The coastline of what is now 福建 Hokkien (Fujian Province) has been home to fierce warriors for thousands of years. In the Ming and Qing eras, centuries of piracy, fighting pirates, and resisting the Manchu conquest had sharpened the fighting arts. The 閩 Min of Fujian / Hokkien were a different breed of Chinese, instead of being focused on the agricultural riverplains, they took to the seas for the fortunes. They brought their fighting arts with them to Okinawa, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Not only did they use weapons effectively in combined arms formations, they also brought their hand to hand combat methods known as 拳頭 Kuntao.