Chinese martial arts history PART EIGHT

State attempts to control and appropriate the martial arts:
Phase Two: The Communist Party

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has had a unique relationship with those who practice the martial arts. Ideologically, the CCP has strongly identified itself with those class elements from which the martial arts community originated. For example, during the party’s formative years brotherhoods and secret societies (which were heavily composed of martial artists) were valuable allies in their attempts to overthrow the central government. The party maintained contact with and utilized members of these groups as part of their ongoing revolutionary activities and studied their organizational structure, their methods of maintaining loyalty, and their role in popular rebellions.

In addition, the leadership also saw unique benefits associated with the practice of martial arts. Mao Zedong, like many revolutionaries of the period, firmly believed that China had become the “sick man of Asia” because the traditional Confucian society had produced only weak, ineffectual scholars. In 1917, Mao Zedong wrote his first article for the revolutionary paper New Youth. The paper was entitled “A Study in Physical Culture” and would become the official party line on the role of martial arts in society. It observed that the nation was “wanting in strength” and that military spirit had not been encouraged. Mao outlined a program of physical culture, in which martial arts played an important role, for the purposes of making “savage the body” and promoting “military heroism”.

However, this cooperative relationship between the party and the martial arts community did not last. In order to consolidate their position in the countryside, the CCP attempted to remove local power bases and to prohibit those practices which had traditionally fostered regionalism and personal loyalties. This inevitably affected the martial arts community and brought them into conflict with the CCP.

C.K. Yang’s examination of a Chinese village during the Communist transition provides an excellent example of the party’s attempts to bring the martial arts under state control. Yang describes an “athletic club” in the village which was known as “the Lion’s club”. According to Yang, the club provided “lessons in the old military arts of shadow boxing, using swords, knives, spears and other ancient weapons.” Clearly, this club was a martial arts school.

While the author saw these techniques as having “no place in modern combat”, the CCP saw the situation quite differently. The Communist cadres ordered the club closed, calling it a “military organization” and noting that “their leaders, many of whom were associated with rebellious secret societies, were potential reactionary agents”. Thus, the Lion’s club was clearly viewed as a political danger to communist power.

State administered programs to appropriate and control the practice of martial arts were expanded following the Communist victory in 1949. That same year the All China Sports Federation was created and extensive discussions began concerning how physical culture could best serve the state. By 1951, all private martial arts schools were labeled “feudalistic” and ordered closed. The next year the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission was created and a number of new regulations regarding the practice of martial arts were introduced. Instructors could no longer refer to themselves as “Sifu” and the Baai Si ceremony was declared illegal. Instructors were now referred to as “coaches”.

In 1959 it was announced that a state controlled martial arts program had been created that no longer recognized styles or systems. Instead, all martial arts were divided into five basic categories: “Long Fist” (referring to all empty hand techniques), broadsword, straight sword, staff and spear. After some protests, a category referred to as “South Fist” was also introduced to represent the martial arts of Southern China (based primarily upon Choy Lay Fut, Hung Kyuhn and its derivatives). This state controlled martial arts program is the basis for what is today referred to as “contemporary Wushu”.

Ideologically, this new program met both basic requirements. First, it eliminated the elitism traditionally associated with the martial arts and made them accessible to the masses. Second, it provided a program of physical culture for the purposes of promoting “military heroism” as Mao Zedong had called for in 1917. At the same time, it put the practice of martial arts under direct government supervision and eliminated those values which had fostered personal loyalties and divisiveness. Private schools no longer produced men loyal only to their instructors and with deep seated suspicions of outsiders.

On the surface, these developments were a welcome change from the secrecy, inflated egos, constant challenges and random violence that characterized the traditional martial arts community. However, despite government claims to the contrary, contemporary Wushu is not simply martial arts with a new image. The Chinese Communist Party’s political agenda had a direct impact upon how the martial arts were taught and practiced. For most of contemporary Wushu’s history, the party actively discouraged the study of application and the practice of sparring, claiming that self-defense skills were no longer necessary in the new society and stressing that “comrades should not fight comrades”. Thus, those practicing contemporary Wushu frequently did not know which techniques had practical application and which were for athletic or performance purposes.

Chinese martial arts history PART SEVEN

State attempts to control and appropriate the martial arts:
Phase One: Republican China

While some individual martial artists had gained status and social acceptance, as a group they continued to present a problem to central authority. Martial arts schools produced trained fighters who remained loyal only to their own teachers and traditions. Many still supported groups which openly challenged the newly established government.

The Nationalist Party (Guomindang) waswell aware of the role of martial artists in popular rebellion. In fact, Dr.Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of the party, had himself maintained numerous secret society associations and had extensively used “Red Pole” enforcers. Thus, once Chiang Kai-Shek had solidified his position, he turned his attention towards attempts to control and appropriate the practice of martial arts.

In 1928, a year after Chiang Kai-Shek’s “White Massacre” in Shanghai had left him the undisputed leader of the Nationalist Party, several steps were taken to exert control over martial artists. First, the government adopted the term “Kuo Shu”. This term means literally “national arts” and was an attempt not only to reduce the factionalism among martial artists but also to promote nationalism (and thus loyalty to the state).

