Emei , between myth and reality

Emei mountain , one of four holy Buddhist mountains and third most significant kung place, right after Shaolin and Wudang . According to some “sources” Emei kung fu is more than 2000 years old , first styles emerged before fist Chinese dynasty and actually , Emei kung fu is the oldest kung fu in whole China.

Other “sources” put creation of Emei styles in different time periods , from prehistory to 17^th century and many of these “histories” include various legendary figures who can be found in better known Shaolin and Wudang  “histories”.

Emei kung fu styles are described as efficient as Shaolin styles but also have internal component developed as much as it is in Wudang styles if not more .

Some older sources are talking about only one , single Emei style , while today there are undefined number of different styles

When we give closer look at Emei kung fu history one thing soon becomes pretty  obvious. Creation myths(“histories”) about Wudang and Shaolin are really detailed, there are large number of books that cover this specific subject and at first glance these books leave an impression they are written after serious historical and archeological research . Today we know that classification to Wudang and Shaolin styles was invented in Goshu academy during Republican period in China . Also it is very well known fact  Wudang and Shaolin were not places for research and development of  kung fu . Kung fu was never practiced in Wudang before early 1930’s while in Shaolin martial arts were practiced by individuals who brought them there , there was no Shaolin kung fu .

Myth , actually group of stories about origin of Emei kung fu are comparing to  wudang and shaolin stories very short ,with scant information , often contradict each other although these stories share some common characteristics

This situation is not a surprise , just as it is a case with Wudang and Shaolin creation stories , Emei creation stories are pure fiction , with one significant difference , development time . While stories about Wudang and Shaolin had almost a century to evolve ( first Shaolin storiy can be found  in 1905, wudang stories are from early 1930’s ) and these places were and still are very popular if not the most popular kung fu places , interest about Emei didn’t exist until recently , although there are some mention about styles practiced on Emei in republican period. No one talked about Emei until “kung fu craze” in the late 1970”s and beginning of the 1980’s.

China was closed until recently and travel to Emei was almost impossible and there were no practitioners of Emei kung fu outside China (which is very peculiar). For these reasons there was no interest for this styles therefore there was no need for any “histories”.  Situation changed in last couple of decades, China is open now and great number of people hurried and still hurry to find and learn some exotic and still undiscovered styles hidden in inner China .Now , when interest started to raise there was a need for “histories” because that is very important for many people . On the other hand , there was not enough time to developed “histories” in such detail like it was the case with other two kung fu ‘centers”. Crude stories , with very little information and no details , but with very clear message about what style is superior to all others show that development time was short , most likely these stories were written by single individuals to promote their styles and there was no time (nor will) for information exchange , that is why stories are so different from one another. Lack of details clearly shows that stories cannot be older than one generation.

This , of course doesn’t mean that no kung fu was practiced on Emei  mountain . Styles practiced  there were common styles for northen China like Pi Gua , long Fist, Tai Chi and many others but we cannot talk about some specific group of Emei styles .

The truth is , until decade ago there were not more than 10 kung fu practitioners on Emei mountain . During cultural revolution, communist government killed a great number of kung fu masters and few lucky survived but they couldn’t practice openly nor have students so whatever they knew it was not passed to new generations.

It is also a truth that today new “old” , original , secret styles are discovered almost daily , together with new grandmasters , masters ect. I think the rate of style discovering is proportional to a number of foreign visitors. Closer look on that “old, original, secret” styles clearly show that these styles are nothing more than modern wushu , sometimes mixed with some of the traditional styles . Also it is obvious that all these Emei masters, grandmasters and couches are professional wu shu performance artists.  

In the future it is highly possible that some new “old, original:” center if kung fu will be discovered , when Emei fashion pass and people start to search for something new and more exotic

Kung fu in schools 2

Teaching kids is a big challenge , especially when we talk a out kung fu . Young practitioners are not quite interested in complicated theories neither they are eager to spend hours practicing basic techniques over and over again. If it is not interesting , constantly  changing , fun , if it doesn't keep their attention all the time , kids will not engage kung fu training. The point is to  develop kid's physical attributes , strength , speed , reflexes using a wide range of drills and exercises in a form of games which will keep kids attention occupied constantly . Games must change quickly and not suppose to be longer than 4-5 minutes . Although , drills (games) do not look like traditional kung fu drills they develop same attributes as  drills used in traditional kung fu training .Here are some of the exercises i use in my class

Introduction to Snake Crane Wing Chun Hand techniques

Snake Crane Wing Chun is one of the oldest Wing Chun styles today . Kept in secret until recently this style still preserves original teachings and techniques of the first generation of  masters and creators of the art . Being a family style , known to only handful of people over the years , style was preserved in its original form , kept from any outside influences . All techniques , concepts and principles are exactly the same as they were in 1850 , when the style was created in Red Boat opera company . 

