts. Still, when reviewing media coverage of these events I noted that “Southern” arts (and cities showed up) with a fair degree of frequency. These articles are so interesting to me that its hard to pick just one. Over the course of the last year we saw lots of good news coverage of Wing Chun in Hong Kong, exhibitions on the Hakka arts, and a really nice piece on the rebirth of Foshan’s Choy Li Fut in the 1990s. But if forced to choose I might suggest taking a look at this piece on White Crane in Taipei. I liked the way that it explicitly engaged with the discourse linking local martial arts practice with regional prestige/identity. Note the following quote:
Every Asian nation and culture around Taiwan has laid claim to a signature martial art, such as taichi, wing chun, karate, taekwondo, Muay Thai and escrima, [Lin] said.
“It is a shame that Taiwan does not have a representative martial art,” he said. “I want to leave behind something for the nation. I have vowed that I will travel to make the feeding crane style thrive all over the world,” he said.
From the moment she entered that inn and took a table in the middle of the room with steely confidence amid dozens of leering men — then dispatched them in an epic fight with a fury unseen in cinema up to that point, 19-year-old Cheng Pei-Pei was a star.
The year was 1966, and “Come Drink With Me,” directed by the great King Hu, was the first major martial arts movie to have a woman as the central action star, paving the way for Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and many others. And this was 13 years before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley character in “Alien” broke ground in Hollywood as an action heroine.
English language tabloids continue to discuss the newly “rediscovered” tradition of “kung fu bull fighting.” This is basically the latest attempt to parlay martial arts exhibitions into a local tourist attraction.
3. It seems that every year has that one story that just won’t die. Somewhat improbably, 2018’s champion would have to be “Kung Fu Bull Fighting.” If you have never heard of this “ancient” practice before, don’t worry, you are not alone. Bull wrestling was first registered as an ethnic martial art (attributed to the Hui people) in 2008. More recently practiconers in Zhejiang have taken to the practice in an attempt to create a local tourist attraction, capturing a slice of China’s lucrative domestic tourism market. And its hard to blame them. The massive success of places like Chen Village and the Shaolin Temple ensures that local officials throughout China are always on the lookout for raw material that can be turned into the next martial arts pilgrimage destination.
Still, the practice of Kung Fu bullfighting (which first hit the English language press in September of this year) feels different. While many Chinese language books on the martial arts begin with a boilerplate paragraph explaining that these fighting systems were invented in the ancient past to defend the people from “wild animals,” I don’t think I have ever seen a modern “martial art” system that claimed to take animals as their primary opponent. While it would be easy to look at this story in terms of (transparently) “invented traditions” and the demands of local tourism markets, I suspect that there is more going on here. The constant comparisons to Spanish bull fighting in these articles suggests an exercise in both gender and national identity construction. On the other hand, given all of the news about the Chinese martial arts (movies, sporting events, kung fu diplomacy, etc…) that is produced every month, one has to wonder why this story has captured the English language press to the degree that it has? Clearly there is a healthy dose of Orientalism going on here. But what specifically do readers imagine that they are learning about Chinese culture as they immerse themselves within the world of “ancient” Chinese bullfighting? What does this suggest about the ways that China continues to be imagined in the West? The strange endurance of this story reminds us that even the least serious practice can inspire important questions.
2. There is no better known figure within the Chinese martial arts than Bruce Lee. Indeed, he is probably the most well-known martial arts figure of all time. Still, even by Lee’s elevated standard, 2018 was a good year. Anniversaries aside, much of that credit must go to the well known author Matthew Polly who finally released his long anticipated (and extensively researched) biography. I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that this Polly’s effort is destined to be remembered as the definitive Bruce Lee biography.
Just as interesting as the book itself was the media’s response to it. While the tabloids tended to dwell on Polly’s more lurid revelations, the book was reviewed, discussed and meditated upon in a surprisingly wide variety of print and televised outlets. Pretty much every major newspaper and magazine weighed in on Polly’s book, some more than once. Discussions of this work dominated the Chinese martial arts headlines for months, testifying to Lee’s enduring charisma. Lee even got his own academic conference earlier this year (at which Polly made an appearance)! All in all, 2018 was a good year for the Bruce Lee legacy, and it suggests that his image continues to shape the way that the public perceives the Chinese martial arts.
1. This brings us to the top news story of 2018, the passing of Louis Cha, also known to his fans as Jin Yong. Indeed, coverage of his achievements began relatively early in the year with the announcement of new graphic novels based on his work, and the release of an important English language translation of Legend of Condor Heroes. While Cha is the best selling modern Chinese author, few of his works had found English language publishers. As such, this new translation was treated as a major publishing event which generated a large number of reviews, discussions and think pieces.
That press coverage proved to be only a primer of what was to come following the author’s death (at the age of 94) at the end of October. It seemed that every major paper and news outlet on both sides of the Pacific was eager to remember and reevaluate the fruits of a remarkable life. There was much to be said regarding Cha’s contributions as a newspaper editor and leading (and at times controversial) political figure during Hong Kong’s transition to Chinese rule.
Yet it would be impossible to overstate the importance of Cha’s Wuxia novels in the rejuvenation of Hong Kong’s post-war martial arts culture. His stories provided practices that were often publicly scorned with a degree of gravitas. They granted cathartic relief to a generation of exiled readers struggling with the sudden realization that after 1949 they would not be returning to their homes in other parts of China. Later they helped younger readers to position their own martial practice and social struggles in terms of larger cultural and historic narratives.
While Cha was never known as a martial artist, his writings helped to popularize and give social meaning to these practices. Indeed, for cultural historians of the Southern Chinese martial arts it is often necessary think in terms of the “pre” and “post” Jin Yong eras. While Cha’s passing is a tragedy, the remembrances of the last few months have highlighted his enduring contributions to the public appreciation of the Chinese martial arts.
This is the time of year when it is only natural to pause and reflect on where we have been and what may be coming next. 2018 has been a busy year in the Chinese martial arts. Progress has been in made in certain areas, while suggestions of trouble have arisen in others. Lets explore all of this together as we count down the top ten news stories of the last year. As always, if you spotted a trend or article that you think should have made this list, please feel free to leave a link in the comments below!
A “Kung Fu” nun demonstrates a pole form at a Tibetan Temple in Nepal.
10. The first story on our list reflects one of my favorite themes (and research areas). Namely 2018 saw an expansion in the Chinese government’s efforts to harness its traditional martial arts as a tool of cultural and public diplomacy. Confucius Institutes around the world have a mandate to hold various sorts of cultural education events, and if you live near one in North America or Western Europe it is not that difficult to find a martial arts themed event once or twice a year. These efforts pale in comparison to the resources being invested in cultural exchange and education programs in Africa (where China has made substantial investments and is eager to maintain a positive public image) and in other regions affected by the “Belt and Road Initiative.” As I reviewed the last year’s news it seemed that we were hearing more about these sorts of efforts in South and Central Asia. This story, from back in July, nicely illustrates these trends as it discusses efforts to expand the profile of the Chinese martial arts in Nepal.
9. In a very real sense we are the product of our identities. They create us and impart a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives. Yet no identity is perfectly stable. These things are constantly shifting, slipping and being renegotiated as their relationship with society changes. As such, identity can be a source of anxiety, though people will go to remarkable lengths to suppress these feelings. Still, 2018 seems to have been a year when anxiety in the TCMA boiled to surface and entered into a number of (seemingly) unrelated discussions.
Certainly the ongoing trend of traditional “masters” being pummeled by journeyman MMA fighters on social media has helped to crystalize this. But it can be seen in other places as well. For instance, this account of a “Chinese Cultural Night” at a local University caught my attention as it argued that the traditional martial arts were a critical aspect of Asian American identity.
Yet Asian American media critics are increasingly reserving their praise for projects that distance the Asian American community from what they see as limiting activities and lazy media troupes. Indeed, on the media front 2018 will certainly be remembered as the year of “Crazy Rich Asians” rather than anything martial arts related. The value and place of these activities within the constellation of ideas, representations and practices that collectively comprise “Asian American Identity” seems to be up for explicit renegotiation.
A different, and more official, version of this debate seems to have emerged among certain Chinese policy makers. As our first story noted, the Chinese government has long sought to harness global interest in the martial arts, cooking and other traditional practices as a “soft power” resource in international politics. Yet another group of officials is becoming concerned that these self-Orientalizing strategies will backfire in the long run. They worry that China is not doing enough to showcase itself as a rich, technologically advanced and urban society. Individuals who travel to China may be disappointed when they discover a wonderland of modern materialism rather the romantic haven of “traditional” culture that they imagined. In any case, who is to say that this more realistic image of Chinese culture would not appeal to an ever greater segment of the world’s population (specifically, the sorts of people who enjoy scenes of rapid economic development, followed by the rise of soaring glass and steel skylines). Is it a problem that the identity which China seeks to cultivate on the world stage does not reflect the values and aspirations of many of its citizens? It will be interesting to see where this debate goes in 2019.
Xu Xiaodong Strikes again!
8. Xu Xiadong topped the 2017 news list, and he succeeded in making waves in 2018 as well. I had a particular fondness for this article which appeared Bloody Elbow back in April. It struck me as interesting on two counts. Its title, “MMA fighters batter Wing Chun Masters in China”, was a masterpiece of aspirational misstatement. A more accurate title would have read: “MMA (journeyman trainer) batters (unknown) Wing Chun (practitioner) in Japan.” Yeah, that is better.
Beyond that, this story, and others like it, capture so much of the anxiety that surrounds the Chinese martial arts. Xu has gotten in trouble with the government as they view his antics as devaluing China’s traditional culture and “humiliating the nation” (no matter how much he protests to the contrary). And the press coverage of Xu’s activities really frames an entire group of other stories chronicling the rise of MMA, Muay Thai and BBJ in China as activities to be taken up by regular citizens rather than just professional fighters (which is where Sanda and Olympic Judo had largely remained). My favorite of those pieces was the New York Times article titled “The First Rule of Chinese Fight Club: No Karaoke.” It provides a nice profile of a local “fight club,” inspired both by the founder’s love of the movie, and the growing popularity of Western combat sports in China. It discusses the legal and administrative hurdles that such a business faces, and in so doing gives a nice glimpse into the social anxieties that still surround the martial arts. Here is a quote to whet your appetite:
“…boxing, mixed martial arts and other high-energy fighting forms have been enjoying a minor boom in China in recent years. Gyms and audiences have multiplied across the country. Precise numbers are hard to come by, but one fan group estimates that the number of clubs had reached 8,300 in 2016, up from 2,700 in 2008.
Even so, commercial fight venues that draw a broader audience are rare. And Chengdu, with its zestful night life and hipster scene, seemed as good a place as any to try opening one. Yet even here the club has struggled to balance between being cool enough to draw customers and respectable enough to keep the inspectors at bay.
In a former venue, the fight club had to fend off complaints from the police, who deemed the weekly bouts undesirable, if not illegal. The authorities cut off their power and water late last year, Mr. Shi and Mr. Wang said. Tensions had also grown when a national controversy erupted last April after Xu Xiaodong, a mixed martial arts fighter, challenged masters of China’s gentler traditional martial arts to fight and flattened one of them in about 10 seconds.
Mr. Xu may have won that fight hands down, but the episode brought bad publicity for new martial arts in China.”
7. The government’s involvement with Xu’s various challenge fights should inspire students of martial arts studies to critically reflect on the various intersections of politics and Kung Fu. Indeed, the second half of 2018 saw a number of stories in which the Chinese government explicitly demanded a greater degree of loyalty from the nation’s institutions of traditional cultural.
The Shaolin Temple, in its double capacity as both a religious institution and center for martial arts training, found itself at the center of this controversy. Seeking to get ahead of new government policy directives designed to limit the independence of Chinese religious movements from the state and Communist Party, the temple’s leadership decided to take a much more visible and proactive role in promoting “patriotism” (rather than simply Buddhism) in the monks’ public performance. This is actually a somewhat nuanced topic as Chinese Buddhist monasteries have never been truly independent of the state and Shaolin, in particular, already carries a patriotic reputation. Still, the move has inspired some controversy and much discussion. A good overview of all this can be found in the South China Morning Post article titled: “Red flag for Buddhists? Shaolin Temple ‘takes the lead’ in Chinese patriotism push.” Here is a sample of the sort of pushback that has been encountered:
Tsui Chung-hui, of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre of Buddhist Studies, said Buddhist scripture already required its followers to respect the state.
“The government does not need to take pains to promote [this] and monasteries also do not need to pander to politics,” Tsui said on Tuesday. “They should let monks dedicate themselves to Buddhism and not waste their time performing various political propaganda activities.”
China has recently come under the spotlight for its efforts to clamp down on minority religions including Islam and Christianity, which it associates with foreign influence or ethnic separatism. Mosques and churches flying the national flag have become an increasingly common sight in China amid the crackdown.
6. When thinking about the Chinese martial arts and politics it would be a mistake to focus solely on the question of national identities. These systems are also invoked as part of efforts to define and shore up a wide variety of local and regional structures. This is something that we can see throughout the realm of the traditional Asian martial arts. Still, when reviewing media coverage of these events I noted that “Southern” arts (and cities showed up) with a fair degree of frequency. These articles are so interesting to me that its hard to pick just one. Over the course of the last year we saw lots of good news coverage of Wing Chun in Hong Kong, exhibitions on the Hakka arts, and a really nice piece on the rebirth of Foshan’s Choy Li Fut in the 1990s. But if forced to choose I might suggest taking a look at this piece on White Crane in Taipei. I liked the way that it explicitly engaged with the discourse linking local martial arts practice with regional prestige/identity. Note the following quote:
Every Asian nation and culture around Taiwan has laid claim to a signature martial art, such as taichi, wing chun, karate, taekwondo, Muay Thai and escrima, [Lin] said.
“It is a shame that Taiwan does not have a representative martial art,” he said. “I want to leave behind something for the nation. I have vowed that I will travel to make the feeding crane style thrive all over the world,” he said.
From the moment she entered that inn and took a table in the middle of the room with steely confidence amid dozens of leering men — then dispatched them in an epic fight with a fury unseen in cinema up to that point, 19-year-old Cheng Pei-Pei was a star.
The year was 1966, and “Come Drink With Me,” directed by the great King Hu, was the first major martial arts movie to have a woman as the central action star, paving the way for Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and many others. And this was 13 years before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley character in “Alien” broke ground in Hollywood as an action heroine.
English language tabloids continue to discuss the newly “rediscovered” tradition of “kung fu bull fighting.” This is basically the latest attempt to parlay martial arts exhibitions into a local tourist attraction.
3. It seems that every year has that one story that just won’t die. Somewhat improbably, 2018’s champion would have to be “Kung Fu Bull Fighting.” If you have never heard of this “ancient” practice before, don’t worry, you are not alone. Bull wrestling was first registered as an ethnic martial art (attributed to the Hui people) in 2008. More recently practiconers in Zhejiang have taken to the practice in an attempt to create a local tourist attraction, capturing a slice of China’s lucrative domestic tourism market. And its hard to blame them. The massive success of places like Chen Village and the Shaolin Temple ensures that local officials throughout China are always on the lookout for raw material that can be turned into the next martial arts pilgrimage destination.
Still, the practice of Kung Fu bullfighting (which first hit the English language press in September of this year) feels different. While many Chinese language books on the martial arts begin with a boilerplate paragraph explaining that these fighting systems were invented in the ancient past to defend the people from “wild animals,” I don’t think I have ever seen a modern “martial art” system that claimed to take animals as their primary opponent. While it would be easy to look at this story in terms of (transparently) “invented traditions” and the demands of local tourism markets, I suspect that there is more going on here. The constant comparisons to Spanish bull fighting in these articles suggests an exercise in both gender and national identity construction. On the other hand, given all of the news about the Chinese martial arts (movies, sporting events, kung fu diplomacy, etc…) that is produced every month, one has to wonder why this story has captured the English language press to the degree that it has? Clearly there is a healthy dose of Orientalism going on here. But what specifically do readers imagine that they are learning about Chinese culture as they immerse themselves within the world of “ancient” Chinese bullfighting? What does this suggest about the ways that China continues to be imagined in the West? The strange endurance of this story reminds us that even the least serious practice can inspire important questions.
2. There is no better known figure within the Chinese martial arts than Bruce Lee. Indeed, he is probably the most well-known martial arts figure of all time. Still, even by Lee’s elevated standard, 2018 was a good year. Anniversaries aside, much of that credit must go to the well known author Matthew Polly who finally released his long anticipated (and extensively researched) biography. I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that this Polly’s effort is destined to be remembered as the definitive Bruce Lee biography.
Just as interesting as the book itself was the media’s response to it. While the tabloids tended to dwell on Polly’s more lurid revelations, the book was reviewed, discussed and meditated upon in a surprisingly wide variety of print and televised outlets. Pretty much every major newspaper and magazine weighed in on Polly’s book, some more than once. Discussions of this work dominated the Chinese martial arts headlines for months, testifying to Lee’s enduring charisma. Lee even got his own academic conference earlier this year (at which Polly made an appearance)! All in all, 2018 was a good year for the Bruce Lee legacy, and it suggests that his image continues to shape the way that the public perceives the Chinese martial arts.
1. This brings us to the top news story of 2018, the passing of Louis Cha, also known to his fans as Jin Yong. Indeed, coverage of his achievements began relatively early in the year with the announcement of new graphic novels based on his work, and the release of an important English language translation of Legend of Condor Heroes. While Cha is the best selling modern Chinese author, few of his works had found English language publishers. As such, this new translation was treated as a major publishing event which generated a large number of reviews, discussions and think pieces.
That press coverage proved to be only a primer of what was to come following the author’s death (at the age of 94) at the end of October. It seemed that every major paper and news outlet on both sides of the Pacific was eager to remember and reevaluate the fruits of a remarkable life. There was much to be said regarding Cha’s contributions as a newspaper editor and leading (and at times controversial) political figure during Hong Kong’s transition to Chinese rule.
Yet it would be impossible to overstate the importance of Cha’s Wuxia novels in the rejuvenation of Hong Kong’s post-war martial arts culture. His stories provided practices that were often publicly scorned with a degree of gravitas. They granted cathartic relief to a generation of exiled readers struggling with the sudden realization that after 1949 they would not be returning to their homes in other parts of China. Later they helped younger readers to position their own martial practice and social struggles in terms of larger cultural and historic narratives.
While Cha was never known as a martial artist, his writings helped to popularize and give social meaning to these practices. Indeed, for cultural historians of the Southern Chinese martial arts it is often necessary think in terms of the “pre” and “post” Jin Yong eras. While Cha’s passing is a tragedy, the remembrances of the last few months have highlighted his enduring contributions to the public appreciation of the Chinese martial arts.
When not collecting images of the traditional Chinese martial arts, I occasionally hunt for vintage Christmas cards.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of Kung Fu Tea’s readers! Thanks so much for your support and feedback over the last seven years. I think that Santa left me one or two martial arts related items under the tree. Hopefully he did the same for you.
We will be returning to our normal posting schedule after the first week of January, but I might have one or two short articles to go up before then, so check back often. If, however, you find yourself looking for some long-reads over the holidays, consider checking out one of these classic posts:
燕青單刀 YAN QING’S SINGLE SABER 順德黃漢勛編述 by Huang Hanxun [Wong Honfan] of Shunde 山東蓬萊羅光玉老師授 as taught by Luo Guangyu of Penglai, Shandong 攝影者：譚以禮 postures photographed by Tan Yili 校對者：黃子英 text proofread by Huang Ziying [published 33rd year of the cycle, 6th month, 1st day (Jul 8, 1956)]
[translation by Paul Brennan, Dec, 2018]
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㷼青單刀 Yan Qing’s Single Saber 黃漢勋自署 – calligraphy by Huang Hanxun
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燕青单刀形勢圖 Map for the postures in the set:
图例：凢由東至西。或由西返東之直線形。皆以同一線為凖。其分線繪图者。不外為利便絵圖耳。 The postures will travel from east to west, then come back from west to east [and then once more from east to west and west to east], both ways in a straight line. These lines are drawn simply for convenience.
S 南 E 東 + 西 W 北 N
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試刀小言 A FEW WORDS ON EXAMINING THE SABER
古俠士與武林先哲嘗以得寶刀寶劍為榮，其得寶也必先看之，試之，以攷其實，精武前輩，盍煒昌先生嘗贈余以試劍圖乙幀，盧君致力武道四十年其神彩至為活現，余以此刀祗得五十五圖，因補撕此圖以凑合篇幅耳，若云以先哲前賢自視，能勿愧煞乎！抑亦能毋有東施效顰之嫌歟。 Ancient warriors and wise men within the martial arts community considered it an honor to receive a “precious saber” or a “precious sword”. But to test whether it was really a precious blade, they first had to examine it [by drawing it from its scabbard, as in the photo]. Jingwu elder Lu Weichang once gave me a photo of himself examining a sword. He devoted himself to martial ways for forty years and his passion for it was visible. Although this saber set in this book contains only fifty-five postures, it may seem that the addition of this one photo makes the book too long. If it makes you think that I consider myself to be on a par with previous masters like Lu, shame on you. Do not imagine for an instant that I am trying to make some pathetic attempt to imitate that great man.
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自序 AUTHOR’S PREFACE
單刀一械為步戰中慣用武器之一，其法乃脫胎於大刀而大盛於宋明及亡淸，宋末水滸傳中之浪子燕靑即以單刀法見稱於世矣，其後王五亦以單刀著譽武林，「人或以大刀王五稱之。」余則以為王所用刀畧大而已，並非為大砍刀之大刀也，燕靑單刀僅傳五十五刀法，中有重式者，除外則半耳！單刀有十法，即劈，軋，抅，掛，削，拍，挑，撩，搜，撈，也。漢雖曾一個時期致力於此，祗惜二十年來，就食四方是以致技術生疏退板，且以個人精神魄力去應需求不同之習技者，是難得專心致意於某一技之機會，茲僅拾遺法於萬一用以列諸於冊，雖未能揚前人之美妙，但尤勝乎昧昧於心而藏諸黃土之為計也，但願人人以發揚國粹自任，使具有民族性之技術千古不替，是所厚幸焉。黃漢勛於丙申端午東方國術部 The single saber is a weapon that has been commonly used by infantry. Its techniques emerge from the large saber art and it flourished through the dynasties of Song, Ming, and right up until the end of the Qing. In the late Song Dynasty novel The Water Margin, the character of “The Wanderer” Yan Qing was well-known for his single saber skills. Later on [late 19th century], Wang Wu [Wang Zhengyi] also become famous in martial arts circles for his use of the single saber, and was sometimes known as “Large Saber Wang Wu”. I use a slightly larger saber than Wang did, and so it is not the “large cleaving saber” type of large saber. Yan Qing’s Single Saber is a set that contains only fifty-five postures, and half of them are repeats. The single saber art has ten techniques: chopping, rolling, hooking, hanging, slicing, patting, carrying, raising, searching, and scooping. Although I at one time devoted myself to this set, that was twenty years ago, and I have since had my attention pulled in so many directions that my saber skill has rusted. Because the task I have dedicated myself to requires the training of many different abilities, it is difficult to get the chance to focus all of my attention on a single skill. This set that I have picked to be in this series of books is just one tiny sample from all that I have inherited. Although I cannot do justice to the brilliance of previous generations, I at least seek to overcome ignorance and reveal what might otherwise become buried away. I only wish for everyone to take it upon themselves to carry on our national culture and keep our nation’s arts from ever being replaced. This is my sincere hope. - written by Huang Hanxun at the Far East Martial Arts Headquarters, 33rd year of the cycle, Dragon Boat Festival [which takes place on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, hence June 13, 1956]
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第一式 出步中平式 Posture 1: IN READINESS TO STEP OUT, STANDING STABLY
說明： Explanation: 假定此刀擇定東方作起點者應背南，面北，右東，左西而立，注視西方，左手捧刀，刀沿臂緊貼，刀以不逾頭而與耳齊為合度右手掌貼身，垂下，如「定式圖」 Stand in the eastern part of the practice space to begin this set, with the south behind you, the north in front of you, the east to your right, the west to your left. Your gaze is to the west. Your left hand is holding the saber, the [back of the] saber touching along [the top of] the arm. The saber should not extend past your head and should instead be at ear level. Your right palm is hanging down near your body [thigh]. See photo 1:
功用： Application: 刀勢尚未展開，故無功用可言。 In this posture, you have not yet reached out with the saber, and thus there is no application to speak of.
第二式 抱刀上步式 Posture 2: HOLDING THE SABER, STEP FORWARD
說明： Explanation: 沿上式，先出右脚，右掌與刀向前直出，目向前視，如「過後式」甲， Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot goes out as your right palm and the saber go straight out forward. Your gaze is forward. See photo 2a:
再進左脚以成左跨虎步，右掌化作刁手與刀齊往後收，逾後逾佳，目注西而視，如『定式圖』 Then your left foot advances to make a left sitting-tiger stance as your right hand becomes a hooking hand and withdraws behind you in unison with the saber. The farther they reach back, the better. Your gaze is toward the west. See photo 2b:
功用： Application: 刀尚未交於右手，故仍為開式之勢，尚無實用可言。 As the saber has not yet been switched to your right hand, this is still an opening posture, and thus there is still not really any application to speak of.
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先拉起左脚，復進前右脚，以成立正之勢，右手復化為掌與刀同時向西方舉出，如「過渡式甲圖」 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left foot lifts, then your right foot advances to stand next to it, making a posture of standing at attention, as your right hand changes back to a palm and goes out to the west together with the saber. See photo 3a:
再退右脚拉左脚以成向正西方之跨虎步，右掌自左腋下出而向上，刀往後斜拖，如『定式圖』。 Then your right foot retreats and your left foot pulls back to make a sitting-tiger stance facing toward the west as your right palm goes out upward from below your left armpit, the saber pulling back until it is diagonal behind you. See photo 3b:
功用： Application: 此式雖然於刀尚無致用之處，但相傳江湖上之鑣囊乃懸於腋下者，因此右手返至腋內者即取鑣之意，復向上揚者，亦即投擲之暗示也，今之用鑣者少，因是而祗是象徵而已。 In this posture, the saber still has no practical function, but according to tradition, wandering entertainers had a dart pocketed below the armpit, thus the right hand goes toward the armpit with a sense of taking out the dart and then raises upward to represent throwing this hidden weapon. Those who use such darts are very rare nowadays, and thus this is simply a symbolic gesture.
第四式 竄跳出身式 Posture 4: LEAPING UP AND SENDING OUT YOUR BODY
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀不動，右掌化拳自腰部與左脚向西前方齊出如「過渡式甲圖「。 Continuing from the previous posture, the saber does not change its position as your right palm becomes a fist and punches out from your waist, your left foot kicking out at the same time, both going out toward the west in unison. See photo 4a:
再跳起以右掌拍落右膝部，刀畧向前伸，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then hop up, using your right palm to slap down against your right knee area, the saber slightly reaching forward. See photo 4b:
落右脚以成扑腿之勢，右掌變拳收腰，刀則轉至胸前，如「過渡丙式圖」。 Your right leg comes down [and your left leg extends forward] to make a reaching-leg stance as your right palm becomes a fist and withdraws to your waist, the saber arcing until in front of your chest. See photo 4c:
再起過左腰後，右拳自腰部衝出，如『定式圖』。 Then rise up, the saber passing the left side of your waist and going behind you as your right fist thrusts out from your waist. See photo 4d:
功用： Application: 此蹤跳出身者是與敵求接近之意也，我先以拳腿攻之，再用扑腿法剷之，彼欲跳起卸避，我則轉馬用捶直統之也。 This technique of leaping up and sending my body out is for dissuading an opponent who wants to approach me. I first use a technique of fist and foot attacking simultaneously, then use a reaching-leg stance to shovel underneath him. He will thus want to jump away to evade me, so I switch my stance and send a thrust punch straight at him.