Communists executed in streets of Shanghai

Open challenges, duels or any kind of public fighting match was declared illegal. The government replaced these duels with state run competitions. These organized competitions were also to identify and screen the best practitioners for teaching positions at the newly founded Central Kuoshu Institute (中南國術館), and in the state administered provincial Kuo Shu institutes. Generals Zhang Zhi Jiang (张之江), Li Lie Jun (李烈鈞) and Li Jing Lin (李景林) held the first national competition in October 1928.

In 1929, a similar event was held in Hangzhou, China. This event was also organized by Li Jinglin, then acting as vice-dean of the Central Martial Arts Academy. This time there were 125 entrants for the “boxing” or “free fighting” (San Shou) competition which was held November 21-27. The event was very popular, the audiences every day numbered in the tens of thousands.

The same year, the governor of Guangdong Province invited some of the institutes’s masters (including some of those that had competed in the 1928 lei tai) to come south to establish a “Southern Kuoshu Institute”. General Li Jinglin chose five masters to represent northern China. These men were known as the Wu hu xia jiangnan (五虎下江南 – “Five tigers heading south of Jiangnan.

1. Gu Ru Zhang: Northern Shaolin. He placed in the “Top 15” of the 1928 lei tai.
2. Wan Lai Sheng: Northern Shaolin and Internal styles (including Natural Boxing).
3. Fu Zhensong: Baguazhang.
4. Wang Shao Zhou: Northern Shaolin and Cha style.
5. Li Xian Wu: Northern Shaolin and Internal styles.

Martial artists who participated in the institute but remained in China after the communist victory in 1949 have consistently denied any direct government involvement, for obvious political reasons, but in reality its establishment put martial artists under direct government regulation. Teachers in Taiwan are far more forthright, openly acknowledging that the government was involved in “an active program” to reorganize the martial arts. The stated goal of the institute was to “consolidate Kung-Fu by bringing together many great masters.” Thus, while the Nationalist Party was less successful, it was involved in a strikingly similar program to the one that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under took with the creation of contemporary Wu-Shu.

In 1933, the institute again hosted the national competition. The rules said, “…if death occurs as a result of boxing injuries and fights, the coffin with a body of the deceased will be sent home.” Some of the top winners of this contest included Chang Dung Sheng of Shuai Jiao. He won theheavy weight division and earned the martial nickname “Flying Butterfly.”

Attempts to control and appropriate the martial arts, like most Nationalist social programs, was largely unsuccessful. The government lacked a well-developed structure at the grass roots level and corruption was rampant. In addition, many of the most powerful members of the Nationalist Party were themselves martial artists. According to Draeger and Smith, the martial artists in Taiwan, many of whom were Nationalist Party members and military officers, “were a truly diverse lot: many were illiterate, some took opium regularly, a few were scoundrels.”

Chinese martial arts history PART SIX

The average Westerner, when first exposed to the Chinese martial arts, more than likely has visions of Buddhist monks and sage masters dancing in their head. They would be shocked to hear a few historical accounts of their ancestors. Furthermore, the martial arts community in China sought social acceptance, respectability and opportunities at social advancement in a rapidly shifting world in which none of the social movements had much positive opinions of martial arts.

Imperial China was governed by traditional Confucian ideology, which had disdain for both non-intellectual activity and for men who utilized brute force and violence to settle matters. The military was treated with suspicion, as demonstrated by the saying “one does not make a prostitute out of an honest girl, a nail with good iron, or a soldier out of an honorable man.” Although the civil and military exam systems were basically parallel in structure, the military exams were less valued. While the military was perhaps the best possible profession for a trained martial artist, it was by no means an easy path or an ideal life since the system, administered by civilian intellectuals, was designed to subordinate men of violence to the needs of the society.

Of course, the greater challenge to the social order was that group of martial artists who were unable to advance through the military examination system. First and foremost, the examination system required a degree of literacy that many martial artists simply did not possess. Second, because the examination system restricted the number of military officers, even literate martial artists never passed. While these men could have joined the army without passing the exams, in reality they had no reason to do so. Regular military men were treated brutally by officers and there was no future in it.

These men who did not pass the official exams formed a disgruntled and highly dangerous group. They became part of China’s extensive underground society and engaged in marginally legitimate or illegal activities to survive. Regardless of their chosen professions, these men had no loyalty to either the society or the state. In 1728 the Yong-zheng emperor issued an imperial prohibition specifically on MARTIAL ARTS. The emperor condemned teachers as “drifters and idlers who refuse to work at their proper occupations” who gather with their disciples all day, leading to “gambling, drinking and brawls”.

A 1899 pamphlet by Zhili magistrate Lao Nai-wuan described local martial arts groups as “vagabonds and rowdies who draw their swords and gather crowds.” He then stated that they “are overbearing in the villages and oppress the good people.”

The idea that our fabled ancestors were nothing more than tough guys engaged in gambling, drinking and various forms of extortion and petty crime doesn’t sit well with most martial artists but the fact remains it is all historically verifiable.

But what about martial arts in Buddhist monasteries such as Shaolin? The presence of martial arts at Buddhist monasteries is well established. Specific martial monks (武僧) provided necessary defense and increasingly were called upon by Imperial Dynasties to provide local military assistance. The apparent contradictions were explained by various rationalizations. Additionally, as empty hand fighting techniques merged with gymnastic, meditative and other spiritual practices during the Ming Dynasty, the idea of Buddhist monks practicing martial arts seemed less incongruous.