One of Snake Crane Wing Chun basic concepts is ‘snake reel and crane withstand’.  Just as the snake suddenly attack and in the moment of contact curls around the victim completely disabling any movement in SCWC this concept is used in hand and leg techniques to stick and\or trap the opponents bridge hands and make their attacks or defense activities completely  blocked.  “Crane withstand “ represents the concept of resistance to the  opponent’s violent and powerful attacks by the momentum built up on hand bridge or foot. This force is generated using the proper SCWC body structure and sent throughout the body to the bridges to meet and resist incoming force by neutralizing it several different ways . Sake Crane Wing Chun demonstrates both , the snake and crane motions in three hand forms . What is interesting , while morphologically  we can clearly divide movements on snake movements and crane movements  ,one movement can have snake or crane characteristics , which depends of the situation and the quality , characteristic and type of the force used for that particular movement .Of course this requires a lot of training and it is not a skill which beginners can completely understand .

Like in most of the other Wing Chun styles , in Snake Crane Wing Chun is believed that moves come from the "Snake and Crane competing to their  best” 「蛇鶴爭暉」.   What does really "Snake and Crane competing to their  best” mean?   Snake and crane movements have distinct characteristic and are built upon specific concepts and principles , physical ,that determine specific ways of force generation and structural alignment , and fighting concepts and principles , that determine the technology of using the specific movement in a fighting situation .  Snake Crane Wing Chun combines the best features of snake and crane movements into a simple , yet extremely efficient and effective fighting style .  Morphologically , snake techniques are Tan Sau, Lan Sau, Fok Sau , LapSau etc, while the crane techniques are  Ton Kiu, Guan Sau and Bong Sau etc.   The following briefly describes several techniques of the snake and crane motions of Snake Crane Wing Chun.

Snake’s hand techniques:

Tan Sau(Palm side up):  The” palm up block “(snake head reversed) moves from the side of waist to the center of the body.  Then moves and extends outwards to block the opponent’s bridge along the centerline.

Lan Sau(Blocking hand): The palm like a snake head moves from the side of the waist to the centerline of the body and extends outwards to block directly the opponent’s bridge hand along the centerline.

Fok Sau(Lying hand): the palm moves out from the centerline, such as the snake head going  quickly outwards, blocking and lying on the opponent’s bridge hand.

Lap Sau(Grabbing hand): Tan Sau ,when the palm is turned around or LanSau can be easily changed into a lap sau. The fingers are open and they pointing forward  whiled the thumb pointing to the ground reminding on a snake’s open  mouth.  Fingers grab and hold the target, and then pull back.  This technique look just like the snake head  attacking  the victim with wildly open mouth while fingertips looks like a fangs. After biting the victim snake will pull back her body quickly ,  that’s why the last motion of the techniques is pulling back. 

Crane’s hand techniques:

Ton Kiu(Swallow bridge hand):  Upper arm is ideally parallel with the ground , but necessarily , and forearm and arm make 135 degrees angle . This block is usually used to cover upper gates. 

Guan Sau(Cultivating hand): Lower  block usually used to protect lower gates from various attacks. It is performed just like a crane’s wing lowered down in a sweeping movement ,”cleaning “ and “picking up” everything that coms toward the lower gates

 

Bong Sau(Crane’s wing hand): It is performed by rolling the forearm out and the raising the elbow up, the fingertips are moving forward toward the center of the opponent . Bong sau can be performed to cover lower, middle and upper gates.