第五式 扑腿推刀式 Posture 5: REACHING-LEG STANCE, PUSHING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，左右脚不變原來位置，祗再由左登山步往後轉為扑腿耳！刀自後繞過面前，右拳變掌隨刀而轉如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your feet stay in their location and you simply shift back to the rear, going from a left mountain-climbing stance to a reaching-leg stance [the photo showing more of a right mountain-climbing], the saber going from behind you, passing in front of you, [and arcing to the right,] your right fist becoming a palm and arcing along with the saber. See photo 5a:
再由左手將刀交於右手，復轉馬為左登山步，右刀平推與左上掌齊出，如『定式圖』。 Then your left hand sends the saber into your right hand and you switch back to a left mountain-climbing stance as your right hand pushes out the saber, the blade horizontal, your left hand going out at the same time. See photo 5b:
功用： Application: 我已將刀交於右手，即是凖備作戰之暗示也，彼即自我頂上殺來一棍或一槍，我乃用左掌朝上迎之，右刀向其中部推出，使彼不及收械迎禦也。 Once I have switched the saber into my right hand, this means I am ready for combat. An opponent uses a staff or spear to smash onto my headtop, so I send my left palm upward to block it while my right hand sends my saber pushing outward to his middle area, leaving him unable to withdraw his weapon in time to defend against it.
第六式 拉刀收步式 Posture 6: PULLING THE SABER, GATHERING STEP
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步不變，左掌向前，右刀自前經過面前拉向背部，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, your left palm goes forward as your right hand pulls the saber across from in front of you to be behind you. See photo 6a:
再以右後脚跟前如跨虎步形狀，刀循背部沿左臂直落止於腕上，左掌化刁手往後抅去，如『定式圖』。 Then your right foot follows forward to almost make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber passes through behind you and lowers along your left arm until above the wrist, your left palm becoming a hooking hand and hooking away to the rear. See photo 6b:
功用： Application: 彼擬用長械迫我，我先用左手刁去來械，復以右刀自上而下，以資掩護，亦可作劈擊來械之用也。 An opponent using a long weapon tries to attack me, so I first use my left hand to hook it aside, then send my saber downward from above as a means of shielding myself, or I can also use this action to chop away his weapon.
第七式 竄跳囘身式 Posture 7: SCURRYING AWAY WITH THE BODY TURNED
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將右脚開往東方如登山步，刀與左刁手畧掠開，目注視西後方，如「過渡式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot steps out toward the east as though to make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber and your left hooking hand slightly sweeping aside. Your gaze is behind you toward the west. See photo 7a:
再原式不變疾跳過西後方，如『定式圖』。 Then while maintaining this position, suddenly hop back [twice] to the west [east]. See photos 7b and 7c:
功用： Application: 不論已否扣得來械，我皆向後撤退，以便靜觀其變，俟機出擊是也。 Regardless of whether or not I have succeeded in drawing aside the opponent’s weapon, I retreat to watch for what he will do next and wait for the opportunity to attack.
第八式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 8: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀與手不變，先進左脚，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with the saber and your left hand not changing their position, first your left foot advances. See photo 8a:
再轉右東而反向西方提起右脚，左刁手仍抅後，刀則沿右膝部殺落，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then turn around to the right to go from facing toward the east to be facing toward the west as your right foot lifts, your left hand still hooking behind, and the saber smashes down beside your right knee. See photo 8b:
左手與步不變，刀循前下方繞過背部，右手直舉，如「過渡式丙圖」。 With your left hand and legs not changing their position, the saber follows through forward and downward and arcs behind your back, your right arm rising until vertical. See photo 8c:
乘提右脚之便蹤身一跳，以成左跨虎之勢，刀則轉過左肩斜向前落，落時左手須由胸前化掌穿出為合如『定式圖』。 Going along with the lifting of your right leg, your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs past your left shoulder and lowers diagonally in front of you, your left hand becoming a palm and shooting out forward from in front of your chest at the same moment that the saber lowers. See photo 8d:
功用： Application: 此式合卸步，提腿，蹤跳，攔刀，撇刀，拉刀等為一式，若善於運用則合攻守於一矣。 This posture combines a withdrawing step, lifting leg, hop, and the saber actions of blocking, swinging, and pulling into a single technique. If you are good at applying it, then defense and offense will be combined into a single action.
第九式 出步劈刀式 Posture 9: STEP OUT, CHOPPING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，出右脚以成右登山步，刀自後向前劈去，再轉歸左方，左手則貼腕助之，如『定式圖』。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot goes out to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops out forward from the rear and follows through by arcing across to the left, your left hand touching your [right] wrist to assist. See photo 9:
功用： Application: 彼械直刺我中門，我即用橫刀殺消之。 The opponent’s weapon stabs to my middle area, so I send my saber across to smash it away.
第十式 跟步軋刀式 Posture 10: FOLLOWING STEP, ROLLING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，左右脚不變，祗向一標，以成騎馬式，刀與掌同時向前後一分，如『定式圖』。 Continuing from the previous posture, your feet maintain their position and you simply dart forward to make a horse-riding stance, the saber and palm spreading apart forward and back. See photo 10:
功用： Application: 彼械為我刀殺去，或為彼漏去，我皆復跟步進馬順刀劈之，斯為刀法之正着，抑亦與上式有連貫之作用也。 The opponent’s weapon has been smashed aside by my saber, or he has retreated, so I follow him by advancing into a horse-riding stance with my saber chopping out. This is a direct saber action and follows on from the previous posture to form a continuous technique.
第十一式 抱頭攔刀式 Posture 11: WRAPPING AROUND THE HEAD, SLASHING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提左後脚，刀自前轉後斜掛左肩之上，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first lift your left foot as the saber arcs to the rear to hang diagonally over your left shoulder. See photo 11a:
再以站地之脚，循左方移動，轉後反以後刀作前，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then pivot to the left on your standing foot to bring the saber from the rear to the front. See photo 11b:
再落右脚以成左登山式，刀由背後繞過再橫轉於前，如『定式圖』。 Then your right [left] foot comes down to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber passes behind your back and arcs across in front of you. See photo 11c:
功用： Application: 彼繞過我背後實施襲擊，我即以刀掩護隨之而轉動，經一迎後再用橫刀法砍殺之。 The opponent slips around behind me to make a surprise attack, so I use my saber to shield myself as I pivot around to face him and then slash across at him.
第十二式 拉刀收步式 Posture 12: PULLING THE SABER, GATHERING STEP
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步不變，左掌向前，右刀自前經過面前拉向背部，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, your left palm goes forward as your right hand pulls the saber across from in front of you to be behind you. See photo 12a:
再以右後脚跟前如跨虎步形狀，刀循背部沿左臂直落止於腕上，左掌化刁手往後抅去，如『定式圖』。 Then your right foot follows forward to almost make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber passes through behind you and lowers along your left arm until above the wrist, your left palm becoming a hooking hand and hooking away to the rear. See photo 12b:
功用： Application: 彼擬用長械迫我，我先用左手刁去來械，復以右刀自上而下，以資掩護，亦可作劈擊來械之用也。 An opponent using a long weapon tries to attack me, so I first use my left hand to hook it aside, then send my saber downward from above as a means of shielding myself, or I can also use this action to chop away his weapon.
第十三式 竄跳囘身式 Posture 13: SCURRYING AWAY WITH THE BODY TURNED
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將右脚開往東方如登山步，刀與左刁手畧掠開，目注視西後方，如「過渡式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot steps out toward the east as though to make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber and your left hooking hand slightly sweeping aside. Your gaze is behind you toward the west. See photo 13a:
再原式不變疾跳過西後方，如『定式圖』。 Then while maintaining this position, suddenly hop back [twice] to the west [east]. See photos 13b and 13c:
功用： Application: 不論已否扣得來械，我皆向後撤退，以便靜觀其變，俟機出擊是也。 Regardless of whether or not I have succeeded in drawing aside the opponent’s weapon, I retreat to watch for what he will do next and wait for the opportunity to attack.
第十四式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 14: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀與手不變，先進左脚，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with the saber and your left hand not changing their position, first your left foot advances. See photo 14a:
再轉右東而反向西方提起右脚，左刁手仍抅後，刀則沿右膝部殺落，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then turn around to the right to go from facing toward the east to be facing toward the west as your right foot lifts, your left hand still hooking behind, and the saber smashes down beside your right knee. See photo 14b:
左手與步不變，刀循前下方繞過背部，右手直舉，如「過渡式丙圖」。 With your left hand and legs not changing their position, the saber follows through forward and downward and arcs behind your back, your right arm rising until vertical. See photo 14c:
乘提右脚之便蹤身一跳，以成左跨虎之勢，刀則轉過左肩斜向前落，落時左手須由胸前化掌穿出為合如『定式圖』。 Going along with the lifting of your right leg, your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs past your left shoulder and lowers diagonally in front of you, your left hand becoming a palm and shooting out forward from in front of your chest at the same moment that the saber lowers. See photo 14d:
功用： Application: 此式合卸步，提腿，蹤跳，攔刀，撇刀，拉刀等為一式，若善於運用則合攻守於一矣。 This posture combines a withdrawing step, lifting leg, hop, and the saber actions of blocking, swinging, and pulling into a single technique. If you are good at applying it, then defense and offense will be combined into a single action.
第十五式 拉刀坐盤式 Posture 15: PULLING THE SABER, SITTING TWISTED STANCE
說明： Explanation: 循上式，出右脚以成右登山式，刀自後向前劈，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot steps out to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops forward from behind. See photo 15a:
再原步不變將刀拉過右後方，左掌仍貼右腕，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then with your stance not changing, pull the saber through to the right rear, your left palm staying at your right wrist. See photo 15b:
再蹤身一跳，以成坐盤之勢，刀自右肩過左肩，沿左臂直落，左手化成刁手，以襯托刀背，如『定式圖』。 Then your body hops into a sitting twisted stance [i.e. your left foot going forward, then your right foot doing a stealth step behind it] as the saber goes past your right shoulder to your left shoulder and lowers along your left arm, your left hand becoming a hooking hand, the arm propping up the back of the saber. See photo 15c:
功用： Application: 我旣已劈消來械，再進而坐盤以刀攔砍之。 Having chopped away an incoming weapon, I then advance into a sitting twisted stance while slashing with my saber.
第十六式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 16: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循坐盤步向右轉，刀掠起至肩齊為止，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continue from the sitting twisted stance by turning around to the right as the saber sweeps across and rises to shoulder level. See photo 16a:
再全身躍起變成向南之左跨虎步，刀自右肩轉過左肩，沿左臂之上削出，左掌則自刀背穿出，如『定式圖』。 Then your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance facing toward the south as the saber arcs past your right shoulder to your left shoulder and then slices out over your left arm, your left palm shooting out from the back of the saber. See photo 16b:
功用： Application: 與第八，第十四等式同，祗差方向耳。 Same as in Postures 8 and 14, except that the orientation is different.
第十七式 抱頭攔刀式 Posture 17: WRAPPING AROUND THE HEAD, SLASHING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提左脚，刀向額上舉起，左掌貼腕，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first lift your left foot as you lift the saber toward your forehead, your left palm touching your [right] wrist. See photo 17a:
再落下左脚，以成左登山式，刀由背後轉而過於面前，橫殺而出，如『定式圖』。 Then your left foot comes down to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber arcs around behind your back and goes out in front of you, smashing across. See photo 17b:
功用： Application: 與第十一式同，祗方向之異耳。 Same as in Posture 11, except that the orientation is different.
說明： Explanation: 循上式，步由左登山向後轉為右登山式，刀與手皆由後轉前向左右掠開，手與刀俱平正為合，如『定式圖』 Continuing from the previous posture, pivot to the rear to switch from a left mountain-climbing stance to a right mountain-climbing stance while the saber and your left hand arc forward from behind and spread open to the sides. The hand and saber should be spread equally. See photo 18:
功用： Application: 彼械自我後進擊，我為求迅予抵禦計，乃原步化後作前，同時以手與刀左右分之。 An opponent’s weapon attacks me from behind, so I seek to quickly defend against it by staying where I am and changing the rear into the front while spreading to the sides with my left hand and my saber.
第十九式 順步軋刀式 Posture 19: SLIDING STEP, ROLLING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先拉起右脚如跨虎步之狀，刀往後拖去，如「過渡式用圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first pull back your right foot, almost making a sitting-tiger stance as the saber pulls to the rear. See photo 19a:
復借拉步而往前標去，以成右登山步，刀自後反刀鋒向上軋出，如『定式圖』。 Then make use of the reversal of momentum of the foot pulling back to dart forward into a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber goes out from the rear, rolling over so the edge is turned upward. See photo 19b:
功用： Application: 我先拖歸後者是卸其勢，再軋出則是順而反撩之法也。 I first pull to the rear with a withdrawing action, then send out the saber rolling over into a raising action.
第二十式 囘身劈刀式 Posture 20: TURNING THE BODY, CHOP
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步原刀不變，祗左手以刁手法往後刁去，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your stance and the position of the saber do not change as your left hand becomes a hooking hand and hooks away to the rear. See photo 20a:
再原步轉歸後方以成左登山式，刀自後反身由上劈落，左手化掌力托之，如『定式圖』。 Then your feet turn to the rear while staying in their location, making a left mountain-climbing stance, as the saber goes from behind you and chops down from above, your left hand changing to a palm and forcefully propping it up [i.e. slapping against your right wrist]. See photo 20b:
功用： Application: 彼自我後劈來一械，我先以刁手斜刁之，再囘身用劈殺法迎頭砍之。 An opponent’s weapon chops at me from behind, so I first use a hooking hand to diagonally hook it aside, then turn my body and chop to his head.
第二十一式 撩刀提劈式 Posture 21: RAISING CUT, LIFTING INTO A CHOP
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步仍未變，祗身畧轉過右後方，刀亦隨身轉上為下，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your stance does not change, but your body slightly turns to the right rear, the saber going along with your body by arcing downward from above. See photo 21a:
再踏右脚，進左脚以成騎馬式，刀隨步轉而歸後，左掌以揷掌法撑出且注以目，如『定式圖』。 Then your right foot stomps and your left foot advances to make a horse-riding stance as the saber arcs to the rear, your left hand going out as a charging palm, your gaze following it. See photo 21b:
功用： Application: 彼械擬向我膝部點來，我先用下撩之法，再轉馬迎胸以掌揷進焉。 An opponent [from behind] tries to use his weapon to do a tapping attack to my [right] knee, so I first send a raising action against it from below, then switch to a horse-riding stance and attack with a charging palm to his chest.
第二十二式 上步軋刀式 Posture 22: STEP FORWARD, ROLLING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，進右脚以成右登山式，刀自後下方直向前上撩出，如『定式圖』。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot advances to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber goes from the rear, downward, forward, and upward to go out with a raising action. See photo 22:
功用： Application: 與第十九式同。 Same as in Posture 19.
第二十三式 掛刀蓋刀式 Posture 23: HANGING & COVERING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提右前脚，刀往後收，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot lifts as the saber withdraws. See photo 23a:
再乘提步之便全身躍起，落下時乃成左跨虎步，刀轉成橫壓而下，左手按於刀背之上，如『定式圖』。 Then go along with the momentum of the leg lifting by hopping [forward] and coming down into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs across and presses down, your left hand pushing on the back of the saber. See photo 23b:
功用： Application: 彼械自我下刺來，我先以刀背掛去之，再乘躍進時更以刀橫壓之。 The opponent’s weapon stabs to my lower area, so I first use the back of my saber to hang it aside, then hop forward and press down with my saber placed sideways.
第二十四式 踏步攔腰式 Posture 24: STOMP, SLASH TO THE WAIST
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先放下前脚，手與刀同時向頭上舉起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first put your front foot down as your left hand and the saber lift above your head. See photo 24a:
再踏後脚，進前脚以成左登山式，刀自左方轉過背後，再向前橫殺去，如『定式圖』。 Then your rear foot stomps and your front foot advances to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber arcs from the left, passing behind your back, and smashes across in front of you. See photo 24b:
功用： Application: 與十一式，十七式等同。 Same as in Postures 11 and 17.
第二十五式 拉刀收步式 Posture 25: PULLING THE SABER, GATHERING STEP
說明： Explanation: 循上左，原步不變，左掌向前，右刀自前經過面前拉向背部，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, your left palm goes forward as your right hand pulls the saber across from in front of you to be behind you. See photo 25a:
再以右後脚跟前如跨虎步形狀，刀循背部沿左臂直落止於腕上，左掌化刁手往後抅去，如「定式圖」。 Then your right foot follows forward to almost make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber passes through behind you and lowers along your left arm until above the wrist, your left palm becoming a hooking hand and hooking away to the rear. See photo 25b:
功用： Application: 彼擬用長械迫我，我先用左手刁去來械，復以右刀自上而下，以資掩護，亦可作劈擊來械之用也。 An opponent using a long weapon tries to attack me, so I first use my left hand to hook it aside, then send my saber downward from above as a means of shielding myself, or I can also use this action to chop away his weapon.
第二十六式 竄跳囘身式 Posture 26: SCURRYING AWAY WITH THE BODY TURNED
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將右脚開往東方如登山步，刀與左刁手畧掠開，目注視西後方，如「過渡式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot steps out toward the east as though to make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber and your left hooking hand slightly sweeping aside. Your gaze is behind you toward the west. See photo 26a:
再原式不變疾跳過西後方，如「定式圖」。 Then while maintaining this position, suddenly hop back [twice] to the west [east]. See photos 26b and 26c:
功用： Application: 不論已否扣得來械，我皆向後撤退，以便靜觀其變，俟機出擊是也。 Regardless of whether or not I have succeeded in drawing aside the opponent’s weapon, I retreat to watch for what he will do next and wait for the opportunity to attack.
第二十七式 拉刀坐盤式 Posture 27: PULLING THE SABER, SITTING TWISTED STANCE
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步不變，刀自左方拉過右方，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, pull the saber across from left to right. See photo 27a:
再全身躍起以成坐盤步，刀自右肩轉過左肩，再沿左臂直落，左刁手托於刀背之中段，如『定式圖』。 Then your body hops into a sitting twisted stance [i.e. your left foot going forward, then your right foot doing a stealth step behind it] as the saber arcs past your right shoulder to your left shoulder and lowers along your left arm, your left hand becoming a hooking hand, the arm propping up the middle section of the back of the saber. See photo 27b:
功用： Application: 當我正自前方撤退之時，迎面忽來另一敵人，於是我乃以拉刀坐盤法以抑制之。 While retreating away from one opponent, I am suddenly faced with another, so I use this technique of pulling my saber while going into a sitting twisted stance in order to control him.
第二十八式 獻刀藏刀式 Posture 28: SHOWING AND THEN HIDING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，原步不變，祗高起偸步式，手與刀俱掠起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, rise up high in your stealth-step position as your left hand and the saber spread apart and rise up. See photo 28a:
再右後脚抽出，繞過面前，刀則攔於左上方，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then your right foot draws out from behind and arcs around in front of you as the saber blocks to the upper left. See photo 28b:
再乘提右脚之勢跳往左方，再成為狀類左登山式之右吞塌式，刀自背繞過面前，復收於左腰腋之間，目向後注視，如『定式圖』。 Then take advantage of the momentum of your right foot lifting by hopping to the left to make a right absorb & sink stance, similar to a left mountain-climbing stance [except that you are looking to the rear], as the saber arcs around past your back and in front of you to withdraw to the area between your left armpit and your waist. Your gaze is behind you. See photo 28c:
功用： Application: 彼械擬自我斜方攻來，我即轉身易步用提與攔劈之方式抵禦之。 An opponent’s weapon tries to attack me from an angle, so I turn to face him while shifting my stance, using a technique of lifting and slashing to defend against it.
第二十九式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 29: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀與手不變，先進左脚，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with the saber and your left hand not changing their position, first your left foot advances. See photo 29a:
再轉右東而反向西方提起右脚，左刁手仍抅後，刀則沿右膝部殺落，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then turn around to the right to go from facing toward the east to be facing toward the west as your right foot lifts, your left hand still hooking behind, and the saber smashes down beside your right knee. See photo 29b:
左手與步不讓，刀循前下方繞過背部，右手直舉，如「過渡式丙圖」。 With your left hand and legs not changing their position, the saber follows through forward and downward and arcs behind your back, your right arm rising until vertical. See photo 29c:
乘提右脚之便蹤身一跳，以成左跨虎之勢，刀則轉過左左肩斜向前落，落時左手須由胸前化掌穿出為合如「定式圖」 Going along with the lifting of your right leg, your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs past your left shoulder and lowers diagonally in front of you, your left hand becoming a palm and shooting out forward from in front of your chest at the same moment that the saber lowers. See photo 29d:
功用： Application: 此式合卸步，提腿，蹤跳，攔刀，撇刀，拉刀等為一式，若善於運用則合攻守於一矣。 This posture combines a withdrawing step, lifting leg, hop, and the saber actions of blocking, swinging, and pulling into a single technique. If you are good at applying it, then defense and offense will be combined into a single action.
第三十式 劈刀軋刀式 Posture 30: CHOPPING & ROLLING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先出右脚以成右登山步，刀自後劈出，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot goes out to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops out from the rear. See photo 30a:
再轉步為騎馬式，刀自面前斜方向直綫劈出，如『定式圖』。 Then switch to a horse-riding stance as the saber moves diagonally from in front of you to chop out straight ahead. See photo 30b:
功用： Application: 介乎第九第十式之間，抑亦為聯合之法也。 Same as in Postures 9 and 10, combined into a single technique.
第三十一式 掛刀掛劍式 Posture 31: HANGING THE SABER TO HANG ASIDE A SWORD
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提右脚，刀往左後方平收，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot lifts as the saber withdraws across to the left rear. See photo 31a:
步仍不變，刀由後轉前，反刀鋒為向上，如「過渡式乙圖」。 With your stance not changing, the saber arcs forward from the rear, turning over so the edge is facing upward. See photo 31b:
然後向前跳去，以成坐盤之勢，刀由上橫殺而落，左掌按於刀背之上，如『定式』。 Then you hop out forward to make a sitting twisted stance as the saber smashes down from above with the blade going across, your left hand pushing on the back of the saber. See photo 31c:
功用： Application: 我提步收刀者，是將來刀掛開，再反出者亦為掛刀之一法，再進馬坐盤橫壓刀者，則是蓋去來劍之法。 When I lift a leg and withdraw my saber, this is a means of hanging aside an incoming weapon. When I then turn the saber over, this is also a method of hanging. When I then advance into sitting twisted while pressing my saber across, this is a method of covering an incoming sword.
第三十二式 囘身劈刀式 Posture 32: TURNING THE BODY, CHOP
說明： Explanation: 循上式，退右脚以成騎馬式，刀隨而平殺過後方，如「定式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot retreats to make a horse-riding stance as the saber smashes across to the rear. See photo 32:
功用： Application: 與廿一式圖同。 Same as in Posture 21.
第三十三式 上步軋刀式 Posture 33: STEP FORWARD, ROLLING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，進右脚以成右登山式，刀自後下方直向前上撩出，如「定式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot advances to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber goes from the rear, downward, forward, and upward to go out with a raising action. See photo 33:
功用： Application: 與二十二式同。 Same as in Posture 22.
第三十四式 踏步劈刀式 Posture 34: STOMPING STEP, CHOPPING
說明： Explanation: 循上式原步不動，刀向後斜收，左手向前刁去，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, the saber withdraws diagonally to the rear while your left hand goes forward, hooking away. See photo 34a:
再踏右脚，進左脚以成左登山式，左刁手拉歸後，而刀則向前直劈去，如「定式圖」。 Then your right foot stomps and your left foot advances to make a left mountain-climbing stance as your left hooking hand pulls back behind you and the saber chops out forward with the blade standing straight up. See photo 34b:
功用： Application: 彼欲以械擊我頭部，我先以左手刁去之，再乘踏步進馬，以直劈刀兜頭劈之。 The opponent tries to use his weapon to strike to my head, so I first use my left hand to hook it away, then stomp and advance while using my saber to chop to his face.
第三十伍式 扑刀推刀式 Posture 35: REACHING-LEG STANCE, PUSHING THE SABER
說明： Explanation: 循上式，左右脚不變原來位置，祗由登山式往後扑成扑腿法耳！刀亦隨步而下，左掌刀托於右腕之內，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your feet stay in their location and you simply shift back to the rear, going from a mountain-climbing stance to a reaching-leg stance, the saber going along with this stance change by coming down, your left hand propping up at the inside of your right wrist. See photo 35a:
再提起右脚，左掌移開以托刀背，刀斜舉向外，如『定式圖』。 Then your right foot lifts and your left hand shifts away to prop up the back of the saber as the saber goes outward, raising diagonally. See photo 35b:
功用： Application: 彼械迎頭劈落，我先扑腿以卸其勢，復跟刀推出逼之。 The opponent’s weapon chops down toward my head, so I first go into a reaching-leg stance in order to withdraw away from it, then I follow this by pushing out with the saber to crowd him.
第三十六式 提步劈刀式 Posture 36: CHOPPING WITH A LEG LIFTED
〔說明：〕 [Explanation:] 循上式，以小跳換步法，使右脚着地而起左脚，刀自前往後直劈，左掌橫遮於頭上，如『定式圖』。 Continuing from the previous posture, do a small hop to switch feet, bringing your right foot down and lifting your left foot, as the saber chops from the front to the rear, your left palm blocking across above your head. See photo 36:
功用： Application: 我逼彼走過後方或另一人自後攻來，我不俟其逼近即先以刀兜頭劈之。 I crowd the opponent as he passes around behind me, or another opponent attacks from behind, so without waiting for him to get close, I pre-empt him by chopping to his head.
第三十七式 迎門刺劍式 Posture 37: STABBING STRAIGHT AHEAD LIKE A SWORD
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先左脚落地，刀斜掛於前，如「過渡式甲圖」 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left foot comes down and the saber hangs diagonally in front of you. See photo 37a:
再原刀不動，右脚進前，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then with the saber maintaining its position, your right foot advances. See photo 37b:
左脚自後進前以成坐盤步，刀則緊收於胸腹之間，如「過渡式丙圖」。 Your left foot advances behind you [i.e. does a stealth step] to make a sitting twisted stance as the saber withdraws until between your chest and belly. See photo 37c:
再原步不變，刀自胸前直流而出，掌則橫掠於上，如『定式圖』。 With your stance not changing, the saber flows straight out from in front of your chest, as your left palm spreads away upward to the side. See photo 37d [same position as in photo 4b of Sundial Sword, except with the edge turned upward]:
功用： Application: 分圖多，是因易於學習耳！其用時合數動作於一。實集，挑，迎，封，閉，刺於其中矣。 This technique is divided into so many photos just to make it easier for you to follow. It contains several aspects in application – such as gathering, carrying, blocking, sealing, and stabbing – but is really just a single technique.
第三十八式 跟馬三刀式 Posture 38: FOLLOWING STEPS WITH THREE SABER ACTIONS [the third occurring in the following posture]
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提起左脚，繼而伸直右手以舉直刀，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first lift your left foot as your right hand raises the saber. See photo 38a:
再原步不變，刀由右繞過背部，再經胸前而復返於下，左掌則抺刀背而出，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then with your stance not changing, the saber arcs from the right, going around your back, passes in front of your chest, and then goes back downward as your left palm goes out wiping along the back of the saber. See photo 38b:
再落左脚換提右脚，復將刀拉起，如「過渡式丙圖」 Then your left foot comes down and you switch to lifting your right foot as you again pull the saber up. See photo 38c:
再原步不動，刀再循背部拉前，後歸於後下方，左掌穿出至直，如『定式圖』。 Then with your stance not changing, the saber again goes around your back, is pulled in front of you, and returns downward to the rear as your left palm shoots out. See photo 38d:
功用： Application: 提步攔刀實對中下路之攻勢為有效之遏止方法，左右相轉者乃使知左右合一之方式而已。 Lifting a leg and slashing with the saber is a very effective method of dealing with an attack to the middle or lower area. Switching my legs allows me to feel more confident that I am protecting myself on both sides.
