Flowery Hands Embroidery Kicks

[Firehawk4]

One might ask is there kung fu that they practice like this or is it ridgided like a robot .

[Jimbo]

"Flower Fist, Embroidered Leg" or similar is much too literal a translation.

Better would be "showy boxing with fancy footwork".

"All show and no go", in other words, to give it an equivalent English expression.

IMO, "showy boxing with fancy footwork" still doesn't really capture the exact meaning as it relates to CMA. Because in western boxing (and American-style kickboxing), everyone has seen showy boxers with fancy footwork who are (or were) nonetheless very effective with it and, in fact, were great fighters: Roy Jones, Ali, Leonard, etc., and kickboxers Bill Wallace, Jerry Trimble, etc.

"All show and no go" is a good one, but I've often heard it applied to bodybuilder-types with big muscles who couldn't fight. My personal favorite expression for it in English is "All flash and no substance".

I believe that "Hua Quan/Xiu Tui" was a mocking variant of the expression "Nan Quan/Bei Tui" (Southern Fist/Northern Leg).

[LFJ]

I think "Flower Hands, Embroidered Leg" just sounds weird and doesn't really tell us what the literal reference is, i.e; showy boxing moves and fancy footwork. Context would tell us it's meant in a pejorative sense. An equivalent English expression would then make it particularly clear (no go; no substance).

I'm just thinking WTH is an embroidered leg? Oh, it means no substance. But what is of no substance? A leg? WTH does that mean exactly? Weak stances? No balance? Inflexibility? Oh, it means fancy footwork that doesn't work. Okay, makes sense.

[A Joyful Proces]

This is a very interesting thread for me. I learn Lau family Hung Kuen, & in my lineage we regard a set called "Fah Kuen" as one of our most important. This has been passed down directly from Lau Kar Leung.

I'm an English guy & my knowledge of Cantonese extends to but kung fu terms only; I was told the set's name, fah kuen, means "flower fist", but not any more than that. The attention I have been shown with it is just towards the movements within, not towards the concept behind the name.

The set is fast as possible with numerous multiple strikes in all sorts of manners & ranges, with fast footwork... if LKL considered this a finest treasure, how can "fah kuen" in part be a pejorative term in all instances?

Anyone have any more insight?