Shaolin warrior monks with German rifles

But martial arts were also present at Buddhist monasteries for other reasons. Monasteries served as inns for travelers, as public gathering places and as performance space. Thus, they naturally developed an intimate relationship with a segment of lay society that also had deep connections with martial arts, the JiangHu (江湖).

The JiangHu (江湖), literally “rivers and lakes,” refers to the transient community that traveled from town to town using China’s waterways. While there were economic motivations and even necessities in these travels, in the context of Chinese society this community represented many social undesirables; actors, story tellers, palm readers, fortune tellers, sky gazers, and exorcists, in addition to wandering martial artists. Their transient lifestyle meant they were not bound by the normal constraints of family, society and state. They were free, operating outside the structures that contained most people in Imperial China.

For these vary same reasons, the JiangHu was also a dangerous lifestyle. Among those traveling and seeking to escape the laws of society were also thieves, secret society members and rebels. For the JiangHu, martial arts were both tools of their trades and methods of self-defense. In the absence of state and society as arbitrator, one could only be protected and differences could only be resolved by the use of force.

Finally, for many in the JiangHu the practice of martial arts wasn’t just for self-defense but also part of their livelihood. The Chinese opera traveled from town to town, staying and performing at the local monasteries in each. While martial arts certainly provided self-defense for these actors, their martial arts were also integrally linked to their performances. Chinese opera performances feature elaborate choreographed fights, much of it featuring very real martial arts technique. Similarly many martial arts teachers supplemented their incomes with public martial arts demonstrations which not only attracted attention but also gave them an opportunity to sell the herbal formulas they prepared. Thus, the Buddhist monastery was a common gathering point for both monks and laymen, both interested in martial arts.

While martial artists sought to reform their image and create paths for social advancement, the Imperial system was clearly stacked against them. Unfortunately, the virtual collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and the establishment of the Chinese Republic did little to change the state of martial arts. While some individual martial artists had gained status and social acceptance, as a group they continued to present a problem to central authority. Martial arts schools produced trained fighters who remained loyal only to their own teachers and traditions. Many still supported groups which openly challenged the newly established government, particularly secret societies. Doak Barnett, a well known historian who described conditions in Szechuan province during the Republican period, observed:

“There was nothing secret about [secret societies]…. The fact that it is outlawed by the central government does not seem to bother anyone concerned, or, it might be added, deter anyone from becoming a member if he is invited.”

1911 marked the end of the Qing Dynasty but, more significantly, it also ended thousands of years of unbroken Chinese tradition and culture. Western-educated Christian, Dr. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries thought that the imperial system was deeply flawed and that China needed a thoroughly modern government. The New Culture Movement sprang from the disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture. Scholars whom had classical educations began to lead a revolt against the traditional Confucian culture. They called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based Western standards, especially Democracy and science. Martial arts, just as all other aspects of traditional culture, were viewed as backward and desperately in need of eradication in the interests of pushing China into the modern world.

One of the most famous anti-martial arts writers was Lu Xun, who argued that the propaganda of traditional Chinese sport was based on superstition, feudalism and anti-science.

Lu Xun satirical take upon the traditional martial arts published in New Youth, 1918:

“Recently, there have been a fair number of people scattered about who have been energetically promoting boxing [quan]. I seem to recall this having happened once before. But at that time the promoters were the Manchu court and high officials, where as now they are Republican educators–people occupying a quite different place in society. I have no way of telling, as an outsider, whether their goals are the same or different.

These educators have now renamed the old methods “that the Goddess of the Ninth Heaven transmitted to the Yellow Emperor”…”the new martial arts” or “Chinese-style gymnastics” and they make young people practice them. I’ve heard there are a lot of benefits to be had from them. Two of the more important may be listed here:

(1) They have a physical education function. It’s said that when Chinese take instruction in foreign gymnastics it isn’t effective; the only thing that works for them is native-style gymnastics (that is, boxing). I would have thought that if one spread one’s arms and legs apart and picked up a foreign bronze hammer or wooden club in one’s hands, it ought probably to have some “efficacy” as far as one’s muscular development was concerned. But it turns out this isn’t so! Naturally, therefore, the only course left to them is to switch to learning such tricks as “Wu Song disengaging himself from his manacles.” No doubt this is because Chinese are different from foreigners physiologically.

(2) They have a military function. The Chinese know how to box; the foreigners don’t know how to box. So if one day the two meet and start fighting it goes without saying the Chinese will win…. The only thing is that nowadays people always use firearms when they fight. Although China “had firearms too in ancient times” it doesn’t have them any more. So if the Chinese don’t learn the military art of using rattan shields, how can they protect themselves against firearms? I think–since they don’t elaborate on this, this reflects “my own very limited and shallow understanding”–I think that if they keep at it with their boxing they are bound to reach a point where they become “invulnerable to firearms.” (I presume by doing exercises to benefit their internal organs?) Boxing was tried once before–in 1900. Unfortunately on that occasion its reputation may be considered to have suffered a decisive setback. We’ll see how it fares this time around.

This is from p. 230-231 of Paul A. Cohen’s, History in Three Keys

Chinese martial arts history PART FIVE

Chinese martial arts in a new China with a new culture

The New Culture Movements was active and influential in China among university students and intellectuals who had studied abroad and embraced modernity. Of major concern was the health of the Chinese population, which suffered due to a combination of poor diet, disease, poverty, crowded living conditions, opium addiction and finally, a lack of concern about and knowledge of public health. Following the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895, many Chinese felt that their country had become a “sick man” who needed strong medicine.