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先原步不動，再次將刀舉起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, again lift up the saber. See photo 39a:
然後以小跳方式向前落下以成扑腿勢，刀亦隨步繞過背部再轉於前落下，左掌直出，如『定式圖』。 Then do a little hop forward and dropping down to make a reaching-leg stance as the saber arcs past your back, forward, and downward, your left palm going straight out. See photo 39b:
功用： Application: 彼以下三路搶進，我即落馬用刀封閉之。 The opponent uses his spear to attack my lower area for the third time, so I drop my stance and use my saber to seal off his weapon.
第四十式 囘身削櫈式 Posture 40: TURN AROUND, SLICE THROUGH A STOOL
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將左脚拉起以成類於登山勢，刀乃隨之起至頭上，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left foot pulls back and you rise to almost make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber going along with this action by rising above your head. See photo 40a:
再起右後脚，使全身向左轉過後方，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then your right foot lifts and you pivot your whole body to the left until facing to the rear. See photo 40b:
落右脚以成騎馬式，刀繞過背後復轉平殺而出，左掌倚右肩之上，如『定式圖』。 Your right foot comes down to make a horse-riding stance as the saber arcs around behind you and smashes across [to the left], your left palm going over your right shoulder. See photo 40c:
功用： Application: 此削櫈法乃專砍殺步馬為主旨對方欲自我後擊入，我乃採此以砍其足也。 The main purpose of this action of “slicing through a stool” is to destroy an opponent’s stance. An opponent is about to attack me from behind, so I make use of this technique to slash at his leg.
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先原步不動，再次將刀舉起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, again lift up the saber. See photo 41a:
然後以小跳方式向前落下以成扑腿勢，刀亦隨步繞過背都再轉於前落下，左掌直出，如『定式圖』。 Then do a little hop forward and dropping down to make a reaching-leg stance as the saber arcs past your back, forward, and downward, your left palm going straight out. See photo 41b:
功用： Application: 彼以下三路搶進，我即落馬用刀封閉之。 The opponent again uses his spear to attack my lower area, so I again drop my stance and use my saber to seal off his weapon.
第四十二式 上步攔腰式 Posture 42: STEP FORWARD, SLASH TO THE WAIST
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先起左脚以成如登山之勢，將刀橫架而起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left leg rises to almost make a mountain-climbing stance as you send the saber upward and blocking across. See photo 42a:
再進右脚轉身乃成成左登山式，刀自背後橫過而前，如『定式圖」。 Then your right foot advances and your body turns around to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber passes behind your back and goes across in front of you. See photo 42b:
功用： Application: 與十七、二十四等同。 Same as in Postures 17 and 24.
第四十三式 拉刀收步式 Posture 43: PULLING THE SABER, GATHERING STEP
說明： Explanation: 循上左，原步不變，左掌向前，右刀目前經過面前拉向背部，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, your left palm goes forward as your right hand pulls the saber across from in front of you to be behind you. See photo 43a:
再以右後脚跟前如跨虎步形狀，刀循背部沿左臂直落止於腕上，左掌化刁手往後抅去，如「定式圖」。 Then your right foot follows forward to almost make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber passes through behind you and lowers along your left arm until above the wrist, your left palm becoming a hooking hand and hooking away to the rear. See photo 43b:
功用： Application: 彼擬用長械迫我，我先用左手刁去來械，復以右刀自上而下，以資掩護，亦可作劈擊來械之用也。 An opponent using a long weapon tries to attack me, so I first use my left hand to hook it aside, then send my saber downward from above as a means of shielding myself, or I can also use this action to chop away his weapon.
第四十四式 竄跳囘身式 Posture 44: SCURRYING AWAY WITH THE BODY TURNED
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將右脚開往東方如登山步，刀與左刁手畧掠開，目注視西後方，如「過渡式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot steps out toward the east as though to make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber and your left hooking hand slightly sweeping aside. Your gaze is behind you toward the west. See photo 44a:
再原式不變疾跳過西後方，如「定式圖」。 Then while maintaining this position, suddenly hop back [twice] to the west [east]. See photos 44b and 44c:
功用： Application: 不論已否扣得來械，我皆向後撤退，以便靜觀其變，俟機出擊是也。 Regardless of whether or not I have succeeded in drawing aside the opponent’s weapon, I retreat to watch for what he will do next and wait for the opportunity to attack.
第四十五式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 45: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀與手不變，先進左脚，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with the saber and your left hand not changing their position, first your left foot advances. See photo 45a:
再轉右東而反向西方提起右脚，左刁手仍抅後，刀則沿右膝部殺落，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then turn around to the right to go from facing toward the east to be facing toward the west as your right foot lifts, your left hand still hooking behind, and the saber smashes down beside your right knee. See photo 45b:
左手與步不讓，刀循前下方繞過背部，右手直舉，如「過渡式丙圖」。 With your left hand and legs not changing their position, the saber follows through forward and downward and arcs behind your back, your right arm rising until vertical. See photo 45c:
乘提右脚之便蹤身一跳，以成左跨虎之勢，刀則轉過左左肩斜向前落，落時左手須由胸前化掌穿出為合如「定式圖」 Going along with the lifting of your right leg, your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs past your left shoulder and lowers diagonally in front of you, your left hand becoming a palm and shooting out forward from in front of your chest at the same moment that the saber lowers. See photo 45d:
功用： Application: 此式合卸步，提腿，蹤跳，攔刀，撇刀，拉刀等為一式，若善於運用則合攻守於一矣。 This posture combines a withdrawing step, lifting leg, hop, and the saber actions of blocking, swinging, and pulling into a single technique. If you are good at applying it, then defense and offense will be combined into a single action.
第四十六式 拉刀坐盤式 Posture 46: PULLING THE SABER, SITTING TWISTED STANCE
說明： Explanation: 循上左，出右脚以成右登山式，刀自後向前劈，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot steps out to make a right mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops forward from behind. See photo 46a:
再原步不變將刀拉過右後方，左掌仍貼右腕如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then with your stance not changing, pull the saber through to the right rear, your left palm staying at your right wrist. See photo 46b:
再蹤身一跳，以成坐盤之勢，刀自右肩過左肩，沿左臂直落，左手化成刁手，以襯托刀背，如「定式圖」。 Then your body hops into a sitting twisted stance [i.e. your left foot going forward, then your right foot doing a stealth step behind it] as the saber goes past your right shoulder to your left shoulder and lowers along your left arm, your left hand becoming a hooking hand, the arm propping up the back of the saber. See photo 46c:
功用： Application: 我旣已劈消來械，再進而坐盤以刀攔砍之。 Having chopped away an incoming weapon, I then advance into a sitting twisted stance while slashing with my saber.
第四十七式 中門攔刀式 Posture 47: SLASHING AROUND THE MIDDLE
說明： Explanation: 循上式，由右轉以成為登山之狀，刀則隨身而轉，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, pivot around to the right to almost make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber arcing along with the turning of your body. See photo 47a:
再將左脚自右脚之前偸過右前方，刀則撇上，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then your left foot does a stealth step forward to the right, passing in front of your right foot, as the saber swings upward. See photo 47b:
再將右脚移往右方，刀則由背部繞過左肩之上，如「過渡式丙圖」。 Then your right foot shifts to the right as the saber arcs around your back to be over your left shoulder. See photo 47c:
再拉起右脚以成左跨虎步，刀再往右上方掠起，如「定式圖」。 Then pull back your right [left] foot to make a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber sweeps upward to the right. See photo 47d:
功用： Application: 此是專破上門攻來之械，繞行數步者是趨避之法也。 This technique focuses on ruining the attack of incoming weapon to my upper area. The arcing steps are a method of evading.
第四十八式 左門攔刀式 Posture 48: SLASHING TO THE LEFT
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將左脚往左方移開以成如登山之勢，刀自上劈落以交於前，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left foot shifts out to the left to almost make a mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops downward from above to go across in front of you. See photo 48a:
再進右脚，刀向上畧舉高，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then your right foot advances as the saber slightly rises up. See photo 48b:
再進左脚，刀循左肩經背部繞過右肩之上，如「過渡式丙圖」。 Then your left foot advances as the saber arcs from your left shoulder around your back and over your right shoulder. See photo 48c:
再進右脚以成右跨虎步，刀自右肩劈過左腰之下，如「定式圖」。 Then your right foot advances to make a right sitting-tiger stance as the saber chops downward from your right shoulder past the left side of your waist. See photo 48d:
功用： Application: 與四十七式同祗方向之異耳。 Same as in Posture 47, except going in the opposite direction.
第四十九式 右門攔刀式 Posture 49: SLASHING TO THE RIGHT
說明： Explanation: 循上式，右脚先向右移動，刀由下而掠高於右，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot shifts to the right as the saber sweeps upward to the right from below. See photo 49a:
再過左脚於前方，刀自右繞過背部而復轉於前，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then your left foot goes forward as the saber again arcs from the right to go around your back and in front of you. See photo 49b:
再進右脚，刀由上而落，如「過渡式丙圖」。 Then your right foot advances as the saber lowers from above. See photo 49c:
左脚再斜步進前以成跨虎之勢，刀由下復上以成刀與步之斜式，如「定式圖」。 Then your left foot advances diagonally to make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber again goes upward from below so that both the saber and the stance are in diagonal positions. See photo 49d:
功用： Application: 與四十七、四十八同，祗斜正及方向之別耳。 Same as in Postures 47 and 48, except going diagonally in a different direction.
第五十式 上步攔腰式 Posture 50: STEP FORWARD, SLASH TO THE WAIST
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先起左脚以成如登山之勢，將刀橫架而起，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your left leg rises to almost make a mountain-climbing stance as you send the saber upward and blocking across. See photo 50a:
再進右脚轉身乃成成左登山式，刀自背後橫過而前，如『定式圖」。 Then your right foot advances and your body turns around to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber passes behind your back and goes across in front of you. See photo 50b:
功用： Application: 與十七、二十四等同。 Same as in Postures 17 and 24.
第五十一式 拉刀收步式 Posture 51: PULLING THE SABER, GATHERING STEP
說明： Explanation: 循上左，原步不變，左掌向前，右刀目前經過面前拉向背部，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with your stance not changing, your left palm goes forward as your right hand pulls the saber across from in front of you to be behind you. See photo 51a:
再以右後脚跟前如跨虎步形狀，刀循背部沿左臂直落止於腕上，左掌化刁手往後抅去，如「定式圖」。 Then your right foot follows forward to almost make a sitting-tiger stance as the saber passes through behind you and lowers along your left arm until above the wrist, your left palm becoming a hooking hand and hooking away to the rear. See photo 51b:
功用： Application: 彼擬用長械迫我，我先用左手刁去來械，復以右刀自上而下，以資掩護，亦可作劈擊來械之用也。 An opponent using a long weapon tries to attack me, so I first use my left hand to hook it aside, then send my saber downward from above as a means of shielding myself, or I can also use this action to chop away his weapon.
第五十二式 竄跳囘身式 Posture 52: SCURRYING AWAY WITH THE BODY TURNED
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先將右脚開往東方如登山步，刀與左刁手畧掠開，目注視西後方，如「過渡式圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot steps out toward the east as though to make a mountain-climbing stance, the saber and your left hooking hand slightly sweeping aside. Your gaze is behind you toward the west. See photo 52a:
再原式不變疾跳過西後方，如「定式圖」。 Then while maintaining this position, suddenly hop back [twice] to the west [east]. See photos 52b and 52c:
功用： Application: 不論已否扣得來械，我皆向後撤退，以便靜觀其變，俟機出擊是也。 Regardless of whether or not I have succeeded in drawing aside the opponent’s weapon, I retreat to watch for what he will do next and wait for the opportunity to attack.
第五十三式 拉刀藏刀式 Posture 53: PULLING THE SABER INTO A STORING POSITION
說明： Explanation: 循上式，刀與手不變，先進左脚，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, with the saber and your left hand not changing their position, first your left foot advances. See photo 53a:
再轉右東而反向西方提起右脚，左刁手仍抅後，刀則沿右膝部殺落，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then turn around to the right to go from facing toward the east to be facing toward the west as your right foot lifts, your left hand still hooking behind, and the saber smashes down beside your right knee. See photo 53b:
左手與步不讓，刀循前下方繞過背部，右手直舉，如「過渡式丙圖」。 With your left hand and legs not changing their position, the saber follows through forward and downward and arcs behind your back, your right arm rising until vertical. See photo 53c:
乘提右脚之便蹤身一跳，以成左跨虎之勢，刀則轉過左左肩斜向前落，落時左手須由胸前化掌穿出為合如「定式圖」 Going along with the lifting of your right leg, your body hops into a left sitting-tiger stance as the saber arcs past your left shoulder and lowers diagonally in front of you, your left hand becoming a palm and shooting out forward from in front of your chest at the same moment that the saber lowers. See photo 53d:
功用： Application: 此式合卸步，提腿，蹤跳，攔刀，撇刀，拉刀等為一式，若善於運用則合攻守於一矣。 This posture combines a withdrawing step, lifting leg, hop, and the saber actions of blocking, swinging, and pulling into a single technique. If you are good at applying it, then defense and offense will be combined into a single action.
第五十四式 踏步劈刀式 Posture 54: STOMPING STEP, CHOPPING
說明： Explanation: 循上式，右後脚用力踏地求與前左脚相貼，再以左掌加於右腕內齊向上舉起，如「過式渡甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, your right foot forcefully stomps the ground right in front of your left foot as your right hand raises up, your left palm going to the inside of your right wrist. See photo 54a:
再開進左脚以成左登山式，刀自背後直砍而出，左掌則橫架於頂如「定式圖」。 Then your left foot advances to make a left mountain-climbing stance as the saber chops out from behind you, your left palm blocking across above your head. See photo 54b:
功用： Application: 來械直向我面部刺來，我先以刀橫去之，再乘勢以直劈法還擊彼面部焉。 An incoming weapon is stabbing to my head, so I first use my saber to send it aside, then follow through with the motion by doing a chop straight ahead to counterattack to the opponent’s face.
第五十五式 拉刀四平式 Posture 55: PULLING THE SABER, FOUR-LEVEL POSTURE
說明： Explanation: 循上式，先提右脚，刀沿脚傍撇下，左掌仍不動，如「過渡式甲圖」。 Continuing from the previous posture, first your right foot lifts as the saber swings downward beside the foot, your left palm not moving. See photo 55a:
再原步不動，刀從下轉上以加於左臂之上，如「過渡式乙圖」。 Then with your stance not changing, the saber arcs upward from below to go on top of your left arm. See photo 55b:
再原步不動，左手捧囘原刀，左掌向大腿處拍落，如「過渡式丙圖」。 Then with your stance still not changing, your left hand holds the saber as it did at the beginning and your left [right] palm comes down, slapping your [right] thigh. See photo 55c:
再退提起之脚以成左跨虎步，右掌轉而向上橫架於頭頂，左手刀向後斜拖，如「定式圖」。 Then your lifted leg retreats to make a left sitting-tiger stance as your right palm arcs upward to block across above your headtop, your left hand pulling back the saber until it is diagonal behind you. See photo 55d:
斯為收式之刀法，全刀五十五式至此已還復本來面目。 This is the closing posture of the saber set, bringing you back to your original position and facing the same direction as before.
– – –
[Included below is a related piece from Huang’s Notes on the Mantis Boxing Art (1951).]
單刀搜秘 SECRETS OF THE SINGLE SABER
昔者武壇多譽先師全才，蓋先師當日除擅拳法、鐵砂掌外，各種武器靡不精研，尤以單刀一類有所獨到，唯不趨尚時髦、討好觀衆，雜以滾地等動作，謹守武術界之尊嚴，余習藝時曾蒙以十法見示，十法者劈、軋、抅、掛、削、拍、挑、撩、搜、撈是也。考刀術為各種武器中之最繁雜之一，唐以前用刀者俱為長桿子之大砍刀（即俗稱之大關刀），此名之由來，實因武聖用刀且姓關之故，至宋室中葉，水滸英雄武松與浪子燕靑俱以步戰馳譽，前者固以行者棒號稱天下莫敵，後者却以單刀得名，故至今有燕靑單刀之技傳於世。 大砍刀、單刀、斬馬刀之外尚有雙刀，世人不察每以雙刀比單為難，其實雙刀之為用，祗兩手平均、步法靈活便可運用自如，其法甚簡單而已。 單刀看手一語，為單刀之心法，亦為單刀中之至難安置之處，試觀夫稍懂一、二者常自詡為精於單刀法，然其演習時又常常刀與手脫節，全不注重刀與手之配合，其能謂之於精乎，即為舞台上當生旦對答之時正在悠揚悅耳之表情與動作同時演出，使觀衆全神灌注，當斯時也甚少人注視其背後所飾演之童僕之形狀，若空無所握之左手即等於童僕耳，若不有所動作便形同虛設，更且陷於本身痲痺之狀，若說實用更無所扶襯相托矣。 練刀之法除刀與手互相動作毋使一方有所停滯之外，尚須刀與身貼，步隨勢移方為刀之正法，刀如猛虎一語實形容其勢雄猛之處，又曰拼命用單刀之說，凡以單刀臨陣應敵者苟存恐懼之心，無不為敵所敗，蓋單刀為短兵刃，若與長兵械相接，其勢固拙，瑟縮不前者必為長械所乘無疑，但立拼命之心長者為我所接，則我一躍而前，長短之勢有所平合，勝敗之機互握半數，若更因勢利導，緊握時機，敵為我乘，則其敗立判矣，今之練刀者苟能髓味斯旨，距成功之域近矣。 Master Luo’s versatility was often praised in martial arts circles. Beyond his mastery of boxing methods and iron palm skills, he had intensively studied various kinds of weapons, becoming uniquely adept at the single saber in particular. But as he did not care about what was popular or what would impress an audience, he did not mix in tricks like rolling around on the ground, concerned only with preserving the dignity of the martial arts world. When I learned this art, it was presented to me as being comprised of ten techniques: chopping, rolling, hooking, hanging, slicing, patting, carrying, raising, searching, and scooping. Examining the saber arts shows it to be one of the most varied of the many weapons. Prior to the Tang Dynasty, the “sabers” used were all long-pole large cleaving sabers, what is commonly called the large “Guan Saber”, so named because it was used by the martial sage Guan Yu. During the middle period of the Song Dynasty, “The Pilgrim” Wu Song and “The Wanderer” Yan Qing, heroic characters from The Water Margin, both became famous for their martial deeds. The former used a staff, with which he was considered to be invincible, while the latter became known for his use of the single saber, after which is named the “Yan Qing’s Single Saber” set that has been passed down to us to this day. Beyond the large cleaving saber, single saber, and horse-slashing saber, there is also the double sabers. Most people do not scrutinize and simply assume that the double sabers are more difficult than the single saber. Using the double sabers is actually only a matter of both hands working evenly and the feet stepping nimbly, and then you will be able to wield them smoothly. Its techniques are really very simple. There is a saying: “With the single saber, be mindful of your other hand.” This is a core principle of the single saber, as well as the most difficult aspect of it. Observe someone who understands the art very little and yet often brags that he is an expert at the single saber. When he performs, his saber and left hand constantly lose coordination between each other, and he never pays attention to having cooperation between them. How could he be considered an expert? When a dancer on a stage begins to sing, and her sweet singing is performed in tandem with her movements, the audience becomes rapt with attention. In that moment, very few people would notice the stagehands in the background. If the saber practitioner’s left hand is so uninvolved that it becomes like one of those invisible stagehands, or if it is moving with so little purpose that it almost turns into some paralyzed appendage, then it will seem to be of no real use at all. When practicing the saber methods, beyond the saber and hand coordinating with each other rather than either of them becoming sluggish, the saber has to move close to the body, and the step has to shift along with the movement in order for the saber’s techniques to be precise. This saying expresses well the required quality of fearsomeness: “The saber is like a fierce tiger.” There is also this saying: “Defy death as you wield the single saber.” Whenever you use the single saber to battle against opponents, if there is fear in your heart, you will always be defeated. Because the single saber is a short weapon, if my saber connects with a long weapon, I would of course be in an awkward position. If I am then too timid to go forward, his long weapon is certain to have the advantage, but if instead I have a mentality of defying death, his long weapon will then be under my control. Therefore I charge in, leveling the odds between long and short, grasping the decisive moment between victory and defeat. Treating half a chance as more than half, I act in accordance with the situation, seize the opportunity, and take advantage of the opponent’s position, and thus his defeat becomes a more likely outcome than mine. If you modern saber practitioners can deeply think upon this point, you will be much closer to success.
The images in this post are taken from Daniel Mak and Alex Jung’s excellent documentary “The Origins of Macau Wing Chun.” Its well worth watching and you can read more about it here.
Guoshu in the Pearl River Delta
In a recent post I attempted to move away from the triumphalist rhetoric that accompanies many popular discussions of the Guoshu movement and ask how its institutional limitations (rather than its strengths) shaped the spread of Northern martial arts styles in the Pearl River Delta region during the 1920s and 1930s. That essay addressed events in one small region as in my research I have found that to really understand any social movement it is often necessary to move away from national level narratives. While helpful in understanding a movement’s goals, such discussion can obscure the reality of how reforms were actually implemented (and co-opted) at the local level. That can, in turn, lead to the uncritical acceptance of politically inflected historical narratives and a bad case of selective memory.
For instance, while investigating attempts to establish “official” Guoshu chapters in the Guangzhou area, we discovered that the success of these efforts were very much dependent on the support of the governor’s office. Yet in an era characterized by unstable and quickly shifting politics, such political alliances often proved to be a liability. Ambitious efforts to rebuild Guangdong’s martial arts culture through legislative fiat were doomed by the KMT’s constant internal upheavals. Northern masters found considerably more success in spreading their styles once they were freed (partially) from political patronage structures and able to establish commercial schools that could compete in the economic marketplace.
This essay expands on that discussion by asking two additional questions. First, Andrew Morris has noted that all sorts of modernizing groups (New Wushu, Jingwu, Guoshu), while typically successful in China’s major cities, tended to have trouble penetrating the countryside. That was a significant problem as the vast majority of China’s martial artists lived far from the large cities. Given the geographic limitations of the Republic era’s hand combat reform movements, what do we see in the Guangdong case? Was the Guoshu movement able to establish branches outside of the sophisticated and well-connected provincial capital of Guangzhou? If so, how did these organizations function?
Our second question is closely related to the first. Given that Guangdong had a vibrant martial arts subculture prior to the importation of the Guoshu movement in the late 1920s, in what ways did local martial arts groups attempt to resist or co-opt this new expression of Chinese identity through martial practice? Elite reformers saw the Guoshu movement not just as a way to promote mundane public health goals. They sought to use a single, centrally controlled, program of physical training and competition to increase nationalism, militarism and loyalty to the party. Yet the Chinese martial arts had traditionally been a vehicle for the expression of much more local and regional identities. How were local groups able to capitalize on the weakness of the Chinese state to use such centrally sponsored reform efforts for their own ends?
The following essay begins by shifting our focus away from Guangzhou to Foshan, a nearby market town and manufacturing center. It examines the rise of the Zhong Yi Martial Arts Athletic Association. Perhaps the second most important regional martial arts organization between the 1920s and the 1940s, a close examination of developments in Foshan suggests that while the Guoshu movement looked quite strong on paper, in actual fact its unifying and centralizing agenda faced stiff opposition. Ironically, the Guoshu label was even used to empower the sorts of local, traditional, secretive and sectarian identities which its national level rhetoric vocally opposed and claimed to have supplanted.
Foshan
Given Guangzhou’s status as the political capital and cultural center of Guangdong Province, it is only natural that the Central Guoshu Institute would concentrate their reform efforts there. But how far out into the countryside did these measures penetrate? The case of Foshan, an economically vibrant market town only a short distance from the capital, suggests the level of complexity that may have been encountered. Still, given Foshan’s wealth, rapid economic modernization and long history as a center for hand combat development, one would think that if the Guoshu movement could succeed anywhere, it would surely find a foothold here.
The development of Foshan’s “Guoshu” related efforts (and we must use that term carefully) began shortly after the failure of the Liangguang Guoshu Institute in Guangzhou (discussed here) in the 1929-1930 period. Yet rather than importing a group of distinguished Northern instructors, as the Governor did in Guangzhou, Foshan moved in a radically different direction. Instead of creating a new organization, the locally prominent network of “Yi” schools, whose teaching curriculum focused almost entirely on Hung Gar and Wing Chun, were reorganized into something more official with closer ties to the local KMT party structure.
While much has been written about the history of both Wing Chun and Hung Gar, the social significance of the Yi network has been largely neglected in favor of more traditional lineage and instructor specific biographies. That sort of rhetoric is historically problematic as it both lends itself to hagiography and obscures the ways in which martial arts groups interacted with the larger community. In fact, even before their formalization at the end of the 1920s, the Yi network of martial arts schools were an important force in the local community and the increasingly violent debates that accompanied the emergence of an independent labor movement.
Still, it was not the largest alliance of schools and instructors in Foshan at the time. That honor was held by the various Choy Li Fut schools organized through the Hung Sing Association. We previously discussed the creation and significance of this group at length in our volume on the history of the Southern Chinese martial arts. For the purposes of the current argument it is enough to note that by the 1920s the Hung Sing Association was recruiting much of its membership from the ranks of Foshan’s handicraft sector and the newly emerging industrial working class. In addition to hand combat training Hung Sing also provided a means for workers to network, organize and look for employment. All of this quickly drew the association into relationships with more radical elements of the local labor movement including trade unions and organizers from the Community Party.
In contrast, the Hung Gar and Wing Chun schools organized by the Yi network often (though not always) recruited their membership from the ranks of skilled local workers or small business owners. Such individuals were better positioned to benefit from the global shifts in trade, investment and economic structure that typically threatened the livelihoods of less skilled workers. It should not be surprising to discover that many of the Yi schools were financially backed by the region’s more conservative “yellow trade unions” who opposed the types of the demands that the more radical (“red”) labor movement was making. Indeed, the Yi Schools and the Hung Sing Association clashed (sometimes violently) throughout the 1920s. Much of what has been preserved in lineage histories as “ancient rivalries” between competing martial arts styles should probably be reframed as local expressions of the sorts of class conflict that gripped the entire industrialized world during the 1930s. But how did the Yi Schools first emerge?
That question has proved difficult to answer as, after 1949, the Communist government classified the Zhong Yi Martial Arts Athletic Association as a violent right wing group with a “special historical background.” As such local society went to some lengths to suppress not just the membership of the group but its historical memory as well. Nevertheless, two local historians, Xiao Hai Ming and Zou Wen Ping, have been able to reconstruct some key facts about the organization.
During the final years of the Qing dynasty a resident of Zhangcha Village (now a part of Foshan’s urban sprawl) named Zhao Xi organized the “Xing Yi” martial arts school. Sadly, Xiao and Zou were not able to discover much about Zhao’s background. But it is clear that he was a Hung Gar instructor and his schools were the first in the Foshan area to bear the “Yi” suffix. We might also surmise that Zhao was a talented businessman and he found ways to franchise and leverage his personal reputation. Eventually six schools appeared (Yong Yi, Xiong Yi, Qun Yi, Ju Yi, and Ying Yi) all associated with the initial Xing Yi location. This set of schools is said to have constituted the core of the larger “Yi” martial arts system. Xiao and Zou noted that both Hung Gar and Wing Chun were taught within this network, though they were not able to reconstruct a full list of instructors.