"Internal" and origin of martial arts

There isn’t a Chinese martial system today in which “internal” part couldn’t be found .All CMA today offer not only a way to increase combat efficiency of the practitioner but also a methods of “internal” training for health purposes and personal development .Some systems are completely dedicated to “internal” training disregarding fighting aspects of the art. These “internal” aspects are explained through traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine usually using concepts of Taoism , Confucianism and I-Ching . Some people even use this “internal” part to prove superiority of their arts and also originality claiming that systems in which “internal” part ( qi gong ) cannot be found are incomplete and not original ones. Using theories borrowed from Taoist cosmology and I-ching , often making them more complicated and harder to for understanding certain people are trying to put them self in a position above all other martial arts practitioners trying to convince others how they are the only ones who possess some exclusive knowledge and skills .

Is this really true ? Are the systems with “internal” ,”health “ part really more complete and more original? 

Let’s see what historical facts have to say about that.

During Ching dynasty martial arts looked pretty much different than today . Purpose of martial arts was –fighting, nothing more and nothing else . Main focus in training was weapon training, empty hand systems either didn’t exist or they took small part in training , usually at the very beginning of the training .Complete empty hand systems did not appear until middle of 19^th century when fire arms completely replaced old weapons . People practiced martial arts during Ching dynasty for purpose of pursuing a military , security or law enforcement career (have in mind that law enforcement during Ching dynasty was quite different form today) . Training was completely dedicated to fighting efficiency and no internal training was involved in it. Qi gong was not an integral part of martial arts during the Ching dynasty period, neither was part of martial arts during the rule of previous dynasties. Vast majority of martial artist were illiterate and they couldn’t understand today’s theories, neither they could teach someone something like that. It was not before the very end of the Ching dynasty period when “qi gong” started to be incorporated into martial systems and that trend continued and accelerated during republican period. No one practiced martial arts for health purposes before republican period and that trend was supported by the government. By the end of Ching’s rule martial arts became popular among wealthy social class of merchants who led the development of martial systems in the direction of empty hands techniques and started to incorporate other things in their training, like qi gong . It is pretty obvious that qi gong and martial techniques developed separately and for a good reason, while qi gong is dedicated to perseverance and prolonging life and maintaining good health, martial arts have completely opposite purpose , destruction of life and health of the opponent . One thing is also important , some method of training like some “iron shirt” or similar methods (today wrongly marked as “qi gong” methods ) directly shortened the practitioners life for decades , goal of this training systems was purely martial and health of the practitioner was completely disregarded. We have no evidence, written or any other kind that qi gong was integral part of martial arts prior the republican era. 

“Internal”, “soft”,” Taoist” ,Wudang  and “external”, ”hard”, “Buddhist” Shaolin systems. This classification first time was used (and invented) at Gou Shu academy by Sun Lu Tang , Li Cun Yi and their close friends in the early 1920’s. Being practitioners of Ba Gua, Tai Chi and Xing I (main representatives of “internal” styles) leading people of the Gou Shu academy including Sun Lu Tang and Lu Cu Yi , for purely marketing purposes separated their arts from all others by declaring them “wudang internal stylys” while all the rest fell into category of external or Saholin styles . This classification took deep roots and very soon led to a constant duels between shaolin and wudang styles which became very serius in the beginning of 1930”s . Today some people refer to Emei styles as something between Shaolin and Wudang styles but we can’t find and classification nor metion of “Emei” styles before cultural revolution in China.

More confusion comes from the fact that many people use term Qi to describe biomechanical efficiency of “internal” styles. There is nothing internal in Tai Chi , Ba  Gua or any other “internal” style’s combat techniques . We do not talk about Qi in its original meaning because there is nothing internal in these techniques, it is simply a specific way of using the body - skeleton, joints, tendons … There is nothing mystical in that , there are no “energies” or anything that cannot be explained and measured by physics , biology , kinesiology . ect. Simply a body used in certain way, joints and skeleton have to assume specific posture ( alignment) in order to increase power or eliminate (incoming)force . It is important to note that all martial arts systems use this kind of biomechanical efficiency to the certain point , some more , some less . 

It is important to note that "internal" or soft approach is rather new in  Chinese martial arts and we can't find completely "internal" , soft systems before middle of the 19th century , despite of many "histories" where creation of many systems is put far back in the past .

