What has Happened To Chinese Martial Arts?

What has happened to Chinese martial arts? Where did they grow wrong? There have been many contests recently between traditional Chinese (TCMA) martial artists and modern combat sports athletes and practitioners. Without fail, all of them have been rather one-sided contests with rather quick and humiliating defeats for the TCMA.As evidenced by this clip of Xu Xiaodong fighting a Taji exponent.

Having been in China for the last seven years I feel that sharing some of my experiences will be of benefit. Perhaps the biggest problems for Traditional Chinese martial arts (TCMA) are that there can be overlapping aims when practicing such as fighting prowess, health and longevity, cultural transmission and sometimes even the spiritual aspect. This means that the average practitioner can seem rather wishy-washy in comparison with the focused combat athlete.

The continued practice of ineffective training methods allows the student to develop a false sense of confidence. If the martial art you are studying has these faults then perhaps it is time to reevaluate.

1.     Predictable and unchallenging drills with attacks provided by the partner: with little resistance or variation

2.     Static and slow footwork:

3.     No comprehension of grappling or groundwork

4.     No sparring of any kind.

5.     Ineffective power generation with much talk of ‘internal power’

But there is hope! With the rise of functional martial arts here in China along with the promotion of combat sports by the government, there could be a renaissance for traditional arts where they are forced to confront the problems and issues holding back their arts.

Heng and Ha - The Sounds of Mantis

Heng and Ha The Guardians

In Japanese martial arts, the kiai is a well known part of the martial arts repertoire. E.S. Harrison, in his 1913 book The Fighting Spirit of Japan, described kiai as “the art of perfectly concentrating all of one’s energy, physical and mental, upon a given object, with unremitting determination, so that one achieves one’s goal.”.

In Chinese martial arts, vocalization is represented in the forms of Heng (Un) and Ha (Ah). Originally the guardians of the Buddha, Heng and Ha were subsequently adopted into Taoism and Chinese Boxing. The merging of Yin and Yang represents the middle path of the Buddha and the abandonment of fear and desire. As with Yin and Yang, there is a merging of the sounds of Heng and Ha. 

In defense, Heng is used to bolster and reinforce the warrior spirit and is produced with the mouth closed. In offense, Ha creates uncertainty, confusing the opponent and facilitating the attack and is made with an open mouth.

Heng and Ha makes it possible to maximize the effectiveness of the Mantis boxing by coordinating and concentrating physical and mental strength through the proper exhalation of air from the lower abdomen. A unity of the spiritual, physical and mental manifesting as warrior spirit.

Dead Verses Live Power

In Mantis is there is an increasing tendency among some players to emphasise hard shock power (Ging Lik), at the expense of other skills and attributes. This has a real detrimental effect on the development of true Mantis skill and is a misunderstanding of the basic principles of Mantis boxing and Chinese martial arts in general.

Such Mantis players become stiff, slow and pedestrian. It is easy to see bad Mantis in paired work: characterised by a staccato action with breaking of contact and minimal interaction and responsiveness: where the partner could just as well be a wooden dummy.

In my experience, many teachers emphasise the banging of arms as a form of conditioning. It does have some small use of building up some small tolerance of pain; nevertheless Mantis practice should always be guided by function where target practice is constantly developed to hit areas of maximum effect.

Stiff, dead power once expressed is difficult to readjust, recharge and reissue. Live power is developed from paired practice where the Mantis player develops the attributes of feeling, sticking and turning with small angles and deflections.

Boxing is boxing, and good boxing is good boxing. Compare the drills of a world champion boxer Mayweather with two Mantis players. It can be seen that both drills are fluid, soft and responsive but within the drills there are strikes to vulnerable areas.

However, it should be remember that drills are not fighting but rather an opportunity to develop certain attributes. So a serious Mantis player should constantly be seeking to increase feeling, turning and sticking to become a true Chinese boxer.

Breathing In Southern Praying Mantis

Here is a demonstration of the first line of Sam Bo Gin by Sifu Mark Foon of Kwongsai Mantis USA. In contrast, to Chu Gar and Ip Shui’s Chow Gar, the relaxation is apparent.

Instead of the forced breathing (Ba Tao) on the strikes, the breathing is natural (Wong Tao). The use of breath is extremely important in Hakka Mantis for the development of internal strength, along with the development of a strong and stable base. It can be combined with micro adjustments of the posture to find the root.  Shallow breathing with the chest should be avoided. In inhaling, the abdomen is expanded and in exhaling the abdomen is contracted: making full use of the diaphragm. In striking the breath may be held.

Mor Sau- The Mantis Grinding Hand

In Hakka Mantis, Mor Sau is said to be the mother, whilst the Mantis horse is the father: showing the importance of the attributes of strong root combined with a feeling hand. Mor Sau is a very practical hand, used to cover the upper, middle and lower gates and can be used to search for the bridge, as the Mantis searches for insects.There are two ways in which Mor Sau can be applied: from the inside to outside, favoured by the Chu gar factions here in China and the outside to inside favoured by Kwongsai Mantis USA.

There are number of common mistakes that a player can make using Mor Sau:

Banging rather than slicing which is usually due to excessive tension

Not redirecting the force past the centre line

The horse is too long: if the horse is too long then the hands are short

Not tucking the thumb in to avoid injury

Not using the second hand (elbow to the wrist) to apply pressure to the opponent’s centre

Note: The material presented in this blog is part of the authentic transmission here in China, using my lesson notes and material by Sifu Roger D Hagood (RDH) Further information on MANTIS HANDS see the book Eighteen Buddha Hands by RDH

Southern Praying Mantis Kung fu- Kwongsai Mantis

Here is a Sifu from Hong Kong, demonstrating Dan Zhuang from China Kwongsai Mantis. In the US Kwongsai Mantis, the first form is Sam Bo Gin with some variations between the generations. However, there is no Sam Bo Gin in China. In China, the first form is Dan Zhuang.

There are some points to note in this performance that can be emulated:

When viewed from behind the elbows cannot be seen

The stance and narrow compared to many players in the West who exaggerate the stance

In the punching/bil Jee the energy isn’t blocked at the shoulders or elbow

Moving forward in Choc Shu and punching there is only forward moment and no retraction

Chu Gar Sam Bo Gin

This is a demonstration of the fundamental form Sam Bo Gin of Chu Gar Gao by Chen Jian Ming Sifu. This particular Sifu is from Huizhou the home town of Lao Sui. I was lucky enough to attend the opening of the Wu Guan in Huizhou, with Sifu Roger D. Hagood  (RDH) and train at the Wu Guan for around a year.

One interesting point to note is that in comparison to Ip Shui's Chow Gar: the Chu Gar Bil Jee is performed functionally with an explosive action. Whilst In Ip Shui’s system the fingers are opened slowly.

Bil Jee or finger thrust is an extremely effective technique, especially when in combination with other techniques. An opponent can be forced to commit to defend a strong punch, once contact is made the fingers explode open to attack vulnerable targets such as the eyes.

The extra distance needed for the Bil Jee can be obtained by:

Straightening the arm: the punch should always have a little in reserve, allowing extension for Bil Jee

Relaxing and rolling the shoulders forward

Use of quick footwork such the advance step

A common fault with Mantis students is that they have energy locked in the shoulders, elbow or wrist joints and the energy doesn't reach the finger tips. So when practising striking, the Mantis player should try to be aware of the importance of relaxation and projecting energy forwards