As is typically the case, things are most opaque during the early years of the Yi network. We have more information on events which occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. But our best information stems from the 1940s, just prior to the victory of the CCP. As we review this period Wing Chun students may even begin to spot some familiar names. Jiu Chao (1902-1972) taught Wing Chun at the Zhong Yi Association branch located at Kuai Zi Lane after 1945. Like Ip Man, he came from a wealthy local family. He learned Wing Chun from Chan Yiu Min, the son of Chan Wah Shun (Ip Man’s first instructor). Jiu also opened another martial arts school in Zhongshan and is said to have had over 100 students between his two schools. Perhaps his best-known disciple was Pan Nam.
Jiu’s career might also offer us some insight into the relationship between Wing Chun and Hung Gar within the Yi network. While an acknowledged Wing Chun master, Jiu appears to have been most famous within the local community for his excellence with a wide variety of weapons that are more typically associated with Hung Gar. These included the multiple varieties of iron chains, single and double swords, sabers and the eyebrow staff. That certainly suggests a degree of cross-training.
Cheung Bo (1899-1956) may also have taught for the Zhong Yi Association. Rene Ritchie notes that Cheung Bo’s lineage is not totally clear and that he likely learned both Wing Chun and bone setting from Wai Yuk Sang, who was a doctor employed by the Nationalist Army. Cheung became a chef at the Foshan Tien Hoi Restaurant and was close friends with Yuen Kay San. In addition to his “restaurant class” he may also have taught at the “Hui Yi” martial arts school. Cheung was responsible for the early training of Sum Num who he later introduced to Yuen Kay San.
It was during the 1920s that the Yi schools more closely aligned themselves with local business interests, “yellow” trade unions and the rightwing of the provincial KMT leadership. They clashed repeatedly with the more radical Hung Sing Association over the various strikes and pickets promoted by the leftist organization. It appears that at times they may even have been used as strikebreakers.
As Guoshu activity began to accelerate in Guangzhou, only a short distance away, the Yi schools decided to formally unite and organize themselves as the Zhong Yi Martial Arts Athletic Association. The new group had about a dozen branches (all in Foshan) during the early 1930s. Its official membership has been estimated at about 1000 individuals, making it about one third the size of Hung Sing at its 1927 peak. It should be remembered that this later organization was closed by the KMT during the crackdown on Communists that followed the Northern Expedition and the Shanghai Massacre in the same year.
Of the many ways of expressing “martial arts,” the Zhong Yi Association adopted the term “Guoshu.” Still, it remains unclear what sort of relationship (if any) the group had with the Central Guoshu Institute. There is no evidence that they adopted the standardized Nanjing curriculum meant to unify the Chinese people behind a single set of (mostly Northern) practices. Nor did this group attempt to pursue the sorts of radical ideological reforms of the martial arts sectors that the short lived Liangguang Guoshu Institute had demanded. Indeed, the Zhong Yi Association was composed of exactly the sorts of regional, traditional, sectarian and secretive styles that national Guoshu reformers so desperately sought to eliminate. It is thus reasonable to ask whether, or how, this group functioned as an extension of the Guoshu movement.
Perhaps the clearest answer to this comes when we look at the organization’s leadership flowchart. The first thing that we see is that its president was none other than Zhang Qi Duan, the KMT Party Secretary for Nanhai County. Indeed, prominent local citizens and KMT functionaries filled all of these leadership roles. While there is no evidence that the Yi schools adopted any of the substance of the national Guoshu reform movement, it does appear that local elites consciously decided that they were more interested in having political control over the local martial arts community (particularly at a time when it was embroiled in frequent violent clashes with the labor movement) than the details of what styles were to be taught. It was easier and more efficient for local leadership to co-opt a preexisting group, rebranding it as part of the Guoshu movement, than to create yet another competing school staffed with imported martial artists.
If this interpretation of the historical facts is correct, the choice to simply work with the Zhong Yi Association represents a telling concession to the realities of the local martial arts marketplace. Given the intensely local nature of most schools, it seems that the top-down, state centric, model of martial arts reform promoted by the Central Guoshu Institute during the 1930s was doomed to fail. Even a few miles outside of a provincial capital it proved almost impossible for the state to assert its control over the vast networks of private schools and associations that had grown up since the end of the Boxer Uprising. Such an undertaking was only possible when the local political and military leadership was strongly committed to the project. But in Foshan it was precisely these officials who instead decided to rebrand a preexisting network that they already depended on and exercised some control over. Rather than the Guoshu banner being one that united a common (and progressive) national culture, in Foshan it was a tool for local martial artists to express an entirely different (and more conservative) vision of how modern China should function.
Conclusion
One lesson to be drawn from this is that historians must approach the written sources (policy statements, manuals, yearly reports, newspaper articles, etc…) generated by reformist groups with a fair degree of caution. This material is relatively easily accessible to us today as one aspect of the Republic era modernizing agenda was to establish a robust written record, thereby combating the popular perception that the martial arts were practiced only by rustic illiterates. Yet the substantive claims made by these organizations about the state of the Chinese martial arts were often deeply misleading.
In their public statement during the 1920s and 1930s they constantly claimed that the Chinese martial arts were dying, that they had become irrelevant, corrupted or ignored. They proposed various schemes for the resurrection of these arts through a process of purification, modernization and state sponsorship. The irony was that the local martial arts were not dying, certainly not in Guangdong, and probably not in most other areas of the country. New commercial schools and organizations were growing at a dizzying rate, so much so that outside regulatory efforts found it essentially impossible to control the local supply of martial arts instructors. While there were starts and stops, the interwar years saw a steady rise in interest in the martial arts.
Newspapers in Guangzhou, Foshan and Hong Kong all began to carry serialized novels glorifying local martial artists from the recent past. New radio programs, and later early films, hyped martial strength. Urban individuals became involved in these traditions in record numbers. The simple reality is that the Chinese martial arts were more popular, and practiced by a wider range of groups, in the 1920s and 1930s than ever before. The Guoshu movement was never going to “save” the Chinese martial arts as, in reality, these arts and the social structures that supported them, were doing quite well on their own. Rather, the various reform movements of the 1920s and 1930s are better understood as attempts to get out in front of trends that were already highly developed and threatening to pass by a relatively small group of elite activists and their backers in the government.
The situation in Foshan is instructive as it suggests two issues which probably slowed the substantive spread of the Guoshu movement. While there was an immense demand for martial arts training in this period, local martial artists expressed little enthusiasm for the centralized reforms, training regimes and tournament structures that a handfull of national level reformers sought to promote. Instead martial arts groups continued to focus on local issues, identities, power structures and conflicts.
Secondly, with the help of local government officials, the Guoshu name and framework could be appropriated to promote exactly the sorts of parochial, traditional and sectarian martial arts practices that the national reform movement was actively preaching against. Rather than weakening these groups, the expansion of the Guoshu program actually provided them with a platform from which to promote their own, radically different, vision of what “New China” should be. While Foshan’s Zhongyi Martial Arts Athletic Association has been all but forgotten by modern Hung Gar and Wing Chun practitioners, this short discussion suggests that it still has much to teach students of martial arts studies.
How did Taijiquan, now ubiquitous, establish itself in Southern China? What about the other northern Shaolin systems? I would think that the lion’s share of the credit must go to the Jingwu Association which introduced and popularized several systems throughout the 1920s. Still, the institutional structure of the modernist Jingwu Association tended to absorb sets from various arts rather than presenting them as distinct, self-contained, lineages. The other actor, frequently noted in this equation, is the Guoshu (National Arts) movement.
Guangdong province established its own branch of this national organization relatively early on. I recently heard the assertion that all of the “traditional” practices of southern China could be classified into three categories. First, one had the local Cantonese arts (Hung Gar, Choy Li Fut, etc..), next there were the Hakka styles (White Eyebrow, Dragon) and finally there are the northern arts (Taijiquan, Northern Shaolin). The argument went that it was ultimately the Central Guoshu Association, and their program to promote national unity through martial arts training, that should receive the credit for disseminating these styles to the south.
This particular assertion was made much too quickly, and the author was speedily on to other topics. Still, I think it would be worth our time to go back and parse these events more carefully. Guoshu, as both a term, idea and a historical movement, seems to be enjoying a mini-renaissance at the moment. Speculation as to why this is, and what it ultimately suggests about contemporary Chinese martial arts culture, will need to wait for a separate blog post. Yet, at least in the case of Southern China, it is interesting to note that many of the organization’s greatest contributions to martial culture are rooted in its institutional failures, rather than success. The following meditation on these questions is based largely on research conducted for my co-authored volume (with Jon Nielson) on the social history of the Southern Chinese martial arts. If you are interested in chasing down a more complete account of Guoshu in the Pearl River Delta (or my footnotes) take a look at chapter three.
In a certain sense the prior assertion by the unnamed author is absolutely correct. Even if the Jingwu Association whetted the public’s appetite, the Guoshu movement was directly responsible for the export of many important styles and lineages to the south. Still, if we succumb to a type of easy romanticism about this process, we risk misunderstanding both the nature of the Southern Chinese martial culture and the severity of the challenge that it posed to a program consciously designed to displace regional traditions with a more universal set of practices and identities. Yes, national reformers were able to use the martial arts to shape debates about what the “New China” should be. Yet local society could also turn to these practices in launching their own broadsides against outside forces.
A group photo of organizers and athletes at the 1928 National Guoshu Examination.
A Governor Goes North
The first common misconception that casual readers might have is that the Guoshu organization was truly national in scope. Andrew Morris has noted that the movement’s pretensions to universality and sectoral dominance never materialized in real life. Indeed, it would have been practically impossible for any organization to fully integrate itself into Chinese life, in both the city and the countryside, in only a few years during the turbulent 1930s. China was just too large and complex for this to happen. Further, many of the specific challenges that Guoshu faced stemmed from the group’s unapologetically partisan nature.
Unlike the Jingwu Association, the Central Guoshu Institute was not dedicated to vague notions of Chinese nationalism. Its goals were much more statist in orientation. While encouraging patriotism was important, the group received enthusiastic government backing as it also sought to indoctrinate its practitioners with loyalty to the KMT, and to Chiang Kai-shek in particular. This became an issue as, his victory in the Northern Campaign notwithstanding, not all of the KMT’s notoriously independent cliques and generals were equally enthusiastic about aligning themselves with Chiang and his program. As such, many regions of China actually resisted the spread of the Guoshu. Or, to be more precise, while they may have enthusiastically embraced the name Guoshu, and certain philosophical notions about national strengthening through the reform of the martial arts, they were not about to turn local “paramilitary” assets over to Chiang and his allies.
Morris asks us to consider the case of Shanxi Province in the 1930s. Long a stronghold of traditional boxing, readers may be surprised to learn that it had no official Guoshu chapter. This fact may not at first be evident. The province actually boasted over 500 registered martial arts societies in the 1930s, and many of them using the term Guoshu in their names (evidence of the fashionable nature of the word). Yet the entire area was administered by the independent warlord Yan Xishan who carefully avoided any contact with a program that was (quite correctly) perceived as a tool of Chaing Kai-shek’s close backers.
A very similar pattern could be seen in Fujian and Guangdong. Both provinces were formally administered by the KMT, yet in the post-1927 era their leadership was sometimes protective of their local autonomy. This institutional weakness within the KMT impeded the expansive vision of the Guoshu Institute.
That is not to say that the new movement didn’t have important allies. In October of 1928, General Li Jinshen (governor of Guangdong and an important military figure at the time) visited the first national martial arts examination hosted by the newly organized Central Guoshu Institute in Nanjing. He was so impressed with what he saw that he decided to commit substantial resources to promoting the Guoshu program in Guangxi and Guangdong. He invited Wan Lai Sheng (a Six Harmonies and Shaolin Master) and Li Xian Wu (Taijiquan and a native of Guangdong), to return with him to Guangzhou.
Li quickly drew up plans that were approved by the local government. Wan Lai Sheng was formally appointed the head of the new provincial organization by General Li’s Eighth Army. Given the ambitious nature of Li’s plans, Wan then went about recruiting a number of high-profile instructors. These included Fu Zhensong, Li Xian Wu, Wan Laimin and Gu Ru Zhang (who many readers will already be familiar with). Gu would go on to become the central figure in the promotion of Bak Shaolin (Northern Shaolin) in Guangdong province. These instructors, and Wan, were known in the press as the “The Five Southbound Tigers.”
Li’s Lianguang Guoshu Institute first opened its doors in March of 1929, hosting three sets of two-hour classes a day. The organization had an initial enrollment of 140 students, which quickly increased to close to 500. Still, a closer examination revealed something odd. Rather than filling its ranks with local martial artists looking to get on board with the new national program, almost all of these students were low ranking civil service personal. Still, there was enough “official” demand to both expand the class structure and to begin to offer off-campus instruction at any business or office which could meet the financial requirements and guarantee at least 20 students. Chinese sources note that, once again, it was government offices that dominated the off-campus study program.
Despite these initial struggles to penetrate the local martial arts sub-culture, or perhaps because of them, Governor Li pressed ahead with an ambitious agenda for the Lianguang Guoshu Institute. This was aided through the efforts of the local government. First, an ordinance was passed mandating registration and licensing of all martial arts organizations or schools in the province. Second, the creation of any new martial arts school or organization not administered by the institute’s (mostly Northern) staff was banned. Finally, money was set aside for the creation of a regional publication dedicated to advancing the nationalist and pro-KMT “Guoshu philosophy.”
Backed by the full might of the Eighth Army, the provincial government, and an enthusiastic governor, such a set of reforms could have had stifled Southern China’s vibrant martial culture. Indeed, that seems to have been precisely the goal of their effort. General Li Jishen was quite sincere in his desire to bring the local martial arts community to heel, effectively transforming it into a tool to be exploited by the state. While it remains unclear to me whether these sorts of orders could have been enforced in the countryside, their impact on urban Choy Li Fut or Hung Gar schools would have been disastrous. Deep pools of local knowledge and experience were about to be sacrificed on the altars of “national unity.”
It is interesting to speculate on whether, and how successfully, the local martial arts sector would have resisted these efforts. Fortunately, historians have no answer to that question as Li’s ambitious plans fell apart almost immediately. Indeed, the great weakness of Guoshu’s rapid expansion was that its success depended not so much on popular demand as the political calculations of often unpredictable leaders.
In May of 1929, General Li Jishen took the spectacular step of resigning as governor and traveling to Nanjing with the intention of mediating a truce between Chiang Kai-shek and the “New Guangxi Clique.” This was, to say the least, a serious strategic miscalculation. Negotiations went badly and Chiang (quite predictably) was furious. He had General Li arrested and held until his eventual release in 1931, after which he drifted towards the Communist Party. This left Guangdong in need of a new governor. They received one in the form of Chen Jitang, who is still remembered for his social reforms (the creation of a very basic social safety net) and building programs (he paved the streets of Guangzhou).
One of Chen’s first acts upon taking office was to disband the Guoshu Institute. It is likely that Chen saw this organization as a potential political threat. After all, he did not create it, and many of the individuals within it were loyal to his predecessor. It is also likely that Chen did not want to be that closely associated with a group that was so much under of the influence of Chiang’s most ardent supporters. Whatever the actual reason, budget concerns were cited as the precipitating factor. With a total budget of 4,500 Yuan a month, the Institute was a notable undertaking. But that figure hardly seems outrageous given Li’s expansive vision for the organization. All told the Lianguang Guoshu Institute closed its doors after only two months, and without making any progress towards its ambitious goals.
That is where its story ends. The initial attempts to establish Guoshu in Guangzhou immediately fell victim to internal politics within the KMT. In retrospect it is almost too predictable.
All of which is great, because what happened next had an actual shaping effect on the development of Southern martial culture. The surprising collapse of the Lianguang Institute left a number of extremely talented Northern martial arts exponents unemployed (and more or less stranded) in Guangzhou. This seeming setback created new opportunities that spread the Northern arts more effectively than anything that Li had envisioned. After all, most of the instruction that had been provided in these initial months was directed at a relatively small group of government employees. Chen’s forced dissolution of the organization allowed its instructors to enter into a much broader (and truly competitive) marketplace for martial arts instruction. It was within these smaller commercial schools that arts such as Bak Siu Lam and Taijiquan really took off and came to be accepted by the general public.
Following the breakup of the Guoshu Institute, Li Xian Wu was hired by the Guangdong branch of the Jingwu Assocation as its new director of academic affairs. He later published a well-known guide to taijiquan. Gu Ru Zhang proved to be among the most influential of the remaining staff. Attempting to capitalize on the work that was already accomplished, he sought to create the Guangzhou Guoshu Institute (formally established in June of 1929). Gu was selected as its president, Wang Shaozhou was named its vice president and Re Shen Ku, Li Jing Chun and Yang Ting Xia (the wife of Wang), were all hired as instructors.
This new, smaller, organization enjoyed a measure of official backing and was housed in the National Athletic Association building on Hui Fu East Road in Guangzhou. That said, the new institute never subscribed to the grandiose policy objectives of its predecessors. Rather than regulating Southern China’s martial arts sector, it essentially entered the economic marketplace as one school among many.
And as fate would have it, Gu’s new efforts found some real success. In 1936 the Guangdong Province Athletic Association sponsored a martial arts exhibition at the Guangzhou Public Stadium. Gu’s Guangzhou Guoshu Institute performed for an enthusiastic crowd and received an award from the local government. Still, like most of the other local martial arts organizations it was forced to shut its doors in 1938 during the Japanese occupation. Yet it was due to the more private efforts of Gu and his fellow instructors, rather than the grandiose machinations of General Li, that the Northern arts established long lasting schools and lineages in Southern China. They did so by entering the marketplace and providing a good that consumers actually wanted.
An image of a now famous postcard that Gu Ruzhang sent to his students.
Martial Arts and the Weakness of “Established Churches”
It would be impossible to tell the story of China’s twentieth century martial arts without carefully reviewing the political opportunities, alliances and entanglements that presented themselves in each era. Still, as we review this material it quickly becomes evident that political sponsorship is a double-edged sword. More than one martial arts organization was destroyed by the capricious winds of change blowing through China’s political history. Political alliances proved to be a pathway to rapid growth, but also rapid obsolesce.
Leaders have repeatedly sought to use the martial arts as one element of larger campaigns to shape society more to their liking. In the short-run this creates funding and promotional opportunities. But it also creates martial arts institutions that are more responsive to the demands of political elites than the public who must actually attend classes and pay their sifu’s rent. Such a bargain is rarely good for the martial arts in the long-run as it prevents them from establishing the type of relationship with consumers that is necessary to survive periods of rapid social change.
The story of the Lianguang Guoshu Institute offers a critical insight into the strengths and weaknesses of “established” martial arts (to borrow a term of religious studies.) As a government backed institution, the only students it seemed capable of recruiting were individuals already dependent on the governor for their paychecks. Yet when its instructors were released into the competitive marketplace, they created popular schools and practices that quickly spread the northern styles across southern China. That has had a lasting impact on Guangdong’s martial culture.
Its official, holiday madness is upon us. Still, I wanted to comment on some of the more interesting stories that have been floating around. For new readers, this is a semi-regular feature here at Kung Fu Tea in which we review media stories that mention or affect the traditional fighting arts. In addition to discussing important events, this column also considers how the Asian hand combat systems are portrayed in the mainstream media.
While we try to summarize the major stories over the last month, there is always a chance that we may have missed something. If you are aware of an important news event relating to the TCMA, drop a link in the comments section below. If you know of a developing story that should be covered in the future feel free to send me an email.
Its been way too long since our last update so let’s get to the news!
Keeping kung fu relevant. Source: South China Morning Post.
English language tabloids continue to discover the newly “rediscovered” tradition of Chinese “bull fighting.” This is basically the latest attempt to parlay martial arts exhibitions into a local tourist attraction.
It seems that every year has that one story that just won’t die. If you had asked me at the beginning of the year whether that would be the “ancient art” of kung fu bull fighting, I would blinked in disbelief and asked if you were thinking of Mas Oyama. But here we are!
Calling this an art, or somehow more “real” than Spanish bull fighting, seems like a stretch. But the sudden appearance of this practice (unknown to the international press just last year), suggests that it would make a great case study on the “invention of tradition” in the Chinese martial arts. Or perhaps you could use it to delve into the evolving construction of masculinity within the martial arts. Calling all graduate students…
Shalini Singh’s skill with a broadsword earned her a gold medal last month at the Pan American Wushu Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Jose teen is an eighth-grader at Stratford School Raynor in Sunnyvale.
Shalini Singh’s skill with a broadsword earned her a gold medal last month at the Pan American Wushu Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The San Jose teen is an eighth-grader at Stratford School Raynor in Sunnyvale. (Photo courtesy of the Singh family)
She was 7 years old when started at Wushu Central on Coleman Avenue in San Jose and loved it immediately. In 2016, after four years of intense study, she earned a first-degree black belt. Now, she has been practicing Wushu for almost seven years, and currently trains about 18-20 hours per week at Elite Kung Fu Academy in Fremont.
“I really like the focus and discipline that Wushu has instilled in me,” Shalini said. “Wushu has taught me that failures are an opportunity to learn and improve yourself. I used to lose in all of my initial tournaments, and at first, it made me upset and dejected. But the advice of my coaches helped me identify where I was weak, and helped me improve my performance.”
For whatever reason, quite a few authors decided to delve into the history (or supposed history) of the Asian martial arts over the last month. Without a doubt the most sensational of these pieces was provided by the Fox Sports network. Its offering was modestly titled “4 Asian Martial Arts that teach you to end the fight with one strike.” This one is too funny (by which I mean bad) not to delve into.
Martial arts have become a means to deliver discipline, commitment and fitness into the practitioner’s life in the modern day scenario. Yes, one does learn how to defend oneself effectively also but they have largely turned into sport. But as recently as in the first half of the 20th century – the whole focus of martial arts was different. It wasn’t just used to imbue good values and equip someone for self-defence, but in those war-torn times, martial arts was an active engagement strategy against the enemy.
In that time, the focus of learning martial arts was to grievously maim or even kill your enemy in the battlefield.
In case you were wondering what these four deadly venoms are, we begin with Dim Mak (which is apparently now a single martial art invented by Bodhidharma, rather than a set of techniques), Silat (enough said), Ikken Hissatsu (which, judging by the provided video, is basically point karate highlight reel), and Varna Kali. All in all, the article is a font of joyful misunderstanding and myth-making. But in an era when everyone seems intent on tearing down the utility of the traditional martial arts, it stuck me as almost quaint. As I read it I couldn’t helping thinking, “So was this what 1968 felt like?”
The Abbot of the Shaolin Temple chimed in on Xu Xiaodong, the Chinese MMA fighter who has gained notoriety through his challenge matches with various traditional “masters.” Apparently Shi has his back.
“He’s a good guy, even though he’s a totally amateur MMA fighter,” said Shi, adding that “a hundred people in Henan province alone” could defeat Xu.
But Shi concluded: “Xu is doing the right thing by fighting fake kung fu.”
Ok, maybe that wasn’t a ringing endorsement. Still, I didn’t expect that level of engagement with Xu’s quest. Given his reputation with the Wushu establishment (not to mention the Chinese government) there doesn’t seem to be a lot of political upside for abbot Shi Yong Xinin here.
If you’ve ever been to the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, chances are you’ve been wowed by the facility. Well, there is a new PI being constructed in Shanghai that will be three times the size of the one in Sin City.
‘Cultural Exchange Will Strengthen Bonds Between China & Africa.’ So proclaims a “Kung Fu Diplomacy” article in the Liberian Observer. This one discusses the close cooperation between local diplomatic staff and branches of the (ostensibly academic) Confucius Institute in using traditional Chinese culture to further the state’s public diplomacy objectives.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China near Monrovia in collaboration with the Confucius Institute at the University of Liberia (UL) on Saturday, November 10, hosted the traditional Chinese Arts performance, with some of the main performers coming from the Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in China.
The event, which was hosted at the Monrovia City Hall, was intended to strengthen China-Liberia relationship, highlighting culture exchanges between the two countries. Some of the performances comprised a series of China’s traditional sport-oriented health maintenance practices, including Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Qigong (a popular Chinese song) about unity, and some Chinese folk dances.
There have been a couple of interesting photo essays in the last couple of weeks. The first follows the career of Huo Jinghong, a 5th generation descendent of Huo Yunjia and an inheritor of his system. That article hits all of the notes that one might expect.
Li Zhujun makes a decorative sword at his studio in Tiejiangzhuang Village of Xingtang County, Shijiazhuang, north China’s Hebei Province, Nov. 14, 2018. For centuries, Tiejiangzhuang Village has been famed for its skillful blacksmiths and prosperous steel making industry. Li Zhujun is one of the village’s top steel makers. Based on the skills inherited from his father, Li gained an expertise in the steel-making technique “refined pattern welding”, which adds complicated patterns to the swords and knives during forging. The technique has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the city of Shijiazhuang. In recent years, the 47-year-old blacksmith has devoted himself to the renewal of this technique. His decorative swords, thus forged with more alternative patterns, show the enhanced aesthetics and exquisite product quality. (Xinhua/Chen Qibao)
Filipinos’ fascination for martial arts comes alive as more than 200 martial arts experts across the globe converge in Manila on Nov. 24 to celebrate the 80th founding anniversary of the Kong Han Athletic Club, the country’s premier martial arts school.
Abbot Chang Ding of Quanzhou City’s Shaolin Temple, and some 30 monks and members of the International South Shaolin Wuzuquan Federation, will lead participants on the occasion.
Did you hear about Marvel’s ambitious new superhero film project featuring Shang-Chi, a son of Fu Manchu. As you might have guessed, that last plot point is not going over well in China (where Marvel films are decently popular). Why? Fu Manchu, the villain of many ‘yellow peril’ novels is still widely remembered as an offensive symbol of Western anti-Chinese discrimination.
Anyone out there interested in martial arts and politics? If so, Malaysian Silat has been in the news quite a bit over the last few weeks. This article, titled “Silat alliance submits memo on ICERD, Malay issues at Istana Negara,” is a good place to get your orientation.
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of a silat coalition, known as Gabungan Silat Pertahan Perlembagaan, submitted a memorandum to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong today, expressing their protest over International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and other issues….Apart from the ICERD issue, Shahruddin said the note also highlighted the group’s other demands which included calling for the protection and upholding of Malay rights, Federal Constitution and the royal institution.
Typically I structure the MAS section of these news-updates around conference announcements and book updates. This time we are going to look at some new articles and papers instead. The first is a piece that I really enjoyed by Colin P. McGuire. You have all heard the song. Now its time to delve into what it really tells us about Cantonese martial culture!
Wong Fei-hung was a Cantonese martial arts master from southernChina who became associated with a melody called ‘General’s Ode’. Since the 1950s, over 100 Hong Kong movies and television showshave forged the link by using this melody as Master Wong’s theme.During fieldwork in a Chinese Canadian kung fu club, I observed several consultants claiming this piece as a Cantonese nationalanthem—a hymn for a nation without a sovereign state. Virtualethnography conducted online showed that this opinion is heldmore widely, but that the piece also inspires broader Chinesenationalist sentiment. My analysis of speech-tone relationships tomelodic contour in Cantonese and Mandarin versions of the song,however, has revealed a tight integration with the former that thelatter lacked. By sharpening Anderson’s concept of unisonance, I explore how this song has become an unofficial transnationalanthem for Cantonese people, arguing that Master Wong’s themeauralises an abstract sense of imagined community.
I chose the next paper as a representative of the rapidly growing literature on the South East Asian martial arts. And it seemed to offset some of the previous discussion of Silat.