 Taoism , Confucianism , I-ching , Buddhism are used today to explain martial training , concepts and applications of techniques. It is common believe that martial arts were developed as Buddhist or Taoist arts but as we could see that is not true. Using , mostly Taoist teachings and I ching to describe martial arts are work of one man , Sun Lu Tang , the most influential martial artist of all times. He was not only an excellent practitioner of martial arts but also highly educated which was extremely rare at time. He had a knowledge , will and means to combine his martial experience with classical Chinese philosophy. When Ba Gua practitioners talk of their forms as physical embodiment of I Ching they quoting Sun Lu tang , Same goes for Tai Chi practitioners who say that their art is good for health and aligning their energies with energy of Tao. Same goes for Xing I practitioners who say that 5 forms of their art interact like 5 basic elements of Taoist cosmology .  In several books published in the late 1920"s and 1930's , Sun Lu Tang formed modern view on martial arts , especially on Ba Gua , Tai Chi and Xing Yi , arts that he was master of . Before his books were published we can’t anyone who used traditional Chinese philosophy and traditional medicine to describe any martial art. 

This is what history has to say about “internal” and “externa’,  Shaolin, Wudang and Emei , Qi Gong and their relations and connections to martial arts .

Literature :

"Chinese martial arts : From Antiquity to 21st century"                            Peter A. Lorge

"China's cultural heritage: the Qing dynasty"                                             Richard.J Smith

"Chinese history'"                                                                                      Endymion P. Willkinson

"Warfare in Chinese History"                                                                     Hans J. Van de Ven,

 "A Military History of China"                                                            Robin Higham & David A. Graff

"Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC–1840 AD"                 C.J.Pe

 " Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals"                                                Brian Kennedy & Elizabeth Guo

 "Chinese boxing Masters and Methods"                                                   Robert W.Smth

"The study of Xing I boxing"                                                                    Sun Lu Tang

"The study of Tai Chi boxing"                                                                   Sun Lu Tang

"The study of Ba Gua boxing"                                                                  Sun Lu Tang

"The true essence boxing"                                                                          Sun Lu Tang 

"A study of Shaolin and Wudang"                                                             Tang Hao

"Secrets of Sholin boxing"                                                                         Tang Hao

"The qi fist classics"                                                                                    Tang Hao

"Taichi boxing and Neijia boxing:                                                                Tang Hao

Wing Chun in Schools

Many school kids on Taiwan practice Taekwondo , in some schools this sport is part of regular  physical education program.Here , where the purest and oldest forms of Chinese kung fu are still preserved and practiced I though it is not right to teach a foreign art to kids in Taiwan .I started to teach one of the oldest , if not the oldest wing chun styles in couple of school in Tainan . Here are some footage from classes ...

From ancient China to 21th century Europe .

My article published in latest ''New Martial Hero" magazine issue

One of the greatest and probably best known achievements of classical Chinese civilization is kung fu . Chinese civilization is one of the oldest on the world and Chinese culture in it’s essence contains every possible human experience .A product of that enormous experience, an answer to every possible challenge is a practice of self development called Kung fu. Today , Chinese martial arts belong to everyone and they enriched lives of millions of people all around the world.

                                               Fang Shi-Pei (方世培)(1834-1886)

The most popular arts are certainly Tai Chi Chuan and Wing Chun .While everyone know about these two arts there are large number of lesser known arts, still hidden from world ,unique in their structure , techniques and martial approach. One of these hidden jewels is rare form of White Crane Kung fu , Shaking or Vibrating Crane (Zong He Quan). Zong He Quan is very specific style of White Crane , probably the softest s of all Crane styles . It was founded by Fang Shi-Pei (方世培)(1834-1886) also known as Fang Fei-Shi (方飞石) in the last decades of the Qing Dynasty rule . Master Li (李师) taught Fang Shi-Pei at the Tian-Zhu Temple on Mount Cha Shan for about 10 years . Master Li (李师)was a third generation student of Master Zheng Long (郑龙). Master Zheng Long passed away in 1755 and was a student of Zheng Li who was one of the original 28 students from Yong Chun village in Fujian Province. During his studies under Master Li ., Fang Shi-Pei  noticed a pattern in animal behavior and natural occurrences which led him to believe that Chi is activated by vibrating/shaking movements and sound articulation. Using his previous knowledge and his discovery he created new style of White Crane boxing.

