For Discussion on the Formation of Mashi Tongbei's Biangan Wu Yin and Qi Shou and its Technical Characteristics Part 2, click here.
Technical characteristics of the Qi Shou
The Qi Shou（Figure 3), like the Wu Yin, is practiced to learn the fixed position, the selected step, and the live step. Comparatively speaking, Wu Yin is the "method," which is the principle, while Qi Shou is the "technique," which is the variation and extension of the method. Qi Shou requires more wrist agility and body coordination, and the specific usage is more evident and delicate.
The Qi Shou, the fixed-stance Qi Shou, mainly demonstrates the wrist's skill and the body's coordination. The fixed-stance Qi Shou focus on the lightness of footwork and agility of the wrist, a combination of compactness and extension of movement, and the ability to retract and release freely and strike long and far. Among them, picking and rolling need to show the lightness of the footwork and wrist dexterity, create something out of nothing, left and right, reverse smash, move smash, not only need the lightness and agility of the footwork but also need the coordination and cooperation of the footwork and wrist and body to combine the real and imaginary power and the free release, clearly expressing, highlighting the characteristics of the lightness and agility of the Biangan without losing the swift and steep.
The technical characteristics of the Qi Shou show a focus on little strength compared to the Wu Yin, and the trajectory of the seven movements is slight, requiring controlled power to achieve the precise expression of small actions. Each of these movements is accomplished through small-amplitude activities of the body structure. The practitioner must focus on the body before applying the force generated by the body movements to the Biangan. In addition, the Qi Shou focuses on small displacement and the coordination of instrumental muscle groups. The seven signs, such as creating something out of nothing, rolling left and right, move smashing left and right, and reversesmashing, require the Biangan to run as close to the body as possible, and the body bones are mostly moving around the sagittal axis on the frontal plane. Finally, the seventh hand has more movements to change the handle, and the force of the left and right wrists and fingers must be highly coordinated. Otherwise, it will quickly lead to the phenomenon of dislodgement, which significantly contributes to improving the practitioner's neuromuscular regulation ability.
Thus, it can be seen that the exercises from Wu Yin to Qi Shou are essential for the beginners of Mashi Tong Bei martial arts, and they are progressive, from shallow to deep. As Professor Ma Lianzhen points out, "If the Tong Bei Biangans are treated as a language, then the Wu Yin and Qi Shou are like children's songs and phrases that one tries to recite in imitation when learning to speak, which are profound and interesting, while the Thirteen Methods are real letters or vocabulary, and the ultimate relationship between the three is that through the progressive learning of the three forms one obtains a state from Tong Shun to Tong Da and then Tong Tai." As the saying goes, it’s "the Way to Simplicity." Some folk martial arts enthusiasts tend to exaggerate and add superfluous movements to simple martial arts techniques in pursuit of so-called "beauty," which inevitably adds to martial arts theory and makes things awkward.
Conclusion
The Biangan is a folk martial art form that originated in the northwest, with various and spontaneous arrangements, reflecting the pure and steady, simple and bright spirit of the northwest people. In recent times, through the efforts and practice of several generations of the MashiTongbei martial arts system represented by Mr. Ma Fengtu, the Biangans of various schools in the northwest have been integrated and condensed, incorporating the expression of the power of Tongbei, forming the MashiTongbeiBiangans with evident stylistic characteristics, and reducing the standardized teaching materials and technical systems such as the Wu Yin, Qi Shou, and Thirteen Methods. It must be realized that the Wu Yin, Qi Shou, and thirteen methods are the exclusive concepts and systems of the TongbeiBiangan, and in recent years, many folk fighters have compiled similar contents and passed them on to the world; some even use the so-called "Northwest Biangan Wu Yin, Qi Shou and thirteen methods" to confuse the public and make up the numbers indiscriminately. While we have understood the disorderly development of folk martial arts for a long time, we still need to be aware of and control them from academic research and standardized dissemination to facilitate the development of traditional martial arts and their effective transmission.
The convenience and low cost of dissemination in the Internet era is both an opportunity and a challenge; At the same time, it gives many people the chance to learn; the lack of standards and scientific awareness also leads to many problems in dissemination. Therefore, the standardization of its teaching contents, the continuous improvement of its teaching methods, and the measurement and evaluation of its teaching effects can help modernize traditional martial arts culture. All in all, being conservative is one option to maintain vitality.