Proponents of modern physical education also confronted a Confucian society had deeply rooted prejudices about what the proper man looked like physically. He was pale skinned, thin, almost emaciated. This aesthetic reflected the many hours a Confucian scholar spent studying books and writing calligraphy. Also, musculature was viewed as an indication that the person engaged in manual labor. Compared to Western physiques, the Chinese insisted that they maintained moral superiority due to this Confucian ethic and lifestyle.

The debates on military training and physical education were launched by Chinese intellectuals.
Ideas such as social Darwinism and survival of the fittest, which were introduced at this point in time, influenced some to believe that military drills could strengthen Chinese martial spirit to save China from imperialist invasion. In schools, “Ti Cao” (calisthenics and gymnastics) classes were introduced with the the main goal of creating “martial spirit” in the nation, and military-style calisthenics became the standard.

In the private sector a number of societies were organized to promote a new vision of martial arts in modern China. The Beiping Physical Culture Research Institute was established and began to publish a magazine called Physical Culture. The Jingwu Physical Culture Society was the biggest and most popular Chinese martial arts society which spread through China and South East Asia from 1917 to 1929. Jingwu Physical Culture Society was the first sports society to combine Western and Chinese physical culture, which not only taught Chinese martial arts and military training, but also taught Western sports, such as gymnastics exercise, athletics, football, basketball, volley­ball, tennis and swimming. It marked a transition from the martial arts serving solely as a soldiers’ tool to a middle-class recreation which had the potential of improving Chinese society as a whole. The Jingwu Association attempted to challenge the popular view of the martial artist; “Chinese martial arts practitioner does not equal ‘gangster,'”thug,” or ‘goon.”

However, not all intellectuals of the period viewed military-style calisthenics as suitable for school curriculum. Prejudices remained’

“.. your average unintelligent, immoral soldier coming right out of the barracks and in one swoop becoming a teacher” – 6 Physical Culture Weekly Special Edition, January 1920.

Chen Tu-hsiu, one of the Chinese Communist Party’s founders and editor of a magazine entitled New Youth, criticized the classical feudal education system for over emphasizing literary memorization and neglecting physical exercise, yet disagreed about putting martial arts in the school curriculum because of his anti-traditionalism and anti-militarism positions. Chen called for “no boxing and no violent competitive games” (New Youth, 1 January 1920).

One of the other famous anti-martial arts writers was Lu Xun, who argued that the propaganda of traditional Chinese sport was based on superstition, feudalism and anti-science. In Lu’s view, over-emphasising the function of Chinese martial arts might raise a similar “patriotism” to that of the Boxer Rebellions in 1900.

“I do not mind if some people think martial arts is a special skill and enjoy their own practice. This is not a big matter. However, I disagree with the propaganda of traditional Chinese martial arts because educators promote martial arts as a fashion, as if all Chinese people should do the exercise, and most advocators promote martial arts in a ghost-like spirit. This social phenomenon is dangerous” (New Youth, 15 February 1919).

Chinese martial arts history PART FOUR

The Boxer Rebellion

One of the most famous branch sects was the Yihequan (Fists of Righteousness and Harmony), popularly known as the Boxers. The Boxer Rebellion began in North China in 1898 as a popular peasant protest movement. Unlike the Taiping, the Boxer Uprising was opposed to Christian activity within China, particularly missionary evangelism in the countryside.

Joseph W. Esherick has argued, rather successfully, that the “boxers” were not in fact martial artists, but rather followers of a variety of protection rituals; they took part in certain rituals, believing spirits would possess them making them impervious to foreigners’ bullets. These rituals were easily learned by the young, uneducated peasants of the Yellow River floodplain, and transmitted from village to village.

“The two elements, martial arts and heterodox beliefs, are clearly alternatives, not linked elements of a single tradition.”
– Joseph W. Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising

Members of heterodox sects might practice martial arts, but martial arts were not inextricably linked to spiritual practices.

While the association may have been superficial, the link between traditional martial arts and the Boxers remained in the Chinese mind for generations. In the eyes of the public, martial artists were grossly ignorant and superstitious. Sun Lu Tang in 1915 noted;

“There was a prejudice in the old days that literates despised martial arts as martial artists were short on learning.”

Sectarian recruiters had no qualms in manipulating the ignorance of these young peasants. Recruiters for the “Boxer” movement promised a variety of protection rituals which they believed would protect them from the weapons of the Western powers, often confusing them with actual legitimate martial arts practices.

“One Shandong master promised that the techniques could be learned in a day; another said seven or eight days; a third more rigorous teacher claimed 103 days but still noted that is was ‘much easier than the Armor of the Golden Bell.” In this case, they were promising “faster and better” than the actual legitimate martial arts technique of “Golden Bell”.

In the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, the people of China scorned the traditional martial arts as usually in poor physical condition and often at or below the poverty line with no particular social roots. Worst of all, despite their violent tendencies, their violence had been useless against Western technology

Even in academic circles, there remains an overemphasis on the significance of their relationship to heterodox religious sects and secret societies during the mid to late Qing period. While the association itself was real, the nature of this association is usually distorted. To begin with, some college textbooks, such as recent editions of Immanuel Hsu’s The Rise and Fall of Modern China, unwittingly persist in spreading Heaven and Earth Society (also known as the Triads or the Hong League) misinformation about their own origins, ostensibly in a Shaolin Monastery in Fujian, by treating it as history.

