拳術 Chinese Boxing & a Common Vernacular
Today the traditional chinese martial arts are often socially rigid, with Masters forbidding their students from learning from other systems or cross-training. Chinese martial arts are at once seen as a unified category, and yet at the same time seen as hundreds of special systems and styles which have codified their methods and are unique. Both of these assumptions are flawed. The former I believe this is more of a “modern” matter of economics and retaining and controlling students. The latter is a warped perception. Were the various systems of Chinese boxing related via the legacy of the Han civilization and successive dynasties? Yes. One unified monolithic whole? Absolutely not. The truth is diverse. Yet within this diversity we must recognize regional themes and “languages of fighting”. Different regions’ systems often shared techniques and principles. That is to say, many regions had an overarching common vernacular of combat.
ver·nac·u·lar /vərˈnakyələr/ noun - the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region
Most of the Chinese boxing systems are mixed martial arts combining different training methods and tactics to employ 踢 Ti “kicking”, 打 Da “striking”, 摔 Shuai “throwing” and 拿 Na “seizing”. Throughout northern China at the end of the Qing dynasty we see a variety of highly popular systems within the regional flavor of 長拳 Cháng quán or “Long Boxing”. Styles like 紅拳 Hóng Quán “Red Boxing”, 少林拳 Shàolín Quán, 炮拳 Pào Quán “Cannon Boxing”, and 梅花拳 Méihuā Quán “Plum Flower Boxing” all share something of a ‘common vernacular’.
梅花拳 Méihuā Quán “Plum Flower Boxing”
The Plum Flower is a powerful motif in Chinese art and culture. As it is one of those plants to bloom in early spring, while there is often still snow, it can be seen as a symbol of resilience. Early spring was also a time when peasants were not yet hard at work but the temperature was warm enough to be outside enjoying spectacles - such as martial arts being demonstrated in the marketplaces. A collection of folk boxing styles known as Plum Flower Boxing arose in north China. It began in the 1800s and by the time the Qing dynasty had ended, it had many thousands of followers. In fact many styles which were not originally called Plum Flower Boxing took on the branding as the movement became more and more popular. It had strong connections to the folk religion as well as millenarianism, a psychologically empowering and seductive mentality at a time of societal collapse... It spread rapidly throughout the towns and marketplaces, and was in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hebei and Shandong provinces before the Boxer Rebellion (1899) which it was a major part of. In fact it still exists as a martial arts group and local protection organization in China.
Today many martial arts coming from those regions share similarities in terms of how their 套路 Tàolù “forms” (sequences / war dances) are performed and seem to share many techniques. This speaks to not only the rapid spread of Plum Flower Boxing but also a “common vernacular” that made it easy for learners to quickly assimilate new techniques into their pre-existing “fighting movement language”. Let’s imagine you grew up within the context. It’s likely that generally everybody knew a lot of the same moves already, outside of personalized tactics and vaiations or the trade secrets of individual masters or their schools. Even if you weren’t a seasoned fighter you've probably watched marketplace demonstrations, a bunch of leitai fights, brawls, and maybe you’ve seen small battles... So looking at someone performing their taolu in the marketplace or at a temple celebration - you probably knew many of the moves.
All those aforementioned systems ( 紅拳 Hóng Quán “Red Boxing”, 少林拳 Shàolín Quán, 炮拳 Pào Quán “Cannon Boxing”) as well as sets such as 連步拳 Liánbù Quán “Linked-Steps Boxing”, 功力拳 Gōnglì Quán “Power Boxing”, and 彈腿 Tántuǐ “Springing Legs” seem to fall within the common vernacular of 長拳 Cháng Quán or “Long Boxing”. Those last three were popularized in the 精武體育會 Chin Woo Athletic association. Founded in 1910 by a committee of martial artists, including the famous fighter 霍元甲 Huò Yuánjiǎ, this Shanghai based organization sought to create a structured environment for teaching and learning martial arts as opposed to the secretive training that had been common in the past. It was heavily based on Long Boxing, and perhaps overly forms-focused, but it was an early and influential attempt at codification and bringing together best practices and top coaches within a shared martial vernacular. Interestingly their first form, 彈腿 Tántuǐ “Springing Legs”, comes from the Hui Chinese community (Muslim Chinese with some Iranian and Central Asian origins) and has some unique practices. The Hui boxing arts may represent their own dialect within the Northern Chinese martial “vernacular”. In fact it seems the idea so prevalent today that schools were static and students did not cross-train nor learn other styles is in a word: bullshit. Yes, respect was paid to one’s teachers and often their first got a lot of credit but that said, people exchanged and learned from one another, blending skills and styles to form their own. A perfect example of that dynamic occurred in Shandong with Praying Mantis Boxing.
螳螂拳 Tángláng Quán “Praying Mantis Boxing”
During the Qing dynasty, Shandong had a culture of adventurous and proud fighters, willing to fight for a place - be it working as guards along the Grand Canal, escorting trade caravans, working as bandits preying upon travelers, or pioneering in Manchuria. Loyal to their teacher and their posse but open to fighting and exchanging, they were intrepid, bold and direct. There emerged a particular style, 梅花螳螂拳 Méihuā Tángláng quán “Plum Flower Mantis Boxing”, which did very well for itself in the caravan escort and bodyguard industry. That “plum flower” in the beginning is no mistake. The central line, the core, of the system was the 梁 Liáng clan and their Mantis boxing - became linked to the Boxer Rebellion.
Now Mantis Boxing’s origins are shrouded in myth but it does seem that clinch-fighting, whether branded as Mantis Boxing or not, had some prevalence in Shandong. An early boxer in that area, seems to have fought and exchanged with a 六合拳 Liùhé Quán “Six Harmonies Boxing” exponent and they ended up exchanging skills - giving rise to an offshoot known as 六合螳螂拳 Liùhé Tángláng Quán “Six Harmonies Mantis Boxing”. The system that became known as 梅花螳螂拳 Méihuā Tángláng quán “Plum Flower Mantis Boxing” was connected to the 鏢局 Biāojú “Caravan escort” or guarding industry. 梁學香 Liáng Xuéxiāng was a boss of such a company and his son, employees, and associates would all learn the Mantis Boxing system and take it their own ways. Today we know of many Mantis Boxing styles other than the Plum Blossom and Six Harmonies schools:
太極螳螂拳 Tàijí Tángláng Quán “Tàijí Praying Mantis Boxing”
太極梅花螳螂拳 Tàijíméihuā Tángláng Quán “Tàijí Plum Flower Praying Mantis Boxing”
七星螳螂拳 Qīxīng Tángláng Quán “Seven Star Praying Mantis Boxing”
八步螳螂拳 Bābù Tángláng Quán “Eight Step Praying Mantis Boxing”
光板螳螂拳 Guāng Bǎn Tángláng Quán “Shiny Board Praying Mantis Boxing”
長拳螳螂拳 Cháng quán Tángláng Quán “Long Fist Praying Mantis Boxing”
摔手螳螂拳 Shuāishǒu Tángláng Quán “Throwing Hand Praying Mantis Boxing”
秘門螳螂拳 Mì Mén Tángláng Quán “Secret Gate Praying Mantis Boxing”
and many more…
Martial brothers, employees, and associates would learn the skills and combine it with their own pugilism, creating new systems under the Mantis Boxing brand and containing similar core taolu and techniques but otherwise having a variety of different training methodologies. Again, all this mixing was done on the background context of a common vernacular of fighting skills and a thriving socioeconomic situation for the martial arts.
A Common Vernacular and Mixed Martial Arts
The reality of late Qing 武術 Wǔshù “martial arts” and 拳術 Quánshù “boxing” was one of brutal violence, frequent mixing and exchange, and mobility. This context has inspired me to help re-establish a common vernacular. Today Traditional Martial Arts in general are on the decline and Chinese boxing is no exception. Many of the various styles and systems are jealously guarded by their Masters and top students. Real fight experience is sorely lacking in many schools. Techniques are not being validated against a variety of opponents under pressure. There isn’t a thriving martial culture anymore. Therefore I wish to create a common vernacular that can also be considered an essential pool of skills that all Chinese boxers should attain. There may be hundreds of specific variations on any move as done in many different styles but the core archetypal skill and movement can be identified and key concepts and common principles emphasized. As such, focusing on my own background - that of Mantis Boxing and the wider Long Boxing context - I will establish a common vernacular.