The paper introduces Silat Tua, a traditional Malay martial art, and its relationship to the tropics of the Malaysian Peninsula and Singapore through the imagery work of the four Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. In a world of increasing disconnect between Humans and Nature, the Silat Tua practice is a traditional martial art for bringing harmony and healing, as well as an understanding of how the building blocks of Nature can harmonise, complement and resonate with the natural resources of the human mind, body and spirit. Through recounting the legend of the art’s origin, the first proponent of Silat Tua is shown to have gained inspiration and lessons from the inhabited environment. Examples of how a Silat exponent may explore and come to understand the Elements are discussed before venturing into the practical application of the Elements in cultivating mindfulness and influencing behaviour. The physical environment thus, is not only a source of inspiration for movement but indeed an impetus for leading a harmonious and virtuous life. The paper concludes with the connection and implications of the Elements training in Singapore and its potential in navigating oneself through the constant changes inevitable in life.
I have not yet had a chance to read the following paper by George Jennings. But it looks fascinating and brings the conversation around to the martial practices of Latin America (a topic that deserves more discussion).
There are numerous ways to theorise about elements of civilisations and societies known as ‘body’, ‘movement’, or ‘physical’ cultures. Inspired by the late Henning Eichberg’s notions of multiple and continually shifting body cultures, this article explores his constant comparative (trialectic)approach via the Mexican martial art, exercise, and human development philosophy—
Xilam. Situating Xilam within its historical and political context and within a triad of Mesoamerican, native, and modern martial arts, combat sports, and other physical cultures, I map this complexity through Eichberg’s triadic model of achievement, fitness, and experience sports. I then focus my analysis on the aspects of movement in space as seen in my ethnographic fieldwork in one branch of the Xilam school. Using a bare studio as the setting and my body as principle instrument, I provide an impressionist portrait of what it is like to train in Xilam within a communal dance hall (space) and typical class session of two hours (time) and to form and express warrior identity from it. This articledisplays the techniques; gestures and bodily symbols that encapsulate the essence of the Xilam bodyculture, calling for a way to theorise from not just from and on the body but also across body cultures.
Finally, Paul Bowman has circulated a draft of this paper for comment and discussion. Looks fascinating!
this paper seeks to broach the complex relations of pleasure and violence in martial arts, in relation to their practice, performance and forms of consumption. It does so first by setting out the broad contours of the discursive status of both violence and pleasure in current debates about martial arts, before going on to deconstruct the implications of two short media texts: a controversial 2006 French Connection TV advert known as ‘Fashion versus Style’, and an uncontroversial music video for the 2015 song ‘Be Your Shadow’ by The Wombats.
An assortment of Chinese teas. Source: Wikimedia.
Kung Fu Tea on Facebook
A lot has happened on the Kung Fu Tea Facebook group over the last month. We looked at antique weapons, reviewed some Republic era TCMA manuals, and learned how to defend ourselves with nothing but a bicycle! (Yeah, apparently that was actually a thing in 1900). Joining the Facebook group is also a great way of keeping up with everything that is happening here at Kung Fu Tea.
Horse races are strongholds of pageantry and tradition, but when it comes to medieval texture, few can compare with the Palio di Siena. Oddly, any footage of the event reminds me of a critical issue within martial arts studies. I suppose that is an occupational hazard. Pretty much anything can remind me of some aspect of the martial arts.
Still, a few words on the Palio may be in order before setting out to explore what is “traditional” in current martial practice, and what this term should denote in academic writing. Hopefully exploring one of Europe’s oldest (and probably most dangerous) horse races will help us to distinguish between the notion of “tradition” as a rhetorical posture within the modern discourse on the martial arts, and the critical ways in which pre-modern martial arts activities diverge from their modern counterparts. Even if the physical movements and uniforms are indistinguishable from what was seen in the past, the actual activity that individuals are engaged in are always a response to contemporary events and conditions.
If one types “Palio” in a YouTube search bar, you will find numerous clips of horses and jockeys racing at breakneck speeds through Siena’s wonderful architecture, cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd. If you watch a little longer a few oddities will begin to appear. To begin with, traditional Italian architecture was never really designed with horse racing in mind. Indeed, it was probably more interested in slowing down mounted charges than facilitating them. It is not uncommon for horses to go down or riders to be unseated. That tendency is multiplied by the fact that the jockeys race bareback.
Even more interesting is the crowd itself, packed into every space surrounding the designated race course. The term “throng” is thrown around rather loosely, but no other word comes to mind as you survey the pulsing sea of humanity. Yes, tourists come to see the race. But the only way to achieve that density would be if a sizable proportion of the local neighborhoods showed up as well. Which of course thy do.
The Palio di Siena is much more than a horserace to the 17 wards that make up the city. It is a time of rivalry in which each neighborhood conspires to host banquets, celebrations, religious processions and demonstrations in an attempt to impress and outdo their neighbors. The race itself (run only by horses representing 10 of these wards, selected by lot) is the climax of a cycle of preparation that spans much of the year. Bands must be maintained, flag throwers trained, and one suspects that quite a bit of expense goes into maintaining Siena’s rather large population of urban race horses. In rare instances a special race is even commissioned to celebrate important city events or to mark critical anniversaries.
Each race is a festival, and the best party in town. It also appears that for many members of the local neighborhoods, the party is a requirement. One simply does not root for a horse from a neighboring ward simply because it has a better chance of winning. Everyone knows which team they are on, because it was the team that they were born into. While tourists watch the race, they do not, and cannot, experience it in the same way as those whose lives are interwoven with it. For them the party seems mandatory.
A depiction of kicking and unarmed fighting traditions in the traditional Italian martial arts.
The Italian Martial Arts Renaissance
While spectacular, the Palio di Siena is not unique. Italy’s famously independent cities and regions have generated countless festivals. Many of them have a distinctly martial character. The history of the Palio is fairly well known. It seems that seasonal boxing and jousting tournaments gave way to bull fighting and horse-racing at the end of the medieval period. The modern Palio (reorganized and consolidated in an attempt to reduce accidental injuries) dates to the early 1700s. Many of these Italian contests pit neighborhoods against each other. Sometimes the contests are good natured. In other instances, things look more like organized brawling held under the guise of some sort of sporting contest. But no matter the specific object of the festival, there are always parties.
It was actually the parties that caught my attention. Recently I have had the good fortune to observe small pieces of what might be called the modern Italian martial arts renaissance. Increasingly I am finding Italian martial artists in all sorts of unexpected places. Traditional Italian martial arts, including various styles of knife and stick fighting, have established footholds in North America and countries like Germany, France and Russia.
While something like Sicilian knife fighting is among the most visible of the Italian martial arts, this material has not traveled alone. Italian systems of boxing and wrestling are also being re-popularized. And the explosion of interest in HEMA has provided a ready-made outlet for many schools of Italian historical fencing. Indeed, a colleague in the Bay Area (and specialist in Italian stick fighting) recently told me that in his view the “traditional” Italian martial arts are united by a shared inheritance of embodied knowledge preserved within, and then borrowed from, these older fencing practices.
This view, while historically interesting, also reminds us of something else. There is a lot going on in the world of the Italian martial arts that does not fit within the self-identified realm of “tradition.” Italy has several interesting boxing traditions firmly rooted in the 20thcentury. Judo, BJJ and MMA are all popular pursuits. In fact, Ludosport, one of the largest lightsaber combat schools, was founded in Milan in the 2000s. It has since established branches all over Europe and North America. While I wonder whether some local stick fighting techniques made their way into the Ludosport curriculum, no one would think to call this a “traditional Italian martial art.”
That is where the puzzle begins to unfold. How do we know a “traditional” art when we see one? What specific practices, identities or expectations set these apart from their modern cousins?
In the 20thcentury “traditional Asian martial arts” declared their presence in a number of ways. They tended to introduce unique, nationally defined, training uniforms. Elaborate, usually invented, histories were taught to students as a way of defining their new identity as members of the schools and emphasizing a shared set of values. Movements were stylized in unique and aesthetically pleasing ways. New modes of personal address were introduced. Sometimes students were even expected to master a new language (whether Japanese, Korean or even Portuguese) if they wished to really “understand” their chosen martial practice. This differs from the ethos of the modern combat sports (boxing, wrestling and MMA) which embrace contemporary society, rather than throwing up symbolic barriers.
In these specific respects Ludosport actually comes off as a very “traditional” martial art. It strictly maintains its own codes of dress, address and behavior. Indeed, it tends to be a rather closed community at least partially because of these strategies. One is also expected to learn at least of bit of Italian to take part in classes. Yet its engagement with Italian culture goes well beyond that. I recently had the opportunity to watch students in southern New York counting down drills, naming techniques and going through entire tournament matches without a word of English being spoken. At least within Ludosport, Italian has become the universal language of the lighsaber. One suspects that a degree of fluency and affinity for Italian culture would be a practical (if not formal) prerequisite for actually mastering this system.
I think that the love of a good party is probably also necessary to flourish within the Ludosport community. Its organizers have devoted substantial energy to creating a yearly cycle of tournaments, each with its own period of preparation, and each followed by a period of celebration. Indeed, one of the things that has been most surprising about this community is distances that individuals are willing to travel (and the economic resources they will spend), to participate in these gatherings. The parties almost feel mandatory, and they are clearly the sort of community strengthening exercise that Emile Durkheim would have delighted in.
This global export of Italian culture is not unique to Ludosport. I asked what sort of student was most likely to take up the traditional Italian martial arts (knife and stick) while interviewing another instructor who moved to the Bay Area some time ago. He noted that when he began to teach, he expected only limited interest from the local community. Given the extent to which these practices are tied directly to Italian culture he guessed that his students would mostly be Italian Americans looking to reconnect with their heritage. Instead he discovered a huge amount of interest and a student body that closely mirrored the demographics of the local universities. While Italian-Americans occasionally take an interest in Sicilian knife fighting, or the Shepard’s stick, most of his students have no direct connection to Italy and many are Asian Americans.
When asked why these sorts of students stayed, or what they got out of traditional stick fighting, my friend concluded, after a moment of thought, that it was probably the community. They loved learning the language. They loved the dinners and the parties. He noted, with some surprise, the number of American university students who are now taking time to travel to Italy specifically to study with other martial arts instructors there.
On a technical level Ludosport is engaged in a very different exercise than that of my friend in the Bay Area. He pursues the study of “traditional” arts while they are intent on developing a “hyper-real” one. He wields a stick or knife, while they opt for the lightsaber. He teaches a skill-based classes to local university students, while Ludosport (which also supports a skills based curriculum) seems more interested in organizing itself as an international athletic league.
Yet for all of their differences, both organizations strike me as playing a fundamentally similar role within the Italian martial arts renaissance. Each presents a set of skills embedded within a distinctly Italian cultural framework. This rich web of understanding is conveyed not just through embodied knowledge (which obviously constitutes the core of actual practice), but also through the promotion of media, social networks, language acquisition, travel and an emphasis on the intensive socialization of new students. What sorts of models exist for understanding this behavior (or in the case of Ludosport, creating it from the ground up)? One suspects that examining Italy’s long history of neighborhood festivals (often structured around quasi-military contests) might be a good place to start.
A less traditional Italian martial art.
The Mandatory Party?
Still, the more we look at festivals like Palio di Siena, the more paradoxes appear. Can a raging, multi-week, period of intensive community preparation, practice and partying really be made mandatory? What sort of social sanctions could convince people who don’t like the traffic (or who find the injuries to horses and riders disturbing) not to take that long-awaited vacation to Canada? Or on a more philosophical level, if the community mandates that you go out and have fun, isn’t that really a type of work? Sure, there may be loud music and lots of alcohol, but if one is required to be there, aren’t you really performing a civic or organizational duty?
This was one of several important questions that the anthropologist Victor Turner asked in his 1974 essay “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow and Ritual: As Essay in Comparative Symbology.” His answer is particularly important for understanding the gradations of “tradition” that we might find in the martial arts. Yet on an even more basic level, he attempts to provide insights about the nature of the modern world, and the ways that industrialized and post-industrial societies tend to reposition “play” as “leisure” and “work” as “labor.”
The brief version of Turner’s answer would likely be that the existence of a “mandatory party” is possible in certain times and places, but not in our current situation. The advent of industrialization brought a fundamental transformation to how we understand concepts like “leisure” and “free time.” As such, when we see something that resembles, or postures, as a mandatory party, its important to consider what social work it is attempting to accomplish within a modern social context. What set of personal or psychological needs are being fulfilled by something that is, in reality, almost certainly a voluntary consumption decision?
Turner begins by observing that in truly traditional communities, characterized by extensive face to face interactions, the line between transformative ritual (whether seasonal in nature or a rite of passage) and the world of normal daily work was often not what we would think. Agricultural or physical labor was necessary to prepare material for religious sacrifices which would then ensure the productivity of one’s work in the coming year. An individual ritual action might be hedged about with symbolic cultural markers, demarcating it as “sacred space.” Yet the cycles of the calendar itself tended to unite things into a single whole. It dictated when work would happen, when times would be lean, and when festivals could be celebrated. Regulating the success of this system (thus ensuring the survival of the group) monopolized the resources of the community.
It is not a surprise, then, to read about entire communities coming out to cooperatively plant in the spring or gather crops later in the year. That sort of work was an economic and social necessity. Yet Turner went on to note that the sorts of feasts and festivals that occurred in these communities were also mandatory and a type of social work, rather than being an optional event or an example of modern “leisure.” Just as one had a responsibility to work in the community fields, or defend the community’s boundaries in its militia, one also had a responsibility to take part in the festivals and rituals that ensured fecundity, or attempted to ward off disease or natural disaster.
Certainly, these times were marked with celebration and creative play. Yet they were also instances of very intense social work. The notion of true leisure (meaning a realm of voluntary activity chosen by the individual and financed by the fruits of their personal labor) could only come into existence once economic markets had been developed in land and labor, a process that Karl Polanyi called “The Great Transformation.” Turner had much to say about this distinction, but perhaps we can summarize simply by noting that even if a given ritual might be preserved across this cultural barrier, its nature and meaning would be utterly transformed. To call on a seasonal example, wassailing in 16thcentury England was quite different, and implied a very different set of social structures and responsibilities, then singing Christmas carols today. The latter is strictly a voluntary (and modern) activity. The former was very much a “mandatory party” which wealthy landowners could not easily opt out of.
I think that one can see all of this illustrated in our modern confusion over the definition of Chinese martial culture. Did these practices originate in the changing social conditions (urbanization) of the Song dynasty, the coastal military crisis of the Ming, or ritual attempts to control disease, flood and famine in the Qing? The answer, of course, is “yes.” Both practice and performance have been deeply implicated within the development of the Chinese martial arts. The 16thcentury piracy crisis necessitated the reform of martial training to counter a new threat. Yet the four horsemen of the apocalypse always ride together. Famine and disease do not exist separately from military conflict. They are closely associated with it. Wars lead to hunger, and hunger leads to social violence.
This relationship was clearly understood by Chinese scholars, community leaders and military officers, all of whom had ample opportunities to study the subject in great detail. Thus martial rituals (lion and dragon dancing, several types of temple processions, the staging of community operas) carried out to address these more existential threats cannot ever be fully separated from the practical business of “real” martial arts training. Our constant attempts to do so, to fracture the overall unity of martial culture, tells us much more about the ways that economic and social specialization shape our own culture than anything about what happened in pre-1911 China. In 1840 both training with the militia and celebrating the New Year with the lion dance company were examples of “kung fu” because both were types of social work that certain young men were expected to render to the larger community. At times there was a ludic aspect to this work, but again, the party was mandatory.
None of this is the case today. Indeed, the party itself seems to have largely vanished. While conducting interviews I often hear the old timers talk about the wonderful socialization that happened after training at Chinese martial arts schools during the 1970s and 1980s. They relate stories of the hours spent in restaurants, or the group expeditions to grindhouse theaters to watch kung fu films. It all sounds wonderful. But I have never actually seen anything like it within my own experience. Instead, it is always framed as something “we used to do.”
When I ask about the change inevitably I hear that people grew-up, had families and got too busy. I suspect that this also signals the dramatic loss of social capital within American society that Putnam and other social scientists have written about. Still, the very fact that one can make a choice about this, that the party can even go out of fashion, suggests that these sorts of activities are very different from their pre-modern forbearers. What had been social work, necessary to maintaining the community, came to be experienced as a type of leisure, one consumer good among many which individuals used to fill their free time. It was this prior transformation that allowed it to become too expensive or unfashionable to continue.
All of this should lead to a moment’s reflection on what we mean when using the term “traditional” to discuss the martial arts. I am not suggesting that anyone change their terminology, but we should be aware that two very different possibilities are always at play. Logically, “tradition” would seem to refer to the practices and social structures of the pre-modern era. It was at this time that one might find a truly “mandatory party,” or martial arts practice understood as a necessary aspect of community service. Yet that is almost never what practitioners or scholars actually mean when using the term today. Instead they are referring to a group of modern practices which emerged in the late 19thor 20thcentury, almost all of which attempt to convey an ethno-nationalist body of knowledge through a type of physical training defining itself in opposition to “modern” (read, universally available) sports. This is “tradition” as a label that is chosen within a very modern marketplace of ideas, rather than something that predates or rejects a modernist understanding of the world. While the label points back to an imagined past of “essentialist” and immutable national identities, such a usage can exist only within a contemporary context.
“Local Militia Shandong.” 1906-1912 by Fr. Michel de Maynard.
Conclusion
So why would some communities (either kung fu schools in the 1970s, or Italian martial arts today) attempt to replicate the tradition of the mandatory party? Again, rather than an actual return to the past, one suspects that this is a response to proximate concerns found within recent trends. Over the summer I had a chance to attend Ludosport’s first national tournament in the USA and was surprised by the number of athletes that they assembled. It must have been a sizable percentage of the organization’s entire American student body. One can only wonder at the economic costs of making something like that happen.
As the tournament went on the attraction became more evident. Certainly, the matches and workshops were interesting, but the party was fantastic. It was the primary means by which old friendships were reinforced and new relationships forged. It was there that the basic social values of the group were hashed out. Indeed, these social gatherings were so important they were not left to chance. Ample time for “spontaneous” socialization was actually built into the events schedule. Further, the organizer’s habit of repeatedly scheduling important business meetings for school owners and instructors as “break-out sessions” during the main parties meant that for the professional within the group, the “mandatory party” was not just a metaphor. You really did have to be there. That was actually rough on many of the more jetlagged attendees.
Creating a martial arts group that can impose these sorts of costs on its member is not easy in the current environment. The higher the barriers to entry, the lower one’s potential student base will be. Still, it is not hard to see the attraction in all of this. Social and economic changes within the American economy have, over the last few decades, hollowed out its once vibrant community and associational life. Individuals crave a sense of intense, authentic community, something that, in an increasingly chaotic world, you can build a life around.
Creating those sorts of institutions is no easy task. It is one that goes well beyond looking for a time to schedule a couple of weekday classes. Still, the recent success of the Italian martial arts (whether traditional or hyper-real) in North America suggests that there is an immense appetite for this more intensive community experience.
This also raises questions for students of martial arts studies. When you look at the “clan structure”, cyclic yearly calendar and “mandatory parties” of Ludosport, it is easy to be reminded of the pre-modern traditions of something like the Palio di Siena. Indeed, one suspects that these sorts of social institutions served as a model for the construction of this more modern organization. Yet if we forget that the world that structures these demands is actually quite different from the one that gave rise to an earlier generation of community traditions, that modern leisure is not the same thing as peasant’s play, we will misunderstand the social work that the martial arts perform today.
The latest (dire) global warming report produced by US government scientists is inspiring conversations everywhere. I overheard a particularly interesting discussion between two colleagues earlier this week which focused not so much on the technological or policy measures that would be necessary to deal with rapid climate change, but the sorts of social attitudes would be necessary to support those steps. They were discussing well-funded public relations campaigns, but I must confess that I have (empirically well grounded) doubts as to how effective these sorts of efforts can be. “Confirmation bias” suggests that people are most likely to accept messages that reinforce what they already believe, or what they have already experienced. Long lasting changes in attitude usually emerge from the ground up, and not as a slick advertising campaign. After all, not every advertisement for a product, candidate or social cause is quite as successful as its backers may have hoped.
This is one of the reasons why I am interested in popular culture. It allows one to begin to decipher some of the logic behind larger patterns of political change or stability. Rather than being an escape from the world of politics, I often think of it as the repository of shared attitudes and values which are the raw materials of tomorrow’s innovations. It literally defines the realm of what is imaginable. Whether that is a comforting thought is a different question.
The martial arts may, at first, seemed removed from large scale social or political concerns. Much of our research focuses on identity, embodied experience, history, or the impact of these practices on relatively small communities. All of this is important, but it does not exhaust the significance of the martial arts within modern society. I suspect that many of us study the micro-effects of the martial arts as we are martial arts practitioners ourselves. We are anecdotally aware of their transformative power, so it is only natural that we would want to explore and systematize these insights.
Nevertheless, there is a bigger picture. The social effects of the martial arts stretch far beyond the relatively small and ever shifting group of individuals who are actually training in them at a given point in time. Their representation in the media has a profound effect on how we imagine our world. I also suspect that the interaction between these arts and the political realm are likely to become increasingly significant.
That last proposition may seem far-fetched as we spar, roll or practice on any given night. To understand how we must first come to terms with the economic concept of the “externality.” Simply put, this notion helps to explain “market failures” when (from society’s point of view) too little or too much of a good is provided. While discussions that treat the martial arts as something that can be bought or sold tend to be socially frowned upon, the simple truth is that almost all of us encounter them as a commercial product within an economic marketplace. An externality exists when the individuals who buy and sell a good (that would be us) are not capable of capturing the full benefits (or negative implications) of their market transaction.
A quick illustration may be helpful. Psychologists have noted that moods tend to be “contagious” within a social network. If you are surrounded by individuals who are stressed and unhappy, you are more likely to feel the same way, all else being equal. But if one of your friends is in a particularly good mood, that is likely to have an impact on your mood as well. I suspect that many of my readers can already guess where I am going with this. Individuals who practice the martial arts (or who engage in any form of regular exercise) report increased levels of wellness (measured across a wide variety of dimensions) and lower stress levels. That is precisely why many of these students pay for school membership in the first place.
Yet the “contagious” aspects of mood and lifestyle choices suggest that friends and family members are also reaping some of the benefits of this consumption choice even if they have never taken a single martial arts class. Because their increase in well-being is invisible in a supply/demand, chart it is not taken into account when a teacher decides how many nights of instruction to offer, or a consumer decides how many hours a week to devote to training. The end result is the existence of an externality where, because the full benefits of some people’s martial arts practices are hard to measure, the “good” in question is under-provided.
This is a single, somewhat trivial, example. But the world of the martial arts and combat sports generates dozens of similar externalities’ touching on all sorts of cultural, social and political questions. These externalities are likely to be shaped by the social, market and political forces that regulate the expression of the martial arts in a given place, and as such they vary by country and time period. In some cases we may also find that martial arts practice (like the consumption of any good) has unexpected negative consequences and that they are being over-provided. For instance, one suspects the current culture of traveling long distances for short seminars which is so vital to the financial success of many martial arts schools is doing the planet no favors. That seems like something that is likely to change in the future.
Nor is any of this a particularly new idea, though, to the best of my knowledge, no one has yet to formalize these intuitions through the lens of micro-economics. China and Japan both subsidized, promoted and even mandated certain types of martial arts practice in the early 20thcentury, but not because there was a burning need to train middle school students in practical self-defense skills. Rather they realized that an entire complex of other values and “benefits” (fitness, discipline, patriotism, increased militarism) accompanied martial arts training. It was the secondary effects of Guoshu or Budo that drove their consumption. Whether any of this would really “work in the octagon” was not the primary consideration in the promotion of these programs.
Fortunately for us, the violent and unstable years of the 1930s are now in the past. But what about the future? How might the unintended, unpriced, consequences of martial arts practice help us to deal with some of the massive challenges facing modern society? When might some of these externalities take on negative consequences? And what sort of balance are we likely to see between grass roots efforts emerging out of popular culture on the one hand, and coordinated (possibly government backed) information campaigns on the other?
Obviously, such a topic is too big for a single blog post. It could well be the subject of an entire series of books. My goal in this essay is to lay out some unexpected macro-level ways in which the martial arts might help (or inhibit) our attempts to address largescale issues. The following post touches on global warming as a “hot” topic that has been in the news. Yet this basic method of analysis, one that focuses on the externalities of martial arts practice, could easily be applied to any number of social or political issues (some of which I may return to in the future.)
A typically minimalist Japanese dojo. Photograph by Jared Miracle.
Wabi-Sabi and a Warming Planet
While popular discussions tend to focus on the practical “reality” of the martial arts, or perhaps their history, I suspect that much of their true transformative value lies in the unique aesthetic vision that each art conveys. A certain amount of caution is necessary here as the exact contents of this vision varies from art to art. The cunning of Brazilian Capoeira practitioners can be seen and felt in their practice. It is one part of a set of social survival strategies that is discussed, debated and judged in physical movement. Yet the uniqueness of Brazilian society suggests that this cannot ultimately be reduced to the sorts of “cunning” that one might find in Irish stick fighting, or the “yin power” that is expressed in Chinese martial or ritual performance. Both “yin power” and “cunning” can be understood as aesthetic expressions of cultural meditations on the challenges of survival in often harsh environments. Yet each conveys a distinct set of nuances and insights.
Given the importance of the Japanese martial arts in kicking off the modern exploration of these fighting systems, perhaps we should not be surprised to discover that the concept of Wabi-Sabi (usually understood as values related simplicity, impermanence, asymmetry and austerity) has permeated further into the global consciousness that any of these other martial arts related visions. It is not hard to find evidence of the philosophical notions (focusing on the Buddhist insights that all things are impermanent, empty and vessels for suffering) that underpinned this aesthetic style within the Japanese martial arts. One can see it in the simplicity of the traditional judo gi, the austere etiquette of the dojo, and even the way that scrolls or artwork are presented in the school’s tokonoma.
Still, my first encounter with Wabi-Sabi was not mediated by the martial arts. As I teenager I was lucky enough to study with (and work for) Bill Valavanis, who runs the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester NY. It was primarily through the mediums of bonsai, traditional Japanese gardening and stone appreciation that I encountered a set of concepts which amounted to a profound meditation on the nature of existence at a formative time in my own life. Neither martial artists or Bonsai masters can deny the essential truth of existence. All things are impermanent, and all things are incomplete. Within such a philosophical framework it is easy to elevate frugality, simplicity and austerity as the key guiding values of human existence.
One suspects that a profound appreciation for Wab-Sabi arose just as much out of the observation of daily life in early-modern Japan as erudite Buddhist argument. In truth, Japanese life was often harsh, food was scarce, and the material conditions that most people lived under were spartan at best. Japanese houses were (and to a certain extent remain) unheated during the winter, and the hottest days of summer brought their own challenges. Yet students of Japanese history and culture are often amazed by the beautiful material culture that was woven out of these challenging conditions.
The modern West sits at a crossroads. Our social, economic and political systems have rested on the core principle that people should be able to consume as many material goods as they want. And if they cannot achieve this level of consumption now, they have a right to work towards it in the future. It seems unlikely that this situation can continue. Failure to politically address rising sea levels, increased severe weather and the future loss of prime agricultural land to drought would be economically and socially catastrophic. One might think of this worst-case scenario as global warming’s “hard landing.”
But even the best-case, most cooperative, scenarios will eventually require a massive adjustment to practically everyone’s lifestyle within the industrialized West. Short of a miraculous technological innovation that allows us to pull carbon from the atmosphere at will, huge changes in consumer behavior are likely in store. These will influence what we eat, how we travel and where we live. We are likely to see birthrates plummet across the developed world as raising children becomes more expensive. In the long run, cuts in consumer activity married to a dropping, aging, population, suggests that we could see a significant shrinking of major markets. That, in turn, suggests a massive reduction in the rates technological, medical and social change which we have come to expect.