This story, never backed up by a single kernel of historical evidence, was hopefully laid to rest by Chinese research outlined in Qing History Research in 1993 and further detailed in Dian Murray and Qin Baoqi’s The Origins of the Tiandihui: The Chinese Triads in Legend and History (1994)

Chinese martial arts history PART THREE

The increasing militarization of the countryside: local village militia, anti-bandit groups, self protection groups, brotherhoods and secret societies.

By the late Qing period, martial arts were widely available and widely practiced in China. There were increasing number of military examination graduates in the rural areas and military Sheng-yaun were often influential men in their villages. The increasing militarization of the countryside included local village militia and anti-bandit groups as a means of protection for villages in increasingly unstable times. A 1716 Cao county, Shandong gazetteer noted: “The Yellow River repeatedly broke its banks, and bandits run amok.”

Martial arts attracted young peasant males and figured into a long Chinese tradition of ordinary peasants attempting to create organizations independent from orthodox gentry elites.

Fraternal organizations were groups of men brought together because they were from the same family or village. They were common throughout Southern China and Taiwan, serving as part social club, part social service and sometimes part criminal gang. They frequently sponsored martial arts training for their members.

They also figured into village to village disputes, clan wars and local revolts. The martial arts were everywhere, and violence was becoming the method of choice in Chinese politics. For example, in the southern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong clan wars were a well-established tradition. Martial artists found frequent employment either as clan instructors or outright mercenaries.

The Eight Trigrams rebellion of 1813 represented the merging of sectarian groups with groups whose original purpose had been the practice of martial arts. Feng Ke-Shan (aka “King of Earth”) was a martial artists with little religious interest but ability to recruit members of local martial arts groups. The martial arts groups had the necessary skills to undertake an uprising.

The Taiping Rebellion engulfed much of southern China from 1850 to 1864. It was led by heterodox Christian convert, Hong Xiuquan, who having received visions maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ. Discontent had long been brewing due to a series of natural disasters, widespread economic problems and national humiliation after defeats at the hands of the Western powers; in particular the First Opium War of 1842. The Qing government were seen by much of the Chinese population as ineffective and corrupt foreign rulers.

Class divisions and ethnic rivalries figured prominently in the Taiping period. Hong Xiuquan was a member of the Hakka ethnic group which had emigrated to the south in the Song dynasty, arriving in the south far too late to acquire the best land and thus engaged in constant conflicts for expansion and survival. Among other serious problems effecting the regions were the prevalence of female infanticide, creating massive imbalances with shortages of women.

Chinese martial arts history PART TWO

A martial artist who did not join the military and who chose not to engage in illegal activities had very few options left. Trained fighters might find work as armed escorts but the life was by its very nature extremely dangerous and establishing a successful escort business could take years. They could certainly find work as a body guard but such men had no dignity. They were always subject to their employer’s whim, not far removed from being a virtual slave. These two professions were both legal but they brought neither legitimacy nor public acceptance.

Many martial artists simply wandered, making their living as either traveling medicine men or as street performers. These men were little better off than the common vagabond, having no permanent address and depending upon the mercy of contributors. They also had to deal with constant challenges by other wandering martial artists and local criminals who would try to extort money.

Some martial artists joined traveling opera troops. Traditional Chinese opera made extensive use of martial arts skills for entertainment. The opera recreated great battles, and its performers had to be able to use traditional weapons and engage in elaborate staged fights. The members of the troop also required martial arts for protection. Thus, these opera troops provided friendship and regular employment but were just as socially undesirable as the martial artists themselves.

Martial artists who had no objection to engaging in illegal activity found themselves in high demand. Martial artists also involved themselves in the activities of religious sects and secret societies. Historically, martial arts exercise was prohibited in civil society during the alien dynasties, since the martial arts exercise might encourage the subordinate class to raise Han Chinese nationalism against alien domination. During the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the White Lotus resisted what was seen as alien rule and struggled for the restoration of the Song court (960-1279) which was under Han Chinese control. The White Lotus Sect persisted when the Mongol conquest came to an end and was resurrected in the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911) when it was committed to restoring the Ming (1368-1644), the last Han Chinese dynasty.

By the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Qing banned perverse religious sects but not martial arts, which was the core part of the military civil examination. As a result, the White Lotus Sect not only utilized martial arts as a tool to gather members but also built up more martial arts courts to spread martial arts with the creed of the White Lotus Sect.

Many peasants and commoners, who had never had access to sophisticated fighting skills, joined these groups in order to learn martial arts. A particular group might become famous and attract more members with its instructor and method. The use of martial arts in sectarian groups to make it attractive to a wider audiences was then mixed with other tools these groups used to attract young men; stories of monks, magic and super powers.

The influence of the White Lotus Sect spread to large areas of north and central China between 1793 and 1796. This White Lotus Sect was finally sup­pressed by a militia organized by local landlords and officials in 1804. Tang Heng-le, an elderly medicine seller and teacher of Plum Flower Boxing (Mei-Hua Quan) led his disciples to join the local militia in suppressing sectarians.

Wealthy elite became increasingly militarized and tended more and more to depend on violent methods to defend its position. The same Cao county gazetteer noted “the tendency for the wealthy to rely on cruelty and violence is well established.”