Fang Shi-Pei had many students , among them was Fang Shao-Qi who brought the art to Taiwan and taught students in Kaoshiung, Tainan and Yanshui. Fang Shao-Qi had many students like: Tong Jin-Long, Lin Xi-Di, Li Dong-Liang, Chen Bo, Lin Se, Chuo Ching and many, others.

               Zhao Yi Di (趙依俤) with his 4 students (last one on the left is Hong Guo Rong)

Chou Ching passed the art to to Zhao Yi Di (趙依俤). Zhao Yi Di was low profile teacher and he had only four students .One of these four students is Hong Guo Rong from Tainan .Hong Guo Rong is just an ordinary man, modest ,humble and quiet. He doesn’t attract attention, his behavior is just the opposite, he doesn’t want any. .No one would ever guess he is one of the best kung fu teachers in Tainan. Like his own teacher , he had only small number of students and it is not easy to even find his school and it is even harder to be accepted as his student As a teacher, master Hong is very strict, every little detail must be perfect. On the other hand , word “impressive” does not cover level and amount of his knowledge .

Teacher Hong Guo Rong by the altar dedicated to Fang Shi Pei , founder of Zong He Quan

Teacher Hong with his students

I have started my martial arts journey in 6^th grade . At first I have practiced Karate and Judo . Several years later, in 1989 I have discovered Wing Chun and never stopped  practicing it until this day .One of my teaches and man who greatly influenced my view of the art and life its self is Bobby Gabershek , one of the most influential wing chun masters in European continent . He is the man who invented CQB(close quarter combat)and still using traditional wing chun in his training system ,adapted for special military and police forces and body guards .I have learned practical wing chun and that approach helped me in several occasions , especially in a war against terrorists and invading forces in 1999 . where I participated as a soldier in the first line of combat.

Bobby Gabershek , one of the best military\police\bodyguard instructors on the world today, a man who invented CQB

 I came to Taiwan in 2011 and since that time I have improved my wing chun knowledge learning from several prominent teachers . I have tried other Chinese martial arts as well but I couldn’t actually understand them well nor I could change my body mechanic , well , not until I have found teacher Hong Guo Rong and started to practice White Crane .I have a feeling Zongehe quan is made for me , for my body and for my mind set , I have learned more in couple of months with teacher Rong than in year on other places .The art its self is so fit for me and the teacher is really excellent . Although I am 41 years old I have passion for training which can be compared with passion of young children for new toys . Every day , no matter how busy or how much work there is to be done , I practice one hour of wing chun and one hour of white crane , if there is more time , then I practice more .    Having heard I am practicing Zong He quan , several people from my country expressed a desire to learn this exotic martial style .

Basic Zonghe Quan drill

 I hope , with my teacher’s permission , I will bring this interesting style to those who are willing to learn.    From imperial China to 21th century Europe in only 5 generations ,a great journey of a beautiful form of Chinese kung fu that united people from the opposite parts of the planet.

Vladimir Zlatić

                                   

「從古代中國到21世紀歐洲」

中國文明中最經典也最為人所稱讚的莫過於"功夫〞。

中國文化可說是世界上最古老的歷史文化之一，蘊含豐富深粹的人文經驗，

而〞功夫〞則是貫穿這悠久歷史下，傳達出各種無限可能與法展多樣的最佳體現。至今，功夫甚至已影響全球上百萬人，融入生活中。

〝太極〞和〝詠春〞是最普遍常見的武術，即便如此，在這兩大武術背後仍隱藏少有人知道ㄈ的體系、技巧以及要領。而白鶴功夫中的〝縱鶴拳〞就屬其中瑰寶。

縱鶴拳是屬於白鶴功夫中一種特別的拳法，或許是所有鶴拳中最柔軟的拳法。這拳法是在清朝後期由方世培(1834-1886)所創立，他也被許多人稱呼方飛石。他的師父 李師在茶山上的一間寺廟傳授教導方世培功夫10年。而李師 是鄭龍的第三代弟子，鄭龍於1755年過世，而他的師父 鄭禮是福建省詠春庄中原傳28個弟子之其中一個。

