Summer School 1983

CHINESE GYMNASTICS

Yi = 'skill', 'art'
Wu = 'public official', 'guardian of the law' ... using the body and weapons to protect the state
Wu Yi = physical skill, physical education ... more modern would be Gong Fu
Ji = physical skill in the sense of moving, hitting
Ji Ji = physical sport

An early authority on skill is the Han Shu records, a many-volume encyclopedia of arts and skills (not philosophy). From this it seems that there were two kinds of martial art:

1. Shou Bo = empty-handed fighting, like karate, for self-defence

2. Shuai Jiao = wrestling as a sport, literally drawn from the image of horns, and branching into competition of strong breathing

And there were two other branches of physical art:

3. Jian Shou = sword art and archery, for self-development

4. Tu Na = regulation of breath and qi, the basis of the other arts, preparation for any of the others

These were related to Zhuangzi's saying: 'use skill to overcome force'.

Many of these sports and practices can be found as early as the Qin emperor. And there are other early texts on movement and breathing for health and longevity. For example, copying the movements of the Five Animals: tiger, deer, bear, monkey, bird. Copying the qualities of their movements: the way the bird moves its wings, the way the monkey moves its limbs, etc.

Xing Yi is also old, the legend being that its systematic formulation was by Sun Wu and especially Yue Fei - also known as 'the Flying Bird' - who studied the writings of Sun Wu, and studied archery with Zhou Tong, who remained the 'father of his art' though he also studied other arts with other teachers. Then Yue Fei became a national statesman, a general trusted by the emperor, who drove out the Mongolians from China. However, the Mongolians were good horsemen and had a better diet, so Yue Fei only won battles because he knew how to train his army, and how to use weapons: according to the legend, his method was doing Xing Yi.

Shaolin in legend is from Da Mo, a monk who came from India, which can be told both from his name and from his eyes in traditional pictures ... he is definitely a monk. He created the movements to give his little monks something to do when they were restless. So Shaolin was originally called 'Luohan Quan', 'monk quan', the Shaolin Temple connection coming later. Nobody knows where the Shaolin Temple was, perhaps in the North. It is thought that the North was tougher than the South because more vulnerable to invasions, so Shaolin is considered a 'Wei Jia', or 'external' martial art, based on five animals: dragon, tiger, leopard, snake and crane, using their movements for self-defence. Another external art was 'Chang Quan', 'long boxing', a very elaborate and complicated approach, with much jumping. It is impossible that it is now pure, because nobody could possibly have remembered it all.

Wu Dang is a mountain in the south, where legend has it that Zhang Sanfeng founded a quan, he too was religious, possibly a Daoist. This system was originally called 'Mian Quan', 'silk quan', both because it was soft and because so much silk was made in the South. Note that it was named after silk and not cotton, for cotton is soft but not strong, silk is also strong. Wu Dang is considered a 'Nei Jia', or 'internal' martial art. This quan also flowed down through Hua Tuo, a Chinese monk and leading doctor, though not clear whether he was earlier or later than Zhang Sanfeng. He developed breathing exercises to increase circulation for cleansing the body of illness. He also used five animals, the Wu Qin Xi, the Five Animals/Birds Game, but these related more to Tu Na breathing exercise for longevity, and thus to the Tai Ji tradition.

In the North, Qi was emphasised for fighting, close to Karate and Aikido.
In the South, Qi was emphasised for health, close to medicine.

In the North, they emphasised legs, connected with climbing mountains.
In the South, they emphasised arms, rolling the ball and circling.

In the North, there was more of an Islamic influence, the surname Ma coming from Mohammedan.
In the South, there was more of a Buddhist influence.

Tai Ji, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, were not originally in one school, but were a later synthesis by Sun Lu Tang and the people just before him. Sun Lu Tang was a man like Confucius, who did not invent the art, but revived it, and collated ideas and texts from the wider culture. Miss Li said that, though she learned from her teacher, she feels she has to research the points continually to see if they are right and what they mean.

It is good to know the three forms, but nobody can do all three equally, because of the limitations of individual physique. It is wrong to make Tai Ji carry the whole burden of 'self-defence', the other two do have fighting aspects and should carry that burden more, but even they are still mainly for health.  The difference between Xing Yi and Ba Gua and Tai Ji is that the first two send out qi towards 'the enemy', but Tai Ji absorbs it back and neutralises it. The traditional Chinese order was Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Tai Ji, even beginning with quite external forms for the young children. This was the order in which she learned: Xing Yi to strengthen the muscles of a weak race. We do not need this so much in the West, as we are better fed and have more gymnastics at school.

Miss Li said she preferred 'self-development' to 'self-defence' ... if we can put Nei Jia Wu Shu on that road, it will have a great future in the world.