Dishu Quan: Fujian Dog Style
Cai Chuxian
Boxing (Dishu Quan)is one of the rare schools of Chinese martial arts with a long history. There is a legend telling us about its origin. It was said that in the Ming dynasty, there stood a White Lotus Nunnery opposite the Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou City, Fujian province. There, the nuns were taught Ground Boxing for self-defense and they kept the technique a secret. But in the early years of the Qing dynasty, the rulers abused their authority and burnt down the nunnery and the temple. This was because the Buddhist nuns and monks had taken part in the rebellion against the Qing government in the hope of the restoration of the dethroned monarch. Therefore, the nuns and monks were forced to flee in all directions. One of the nuns with the title of "Master April" ("Si Yue Da Shi") took refuge in a Chen family village in Yongchun County, and was treated cordially as a member of the family.
Deeply moved by the kindness from the elderly hostess. Master April passed on the technique of Ground Boxing to Chen Biao, a son of the family, as her repayment. After assiduous study, Chen Biao mastered it and regarded it so valuable a treasure that he did not let anyone else onto the secret. From one generation to another, this technique was only handed down to their male descendants. This custom ended in the early period of the Republic of China, when one of Chen Biao's descendants, Chen Ayin, took flight to Singapore to seek asylum. He had defended someone else against an injustice and killed the ruffian in his village. In Singapore, he resettled himself in the home of Mr. Chen Yijiu. Being grateful to Chen Yijiu for taking him into his care, Chen Ayin later taught Chen Yijiu the unique technique of Ground Boxing without the least reservation. From his childhood, Chen Yijiu was ardently fond of martial arts and had early on learnt a variety of them such as: Thai, Drunken and Dragon Style Boxing. After he discovered the true essence of the Ground Boxing, he applied himself to the study of it with great concentration and enormously enriched the contents of the technique.
He was held in high repute and known as "Supernatural Leg" by the people in Southeast Asia because of his exquisite leg skills. Chen Yijiu left Singapore for Fuzhou in l932 and has been living there ever since. From there, Shaolin Ground Boxing began to spread far and wide in the vicinity of Fuzhou. Now, students of this school can be found all over both inside and outside the province. 2. The Characteristics Of Fujian Ground Boxing As a kind of imitation boxing belonging to the Southern Shaolin Boxing system, Fujian Ground Boxing is noted for its agile and changeable footwork, as well as its fierce and vigorous fist technique. The essence of the technique is fully manifested in the lower-level movements with abundant leg skills. This is why it has been also often called "Dog Boxing" (Gou Quan). There is no lower-level movement without a leg action. In order to handle the technique skillfully, one should use his hands, legs and torso cooperatively. It requires that the hands motions are like a rope, the body rolls like a ball, the waist works like an axle and the leg performs like a wheel.
The basic rules are as follows:
1) Inclining the Neck Forward and Keeping the Head Upright. Keep your head naturally upright and do not sway it to either side while you lie on the ground. Incline the neck a little forward in order to look to the upper front.
2) Arching the Back and Drawing the Chest In. Relax your back naturally and draw the chest slightly inward, thus it is easier to bend the torso forward while falling. It may also keep the blood from rushing upward and guide the energy stream down to the acupuncture point "Dantian" in lower abdomen.
3) Keeping Shoulders Lowered and Elbows Dropped. Relax both shoulders and lower them. Keep both elbows naturally dropped and close to the ribs. When lying on one side of the body, prop the torso up on the hand and forearm which are both placed on the ground. As a saying goes: "Rely on the elbow to prop yourself up while falling and do not separate elbows from ribs." You should meet this requirement in order to minimize the exposed vulnerable areas of your body and protect your chest.
4) Bending the Waist and Keeping the Buttocks In. As the weight mainly rests on the buttocks while lying on the ground, you should tuck the buttocks in and keep them taut. Meanwhile, you should bend the torso forward and maintain an arched body position in order to execute your skills more nimbly.
5) Bending Legs and Hooking Feet. When you perform the lower-level movements, your legs are no longer just weight-bearing props, but important parts to action. You should bend your hips and legs so as to draw the knees close to the chest with your feet tightly hooked when lying on your back. Thus, you can efficiently exert your strength when you do an offensive action with the legs.
6) Stretching and Shrinking in Turn. This requirement is specially related to the lower-level movements. Generally speaking, you should shrink your body tight ly before stretching the limbs to conduct an attack or defense. The right and left limbs also stretch and shrink in turn.
7) Tumbling. This refers to a kind of typical ground movement which should be carried out skillfully and nimbly. These movements include forward rolling, backward rolling, passive dropping and active rising.
8) Piercing and Turning with Swiftness and Nimbleness. You should stretch your limbs swiftly forward, backward or to the side when performing certain forms. When you return to the upper-level from a lying position, you should roll skillfully, using your shoulders like an axis when a wheel turns. The movements of the limbs will contribute greatly to bringing the torso up from the ground.
Strength Training and Hard Exercises Since Fujian Ground Boxing emphasizes leg techniques, we must pay close attention to leg strength training. The methods are as follows:
1) Strength Training for Kicking. Lie down on your side. Stretch legs alternately forward to kick something hard (such as a wall, a tree, a wooden man or a stake) with the sole of the foot. Do a thousand kicks every day, only exerting seventy percent of your strength with each act. On the one hand, you do not want to spare your effort, otherwise the exercise will produce very little effect; on the other hand, you are liable to hurt yourself if you put forth too much strength. When you reach a high level, you will be able to knock your enemy down or break his leg with a single kick.
2) Strength Training for Hooking. Stand on a chair or other high object with one leg bearing the weight. Hang a heavy load on the hooked foot of the other leg and raise the leg till the thigh is level, then lower it. Do five hundred repetitions of this kind for each leg every time. You should increase the weight of the load gradually from five kilograms to a maximum of fifty kilograms. After one year's training, your legs will be strong enough to trip your enemy over with a single hooking.
3) Training for Iron Legs. Knock yourself on the shins with a stick of thirty to forty centimeters long and three centimeters in diameter. Hit lightly at first, then gradually increase the force of the blow. Through a three-month's training, step by step, your legs will be strong enough to bump against a stake or tree trunk. Do one to two thousand repetitions of this bump every morning and evening for three years, then you may reach such a high level that you can break a stake of ten centimeters in diameter, or bend a reinforcing metal bar of four centimeters thick with a sweep of your leg, as Chen Yijiu could. Then, you will find it possible to stand the blow of a eight-pound hammer on the shins, without any pain. Therefore, you can not only strengthen your defense capabilities, but also increase the offensive effectiveness of your lower-level movements. If you utilize some special medicines as auxiliary materials, you will get remarkable effects much faster than usual. In addition to these three training methods, you had better apply other methods to improve the flexibility and the strength of your waist, wrist and fingers.