在李師的教導下，方世培體會到一種於動物行為與自然之間微妙關係，這讓他相信〝氣〞的運行是來自於身體震動和丹田發聲。因此結合他之後所學與後來所發現的，創立了〝縱鶴拳〞。

方世培有很多學生，其中方绍耆將這套拳法帶到台灣，並在高雄、台南等地傳授教導許多學生，包含弟子 卓慶，他將功夫傳授給趙志鵬。趙志鵬只有4個弟子，來自台南的洪國榮就是其中一個。洪國榮是個安靜、謙遜有禮，低調樸實的人，不說沒有人會知道他是台南最好的功夫師父之ㄧ。就如他的師父一樣，洪國榮只收少數幾個學生，他教學非常嚴謹而且仔細，在經驗與知識上也很淵博。

我在小學6年就開始接觸武術，起初是學習跆拳道跟柔道，過了幾年後在1989

，我發現了詠春，並且一直學習探索到現在從沒間斷。Bobby Gabershek是其中一個影響帶領我對武術有另一層認識的老師，他在歐洲是具有影響力的功夫師父，他也創立了CQB(close Quarter Combat),他持續延用詠春拳在他的訓練系統中，並再加入一些特殊的軍式與警用防衛技巧。我所學習到的詠春技巧，幫我順利渡過一些事件，特別是在參與從役1999年戰爭中得以應付恐怖份子和多次無預警的攻襲。

2011年我來到台灣，在幾位傑出的老師教導下，讓我在詠春上的經驗與知識的累積又再增進。我也曾嘗試學習過其他的中國武術，但始終沒法非常了解透徹，

直至我遇見洪國榮師父，並開始學習縱鶴拳。我感覺到縱鶴拳就像是為我的身心量身打造的，在洪師父優異的教導下，幾個月的學習體驗可媲美在其他地方約一年的學習。

即使我已經41歲，但我對練功夫這件事所抱持的熱情可不輸小孩拿到新玩具。不論每天有多忙，我還是會堅持每天練習一小時的詠春和一小時的縱鶴拳，如果有更多空檔時間，我就會練習更多。有好幾個來自我家鄉的人，一聽聞到我正在練習這獨特的拳法，也都表示強烈的興趣想學習，我希望有朝一日可以在洪師父的同意下，將這拳法介紹給真正想學習的人。白鶴拳從中國皇朝到21世紀歐洲才經歷5代，這套優美拳法的旅程將繼續延伸下去，並將來自地球不同地方的人連繫一起。

Special thanks to my friend , Master Wayne Yung for all his help and support 

Singapore Wing Chun - story about a friend

I was thinking for a long time how to start this story . Usually , I have no problems to write something but this is completely different kind of story. I have wrote about history, people , my teachers different arts and all other subjects , but never about a friend .To make things worst a friend opened a school and I don’t want to make this into advertising. No matter what, I will put some things together and see what will come out of that.

 John Mark Ng, Singapore native , is very unusual person, even more if we consider he is a martial artist, and even more than that, considering he is practicing Wing Chun. A quiet and modest man who holds truth above everything else, which makes him a rare gem in Wing Chun world. He still believes and lives up to traditional moral values and that is extremely rare in modern world where other values replaced traditional ones.

                                          John Mark Ng

He practices martial arts for a very long time. His first art was  Muay Thai .He went to Thailand for some time and there he continued his TRhai Boxing practice .Later he started to practice Wing Chun. In 2012 he was introduced to Snake Crane Wing Chun and since that time he focused completely on practicing that particular style. He is completely dedicated to Snake Crane Wing Chun and he spends all available time on training. His level of devotion is amazing and his love to his art has no limits. 

As he says, he found in Snake Crane Wing Chun what he was searching all of his life , a complete style which allows his to get connection with a past , with great ancestors of the art and old traditions . On the other hand the style is practical and combat efficient , simple and easy to learn, yet leaves a lot of areas for constant improvement. There is also internal part of the art which allows people to practice it even in their advanced age . 

Old, traditional , complete , effective style , until recently kept in secret , now can be practiced , besides Hong Kong in Singapore as well, thanks to John's efforts to bring this rare and beautiful art in his home city. Any Wing Chun enthusiast interested to learn something new, different yet effective and simple should visit John.