Why is San Jin so important

San Jin is the first pattern in the white crane fighting  system. It is the form that Fujianese martial arts basically are built upon. The actual time when the San Jin set was created is now impossible to determine. What can be determined is that the San JIn is the core of southern close fighting, especially in Fujian province all fighting styles have the San Jin set and training method, and see it as the most central and introductory training routine. From ancient times, southern China has always had its own unique culture. From the time of the Han Dynasty, Fujian inherited the ancient culture of the Chinese central plains, and also retained an indigenous culture that was very different from the North. Southern martial arts are  the same, they had their own unique ways of expressing power and fighting applications. San Jin and forms created upon this form are trade mark of Southern martial styles. Not only all styles of White Crane but also Luohan boxing, Taizu Boxing, Five Ancestors, Dog Boxing, Fujian Tiger style have San Jian, as well as almost all Hakka styles that have their own version of San Jin under different name.

The Mandarin "San jin" translates as "Three Wars” and mean the conflicts of "mind, body, and spirit". In ancient Chinese culture there was not a distinction between the mind and the spirit, which is a more modern, western concept. In the traditional way the wars of the form are between "mind, body and breath”, or "mind, body, and qi (internal energy.) San Jin is the answer to these conflicts, or better said, the form is a path to unification.

San Jin is a deceptively simple multi-level exercise which gives the student the basic platform needed to be able to do Kung Fu. Although composed from just a few basic hand techniques and steps the form itself is everything but that, it requires intense concentration, physical and mental awareness and great control.

While all versions of San Jin have same underlining concepts each version has its own characteristics which significantly differ from style to style. In Zong He quan San Jin at very beginning teaches how to “sit” in the stance and assume proper skeletal alignment today popularly known as “body structure”. Basic stance along with proper execution of the hands movements and footwork will over time transform joints and make them elastic but strong. Proper structure is fundamental basis for stability (balance), power is generated through proper structure and incoming force is dealt with through proper structure. Hand movements in the form are not just simple techniques, these movements embody the basic principles and strategies of the style and teach how to apply force, how deal with incoming force, proper angles of engagement, changing angles and sides, covering and controlling the space, recovering strategies if control is lost ect. It also teaches how to concentrate power in one point and deliver it.  San Jin teaches only step forward and step back. It looks very simple and easy but the truth is just the opposite. These steps are not just simple everyday steps but something completely different in every possible sense .

Normal walking is basically a sequence of interrupted falls. When we stand still the central axis of the body along with the center of gravity is perpendicular to the ground. When we start walking the central axis is moving forward along with center of gravity in way that lowest point is still at the same place and highest point is moving toward the ground, which is basically falling. We put leg in front of the body and stop the fall establishing new point of balance and then repeat the sequence for the next step. In order to make a step we have loose balance every single time. San Jin steps are totally opposite, the purpose of these steps is to maintain balance and structure with all its qualities during changing position in space. One of the old Chinese terms is to “move like a cloud”. There no excessive movement, just appear forward or back. Once mastered this principle of moving can be applied on any kind of footwork.

San Jin teaches practitioner focus and awareness, how follow many things at the same time. Focus practice stars with attention payed on inside and later as the training progress and the form becomes better it slowly goes to the outside. This is essential to fighting because even the best fighter will be defeated if he is not aware that he is under attack and what the attacker is doing.

The last but not the least is Qigong part of the form. Proper breathing sequence is not only essential for fighting but also activate and cultivate internal energy. Zong He San Jin is specific in a way that even if practitioner does not pay too much attention on Qi gong part of the form , Qi will be developed and after a while practitioner will become aware of a great change in his way of executing the form. At the beginning ,practitioner will have to put great mental effort to execute every movement correctly. After a while this will become effortless automatic process without paying attention to the details.  At the end the Qi will guide the movements without even have a full awareness of the movement, this is a deep meditative state of San Jin form. The movements will come from inside and the whole body will feel a constant flow of energy which will guide every movement throughout the form , awareness of the environment will increase while thought process will stop, mind will be free of thinking.

While composed only from a few movements and two basic steps San Jin form is the hardest to master, it is a long and never ending road of exploration and self development. Few simple moves can lead the practitioner in some unexpected directions and reveal many astonishing secrets of himself and the world around him.