TO BE CONTINUED

The pivotal moments in the history of Chinese martial arts

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of Chinese martial arts is that perhaps the most pivotal moments in its history and development are not to be found in the thousands of years of Chinese history but rather in the rather short period of less than three decades between the Boxer Rebellion and the War with Japan. The Chinese martial artist was almost univerally rejected by society, while confronted by foreign methods (Japanese Judo and western boxing) and modern approaches to physical training (the so called military gymnastics and the modern physical education movement).

Practical application was still a consideration; in urban areas, in the training of military and police, and ultimately on the battlefields of the War with Japan and the civil war. Of course, the context of application had changed. Some chose not to abandon practical application, while others exited the period having all but abandoned the idea.

Men such as Chang Dong Sheng (常東昇) and Chan Tai San (陳泰山) camed of age in this period, trained by those who had trained in a period before these considerations. They fought “for real”, pursued careers in branches of the military, and also embraced “sport” or “competition” which had been introduced by the Guoshu movement and it’s sponsored events. Chan Tai San certainly spent time in the modern sports apparatus of the Communist mainland, but he was a link to a period before it and largely disconnected from it. Chang Dong Sheng transplanted to Taiwan, which provided a different context for the development of his methods.

In my estimation, these are the “missing links”. They are the small cracks of light in the larger malaise of those who abandoned practical application, embraced the fantastical (ironically re-embracing the nonsese of the Yi He Quan!), or want to obscure.

“Great moments” in Chinese martial arts fraud history!

We of course know that there are a lot of excellent, honest and wonderful martial arts instructors, heck, even “masters” out there. But there are also quite a few con men and frauds. Most operate hoping the average person is not educated. And they certainly operate hoping people won’t re-visit and re-publicize their cons and frauds of the past. So, with that in mind, let us revisit one of the worst episodes in Chinese martial arts fraud. It happened in New York City.

This remains documented in a variety of places but one of them is
http://www.ikfkickboxing.com/sanshou01.htm

PROTECTING “TRUE” SAN SHOU!

Special To The IKF: If you are in the New York area you might have heard about an event called “Team USA vs. Team China” being billed as “the best US San Shou fighters vs. the Beijing Institute professional San Shou team”. Many believe that this event, being a professional San Shou event, is being promoted by Steve Ventura and David A Ross. They not only run one of the largest San Shou programs in the country, having trained two current national San Shou champions, but they are also one of the top promoters of San Shou including professional San Shou. However, they are NOT involved in this event. And they want the fighting community to know this.

This so called “Team USA vs. Team China” event is being promoted by a company called World Sport USA Inc., a promotion that not a single San Shou program in the United States has ever heard of before. The only thing that is accurate in their advertising so far has been that “Team China” is composed of the professional San Shou team from the Beijing Institute of Physical Culture. These five fighters are all professional, full time San Shou fighters and each have over 40 fights. They may in fact be China’s best. So the obvious question is why aren’t they facing the best US San Shou fighters?

Until the next official, IWUF recognized, US team trials take place this May the only official “Team USA” is the team that went to the 5th World San Shou Championships in Hong Kong in November 1999. This team includes Cung Le (R- ISKA Pro San Shou Champion), Rudi Ott (IKF Pro San Shou Champion), Al Loriaux, Josh Bartholomew and Chinu Ly. Of these fighters, only Josh Bartholomew is reited, yet not a single one of these fighters is taking part in the World Sport USA event. Clearly, “Team USA” is NOT taking part in this event as advertised.

In the United States, there are also a number of former amatuer San Shou champions who have turned professional. While they are not the official “Team USA” they are certainly members of the nation’s best San Shou fighters fraternity. These fighters include Dan Garrett, Mike Altman, Scott Sheeley and Marvin Perry. However, none of these fighters are taking part in the event either!

The event is taking place in New York City. New York City also happens to be the home of several professional fighters who, while their primary style is not San Shou, have indeed fought San Shou style and would be worthy opponents. Moti Horenstein is a professional Muay Thai fighter who also has excellent grappling skills. Peter Kaljivic has fought against members of the Chinese team in China before and has fought under shootboxing rules which are very similar to San Shou. Tom Battone is the USKBA world champion and has a San Shou background. Billy Maysonett is a Muay Thai fighter who has fought in several pro San Shou matches in NYC and is a well known fighter. However, none of these fighters in involved either.

Finally, while the Beijing team is clearly professional, it has not been unheard of for amatuer fighters to face professional fighters in San Shou events. However, once again, the fact is that the nation’s best amateurs are not taking part in the event either! The current national amateur champions include Ejovi Nuwere, Albert Pope, Robert Shultz, Robert Franshier, James Cooper, Adam Resnick, Marvin Perry (who won the amatuers a record 5 times and then turned pro) and Adam Caldwell. NONE are involved in the event.

Who is on the team that World Sport USA is calling “Team USA”? Who are these fighters they are calling the best San Shou fighters? Apparently they are students of one of the promoters! In addition, they appear to be people who have never even fought in a San Shou event! So, don’t let World Sport USA tell you that they are putting the nation’s best San Shou fighters on their card. Don’t support an event that so clearly thumbs their nose at both the fighters and the public.

— AFTER THE EVENT —

We found out after the event that the Americans put up against the PROFESSIONAL BEIJING TEAM were mostly students of the promoter. Most of them had never fought and were fighting guys with 60+ fights experience.