Anyone who has spent enough time in the social sciences knows how difficult forecasting is. Economists love to make predictions. In my field (political science) we try to avoid it whenever possible. The challenges of modeling climate change are well known and much discussed. But they pale next to the sheer impossibility of predicting how people (at either the individual or national level) are likely to respond to this. And given that the scope of climate change (whether we can ensure a relatively “minor” rise of 2 degrees, or if we end up in more of a worst-case scenario) is dependent on the creative and cooperative behavior of such unpredictable actors, I don’t think that anyone can accurately say what the future will be.
Still, we know a few things. Whether we agree to tie our own hands through democratically decided legislation, or allow unmediated market forces and natural processes to do it through a “hard landing,” the average resident of the Western world will be consuming a lot less. Realistic carbon taxes (if instituted) will raise the price of all sorts of inelastic goods (food, transportation, heating) in relatively predictable ways. Drought, sea-level change and a rising demand for energy will do the same things (though in a much less predictable way) through market mechanisms. One way or another, discretionary spending is going to drop. It is hard to say by how much, or when. But it is impossible to believe that this will not have a substantive effect on where and how we live. In short, we are already transitioning from a period of “wanting more” to one of “getting less.”
The beauty of snow, contrasted with the challenge of winter, has often been a subject for Japanese artists. Source: Evening Snow at Kanbara, from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō” by Utagawa Hiroshige. metmuseum.org
This brings me back to the Japanese notion of Wabi-Sabi. Within this philosophical vision “freedom” does not originate from one’s ability to escape the bounds of the natural world. Rather, freedom is found as one lives successfully in harmony with it. More often than not in Japanese history, this has taken the form of finding beauty and meaning in the simple, the frugal, the rustic and the sincere.
As a political scientist I worry that the sorts of “diminished expectations” that climate change is already bringing will lead to increased levels of social instability and violence. It is hard to see the current riots in France (the worst since 1968) as anything other than a preview of what could happen in many other places as carbon taxes start to bite, or governments lose the ability to keep up with mounting natural disasters and rising food prices. Some of this will be unavoidable. But our social expectations of a world in which progress is measured in increased consumption is sure to exacerbate such tensions.
The concept of Wabi-Sabi is interesting to me as it has always been more than a set of guidelines for gardening or architecture. It is a remarkably well-developed argument about the benefits of choosing less, of living simply, rather than always pushing for more. The central problem of modern existence is the creation of social and individual meaning. Whatever its drawbacks, the economically focused “American Dream” succeeded in structuring the imaginations, efforts and expectations of generations. It can only be modified or replaced by another set of principles capable of doing the same.
Telling a generation of Americans that due to their carbon footprint they can only buy “tiny homes,” or 500 square foot urban apartments, is a recipe for revolution. But supporting a vision of society where people spend more time having experiences with friends and family rather than working to acquire ever more things to stuff in ever larger houses could be the beginning of a renaissance. Cultivating a deep appreciation for Wabi-Sabi as an aesthetic vision, and accepting the fundamental values that lie behind it, could be an important step in making that happen. Indeed, it might prove to be the most important moment of cultural exchange between Japan and the global West.
This is where we return to the martial arts. Sadly, one cannot really gain an understanding of these concepts (let alone cultivate a new set of values) simply by reading blog posts. In my experience Wabi-Sabi is a set of values that must be physically experienced to be fully appreciated. My small appreciation for these values came from hours spent working in an arboretum as a teenager, time spent living in Japan as a young adult, and countless hours invested in the training hall.
Sadly, Bonsai is not a not a very popular hobby in the United States. But the martial arts are. They are studied by children and adults in a wide variety of settings. More importantly, they are projected, appreciated and debated through our media. While only a minority of individuals practice them, there are very few people who don’t have some sort of expectations about, or understanding of, the Asian martial arts. This makes them an important vector to promote a new set of values as society enters an era of consuming less but appreciate more.
As intriguing as this possibility is, it would still require a massive effort. Indeed, this is where political intervention or well-funded informational campaigns might enter the picture. In large part the martial arts have succeeded in the West as they have been adapted to reflect modern Western values, rather than the full complexity of, say, Chinese or Japanese culture. Yet the perpetual search for authenticity within these communities (and perhaps the new or exotic by those who are curious about them), might provide an opening to increasingly bring notions like Wabi-Sabi to the forefront of public discussions of certain martial arts. Equally helpful would be public relations campaigns linking these values to fashionable changes going on in other areas of popular culture, health, architecture or diet. Again, physically enacting such values, and experiencing them in multiple realms of life, is a necessary precondition for their acceptance.
One might object, correctly, that in focusing on the philosophical or aesthetic dimension of the martial arts we lose sight of their “true purpose.” Worse yet, we risk turning them into purely didactic, rather than practical, exercise. Certainly, care is necessary. Yet it is worth remembering that communities and nations have always been acutely aware of the externalities that the martial arts produce. Throughout the 19thand 20thcentury states were generally much more interested in the “supplementary” side effects of martial practice than the details of what was actually taught in the training hall. Acknowledging this fact is not “politicizing” the martial arts. They have been political all along. The real challenge facing us, both as scholars and practitioners, is to understand the full social implications of what we are already doing. Only then can we ask the difficult questions about what will best safeguard the psychological well-being and physical safety of our students as we move into an uncertain future.
棍進槍 STAFF VERSUS SPEAR 蘭晉如 by Lan Jinru [Chapters 7–10 of An Authentic Description of Shaolin Staff Methods, published Jan, 1930]
[translation by Paul Brennan, Nov, 2018]
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第七章 棍進槍 CHAPTER SEVEN [CHAPTERS 7–10]: STAFF VERSUS SPEAR
開門式 第一動作 OPENING POSTURE / MOVEMENT 1
甲方。（卽持棍人）雙手持棍。右手持棍尾在胸前。手心向下。左手抓棍身。在身後。手心向裏。使棍斜伏於左脇。站於練習場一端起點之左方。（指甲方所在任何一端正中為起點乙方亦然）左足在前。兩足距離約一尺餘。兩膝蓋微曲。左足踵提起。足尖觸地。全體重點。移於右腿。胸向右方。（起點右面）兩目注視乙方。（卽持槍人）微停。右足向前開一步。左足向前開一步。仍是足尖觸地。足踵提起。同時右手棍尾。左手棍頭。初在右足開步之際。各貼身傍畫一大圓圈。（棍尾經後向下旋轉棍頭經前向上旋轉）復於原處。其姿式與前同從略。同時乙方。（卽持槍人）雙手持槍。右手抓槍樽。曲肘。使槍樽緊貼右脇後方。手心向裏。左手抓槍身下端。胳膊向前伸直。手心向上。兩手距離約二尺餘。使槍尖橫向甲方。站於練習場另端之右前方。（起點右前面）右腿站直。左足在前。足踵提起。足尖觸地。兩足距離約一尺四五寸。胸向起點左方。兩目注視甲方。微停。雙手將槍舉起過頂。左手鬆開。沈下。同時右足向左前方。（起點左前面）橫開一步。（觸地後足尖向起點左前方）左足再向起點右前方開一步。原地再向右轉。使全體由右方轉一小圈。前胸仍向原方。（唯此時右足已在前方）右膝弓曲。左腿在後伸直。成前弓後箭步。同時右手及槍。落於胸前曲肘。使槍樽伏於右脇後方。手心向裏。同時左手在胸前接槍。手心向上。朝裏擰勁。擰至手心向下。同槍尖向外一叩。兩手距離約二尺餘。槍頭仍向甲方。其式如第一圖。 Person A (holding the staff), hold your staff with both hands, your right hand holding the tail of your staff in front of your chest, the center of the hand facing downward, your left hand grasping the body of your staff behind you, the center of the hand facing inward, causing your staff to be making a diagonal line against your left ribs. [Presumably due to the different authorship of this section, the “head” and “tail” of the staff are reversed to the tail being the thicker end and the head being the thinner end, something to keep in mind while studying these movement descriptions.] Your position in the practice space is in the southeast. (The orientations in these descriptions are assigned according to A’s perspective [in his initial position], even those for B.) [Being a clumsy way to establish orientations for a set in which two people switch places, I have replaced them with simple compass directions, same as for the Staff Versus Staff set (Chapters 2–6). However, in this section Person A instead begins on the left side of photo 1, causing the compass for the photos to be reversed. Also, the photos the Staff Versus Staff section maintain their orientations, whereas in this section there are several reverse views, causing the compass to flip again. Therefore for most of the photos, there is this compass:
S E –↑– W N
South is the back of the photo, north being the photographer, west on the right side, east on the left side. But for photos 15, 17, 25, 30, 38, 46, 47, and 49, there is the same compass as for all of the Staff Versus Staff photos:
N W –↑– E S
North in these cases is the back of the photo, south being the photographer, east on the right side, west on the left side.] Your left foot is forward, your feet just over a foot apart, both knees slightly bent, your left heel lifted, toes touching down, the weight on your right leg. Your chest is facing toward the north, your gaze toward B, and you slightly pause in this position. Your right foot takes a step forward, then your left foot takes a step forward, toes again touching down, heel lifted. At the same time, your hands draw a large circle with your staff (your right hand holding the tail of your staff, your left hand holding the head of your staff), keeping it close to each side of your body, the tail of your staff arcing downward to the rear [on your right side] as the head of your staff arcs forward and upward [on your left side], then returning to the same position as before. Person B (holding the spear), at the same time as A’s movement, you are holding your spear with both hands, your right hand grasping the end of your spear, the elbow bent, putting the end of your spear close behind your right ribs, the center of the hand facing inward, your left hand grasping the body of your spear toward the forward section, the arm straightened forward, the center of the hand facing upward, your hands just over two feet apart, the tip of your spear pointing toward A with the blade horizontal. Your position in the practice space is in the northwest, your right leg standing straight, your left foot forward, heel lifted, toes touching down, your feet about a foot and a half apart. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward A, and you likewise slightly pause in your position. Your hands lift your spear above your head, your left hand letting go and sinking down, while your right foot takes a step sideways toward the southwest (coming down with the toes pointing toward the southwest) and then your left foot takes a step toward the northwest [thereby moving you farther away from A], turning you to your right from your original position with a small turn of your body toward the south, your chest still facing the same direction as before (except that now your right foot is forward), your right knee bending, left leg straightening behind, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. At the same time, your right hand lowers in front of your chest, the elbow bending, bringing the end of your spear close behind your right ribs, the center of the hand facing inward, as your left hand grabs your spear in front, the center of the hand facing upward, and twists inward until the center of the hand is facing downward, sending the tip of your spear outward with a snap, your hands just over two feet apart, the tip of your spear again pointing toward A. See photo 1 [each of these photos indicating 甲者 Person A (Chen Fengqi, who was also Person A in the Staff Versus Staff section) and 乙者 Person B (Liu Junling)]:
第二動作 MOVEMENT 2:
乙方承式向前進步。挺槍照甲方頭額直刺。（進步多寡以場之大小而定）同時甲方。亦向前進步。（兩方集於場之中間）待乙槍刺來。兩手托棍。向頭上猛架乙槍。左足在前。膝蓋伸直。右腿微曲。兩足距離約一尺五六寸。腰部微向後縮。左手朝上。伸直。微向前方。手心向起點右前方。五指伸開。伏於棍之兩旁。右手向上伸。肘微曲。使棍頭向身左前下方。胸向起點右前方。兩目注視乙方。乙方刺槍時。右手用力猛砍左手。在胸前扶之。右手砍至離左手約四五寸為止。左足在前。膝蓋弓曲。右腿伸直。成小前弓後箭步。兩足距離約一尺七八寸。上身微向前探。兩目注視甲方。其式如第二圖。 B, continuing from the previous posture, advance, (the number of steps you advance depending on the size of the practice space) and extend your spear with a stab toward A’s forehead. A, you are also advancing (so that the two of you are now more toward the middle of the practice space). When you see the stab coming, your hands prop up over your head, fiercely bracing away B’s spear, your left foot forward, the knee straightening, your right leg slightly bending, your feet about a foot and a half apart, your waist slightly shrinking back. Your left arm is straightening upward and slightly forward, the center of the hand facing toward the northwest, fingers extended and supporting on the side of your staff, your right arm extended upward, the elbow slightly bent, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the southwest. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your gaze toward B. B, when stabbing, your right hand forcefully shoots out, your left hand supporting in front of your chest, your right hand finishing about half a foot away from your left hand. Your left foot is forward, the knee bending, your right leg straightening, making a small bow & arrow stance, your feet about a foot and three quarters apart. Your upper body is slightly reaching forward, your gaze toward A. See photo 2:
第三動作 MOVEMENT 3:
甲方將乙槍架出。承乙方下部空虛。甲方雙手持棍。左手仍在前由左向右。照乙方足部猛踏。同時乙方見棍踏來。兩足急向後跳一大步。該時右手槍樽。亦隨向後縮。至右脇。左手仍在胸前。手心向上。與前姿式不變。此時乙方。復進步挺槍。照甲方頭額直刺。左手不變。右手仍向前直砍。至離左手約四五寸為止。左足在前。仍成前弓後箭步。胸向起點左後方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方。見槍刺來。乃由身之右方。使棍頭向左猛掛。右膝微曲。左足在前。足尖觸地。足踵提起。兩足距離約一尺餘。全身重點。移於右腿。棍頭向上。左肘彎曲。右手沈下。左手心向前。胸向起點。前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第三圖。 A, after bracing away B’s spear, take advantage of the gap at B’s lower body by using both hands to send your staff from left to right, your left hand staying forward, with a fierce smashing action toward B’s [front] foot [as your shift your weight forward onto your own front foot]. B, when you see A’s staff smashing toward you, suddenly jump back a large step with both feet as your right hand draws back the end of your spear to your right ribs, your left hand still in front of your chest, the center of the hand facing upward. Then finish in the same posture as in the previous movement, advancing and stabbing toward A’s forehead, the position of your left hand not changing as your right hand again shoots forward, finishing about half a foot away from your left hand, your left foot forward, again making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, your gaze toward A. A, when you see the stab coming, send the head of your staff from right to left with a fierce hanging action, your right knee slightly bending, your left foot in front with its toes touching down, heel lifted, your feet just over a foot apart, the weight shifting onto your right leg. The head of your staff is pointing upward, your left elbow bending, your right hand sinking down, the center of your left hand facing forward. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 3:
第四動作 MOVEMENT 4:
甲方將槍掛出。遂卽雙手舉棍。由頭上至腦後。（此時左手鬆開下降右手單手持棍）右足向前開一步。同時右棍在腦後經身之右方。猛向乙方足部打一掃蹚。該時兩足距離約二尺。兩膝弓曲。成騎馬式。然腰部亦向前弓曲。胸向起點左方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方見棍掃來。兩足猛向高跳。右手槍樽速縮至右脇後方。左手仍在前。手心向上。槍尖直向甲方。右膝彎曲。左足在前。膝亦微曲。足尖觸地。足踵提起。兩足距離約一尺餘。全身重點移於右腿。胸向左方。（起點左面）面向起點後方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第四圖。 A, after sending away B’s spear with a hanging action, raise your staff over your head with both hands and bring it behind your head (your left hand in this moment letting go and lowering, your right hand alone holding your staff). Then as your right foot takes a step toward the west, your right hand sends your staff from behind your head, passing the right side of your body, and suddenly attacking B’s foot with a “sweeping the hall” action, [your left hand correspondingly rising up,] your feet about two feet apart, both legs bending, making a horse-riding stance, but with your waist bending forward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward B. B, when you see A’s staff sweeping toward you, your feet suddenly jump up high and your right hand quickly withdraws the end of your spear behind your right ribs, your left hand still forward, the center of the hand facing upward, the tip of your spear pointing toward A. [When you land,] your right knee bends, your left foot forward, the knee also slightly bent, toes touching down, heel lifted, your feet just over a foot apart, the weight shifted onto your right leg. Your chest is facing toward the south, your face toward the east, your gaze toward A. See photo 4:
第五動作 MOVEMENT 5:
乙方復跟步進前。（跟步云者卽左足向前開一步右足緊隨左足之後跟步也）照甲方右肩直刺。右手仍止於左手之後。約四五寸。其姿式。與前刺甲方之動作相同。該時甲方見槍刺來。遂用雙手持棍。左手在前。手心向外。反把將棍扣住。右手及棍尾緊伏於左脇之下。左手用力向身之右後方猛搜。槍尖全身微向右轉。同時右足向後縮半步。使胸向後方。（起點後面）左膝弓曲。右足在前。足踵提起。足尖觸地。兩足距離約一尺餘。身之重點。移於左腿。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第五圖。 B, advance with a follow step (meaning that your left foot steps out and your right foot closely follows behind it), stabbing straight toward A’s right shoulder, your right hand stopping about half a foot behind your left hand. This action of stabbing toward A is the same as in the previous posture. A, when you see the stab coming, hold your staff with both hands, your left hand going forward, the center of the hand facing outward, grabbing your staff with a covering grip, your right hand and the tail of your staff hiding below your left ribs, and your left hand forcefully goes toward your body’s right rear, fiercely seeking the tip of B’s spear, your body slightly turning to the right. At the same time, your right foot withdraws a half step, your chest facing toward the west, your left knee bending, your right foot in front, heel lifted, toes touching down, your feet just over a foot apart, the weight on your left leg. You are facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 5:
第六動作 MOVEMENT 6:
乙方。將槍仍縮回。兩足不動。復挺槍。照甲方右膝下部直刺。同時甲方見槍刺來。右足向身後猛撤一步。同時右手棍尾。急轉至右脇。使棍頭橫斜。朝下猛捕。使棍頭觸地。向左前方。（起點左前面）右膝曲。左腿伸直。兩足距離約二尺。兩足尖均向起點左方。前胸亦向起點左方。腰部微向前曲。兩目注視乙方。其式如第六圖。 B, again withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, then extend your spear, stabbing toward A’s right shin. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot quickly withdraws a step behind you as your right hand draws an arc with the tail of your staff until it is at your right ribs, causing the head of your staff to go across diagonally, and fiercely seize downward, sending the head of your staff to touch the ground toward the southwest [northwest], your right knee bending, left leg straightening, your feet about two feet apart, the toes of both feet pointing toward the south [north]. Your chest is also facing toward the south [north], your torso slightly bending forward, your gaze toward B. See photo 6:
第七動作 MOVEMENT 7:
乙方左手前移。手心向上。右手縮回脇部後方。兩足不動。復照甲方頭額直刺。此時左手後移。右手向前直砍。止於左手後方約四五寸。同時甲方。見槍刺來。雙手執棍。猛向上托乙方之槍。左手朝上伸直。微向前。低於右手約五六寸。手心向右。（起點右面）五指伸開。伏於棍之旁。右手朝上。肘微曲。兩腿與前姿式不變。唯腰部抬起垂直。兩目注視乙方。其式如第七圖。 B, your left hand is shifted forward, the center of the hand facing upward, as your right hand withdraws behind your ribs, your feet staying where they are. Then stab toward A’s head, your left hand being shifted to the rear as your right hand shoots forward, stopping about half a foot behind your left hand. A, when you see the stab coming, your hands fiercely prop up B’s spear, your left hand going upward and slightly forward, the arm straightening, the hand about half a foot lower than your right hand, the center of the hand facing toward the north, fingers opened, supporting the side of your staff, your right hand going upward, the elbow slightly bent. Your legs do not change their position from the previous posture, but your torso lifts to become upright. Your gaze is toward B. See photo 7:
第八動作 MOVEMENT 8:
甲方將乙槍架出。同時左足尖朝外撇。使向起點左方。右足向前橫開一步。觸地。後足尖向起點左方。膝蓋伸直。右膝曲。兩足距離約二尺餘。全身重點。移於左腿。在右足開步之際。左手沈下。右手執棍。在腦後。使棍由身後經右方。猛向乙方左足部打一掃蹚。同時乙方。左手微鬆。姿式與前不變。右手急仍縮囘右脇後方。同時見甲方照足部掃來。兩足猛向高跳。落地後。左足仍在前。兩足距離約一尺餘。兩膝微曲。胸向起點右前方。槍尖橫向甲方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方承打掃蹚之際。原地向左轉。使胸向起點後方。卽時右足在左足後方。向前開一步。左足再由右足後方。又向前開一步。膝蓋弓曲。右腿在後伸直。成小前弓後箭步。兩足距離一尺餘。在右足開步之際。右手棍。由右方。經前方。畫一大圓圈。折回。斜伏於左脇下部。棍頭向起點。前下方。離地約四五寸。棍尾與眼眉相平。左手在後伸直。手心向裏。右肘橫曲。手心向下。面目由左方。隨棍頭同時轉向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第八圖。 A, after propping away B’s spear, your left toes swing outward toward the south, then your right foot steps forward, the foot coming down sideways, the toes pointing toward the south, the knee straightening, your right [left] knee bending, your feet just over two feet apart, the weight shifted onto your left leg. As your right foot steps out, your left hand sinks down and your right hand sends your staff past your head, behind your body, through the area to your right, and fiercely sweeping toward B’s left foot. B, your left hand slightly loosens, but your posture remains the same as your right hand withdraws behind your right ribs. When you see A’s staff sweeping toward your foot, your feet suddenly jump up high and come down to the rear, your left foot still forward, your feet just over a foot apart, both knees slightly bent. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, the tip of your spear pointing toward A, your gaze toward A. A, continuing from the sweep, turn around leftward so that your chest is facing toward the east, your right foot at the same time stepping forward from behind your left foot, your left foot then stepping forward from behind your right foot, the knee bending, your right leg straightening behind, making a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow, your feet just over a foot apart. As your right foot steps out, your right hand sends your staff from your right side and across in front of you, thereby completing a full circle, and bending in to point your staff diagonally downward below your left ribs. The head of your staff is pointing downward, about half a foot away from the ground, the tail of your staff at eyebrow level, your left arm straightening behind, the center of the hand facing inward, your right arm bending across, the center of the hand facing downward. Your face turns to the left as the head of your staff arcs toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 8:
第九動作 MOVEMENT 9:
乙方趁勢進步。追擊甲方。同時甲方。見乙方追來。以原式向起點後方退走。（開步之多寡以場之大小而定）乙方追至場之一端。挺槍直刺甲方頭部後腦。甲方見槍刺來。乃由右方。向後轉身。用棍經上方。掄起。照乙方頭部連封帶劈。同時左腿站直。足尖向起點右方。右足提起足尖下垂。伏於左膝裏外端。使右腿成三角形。胸向右方。（起點右面）同時隨右棍停於頭部上方。五指伸直。並攏。手心向上。面向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。該時乙方用槍直刺甲方。忽見甲方用棍劈來。乙方右足向後急退一小步。膝蓋曲。左足緊隨。兩足距離約七八寸。左足在前。足踵提起。足尖觸地。同時兩手緊抓槍樽。猛向上騰過頂。胳膊微曲。槍尖微低。向起點右後方。胸向起點左後方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第九圖。 B, take advantage of the opportunity by advancing, chasing to attack A. A, when you see B chasing, continue stepping toward the east to retreat away from him (the number of steps depending on the size of the practice space). B, once you have chased A all the way across the practice space [both of you finishing with your left foot forward], send your spear stabbing straight to the back of his head. A, when you see the stab coming, turn around rightward and roll your staff over, passing above you and continuing into a sealing chop toward B’s head. At the same time, your left leg straightens, the toes pointing toward the north, and your right foot lifts, the toes hanging down close to the inner side of your left knee, causing your right leg to form a triangle shape. Your chest is facing toward the north [south]. By the time your staff is over B’s head, [your left hand has raised,] the fingers straight and together, the center of the hand facing upward. You are facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. B, when you see A’s staff suddenly chopping toward you, your right foot quickly retreats a small step, the knee bends, and your left foot closely follows until your feet are about three quarters of a foot apart, your left foot in front, the heel lifted, toes touching down. At the same time, fiercely send the end of your spear upward over your head, your arms slightly bent, the tip of your spear slightly lower than the end and pointing toward the northeast. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, your gaze toward A. See photo 9:
第十動作 MOVEMENT 10:
乙方。雙手沈下。同時將槍向下一扣。左手順槍桿。向前移。手心向上。右手貼於右脇後方。手心向裏。兩手距離約二尺餘。該時左足抬起。向前開一大步。右足緊隨半步。左膝曲。右腿伸直。成小前弓後箭步。同時右手猛向前伸。使槍尖照甲方直刺。右手仍停於左手後方。胸向起點後方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方。見槍刺來。右足向前開一步。足尖朝外撇。右手棍由裏向上一裹。左足再向前開一步。成騎馬式。同時右手下沉。伏於右脇下方。手心向裏。使棍斜貼胸部。棍頭斜向上方。棍頭高於頭頂約一尺弱。在右棍向裏裹時。左手接棍中段向外猛科。手心向起點右方。胸亦向起點右方。面向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第十圖。 B, your hands sink down, sending your spear covering downward, your left hand shifting forward along the shaft of your spear, the center of the hand facing upward, your right hand close behind your right ribs, the center of the hand facing inward, your hands just over two feet apart. Your left foot now lifts and takes a large step forward, then your right foot follows with a half step, your left knee bending, right leg straightening, making a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow, as your right hand suddenly extends forward, sending the tip of your spear stabbing toward A, your right hand again finishing just behind your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the east, your gaze toward A. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot takes a step toward the east, the toes swinging outward, as your right hand wraps the inward and upward. Then your left foot takes a step toward the east, making a horse-riding stance, as your right hand sinks down to be close below your right ribs, the center of the hand facing inward, making your staff diagonal near your chest, the head of your staff pointing diagonally upward just under a foot higher than your headtop. While your right hand wraps your staff inward, your left hand grabs the middle section and sends your staff knocking outward, the center of the hand facing toward the north. Your chest is also facing toward the north, your face toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 10:
第十一動作 MOVEMENT 11:
乙方之槍。被棍科出。同時將槍縮回。兩足不動。右膝微曲。全身亦隨微向後縮。左手姿式不變。唯稍向前移。右手仍伏於右脇後方。同時右足猛登。膝蓋伸直。右手又猛向前伸。照甲方頭額直刺。其姿式與第十圖相同。詳見前。同時甲方見槍刺來。猛向左轉。使胸向正前方。（起點正前面）右足在原地轉。膝蓋微曲。左足向後收回一小步。膝蓋亦曲。足踵提起。足尖觸地。兩足距離約一尺餘。全身重點。移於右腿。在原地向左轉時。右手姿式不動。左手持棍。猛向左帶。面向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第十一圖。 B, once your spear has been knocked aside, withdraw it, your feet staying where they are, your right knee slightly bending, your body slightly shrinking back, your left hand maintaining its position but slightly shifting forward, your right hand again hidden behind your right ribs. Then your right foot suddenly presses, the knee straightening, and your right hand suddenly shoots forward, stabbing toward A’s forehead, your posture the same as in photo 10. A, when you see the stab coming, suddenly turn to the left, causing your chest to be facing toward the east, your right foot staying where it is and pivoting, the knee slightly bending, your left foot withdrawing a small step, the knee also bent, the heel lifted, toes touching down, your feet just over a foot apart, the weight shifting onto your right leg. As you turn to the left, mostly staying where you are, your right hand maintains its position and your left hand suddenly sends your staff to the left with a dragging action. You are facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 11:
第十二動作 MOVEMENT 12:
承上式不停。甲方左足急向前開一小步。同時右足在左足後方。再向前開一步。兩膝均曲。成騎馬式。在右足開步之際。右肘提起。彎曲在胸前。使棍尾直向乙方之左腿之部猛戳。左手姿式不變。唯用力向下垂。兩手心均向下。胸向起點左方。兩目注視乙方腿部。同時乙方。見棍尾照腿部戳來。在足急退一小步。右足再向前開一步。同時左手移抓槍之中段。使槍尖向上。右手亦微向上移。使槍樽猛抵甲方棍尾。兩膝蓋曲。成騎馬式。右手心向下。左手心向上。胸向起點右方。兩目注視甲方棍尾。其式如第十二圖。 A, continuing from the previous posture from pausing, your left foot quickly takes a small step forward, then your right foot takes a step forward from behind your left foot, both knees bending, making a horse-riding stance. As your right foot steps out, your right elbow lifts and bends in front of your chest, and you send the tail of your staff poking toward B’s left leg, your left hand maintaining its position but forcefully dropping, the centers of both hands facing downward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward B’s leg. B, when you see the tail of A’s staff poking toward your leg, your [left] foot quickly retreats a small step and your right foot then takes a step forward. At the same time, your left hand shifts its grip to the middle [forward] section of your spear, sending the tip of your spear upward, your right hand also slightly shifting upward, and you send the end of your spear to brace away the tail of A’s staff, both knees bending, making a horse-riding stance, the center of your right hand facing downward, the center of your left hand facing upward. Your chest is facing toward the north, your gaze toward the tail of A’s staff. See photo 12:
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第八章 (CHAPTER EIGHT)
第十三動作 MOVEMENT 13 [switching places]:
甲方棍尾。托乙方槍樽向上絞。同時右足向起點左方。橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。左足向起點前方。開一步此時乙方。與甲方動作相同。該時右足亦橫移一小步。（向起點右放）足尖亦向外撇。左足亦開一步。（向起點後方與甲方相背）此時甲方已轉至乙方所站之地點。胸向起點。右方。而乙方則轉至甲方所站之地點。胸向起點左方。此時乙方將槍樽縮回。提高。右足向後撤一步。使槍尖朝下。向前照甲方右腿下部直刺。兩手用力下垂。左肘伸直。手心向上。右肘微曲。手心向下。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方腿部。甲方照腿刺來。右足猛向後撤一步。左手用力向右前方（身之右前方）猛推。使棍頭上方。急抵乙方之槍尖上端。胸向起點左後方。兩手心均向下。左肘伸直。右肘曲。使棍斜伏於腹部右方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。棍尖。其式如第十三圖。 A, use the tail of your staff to prop up the end of A’s spear in an arc [going clockwise] as your right foot shifts a small step across toward the south, the toes swinging outward, and your left foot steps out toward the west. B, as A moves, your right foot also shifts a small step across (toward the north), the toes also swinging outward, and your left foot steps out (toward the east, going around A [as he is going around you]). You have both now switched places. A, your chest is facing toward the north. B, your chest is facing toward the south. B, withdraw the end of your spear raised high as your right foot withdraws a step and then send the tip of your spear stabbing forward and downward toward B’s lower body, your hands forcefully dropping into place, your left elbow straightening, the center of the hand facing upward, your right elbow slightly bending, the center of the hand facing downward. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A’s leg. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot withdraws a step as your left hand forcefully pushes to your forward right, sending the head of your staff to quickly brace away the tip of B’s spear. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, the centers of both hands facing downward, your left elbow straightening, your right elbow bending, causing your staff to be positioned diagonally, close to the right side of your belly. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward the tip of B’s staff [spear]. See photo 13:
第十四動作 MOVEMENT 14:
乙方原姿式不動。將槍縮回。復照甲方左膝下部猛刺。甲方見槍刺來。左足向裏橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。同時右足再向前開一步。左手用力一帶。使棍頭將槍尖向外撥出。左肘曲。使棍頭向後上方。右肘向下。伸直。使棍尾向前下方。在右足進步之時。右手用力。使棍尾順槍桿直向上磕乙方左手。此時兩足尖均向起點左方。胸亦向起點左方。兩膝曲。成騎馬式。唯上身微向起點後方探。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方。見棍尾照左手磕來。左手猛向後。移至右手所在之處。同時右足不動。左足猛向後撤半步。足尖觸地。足踵提起。槍尖亦在前觸地。兩肘彎曲。使兩手縮於胸部下方。兩手心均向上。胸向起點前方。兩目注視棍尾。其式如第十四圖。 B, without changing your posture, withdraw your spear, then fiercely stab toward A’s lower left leg. A, when you see the stab coming, your left foot shifts a small step across inward, toes swinging outward, and your right foot then takes a step forward. Your left hand is forcefully dragging, sending the head of your staff to deflect the tip of B’s spear outward, and your left elbow bends, sending the head of your staff upward behind you, your right elbow straightening downward, sending the tail of your staff forward and downward. As your right foot advances, your right hand forcefully sends the tail of your staff upward to be parallel with the shaft of B’s spear and knock against his left hand, the toes of your feet now pointing toward the south. Your chest is also facing toward the south, both knees bending, making a horse-riding stance, your upper body slightly reaching toward the east, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, when you see the tail of A’s staff coming to knock your left hand, your left hand suddenly shifts to the rear to be next to your right hand. At the same time, your right foot stays where it is, but your left foot suddenly withdraws a half step, toes touching down, heel lifted, the tip of your spear touching the ground in front, both elbows bending, causing your hands to withdraw below your chest, the centers of both hands facing upward. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward the tail of A’s staff. See photo 14:
第十五動作 MOVEMENT 15:
乙方右足。同時向後撤一大步。左足亦隨右足撤半步。膝蓋微曲。右膝伸直。上身前探。成小前弓後箭步。同時左手向前移。伸直。右手握槍樽。縮回右脇之後方。復猛向前砍。照甲方頭部猛刺。同時甲方見槍刺來。左足不動。膝蓋彎曲。右足猛向後退半步。膝蓋微曲。足踵提起。足尖觸地。兩足距離約一尺餘。全身重點移於右腿。同時右足原地向右轉。右手棍尾向下沉。左手棍頭向上。左手用力。經胸前向身之右方推磕乙方之槍尖。此時右手伏於腹部左端。手心向裏。左手伏於膀肩旁。手心向前。胸向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第十五圖。 B, your right foot withdraws a large step, and your left foot follows, withdrawing a half step, the knee slightly bending, your right knee straightening, your upper body reaching forward as you make a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. At the same time, your left arm shifts forward, the arm straightening, and your right hand withdraws the end of your spear behind your right ribs, then shoots forward, suddenly stabbing toward A’s head. A, when you see the stab coming, your left foot stays where it is, the knee bending, and your right foot suddenly retreats a half step, the knee slightly bending, heel lifted, toes touching down, your feet just over a foot apart, the weight shifting onto your right [left] leg, your right [left] foot pivoting rightward. At the same time, your right hand sinks down the tail of your staff, your left hand sending the head of your staff upward, and your left hand forcefully pushes out to your right, knocking away the tip of B’s spear. Your right hand is now close to the left side of your abdomen, the center of the hand facing inward, your left hand close beside your [right] shoulder, the center of the hand facing forward. Your chest is facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 15 [reverse view]:
第十六動作 MOVEMENT 16:
同時乙方。右手復縮囘脇部後方。左手姿式不變。右手復向前猛砍。轉向甲方右膝下部直刺。甲方右足猛向左足後方撤一大步。膝蓋弓曲。左足亦隨撤半步。左膝伸直。足尖橫向起點左方。同時右手復於右脇後方。左手向下按。使棍頭由前直下。捺乙方槍尖。左手。左手伸直。手心向下。右肘微曲。手心向裏。上身向起點左方。微曲。胸向起點左方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第十六圖。 B, your right hand withdraws behind your ribs, the position of your left hand not changing, then your right hand fiercely shoots forward with a stab toward A’s right knee. A, your right foot suddenly withdraws a large step behind your left foot, the knee bending, and your left foot also withdraws a half step, the knee straightening, the toes pointing across toward the south. At the same time, your right hand goes behind your right ribs and your left hand pushes downward, sending the head of your staff downward from in front of you, pressing down the tip of B’s spear, your left arm straightening, the center of the hand facing downward, your right elbow slightly bending, the center of the hand facing inward, your upper body slightly bending toward the south. Your chest is facing toward the south, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 16:
第十七動作 MOVEMENT 17:
乙方復將槍縮回。照甲方頭部直刺。其姿式與前式相同。詳見前。故從畧。同時甲方雙手握棍。橫向上架乙方槍尖。同時將槍架出。使棍經腦後。（此時右手沈下）右手單手抓住棍尾。由身右方。橫向乙方腿部打一掃蹚。同時左足向右足後方猛撤一步。原地由左方向後轉。右足復向起點前方開一步。（此時胸已向起點前方）在右足開步之際。右手持棍橫掄。經右方。由前方斜伏於左脇之下。（在棍掄至面前時左手已接棍抓住）棍頭向起點。後下方。離地約五六寸。左肘向下斜方伸直。手心向裏。右肘橫曲。手心向下。右膝弓曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。唯此時胸向起點左方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。當甲方打掃蹚時。同時乙方。將槍縮回。兩足高跳。落地後。其姿式與前不變。詳見上。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第十七圖。 B, withdraw your spear, then stab toward A’s head, your posture still the same as in the previous movement. A, with both hands holding your staff horizontally, prop up the tip of B’s spear, and once the spear has been propped away, your staff passes behind your head (your right hand sinking down), your right hand now grasping your staff on its own, holding the tail of your staff, bringing it across from your right to attack B’s leg with a “sweeping the hall” action. At the same time, your left foot suddenly withdraws a step behind your right foot, arcing behind you from your left, then your right foot takes a step toward the west (your chest now facing toward the west). As your right foot steps out, your right hand has swung your staff across from the right and brings it in front of you to be a diagonal line close below your left ribs (your left hand now grabbing your staff), the head of your staff pointing downward toward the east, about half a foot away from the ground. Your left arm is straightened diagonally downward, the center of the hand facing inward, your right elbow bent across, the center of the hand facing downward, your right knee bending, left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is now facing toward the south, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, when A attacks with “sweeping the hall”, withdraw your spear, jumping high with both feet, and then after you land, your posture is again the same as before. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 17 [reverse view]:
第十八動作 MOVEMENT 18:
甲方姿式不變。直向起點前方走。兩目仍回視乙方。同時乙方亦挺槍開步。直追甲方。（甲方開步之多寡視練習場之大小而定）甲方走至練習場之另一。端乙。方照甲方腿部後方直刺。同時甲方見槍刺來。右手不動。左手曲肘。將棍向後提起。再向前猛搏槍尖。同時左足在後。橫向右方。（起點右面）移半步。膝蓋伸直。右膝弓曲。兩足距離約二尺弱。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點左方。兩足尖均向起點左方。面向起點後方。兩目注視槍。同時乙方左足在前。膝蓋微曲。右足在後。伸直。成小前弓後箭步左。手仍向前伸直右。手槍樽。仍停於左手裏面。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方腿部。其式如第十八圖。 A, without changing your posture, walk toward the west with your gaze turned to look toward B. B, step out to pursue A. A, with the number and size of your steps depending on the practice space, walk to one end of the space. B, stab to the back of A’s [left] leg. A, when you see the stab coming, your right hand stays where it is as your left elbow bends, lifting your staff behind you and then suddenly sending it forward to smack away the tip of B’s spear. At the same time, your left foot shifts a half step across toward the north, the knee straightening, your right knee bending, your feet just under two feet apart, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the south, the toes of both feet pointing toward the south. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward B’s spear. B, your left foot is forward, the knee slightly bent, right foot behind, the leg straightening, making a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your left hand is again extended forward, your right hand again finishing with the end of your spear near the inside of your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A’s leg. See photo 18:
第十九動作 MOVEMENT 19:
乙方復將槍縮回。兩足不動。唯身亦向後縮。又照甲方頭部直刺。同時甲方。右手棍尾沈下。左手將棍頭抬起。向上用力。向左猛扣乙槍。此時右足不動。半面向左轉。同時左足縮回一小步。足踵提起。足尖觸地。全身重點。移於右腿。胸向起點後方。左肘橫曲。手心向起點右方。右手心向起點右方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第十九圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, your body also shrinking back, then stab toward A’s head. A, your right hand sinks down the tail of your staff as your left hand forcefully lifts up the head of your staff and then goes to the left, fiercely covering B’s spear. At the same time, your right foot stays where it is but does a half pivot to the left, and your left foot withdraws a small step, heel lifted, toes touching down, the weight shifting onto your right leg. Your chest is facing toward the east, your left elbow bending across, the center of the hand facing toward the north [south], the center of your right hand also facing toward the north [south]. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 19:
第二十動作 MOVEMENT 20:
同時甲方。將乙槍扣住。右足向起點後方開一步。棍尾由身後。經頭上向乙方直劈。同時右手順棍下沈。距離左手約七八寸。手心向下。同時左肘曲。成三角形。上段緊伏左脇下段。成水平線。手心向下。使棍頭緊伏下段底面。棍頭與肘尖相齊。棍頭與棍尾成水平。上身微向前探。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方。見棍尾劈來。將槍縮回。右足向後撤一步。左足亦隨右足向後撤一步。方向仍不變。同時右手槍樽提起。左手向前微推。架住棍尾。左手朝裏裹勁。使槍桿上端。裹至棍尾在下。槍桿在上。胸向起點右方。兩目注視棍尾。其式如第二十圖。 A, after covering B’s spear, your right foot steps out toward the east as you send the tail of your staff from behind you, over your head, and chopping toward B, your right hand sinking down [i.e. sliding inward along your staff] to be about three quarters of a foot away from your left hand, the center of the hand facing downward. Your left elbow is bent, making a triangle shape, the upper arm near your left ribs, the forearm making a horizontal line, the center of the hand facing downward, the head of your staff lowered to be level with the elbow, the head and tail of your staff making a horizontal line [diagonal according to the photo]. Your upper body is slightly reaching forward. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, when you see the tail of A’s staff chopping toward you, pull back your spear as your right foot withdraws a step, your left foot following by also withdrawing a step, your orientation remaining the same. Then your right hand lifts the end of your spear and your left hand slightly pushes forward to brace away the tail of A’s staff, your left [right] hand also wrapping inward, causing the shaft of your spear to be angled upward, resulting in the staff being underneath and the spear being on top. Your chest is facing toward the north, your gaze toward the tail of A’s staff. See photo 20:
第二十一動作 MOVEMENT 21:
甲方兩足不動。右手向棍尾處移。抓住棍尾端。（此時左手鬆開）使棍頭經上方。直向乙方猛劈。上身向前探。左手隨棍停於頭部上方。五指伸開並攏。手心向上。右胳膊伸直。棍頭與棍尾相平。胸向起點右方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方。右足微向起點右後方撤一小步。左足亦隨撤一小步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。兩膝伸直。同時右手槍樽。微隨左手。左手抬高。使槍尖向身右前上方。左手用力向外擰勁。使槍尖猛扣甲棍。手心向左方。（起點左面）右手心向下。其式如第二十一圖。 A, with your feet staying where they are, your right hand shifts to the tail of your staff (your left hand letting go), sending the head of your staff over you and chopping toward B, your upper body reaching forward, your left hand following your staff to finish above your head, the fingers extended but together, the center of the hand facing upward, your right arm straightening, the head and tail of your staff level with each other. Your chest is facing toward the north, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, your right foot withdraws a small step slightly toward the northeast and your left foot also withdraws a step, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down, both knees straightening. At the same time, your right hand at the end of your spear slightly follows your left hand as your left hand lifts, sending the tip of your spear upward to the forward right of your body, your left hand forcefully twisting outward, causing the tip of your spear to suddenly cover A’s staff, the center of the hand facing toward the south, the center of your right hand facing downward. See photo 21:
第二十二動作 MOVEMENT 22:
甲方不停。卽向起點前方開步進行。左手仍在頭部上方。胸向起點右前方。面由右方。轉向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時右手及棍。在身後隨胳膊伸直。棍頭觸地。向起點正後方。胳膊與棍成直線。同時乙方姿式不變。向前開步。（甲乙兩方開步多寡視場之大小而定）甲方走至場之另一端。乙方用力照甲方頭部直刺。乙方左足在前。甲方見槍刺來止步。左足在前。右手用力使棍之中段向上猛托。右手朝上伸直。微向起點後方。手心向上。棍頭向起點左後下方。同時右足向後退回一小步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。胸向起點右後方。左手仍在頭上不變。兩目注視乙槍。其式如第二十二圖。 A, without pausing, advance [retreat] toward the west, your left hand still above your head. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. At the same time, your right hand and your staff follow your body back, the arm straightening, the head of your staff touching the ground toward the east, the arm and staff together making a straight line. B, maintaining your posture, chase toward the west as A walks to that end of the practice space (the amount of steps for both of you depending on the size of the practice space), and forcefully stab toward his head, your left foot again going forward. A, when you see the stab coming, bring your feet to a halt with your left [right] foot forward, [left foot behind], as your right hand forcefully sends the middle section of your staff propping upward, the arm extending upward and slightly toward the east, the center of the hand facing upward, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the southeast. At the same time, your right foot retreats a small step, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your left hand still positioned above your head, your gaze toward B’s spear. See photo 22:
第二十三動作 MOVEMENT 23:
乙方將槍縮回。兩足不動。復照甲方右腿下部猛刺。同時甲方。右足向起點前方猛撤一步。膝蓋弓曲。左足不動。原地向右擰。使足尖向起點左方。膝蓋伸直。兩足距離約三尺。（然隨身之高矮而定）使全身重點。移於右腿。同時右手用力擰。使棍頭向後旋轉。經頭上朝下猛捕。左手亦抓棍之中段。用力向下按。胳膊伸直。手心向下。右手心向裏。肘微曲。腰部微向前曲。胸向起點左方。兩目注視乙方。此時乙方姿式。左足在前。膝蓋微曲。右腿在後。伸直。上身微向前探。左手在前伸直。手心向上。右手持槍樽。在左手之後。距離左手約五六寸。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第二十三圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, then fiercely stab downward toward A’s right leg. A, your right foot suddenly withdraws a step toward the west, the knee bending, your left foot staying where it is and pivoting to the right so the toes are pointing toward the south, the knee straightening, your feet about three feet apart (depending on your own height), the weight shifting to your right leg. At the same time, your right hand forcefully twists, sending the head of your staff arcing behind you, passing over your head, and fiercely seizing downward, your left hand also grasping the middle section of your staff and forcefully pushing it down, the arm straightening, the center of the hand facing downward, the center of your right hand facing inward, the elbow slightly bent, your torso slightly bending forward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward B. At this time, B’s posture is thus: your left foot is forward, the knee slightly bent, your right leg straightened behind, your upper body slightly reaching forward, your left hand forward, the arm straight, the center of the hand facing upward, your right hand holding the end of your spear about half a foot behind your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 23:
第二十四動作 MOVEMENT 24:
乙方不動。將槍縮回。復照甲方頭部直刺。甲方見槍刺來。右足不動。原地向左轉。使足尖向起點後方。左足縮回半步。足踵提起。足尖觸地。膝微曲。兩足距離一尺餘。同時左手持棍抬起。使棍向身之左方猛帶。手心向起點後方。胸亦向起點後方。右手棍尾伏於右脇下部。面向起點後方。同時乙方。復將槍縮回。兩足不動。又照甲方左腿下部猛刺。同時甲方。左足向起點左方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。右足在左足後方。向起點後方開一步。兩膝均曲。成騎馬式。右手棍尾在右足開步之際。使棍尾向前猛抵乙槍。兩足尖均向起點右方。胸向起點右方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙槍。其式如第二十四圖。 B, staying where you are, withdraw your spear, then stab straight toward A’s head. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot stays where it is and pivots to the left so the toes are pointing toward the east, your left foot withdrawing a half step, heel lifted, toes touching down, the knee slightly bent, your feet just over a foot apart. At the same time, your left hand lifts the [head] of your staff, fiercely dragging to your left, the center of the hand facing toward the east, as is your chest, your right hand holding the tail of your staff hidden below your right ribs. You are facing toward the east. B, again withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, and then fiercely stab downward toward A’s left leg. A, your left foot shifts a small step across toward the south, toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step toward the east from behind your left foot, both knees bending, making a horse-riding stance. As your right foot steps out, your right hand sends the tail of your staff forward, fiercely bracing away B’s spear, your feet pointing toward the north. Your chest is also facing toward the north, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B’s spear. See photo 24:
第二十五動作 MOVEMENT 25:
乙方左足。在右足前。向起點後方撤一步。同時左手抬起。使槍尖向上。左手移抓槍之上段。右手亦向上移。隨向前推。使槍樽直搗甲方右腿下部。右肘伸直。手心向下。左肘曲。手心向上。右膝曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點左方。面向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方見槍樽搗來。左足向起點後方開一步。右手抬起。曲肘。使棍尾向上。左手沈下。肘伸直。使棍頭向下。左手向前速推。使棍頭猛抵乙方槍樽。兩膝均曲。兩足尖均向起點左方。成騎馬式。胸向起點左方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙槍。其式如第二十五圖。 B, your left foot withdraws a step toward the east from in front of your right foot, your left hand lifting, sending the tip of your spear upward and shifting its grip to the forward section of your spear. Your right hand also shifts upward, then pushes forward, sending the end of your spear pounding toward A’s lower right leg, your right elbow straightening, the center of the hand facing downward, your left elbow bending, the center of the hand facing upward, your right knee bending, your left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the south, your face toward the west, your gaze toward A. A, when you see the end of B’s spear pounding toward your leg, your left foot takes a step toward the east and your right hand lifts, the elbow bending, sending the tail of your staff upward, your left hand sinking down, the elbow straightening, sending the head of your staff downward, and your left hand quickly pushes forward, sending the head of your staff to be bracing away the end of B’s spear, both knees bending, the toes of both feet pointing toward the south, making a horse-riding stance. Your chest is facing toward the south, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B’s spear. See photo 25 [reverse view]:
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第九章 (CHAPTER NINE)
第二十六動作 MOVEMENT 26:
同時乙方槍樽。同甲方棍頭向上絞。（槍樽在上棍頭在下）絞至與頭平。乙方槍樽向回提高。同時右足向後撤一步。左手沈下伸直。使槍尖朝下。在身之左方。左手猛向前推。右手用力下垂。使槍尖直刺甲方左腿下部。其姿式與上式不變。唯此時右足在後。而胸已轉向起點右方。同時甲方。左手棍頭。與槍樽相絞。見槍照腿部刺來。右足猛向前開一步。左肘曲。棍頭向上。右手下沈。使棍尾向下。右手向前一推。使棍尾猛抵乙槍。兩膝均曲。仍成騎馬式。其姿式與前相同。唯此時右足在前。胸已轉向起點右方。其式如第二十六圖。 The end of B’s spear and the head of A’s staff are coiling upward (spear on top, staff underneath). B, once they are at head level, withdraw the end of your spear by lifting it high, your right foot withdrawing a step behind you, your left hand sinking down, the arm straightening, pointing the tip of your spear downward to your left, and then your left hand fiercely pushes forward, your right hand forcefully dropping downward, sending the tip of your spear stabbing toward A’s left lower leg. The posture is the same as before [Movement 24], your right foot behind, your chest turned to be facing toward the north. A, your left hand is holding the head of your staff as it coils with the end of B’s spear, and then when you see the stab coming toward your leg, your right foot suddenly takes a step forward, your left elbow bending, sending the head of your staff upward, your right hand sinking down, sending the tail of your staff downward, and your right hand pushes the tail forward, fiercely bracing away B’s spear. Both knees are bending, again making a horse-riding stance, the posture the same as before [Movement 24], your right foot forward, your chest turned to be facing toward the north. See photo 26:
第二十七動作 MOVEMENT 27:
甲方不停。同時將槍抵出。左手鬆開。右手抵住。用力使棍頭經上方向前直劈。上身亦向前探。左手隨棍停於頭部上方。五指伸開並攏。手心向上。兩足不動。及一切姿式與前不變。同時乙方見棍照頭部劈來。右足向起點右後方猛撤一小步。左足亦隨撤一小步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。兩膝伸直。上身向右方微斜。同時將槍縮回。右手在右脇後下方。微隨左手。左手向外擰勁。使槍尖向外猛扣甲棍。左手心向起點左方。胸向起點左前方。面向起點前方。兩目注視甲其。方式如第二十七圖。 A, without pausing after bracing away B’s spear, your left hand lets go and your right hand forcefully sends the head of your staff upward and chopping forward, your upper body also leaning forward, your left hand following your staff to stop above your head, fingers extended but still together, the center of the hand facing upward, your feet staying where they are, your stance not changing from the previous posture. B, when you see A’s staff chopping toward your head, your right foot suddenly withdraws a small step toward the northeast, then your left foot also withdraws a small step, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down, both knees straightening, your upper body slightly leaning toward the south. At the same time, your spear withdraws, your right hand going behind and below your right ribs, and your left hand slightly twists outward, sending the tip of your spear outward to suddenly cover A’s staff, the center of your left hand facing toward the south. Your chest is facing toward the southwest, your face toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 27:
第二十八動作 MOVEMENT 28:
甲方不停。卽向起點前方開步進行。姿式左手仍在頭部上方。胸向起點右前方。面由右方轉向後。兩目注視乙方。同時右手及棍。在身後。胳膊伸直。棍頭觸地。向起點正後方。胳膊與棍成直線。同時乙方姿式不變。向前開步。（起點前面）直追（甲乙兩方、開步多寡、視場之大小而定）甲方走至場之另一端。乙方用力照甲方頭部直刺。乙方左足在前。甲方見槍刺來。止步。右足在前。左足在後。右手用力使棍之中段。向上猛托。右手朝上伸直。微向起點後方。手心向上。棍頭向起點左後下方。同時右足向後退回一小步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。胸向起點右後方。左手仍在頭上不變。兩目注視乙槍。其式如第二十八圖。 A, without pausing, advance [retreat] toward the west, your left hand still above your head. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. At the same time, your right hand and your staff follow your body back, the arm straightening, the head of your staff touching the ground toward the east, the arm and staff together making a straight line. B, maintaining your posture, chase toward the west as A walks to that end of the practice space (the amount of steps for both of you depending on the size of the practice space), and forcefully stab toward his head, your left foot again going forward. A, when you see the stab coming, bring your feet to a halt with your right foot forward, left foot behind, as your right hand forcefully sends the middle section of your staff propping upward, the arm extending upward and slightly toward the east, the center of the hand facing upward, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the southeast. At the same time, your right foot retreats a small step, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your left hand still positioned above your head, your gaze toward B’s spear. See photo 28:
第二十九動作 MOVEMENT 29:
乙方將槍縮回。兩足不動。復照甲方右腿下部猛刺。同時甲方。右足向起點前方猛撤一步。膝蓋弓曲。左足不動。原地向右擰勁。使足尖向起點左方。膝蓋伸直。兩足距離約三尺。（隨身之高矮而定）使全身重點。移於右腿。右手用力擰。使棍頭向後旋轉。經頭上。至面前朝下猛捕。同時右手亦抓棍之中段。用力向下按。胳膊伸直。手心向下。右手心向裏。肘微曲。腰部微向前曲。胸向起點左方。兩目注視乙方。此時乙方姿式。左足在前。膝蓋微曲。右腿在後伸直。手心向上。右手持槍樽。在左手之後。距離左手約五六寸。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。以上姿式。與第二十三圖動作相同。其式如第二十九圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, then fiercely stab downward toward A’s right leg. A, your right foot suddenly withdraws a step toward the west, the knee bending, your left foot staying where it is and pivoting to the right so the toes are pointing toward the south, the knee straightening, your feet about three feet apart (depending on your own height), the weight shifting to your right leg. At the same time, your right hand forcefully twists, sending the head of your staff arcing behind you, passing over your head, and fiercely seizing downward once in front of your face, your right [left] hand also grasping the middle section of your staff and forcefully pushing it down, the arm straightening, the center of the hand facing downward, the center of your right hand facing inward, the elbow slightly bent, your torso slightly bending forward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward B. At this time, B’s posture is thus: your left foot is forward, the knee slightly bent, your right leg straightened behind, [your left hand forward,] the center of the hand facing upward, your right hand holding the end of your spear about half a foot behind your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. This posture is the same as in photo 23. See photo 29:
第三十動作 MOVEMENT 30:
乙方將槍縮回。使右手向後伸直。左手移抓槍之上段。同時左足尖向外撇。右足在左足後方。向起點前方開一步。此時胸已向起點左方。左手沈下。右手由後向前。（此時右手移抓槍之中段）使槍樽照甲方頭部猛劈。左手曲肘。手心向上。右手在前。肘微曲。手心向下。胸向起點左方。面向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方見槍樽劈來。兩足向前猛進一小步。雙手持棍。猛向上架。右手向上伸直。左肘微曲。向前上方伸。兩手心均向起點左後方。使棍尾高於棍頭約一尺五六寸。棍頭向起點右後下方。胸向起點左後方。右膝彎曲。足尖向起點左方。左膝在前。伸直。足尖向起點左後方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方其式如第三十圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your right arm straightening behind, your left hand shifting its grip to the forward section of your spear. At the same, your left toes swing outward and your right foot takes a step toward the west from behind your left foot. With your chest now facing toward the south, your left hand is sinking down and your right hand comes forward from behind (shifting its grip to the middle section), sending the end of your spear fiercely chopping toward A’s head. Your left elbow is bent, the center of the hand facing upward, and your right hand is forward, the elbow slightly bent, the center of the hand facing downward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your face toward the west, your gaze toward A. A, when you see the end of B’s spear chopping toward you, your feet both advance a small step forward as you fiercely prop up your staff with both hands, your right arm straightening upward, your left elbow slightly bent as it extends forward and upward, the centers of both hands facing toward the southeast as you put the tail of your staff about a foot and a half higher than the head of your staff, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the northeast. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, your right knee bending, the toes pointing toward the south, your left knee straightened in front, the toes pointing toward the southeast. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 30 [reverse view]:
第三十一動作 MOVEMENT 31:
甲方左手沈下。右足在左足後面。向起點後方開一步。右手向前按。使棍尾照乙方頭部直劈。左肘彎曲。手心向下。使左肘緊挾棍頭。於左脇上端。右手在前。肘微曲。手心向下。斯時右膝在前彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點右後方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方右足猛撤一步。右手抬起。復移抓槍樽。使槍樽向上。同時左手伸直。向上托。使槍中段。猛架甲棍。此時右手向上。手心朝起點右前方。左手在前伸直。向起點左前上方。手心向上。槍樽高於槍尖約一尺七八寸。槍尖向起點左前下方。右腿在後伸直。左腿亦伸直。唯足踵微提起。足尖觸地。上身向後微閃。胸向起點右前方。面向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第三十一圖。 A, your left hand sinks down as your right foot takes a step toward the east from behind your left foot, your right hand pushing forward, sending the tail of your staff chopping toward B’s head. Your left elbow is bent, the center of the hand facing downward, the elbow wrapping the head of your staff to your left ribs. Your right hand is forward, the elbow slightly bent, the center of the hand facing downward. Your right knee in front is bent, left leg straight, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, your right foot suddenly withdraws a step, your right hand lifting, shifting its grip to the end of your spear, and sending it upward, your left hand at the same time extending and propping up, sending the middle section of your spear to fiercely prop away A’s staff. Your right hand is now above, the center of the hand facing toward the northwest, your left hand forward, the arm straight, pointing toward the southwest, the center of the hand facing upward, the end of your spear about a foot and three quarters higher than the tip, the tip pointing downward toward the southwest. Your right leg is straightening behind, your left leg also straightening, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down, your upper body slightly dodging back. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 31:
第三十二動作 MOVEMENT 32:
同時乙方。左手向裏擰。使槍尖向裏裹。棍尾裹至乙槍在上。棍尾在下。甲方兩足不動。左手鬆開沈下。復伸至頭部上方。五指伸直並攏。手心向上。右手用力。使棍頭由後經上方。照乙頭部直劈。上身微向前探。同時乙方。左手向左用力。使槍向左猛掛。右手槍樽在後。微隨。使槍尖向上。兩方其餘姿式。與前不變。其式如第三十二圖。 B, your left hand twists inward, causing the tip of your spear to wrap inward, wrapping around the tail of A’s staff until the spear is on top and the staff is underneath. A, with your feet staying where they are, your left hand lets go and sinks down, then extends until above your head, the fingers extended but together, the center of the hand facing upward, as your right hand forcefully sends the head of your staff behind you, passing over you, and chopping toward B’s head, your upper body slightly reaching forward. B, your left hand forcefully goes to the left, sending your spear across with a sudden hanging action, your right hand at the end of your spear slightly following, causing the tip of your spear to go upward. The rest of the posture is the same as before [Movement 21]. See photo 32:
第三十三動作 MOVEMENT 33:
甲方。右手持棍。在前。左手抓棍尾。用力向乙方左腿下部打一掃蹚。同時乙方高跳。右足先觸地。由左方旋轉一圈。使胸復向起點前方。左足再向前觸地。此時雙手挺槍。復照甲方腿部猛刺。右腿在後伸直。左膝彎曲。成小前弓後箭步。左手在前。手心向上。右手在後。距離左手約五六寸。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方。左足不動。右足微向起點左方。橫移一小步。膝蓋伸直。左膝微曲。左手鬆開。置於頭部上方。五指伸開並攏。右手持棍。使棍頭在前觸地。不動。胳膊伸直。向起點右方猛撥。右手反背。使手心向起點左方。胸向起點右方。棍尾直向上。胳膊橫平。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第三十三圖。 A, with your right hand still holding your staff, your left hand comes forward to also take hold of the tail section and you forcefully do a “sweeping the hall” attack toward B’s lower left leg. B, jump high, your right foot coming down first, [your torso] turning from the left so that your chest is facing toward the west as your left foot comes down forward and you extend your spear with both hands, fiercely stabbing toward A’s [right] leg, your right leg straightening behind, left knee bending, making a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your left hand is forward, the center of the hand facing upward, right hand behind, about half a foot away from your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. A, your left foot stays where it is as your right foot slightly shifts across a small step toward the south, the knee straightening, your left knee slightly bending. Your left hand lets go and is placed above your head, the fingers extended but together, as your right hand puts the head of your staff firmly onto the ground and the arm straightens, suddenly deflecting toward the north, the hand turned over so the center of the hand is facing toward the south. Your chest is facing toward the north, the tail of your staff pointing upward, your [right] arm horizontal. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 33:
第三十四動作 MOVEMENT 34:
甲方將槍撥出。右手用力。使棍頭由身後。經頭上向乙方頭部直劈。其餘姿式。與前不變。唯該時上身向前探。右膝彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。同時乙方復將槍縮回。全體隨向後縮。左手將槍抬起。朝上猛向左帶。其姿式與前第二十一圖相同。其式如第三十四圖。 A, after deflecting B’s spear away, your right hand forcefully sends the head of your staff from behind your body, over your head, and chopping straight toward B’s head. The rest of the posture is the same as before [Movement 21], except that this time your upper body is reaching forward. Your right knee is bent, left leg straight, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. B, withdraw your spear, your body also withdrawing, your left hand lifting your spear, the hand facing upward, and fiercely drag to the left. This posture is the same as in photo 21. See photo 34:
第三十五動作 MOVEMENT 35:
甲方不停。卽向起點前方開步。進行姿式。左手仍在頭部上方。胸向起點右前方。面由右方轉向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。同時右手及棍。在身後。隨胳膊伸直。棍頭觸地。向起點正後方。胳膊與棍成直線。同時乙方姿式不變。向前開步。（起點前面）直追（甲乙兩方、開步多寡、視練習場之大小而定）甲方。走至練習場之另一端。乙方用力照甲方頭部直刺。乙方左足在前。甲方見槍刺來。止步。右足在前。左足在後。右手用力使棍之中段。向上猛托。右手朝上伸直。微向起點後方。手心向上。棍頭向起點左後下方。右足向後退回一小步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。胸向起點右後方。左手仍在頭上不變。兩目注視乙槍。以上姿式及動作。與前第二十二圖相同。其式如第三十五圖。 A, without pausing, advance [retreat] toward the west, your left hand still above your head. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. At the same time, your right hand and your staff follow your body back, the arm straightening, the head of your staff touching the ground toward the east, the arm and staff together making a straight line. B, maintaining your posture, chase toward the west as A walks to that end of the practice space (the amount of steps for both of you depending on the size of the practice space), and forcefully stab toward his head, your left foot again going forward. A, when you see the stab coming, bring your feet to a halt with your right foot forward, left foot behind, as your right hand forcefully sends the middle section of your staff propping upward, the arm extending upward and slightly toward the east, the center of the hand facing upward, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the southeast. At the same time, your right foot retreats a small step, the heel slightly lifted, toes touching down. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your left hand still positioned above your head, your gaze toward B’s spear. The posture and movement is the same as for photo 22. See photo 35:
第三十六動作 MOVEMENT 36:
乙方將槍縮回。兩足不動。復照甲方右腿下部猛刺。同時甲方。右足向起點前方猛撤一步。膝蓋弓曲。左足不動。原地向右擰勁。使足尖向起點左方。膝蓋伸直。兩足距離約三尺。（然亦隨身體高矮而定）使全身重點。移於右腿。右手用力擰。使棍頭向後旋轉。經頭上朝下猛捕。同時左手亦抓棍之中段。用力向下按。胳膊伸直。手心向下。右手心向裏。肘微曲。腰部微向前曲。胸向起點左方。兩目注視乙方。此時乙方姿式。左足在前。膝蓋微曲。右腿在後伸直。上身微向前探。左手在前伸直。手心向上。右手持槍樽。在左手之後。距離左手約五六寸。胸向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。其姿式動作。與前第二十三圖相同。其式如第三十六圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, then fiercely stab downward toward A’s right leg. A, your right foot suddenly withdraws a step toward the west, the knee bending, your left foot staying where it is and pivoting to the right so the toes are pointing toward the south, the knee straightening, your feet about three feet apart (depending on your own height), the weight shifting to your right leg. At the same time, your right hand forcefully twists, sending the head of your staff arcing behind you, passing over your head, and fiercely seizing downward, your left hand also grasping the middle section of your staff and forcefully pushing it down, the arm straightening, the center of the hand facing downward, the center of your right hand facing inward, the elbow slightly bent, your torso slightly bending forward. Your chest is facing toward the south, your gaze toward B. At this time, B’s posture is thus: your left foot is forward, the knee slightly bent, your right leg straightened behind, your upper body slightly reaching forward, your left hand forward, the arm straight, the center of the hand facing upward, your right hand holding the end of your spear about half a foot behind your left hand. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. This posture is the same as in photo 23. See photo 36:
第三十七動作 MOVEMENT 37:
乙方不動。將槍縮回。復照甲方頭部直刺。甲方見槍刺來。右足不動。原地向左轉。使足尖向起點後方。左足縮回半步。足踵提起。足尖觸地。膝蓋微曲。兩足距離約一尺餘。同時左手持棍抬起。使棍向身之左方猛帶。手心向起點後方。胸亦向起點後方。右手棍尾。伏於右脅下部。面向起點後方。同時乙方。復將槍縮回。兩足不動。又照甲方左腿下部猛刺。同時甲方。左足向起點左方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。右足在左足後方。向起點後方開一步。兩膝蓋彎曲。成騎馬式。右手棍尾。在右足開步之際。使棍尾向前猛抵乙槍。兩足均向起點右方。胸亦向起點右方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙槍。其姿式與前第二十四圖相同。其式如第三十七圖。 B, staying where you are, withdraw your spear, then stab straight toward A’s head. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot stays where it is and pivots to the left so the toes are pointing toward the east, your left foot withdrawing a half step, heel lifted, toes touching down, the knee slightly bent, your feet just over a foot apart. At the same time, your left hand lifts the [head] of your staff, fiercely dragging to your left, the center of the hand facing toward the east, as is your chest, your right hand holding the tail of your staff hidden below your right ribs. You are facing toward the east. B, again withdraw your spear, your feet staying where they are, and then fiercely stab downward toward A’s left leg. A, your left foot shifts a small step across toward the south, the toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step toward the east from behind your left foot, both knees bending, making a horse-riding stance. As your right foot steps out, your right hand sends the tail of your staff forward, fiercely bracing away B’s spear, your feet pointing toward the north. Your chest is also facing toward the north, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B’s spear. The posture is the same as in photo 24. See photo 37:
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第十章 (CHAPTER TEN)
第三十八動作 MOVEMENT 38:
同時乙方槍樽。與甲方棍頭向上絞。槍樽在上。棍頭在下。絞至與頭平。乙方槍樽縮回。提高。同時右足向後再撤一步。左手沈下伸直。使槍尖朝下。在身之左手。猛向前推。右手用力下捶。使槍尖直刺甲方左腿下部。其姿式與前不變。唯此時右足在後。而胸已轉向起點右方。同時甲方。左手棍頭與槍樽相絞。見槍刺來。右足猛向前開一步。同時左肘曲。棍頭抬起。向上。右手下沈。使棍尾向下。右手向前一推。使棍尾猛抵乙槍。兩膝彎曲。仍成騎馬式。唯此時。右足在前。胸已向起點右方。以上姿式。與前第二十六圖相同。其式如第三十八圖。 The end of B’s spear and the head of A’s staff are coiling upward, spear on top, staff underneath. B, once they are at head level, withdraw the end of your spear by lifting it high, your right foot withdrawing a step behind you [your left foot following], your left hand sinking down, the arm straightening, pointing the tip of your spear downward to your left, and then your left hand fiercely pushes forward, your right hand forcefully dropping downward, sending the tip of your spear stabbing toward A’s left lower leg. The posture is the same as in the previous movement, your right foot behind, your chest facing toward the north. A, your left hand is holding the head of your staff as it coils with the end of B’s spear, and then when you see the stab coming, your right foot suddenly shifts a step forward [your left foot following], your left elbow bending, sending the head of your staff upward, your right hand sinking down, sending the tail of your staff downward, and your right hand pushes the tail forward, fiercely bracing away B’s spear. Both knees are bending, again making a horse-riding stance, your right foot forward, your chest facing toward the north. The posture is the same as in photo 26 [which is itself a repeat of photo 24 and was just reused for Movement 37]. See photo 38 [in this case a reverse view]:
第三十九動作 MOVEMENT 39:
甲方不停。左手鬆開。移抓右手後方棍尾。右手在前。兩手用力。使棍頭經上方向前。照乙方左肩斜劈。同時上身亦向前探。兩足不動。其餘姿式與前不變。乙方右手槍樽。縮回右脅後下方。左手用力。將槍抬起。向身之左方猛帶。左肘曲。手心向起點後方。右手沈。同時右足不動。膝蓋彎曲。左足向後退回半步。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。胸向起點正前方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第三十九圖。 A, without pausing, your left hand lets go and shifts its grip to the tail of your staff behind your right hand, your right hand now forward, and both hands forcefully send the head of your staff forward from above, chopping diagonally toward B’s left shoulder, your upper body reaching forward, your feet staying where they are. The rest of the posture remains the same as in the previous movement. B, your right hand withdraws the end of your spear below and behind your right ribs as your left hand forcefully lifts your spear into a sudden dragging action to your left, the elbow bending, the center of the hand facing toward the east, your right hand sinking. At the same time, your right foot stays where it is, the knee bending, your left foot withdrawing a half step, heel slightly lifted, toes touching down. Your chest is facing toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 39:
第四十動作 MOVEMENT 40:
甲方仍雙手持棍。右手在前。將棍抬起。復照乙方左腿下方打一掃蹚。同時乙方。雙腿高跳。此時棍已轉甲之左方。甲方兩足不動。復將棍抬起。又照乙方頭部直劈。右膝在前彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點後方。面亦向後方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方雙手持槍。向上猛托。兩手朝上伸直。右足在前。膝蓋彎曲。左足在後伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點右前方。面向起點前方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第四十圖。 A, still with both hands holding your staff, your right hand forward, lift your staff, then attack B’s lower left leg with a “sweeping the hall” action. B, jump high with both legs, letting A’s staff arc through toward the north. A, with your feet staying where they are, lift your staff and then chop toward B’s head, your right knee bending forward, left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the east, your face also toward the east, your gaze toward B. B, your hands send your spear fiercely propping up, your arms straightening upward, your right knee bending forward, your left leg straightening behind, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the west, your gaze toward A. See photo 40:
第四十一動作 MOVEMENT 41:
乙方雙手沈下。挺槍照甲方頭額直刺。其姿式與前不變。同時甲方見槍刺來。右足向左足後方。猛撤一步。同時雙手縮回。使棍頭朝上。猛向右帶。此時左膝微曲。右足在前伸直。足踵微提起。足尖觸地。胸向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十一圖。 B, your hands sink down and you extend your spear with a stab toward A’s forehead, the [rest of] your posture remaining the same as in the previous movement. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot suddenly withdraws a step behind your left foot [withdraws a half step in front of your left foot] as your hands also withdraw, sending the head of your staff upward and fiercely dragging to the right, your left knee slightly bending, your right leg straightening in front, the heel slightly lifting, toes touching down. Your chest is facing toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 41:
第四十二動作 MOVEMENT 42:
乙方復將槍縮回。姿式不變。又照甲方左腿下部直刺。同時甲方。左足向起點右方橫移一小步。兩手擰勁。使棍頭在上。朝下猛捕。右足不動。膝蓋向下曲。左足向起點右後方伸直。足尖向起點左後方。腰部向前曲。此時右手在前。手心向下。左手在後。手心向上。兩胳膊成斜十字架。右手在上。左手在下。兩手距離約五六寸。棍頭向右後方。觸地。胸向起點左後方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十二圖。 B, withdraw your spear, your posture not changing, and then stab downward toward A’s left [right] leg. A, your left [right] foot shifts a small step across toward the north as your hands twist, sending the head of your staff from above to fiercely seize downward, your right foot now staying where it is, the knee bending downward, as your left leg straightens toward the northeast, the toes pointing toward the southeast, your upper body slightly leaning forward. Your right hand is now in front, the center of the hand facing downward, your left hand behind, the center of the hand facing upward, your forearms making an X shape, right arm above, left arm below, your hands about half a foot apart. The head of your staff is touching the ground toward the southwest [northeast]. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 42:
第四十三動作 MOVEMENT 43:
乙方姿式不變。將槍縮回。復照甲方頭額左端直刺。同時甲方站起。雙手持棍。與前不變。向上猛托。兩胳膊均向上伸直。棍頭向起點右後下方。胸向起點左後方。面向起點後方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十三圖。 B, without changing your posture, withdraw your spear, then stab toward the left side of A’s forehead. A, rise up with both hands holding your staff, their position not changing, and fiercely prop up B’s spear, your arms straightening upward, the head of your staff pointing downward [upward] toward the northeast. Your chest is facing toward the southeast, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 43:
第四十四動作 MOVEMENT 44 [switching places]:
承上式。甲方將槍托出。左足向起點左方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。右足在左足後方。向前開一步。雙手持棍。與前不變。用力使棍頭。經後旋轉。由右方橫向乙方腰部。攔腰一棍。（此時胸已由左轉、向起點右方、左足轉向前右足在後）在攔腰之際。同時左足。再由右足前方。向後撤一步。右膝在前彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點正前方。雙手在前抓棍伸直。右手心向上。左手在後向下。面向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。同時乙方見棍照攔腰打來。左手抬起。使槍尖向上。右手下沈。左足向起點右方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。右足在左足後面。向前開一步。及時原地向左轉。使胸向起點後方。（此時左足轉向前、右足在後）同時左足在前。向右足後方撤一步。右膝在前彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點右方。在右足向前開步之際。兩手用力。使槍中段。猛抵甲棍。面向起點後方。兩目注視甲方。其式如第四十四圖。 A, continuing from the previous posture, having propped away A’s spear, your left foot shifts a small step across toward the south, toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step forward from behind your left foot, your hands not changing their position on your staff as they forcefully send the head of your staff arcing behind you and then swinging across toward B’s waist from your right. (In this instant, your chest is turning leftward to be facing toward the north so that as your left foot is turning in front of you, your right foot is momentarily becoming the rear foot.) Then as you swing across to his waist, your left foot withdraws behind your right foot [causing you to fully switch places with B], your right knee bending in front, your left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the east, your hands extending your staff forward with the center of your right hand facing upward, your left hand behind, the center of the hand facing downward. You are facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. B, when you see A’s staff swinging toward your waist, your left hand lifts, sending the tip of your spear upward, your right hand sinking down, as your left foot shifts a small step across toward the north, toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step forward from behind your left foot. (In this instant, your chest is turning leftward to be facing toward the east so that as your left foot is turning in front of you, your right foot is momentarily becoming the rear foot.) Then your left foot withdraws to be behind your right foot [causing you to fully switch places with A], your right knee bending in front, your left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the north. As your right foot steps forward, your hands forcefully send the middle section of your spear to suddenly brace away A’s staff. You are facing toward the east, your gaze toward A. See photo 44:
第四十五動作 MOVEMENT 45:
乙方右足向後撤一步。同時右手槍樽。後縮。左手沈下。挺槍照甲方頭額右端直刺。同時甲方。仍雙手持棍。向上猛托。兩手朝上過頂。使棍頭向起點右前下方。右足退回半步。足踵提起。足尖觸地。上身微向後縮。胸仍向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十五圖。 B, your right foot withdraws a step as your right hand withdraws the end of your spear, your left hand sinking down, then extend your spear, stabbing toward the right side of A’s forehead. A, still holding your staff with both hands, fiercely prop up, your hands going higher than your headtop, the head of your staff pointing downward toward the northwest, your right foot withdrawing a half step, heel lifted, toes touching down, your upper body slightly withdrawing. Your chest is again facing toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 45:
第四十六動作 MOVEMENT 46:
乙方將槍縮回。復照甲方腿部下方直刺。其姿式與前不變。甲方見槍刺來。同時右足。向起點左方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。左足由右足後方。向前開一步。雙手持棍。用力使棍頭。由後經上方。向前猛捕。棍頭在前觸地。右手在前。手心向下。左手在後。手心向上。兩手成斜十字。右手在上。左手在下。兩手距離約五六寸。左腿在前伸直。右足曲膝。上身向前撲。使全身重點。移於右腿。胸向起點右前方。面向起點正前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十六圖。 B, withdraw your spear and then stab downward toward A’s [right] leg, the rest of your posture remaining the same as in the previous movement. A, when you see the stab coming, your right foot shifts a small step across toward the south, toes swinging outward, and your left foot takes a step forward from behind your right foot, as your hands forcefully send the head of your staff to the rear, continuing over you, and then fiercely seizing forward, the head of your staff touching the ground. Your right hand is in front, the center of the hand facing downward, your left hand behind, the center of the hand facing upward, your forearms making an X shape, right arm above, left hand below, your hands about half a foot apart. Your left leg is forward and straightened, your right knee bending, and your upper body is leaning forward, the weight on your right leg. Your chest is facing toward the northwest, your face toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 46 [reverse view]:
第四十七動作 MOVEMENT 47:
同時乙方。復將槍縮回。又照甲方頭額直刺。姿式與前相同。此時甲方全身提起。左足退回一小步。足踵提起。足尖觸地。雙手原處不動。抬起。向上使棍中段。猛抵乙槍。棍頭向起點左前下方。胸向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十七圖。 B, withdraw your spear and then stab toward A’s forehead, the rest of your posture remaining the same as in the previous movement. A, your body rises and your left foot retreats a small step, heel lifted, toes touching down, as your hands lift, not changing their position, sending the middle of your staff upward, fiercely bracing away B’s spear, the head of your staff pointing downward [upward] toward the southwest. Your chest is facing toward the west [northwest]. Your gaze is toward B. See photo 47 [reverse view]:
第四十八動作 MOVEMENT 48:
甲方左足向起點右方橫一小步。足尖向外撇。右足由左足後方。向前開一步。同時雙手持棍。經右方。照乙方左腿下部猛掃。兩手在前伸直。右足在前。膝蓋彎曲。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點左前方。面向起點正前方。兩目注視乙腿。同時乙方。左足向起點左方橫移一小步。足尖向外撇。右足在左足後方。向前開一步。同時右手沈下。左手抬起。使槍尖向上。右手上移向前推。猛抵甲棍。右足在前曲膝。左腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點右後方。兩目注視甲棍。其式如第四十八圖。 A, your left foot shifts a small step across toward the north, toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step forward from behind your left foot as your hands send your staff swinging through on your right side and fiercely sweeping toward B’s left leg, both hands going forward, your arms straightening. Your right foot is forward, the knee bending, your left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow [although the photo shows A in a horse-riding stance]. Your chest is facing toward the southwest, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B’s leg. B, your left foot shifts a small step across toward the south [steps back toward the east], toes swinging outward, and your right foot takes a step forward from behind your left foot [shifts forward, toes swinging inward]. At the same time, your right hand sinks down and your left hand lifts, sending the tip of your spear upward, your right hand then shifting upward, and you push forward, fiercely bracing away A’s staff. Your right foot is forward, the knee bending, your left leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow [although the photo shows B in a horse-riding stance]. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your gaze toward A’s staff. See photo 48:
第四十九動作 MOVEMENT 49:
乙方右手槍提起。縮回右脅後方。同時右足向後撤一步。左手下沈。挺直照甲方頭額直刺。左腿在前曲膝。右腿在後伸直。成小前弓後箭步。胸向起點後方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方。見槍照頭部刺來。兩足不動。上身向後縮。使右腿伸直。左腿弓曲。成左弓右箭步。同時雙手持棍。向上猛托乙槍。胸向起點左前方。面向起點前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第四十九圖。 B, your right hand lifts your spear, withdrawing it behind your right ribs, your right foot withdrawing a step behind you, your left hand sinking down. Then extend, stabbing toward A’s forehead, your left leg bending in front, right leg straightening behind, making a small stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the east, your gaze toward A. A, when you see the stab coming, your feet stay where they are, your upper body withdrawing, your right leg straightening, left leg bending, making a stance of left leg a bow, right leg an arrow. At the same time, your hands send your staff upward, fiercely propping away B’s spear. Your chest is facing toward the southwest, your face toward the west, your gaze toward B. See photo 49 [reverse view]:
第五十動作 MOVEMENT 50:
同時乙方。見槍托出不停。復將槍縮回。又照甲方腿部直刺。（此時右手單手直砍、左手鬆開、停於頭部上方、五指伸開並攏、手心向上）右手挺槍之際。左足向後撤一步。膝蓋彎曲。右腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點右後方。面向起點正後方。兩目注視甲方。同時甲方不停。右足經左足前面。向起點後方橫開一步。左足亦向起點後方橫開一步。同時右手持棍。向裏擰勁。（左手鬆開）使棍頭朝裏向外猛掛。左手停於頭部上方。五指伸開並攏。手心向上。此時左足曲膝。右腿伸直。成前弓後箭步。胸向起點左前方。面向起點正前方。兩目注視乙方。其式如第五十圖。 B, when you see A’s staff propping up, do not pause, instead withdraw your spear and then stab toward A’s [right] leg. (This time, your right hand works alone, your left hand coming away and finishing above your head, fingers extended but together, the center of the hand facing upward.) As your right hand extends your spear, your left foot withdraws a step and the knee bends, your right leg straightening, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the northeast, your face toward the east, your gaze toward A. A, also without pausing, your right foot takes a step toward the east, passing in front of your left foot, then your left foot also takes a step toward the east. At the same time, your right hand holds your staff (your left hand letting go), twisting inward so that the head of your staff goes inward, then it fiercely goes outward with a hanging action, your left hand finishing above your head, fingers extended but together, the center of the hand facing upward. Your left knee is bent, your right leg straightened, making a stance of front leg a bow, rear leg an arrow. Your chest is facing toward the southwest, your face toward the east, your gaze toward B. See photo 50:
