- This article is about the Fujian style of White Crane. For the Tibetan style, see Lama (martial art)
-Introduction:While today the martial arts known as Lama Pai, Tibetan White Crane, and Hop Gar exist as relatively distinct lineages and/or organizations, all originated with a single figure known as Sing Lung who arrived in Guangdong Province during the Qing Dynasty and taught a martial art then...
.
White Crane Boxing is a Southern Chinese martial art which originated in
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
(福建) Province and is now practiced throughout the world. According to oral traditions, the creation of this style is attributed to Fāng Qīniáng (方七娘; Amoy
Min NanThe Southern Min language, or Min Nan , is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the Hokkien, in particular the Amoy and Taiwanese...
: Hng Chhit-niâ), a female martial artist.
| 白鶴拳 |
| Fujian White Crane |
MandarinStandard Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, known by various names to native speakers, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
: |
Bái Hè Quán |
Amoy Min NanThe Southern Min language, or Min Nan , is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the Hokkien, in particular the Amoy and Taiwanese...
: |
Pe̍h-ho̍h-kûn |
| Literally |
"white crane fist" |
- This article is about the Fujian style of White Crane. For the Tibetan style, see Lama (martial art)
-Introduction:While today the martial arts known as Lama Pai, Tibetan White Crane, and Hop Gar exist as relatively distinct lineages and/or organizations, all originated with a single figure known as Sing Lung who arrived in Guangdong Province during the Qing Dynasty and taught a martial art then...
.
White Crane Boxing is a Southern Chinese martial art which originated in
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
(福建) Province and is now practiced throughout the world. According to oral traditions, the creation of this style is attributed to Fāng Qīniáng (方七娘; Amoy
Min NanThe Southern Min language, or Min Nan , is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the Hokkien, in particular the Amoy and Taiwanese...
: Hng Chhit-niâ), a female martial artist. The characteristics of this style are deep rooted stances, intricate hand techniques and fighting mostly at close range.
The legend of the White Crane
The Fāng family lived in
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, a province of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, in a place where there were many
cranesCranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. There are fifteen species. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
.
Qīniáng's father knew the Southern
Chinese martial artsChinese martial arts, sometimes referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , consist of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries. Those fighting styles can be classified according to common themes that are identified as "families" , "sects" ...
and taught them to his daughter.
One day, while Qīniáng was doing her chores, a crane alighted nearby.
Qīniáng tried to scare the bird off using a stick and the skills she learned from her father but whatever she did, the crane would counter.
Qīniáng tried to hit the crane on the head, but the bird moved its head out of the way and blocked the stick with its wings.
Qīniáng tried to hit the crane's wings, but the crane stepped to the side and this time blocked with the claws of its feet.
Qīniáng tried to poke the crane's body, but the crane dodged backwards and struck the stick with its beak.
From then on, Qīniáng carefully studied the movements of cranes and combined these movements with the martial arts she learned from her father, creating the White Crane style of Fujian Province.
There are many versions of this legend, some in which the crane does not block the stick Qīniáng used; but it evaded, and countered. The point of the style is to make less use of physical strength, stressing evasion, and attacks to vulnerable areas instead. What makes white crane fitting elements so popular is not depending on strength, especially for women’s self defense. Popular karate bunkai (breakdown) of white crane katas like hakutsuru, stress vital point striking or kyusho.
The white crane system is not practiced much, if at all, anymore. There are several kata in karate, that have white crane elements, most stem from the Chinese tea merchant on Okinawa, Go Kenki, but few, if any, have the true white crane system anymore.
Source:
Bubishi George Alexander ISBN 0963177516 and
Secrets of the Bubishi DVD ASIN: B00015400K
Bubishi Patrick Mccarthy ISBN 0804820155
Branches
Over time White Crane branched off into several styles:
| | ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
| PinyinPinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin , is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu means the Chinese language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"...
| | |
|---|
| Sleeping Crane Fist |
宿鶴拳 |
sù hè quán |
siok4 hoh8 kun5 |
also known as Jumping, Ancestral, or Vibrating Crane |
| Crying Crane Fist |
鳴鶴拳 |
míng hè quán |
beng5 hoh8 kun5 |
also known as Calling, Whooping, or Shouting Crane |
| Eating Crane Fist |
食鶴拳 |
shí hè quán |
chiah8 hoh8 kun5 |
also known as Morning Crane |
| Flying Crane Fist |
飛鶴拳 |
fēi hè quán |
hui1 hoh8 kun5 |
|
History
The Ancestral Crane master Dr. Yang (
Jwing-Ming YangJwing-Ming Yang started his martial arts training at the age of fifteen under the Shaolin White Crane Master Cheng, Gin Gsao . In thirteen years of study under Master Cheng, Dr. Yang became an expert in the White Crane style of Chinese martial arts. Dr. Yang studied Tai chi chuan under Master...
), dates the creation of Fujian White Crane to c. 1700.
According to the traditions of the Lee family branch of Flying Crane, Fāng Qīniáng was born in the mid-18th century.
According to its traditions, the lineage of the Ong Gong Shr Wushuguan in the town of Yǒngchūn (永春; Minnan: eng2 chhun1) in the prefecture of
QuanzhouQuanzhou is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...
in Fujian Province was established when Fāng Qīniáng taught its founders during the reign of the Ming emperor Jiāzhèng (嘉政).
However, there was no Ming emperor Jiāzhèng (嘉政); there was a Ming emperor Jiājìng (嘉靖), who ruled from 1521 to 1566.
Lǐ Wénmào (李文茂), a historically verifiable opera performer and leader in the 1854–1855 Red Turban Rebellion in
FoshanFoshan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. The city has jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km² and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper ....
, is said to have practiced the Yǒngchūn style of White Crane.
The Xu-Xi Dao style of White Crane as taught by Chen Zuo Zhen (Chen Zhuo Zhen) is described with pics on www.chinesemartialarts.eu > White Crane Style. The Xu-Xi Dao style derives from Zhong-Ho 'Springing Crane' and was developed in Taiwan by Huang Lao-Yang in the 1950s.
Influence
Fujian White Crane is one of the constituent styles of
Five AncestorsFive Ancestors Fist is a Southern Chinese martial art that consists of techniques from five different styles:* the breathing methods and iron body of Da mo * the posture and dynamic power of Luohan...
.
Five Ancestors as well as various styles of
Karateis a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands...
, notably Goju-ryu,
Chitō-ryūis a style of karate founded by . The name of the style translates as: chi - 1,000; tō - China; ryū - style. Thus meaning "1,000 year old Chinese style." The character tō refers to the Tang Dynasty of China. The style was officially founded in 1946.Chitose was born as Chinen Gua on October 18,...
and Uechi-ryu, obtained the routine San Chian / San Zhan (Mandarin) from Fujian White Crane.
San Chian is best known by the
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
pronunciation of its name:
Sanchinis a kata of Southern Chinese origin that is considered to be the core of several styles, the most well-known being the Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu styles of Karate as well as the Chinese martial arts of Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and the Tiger-Crane Combination style associated with Ang...
.
External links