We found out the announcer told people these guys who never fought we the “US champions” and then they ridiculed them saying stuff like “look how superior the Chinese are to the Americans”…

I don’t know about you, but to me that isn’t just a scam, it is racism. And that should bother you

A military history of Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts can never truly escape history and politics. The term “Wu Shu” (武術) has been avoided by most traditional Chinese martial artists because of its association with the contemporary Wu Shu movement based in Mainland China. While the initial movement was based upon traditional teachings and in many ways similar to the Kuoshu (國術) program the Nationalists (KMT) had engaged in during the Republican period, the contemporary Wu Shu movement’s association with Communism was enough reason for many to avoid the term. As contemporary Wu Shu became more and more performance based, it indeed merited some differentiation.

For our purposes, we will put aside these more modern issues and remember that “Wu Shu” (武術) as a term meaning “martial arts” first appeared in the early sixth century during the Liang Dynasty (502-557 CE) (Lorge p 10). It also appears later in Ming Dynasty sources. It is instructive to remember that the character “Wu” (武) means “military” and that the character “Shu” (術) can mean “skill”, “method” or “tactic”. The term “martial arts” unfortunately for many has some preconceived baggage attached to it, but discussing “military skills”, “military methods” and/or “military tactics” brings us more quickly to the reality of the matter. “Wu Shu” (武術) in China has been subject to both internal and external forces and has responded to those forces in a myriad of ways, but when we speak of origins, we must never forget that originally “martial arts” were military skills with practical application in warfare.

As Peter A. Lorge so eloquently states, “these arts are the developed physical practices of armed and unarmed combat, which must be understood primarily as military skills.” (Lorge p i). The idea that Buddhist monks, Shaolin or otherwise, and Daoist priests, Wudang or otherwise, had any major role in the origins of Chinese martial arts is a popular fiction but has no basis in reality. That is not to say there were no martial arts at Shaolin or other Buddhist monasteries. Buddhist monks and Daoist priests, just like the rest of Chinese society, acquired for their own particular use existing military skills that had been developed and used on the battlefield. Martial arts were widespread throughout general society, most frequently spread by men who had been trained in the military and then returned to regular life.

The “Book of Rites” dating from the Zhou dynasty (1046 BC–256 BC) refers to “Jiao Li” (角力), a form of combat wrestling. The “Han Dynasty Historical Bibliographies” indicate that by the Former Han period (206 BCE – 8 CE), “Shou Bo” (手搏) or empty hand methods differentiated from wrestling (i.e. striking) and specifically for combat as opposed to sport, had been practiced and developed to the point that training manuals had been published. “Shou Bo” is categorized as one of the four military skills under the major heading “Military Writings”. Based on the bibliographical listing; these four military skills included archery, fencing, “Shou Bo”, and an ancient game of football (“Cu Ju” 蹴鞠) for agility.

That certain wrestling, kicking and striking tactics accompanied military training in weaponry should be of no surprise to anyone with even a passing knowledge of military history. However, they must be understood as ancillary to such battlefield and weapon training. The Han bibliographies describe “Shou Bo” as training “to practice hand and foot movements, facilitate the use of weapons, and organize for victory in offense or defense”. In other words, their role was as a foundation for developing weapons skills such as sword and polled weapons such as the spear and halberd.

Even during the Ming Dynasty, as empty hand fighting traditions flourished, General Qi Jiguang’s “New Book on Military Efficiency” relegated empty hand training to helping conscripts become strong and confident soldiers. General Qi’s introduction stated “the fist methods do not seem to concern themselves with the arts of great warfare; nevertheless, to move the hands and feet actively and to work habitually the limbs and body constitutes the gateway to beginning study and entering the art”. The discussion of empty hand training was even removed from some editions, perhaps due to fears that their proper role would not be understood.

While records differentiating specific empty hand methods may be fascinating for the modern martial artist, in the larger picture we must still understand that the traditions we have inherited originated as military training. They only later evolved into what we now understand as martial arts as they filtered into the general population. Until approximately the Ming Dynasty, when empty hand training flourished and distinct methods emerged, the history of Chinese martial arts is inseparable from Chinese military history.

The Waring States Period was characterized by widespread conflict which had militarized the whole population. In the absence of professional armies, civilians were trained in military methods, experienced combat first hand, and then returned home with this experience and skills. Men experienced and skilled in violence were numerous and others could acquire from them similar training. It was a reality that could not be easily reversed, and subsequent dynasties failed to learn the lessons of the Waring States Period.

The Waring States Period had introduced the sword into warfare, and under the Qin it became a favorite weapon. With the sword came “Knights-errant”, men with martial skills who were not bound to a single authority. In their best light, they were seen as men who used violence to avenge wrongs and insults. In more common practice, they were mercenaries and assassins without restraints whose skills could be bought. The second legacy of the Waring States Period was the establishment of a sub-culture based upon skill in violence.

The Qin dynasty, despite its relatively short reign, introduced the ideas of centralization that characterized the Imperial period of Chinese history. The Qin introduced a professional army with career generals, and the military became a new profession with new opportunities. Men sought training in martial arts in order to make a living as a professional soldier. Other men were able to establish themselves as trainers in these skills, able to be hired by those seeking advancement. This became particularly true with the establishment of the military examination system.

Although there were imperial exams as early as the Han dynasty, the examination system became the major path to career advancement only in the mid-Tang dynasty. Specialized military exams for the selection of army officers were held at the local, provincial and national levels. Military candidates were expected to be familiar with the same Confucian texts as civil examination candidates, plus military texts such as Sun Tzu. Then, of course, there were demonstrations of martial skills and of physical strength.

As should be expected, horsemanship and archery were of great importance during military exams. The local exams were administered by district magistrates and required the candidates to shoot three arrows while riding a horse past a target in the shape of a person. A perfect score was three successful hits, a good score two hits, and one hit earned a pass. The candidate failed if he made no hits or fell from his horse. These aspects of the military exams remained relatively constant over time. However, during the Ming Dynasty, a critical time in the emergence and development of the empty hand systems, we know that candidates were tested on skills more familiar to modern martial artists; the spear, straight sword, saber, and unarmed combat.

It is worth noting that as the candidate advanced, there was a greater importance attributed to demonstrations of physical strength. The national exams, conducted in the presence of the emperor, included bending the 120-catty bow, maneuvering the 120-catty halberd and lifting 300-catty weights (one catty equals 1.1023 pounds). Since, the Waring States Period, demonstrations of physical strength were believed to have a direct relationship with martial prowess and this belief would continue for most of Chinese martial arts history. There is a definite logic to this; stronger men have advantages in wrestling and striking, could better bear the wearing of armor, and could even shoot arrows farther. We should reconsider this when we turn our attention to the so-called “internal” schools (Nei Jia Quan) that appear in the Qing Dynasty.

Let us for a moment turn our attention to the general Yue Fei (1103–1141 CE). A famous and respected historical figure, Yue Fei he has also been attributed as the founder of several martial arts including Xingyi Quan, Eagle Claw and Yue Jia Quan. There is virtually no reliable evidence linking him to these or any other empty hand martial art, but that several traditions have claimed him should be no surprise at all. Foundation myths cannot be taken as literal history, but they are instructive in what they suggest; how these martial artists viewed themselves, who they wanted to be associated with, and as a reflection of their own experiences.

Yue Fei’s biography provides us with both some solid historical facts while also suggesting less directly the relationship between military training and civilian martial arts practice. The Chronicle of Yue (宋岳鄂王年譜) says that despite being literate, young Yue Fei chose the military path because there had never been any tradition of full-fledged Confucian civil service in his family history. The boy’s maternal grandfather paid for his military training by hiring Chen Guang (陳廣) to teach the eleven-year-old how to wield the Chinese spear. Then a local knight-errant named Zhou Tong (周同) was brought in to continue Yue’s military training in archery and military tactics after he had quickly mastered the spear by the age of thirteen.

In preparing for a military career, we see that Yue Fei trained first as a civilian by hiring private, independent martial arts instructors. By this period, it appears that this was already a common practice and there were many such instructors available for hire. Yue Fei’s biography does not mention him learning empty hand martial arts as a child, but martial researcher Stanley Henning states “[Yue] almost certainly did practice some form of bare handed fighting as a basic foundation for use of weapons.”

The classical biography also refers to his second instructor, Zhou Tong, as a “knight-errant” with all the potential baggage such a title entailed. Compare this with later martial arts traditions, which have attempted to link Zhou Tong to the fabled Shaolin temple. Lily Lau has stated that “Ngok Fei (sic) inherited this set of techniques from Chow Tong (sic) in (sic) Shaolin”. Shum Leung’s book The Secrets of Eagle Claw Kung Fu not only links Zhou Tong to Shaolin but explicitly states that Yue Fei studied in the temple; “… the Shaolin Monastery where Ngok Fei (sic) had studied with Jow Tong (sic) years before”. This is a familiar tactic in Qing dynasty martial arts circles, to claim affiliation with a respected, perhaps famous, figure and also engage in a bit of creative historical revision to clean up any possible conflicts in the quest to legitimate these emerging traditions.

Chinese martial arts originated in the military, and during all time periods soldiers, former soldiers and militia constituted the vast majority of its practitioners. Martial artists identified with and wanted to be associated with the famous and respected general. Meir Shahar notes that mention of Yue Fei in the second preface to the “Sinew Changing Classic” published in 1624 “spurred a wave of allusions to the patriotic hero in later military literature”. As he reemerged in the public’s awareness, it is natural that many would claim association. Shahar continues, “By the eighteenth century, Yue Fei had been credited with the inventions of Xingyi Quan”.

Competition to claim Yue Fei as part of one’s linage evolved in predictable ways. While it wasn’t possible to disprove that Yue Fei may have created Eagle Claw, it was just as easily possible to claim that it was training only for his enlisted soldiers. The so-called “internal school” could claim that Yue Fei’s officers learned his more refined art, Xingyi Quan! Say anything often enough and for many it becomes “fact”, Yang Jwing Ming has repeated in several forums that “Yue, Fei created for his troops two new styles. The first, which he created out of external, was Eagle Claw”.

However, a more careful reading of the various martial arts legends suggests an even more tantalizing possibility; a common ancestor! According to the Eagle Claw tradition, the original 108 Qin Na tactics (一百零八擒拿) derive almost directly from the Zhou Tong method which was called “Elephant Stepping”. Unlike the contemporary Eagle Claw, it was generally devoid of high kicks or acrobatics. As the name perhaps suggests, it was an aggressive method with firm, rooted stepping. In this context, reading what the system was supposed to have appeared like in its original form, it does not seem that far afield of the Xingyi Quan method. All of which is to say, they could have theoretically descended from the same method, thought it remains highly unlikely that method was at all linked to Yue Fei!