马氏通备十二打手

Abstract: The Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou is a critical component of the Ma's Tongbei martial arts technical system, which is both a component of the essential training content and a necessary component of reinforcement for advanced students seeking a breakthrough. The arrangement of Ma's Tong Bei Twelve Dashou incorporates Tong Bei Jing, which has its unique moves and style. Only through consistent and systematic practice can one deeply appreciate its excellent value pursuit. In this paper, we try to discuss the technical structure and training characteristics of Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou using literature, interviews, and hands-on practice.

Preface

Ma's Tongbei martial arts is a representative contemporary martial arts discipline. Founded in the late Qing Dynasty and formed in the Republic of China, the founder is Mr. Ma Fengtu (马凤图), a famous martial artist and educator in modern times. From a young age, he learned the family martial arts such as Pigua (劈挂) and Baji (八极) from his grandfather Ma Jie Yuan (马捷元), his father Ma Huatang (马化堂), and his uncle Wu Mao Tang (吴懋堂). At the age of 12, he studied systematically with Huang Linbiao (黄林彪) in Yanshan to learn Tongbei martial arts, etc., and "studied Chinese medicine at the same time,” laying the academic path of lifelong medical and martial arts together. Later, he met Hao Mingjiu, Cheng Dongge, Hu Fengzan, Yang Junfeng, and other famous martial artists in Shenyang, together with Han Huiqing and his second brother Ma Yingtu exchanged martial arts and culture. Mr. Ma Fengtu learned Fanzi (翻子) and Chuojiao (戳脚) from Hao Mingjiu, Cheng Dongge, and Hu Feng San and taught Hao Mingjiu and Cheng Dongge the Pigua fist and the Baji fist.^[1] His son, Professor Ma Mingda (马明达), inherited family studies and continued to refine and explain Tong Bei Jing (通备劲) and integrated and reconstructed the Tong Bei martial arts technical system to simplify it, one of the results of which is the Tong Bei Twelve Dashou. There is a clear difference between the "Twelve Dashou" and the "Twelve Datangzi" do not be confused. The "Twelve Datangzi" is the foundation and the core of the Pigua Fist. The " Twelve Dashou" is the foundation and spirit of the entire Tong Bei martial arts system. From the viewpoint of technical structure, the Twelve Dashou is the significant fist of the Tongbei’s boxing system. The set contains elements of the classical movements of the Baji, Fanzi, Pigua, and Chuojiao, which further reflects the Tongbei martial arts philosophy of “integrate communication and preparation.” At present, Tongbei martial arts is developing and continuing to live under the leadership of Professors Ma Mingda and Ma Lianzhen. The core value of Ma's Tongbei martial arts is “Integrate communication and preparation” the technical content is diversified, the system requires students to adhere to the academic tradition strictly, and respect for history and its values are embedded in its physical reality and theoretical content, only through the “Technology and Scholarship are Paramount” to understand its inner rationale.

There are few academic research results about Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou, and only some scholars have expressed their views on its technical content, practice style, method, and value. Based on this, this paper will further discuss the technical structure and training characteristics of Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou based on the previous studies.

II．Technical Structure of Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou

Technical Content

The "Twelve Dashou" is the foundation of Ma's Tongbei martial arts and is an integral part of the Tongbei martial arts system. From the viewpoint of technical structure, the Twelve Dashou is the significant fist of the Tongbei boxing system. The set contains elements of the classical movements of the Baji, Fanzi, Pigua, and Chuojiao. Tongbei Twelve Dashou starts and ends with the flag and drum stance from the “Quan Jing (拳经)” of Qi Jiguang (戚继光),  a hero of the Ming Dynasty who fought against the Japanese pirates, and the entire technical content consists of four sets of movements. The technical contents and punching techniques of the Twelve Dashou are shown in the table below. (See Table 1) Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou has going and coming in the overall layouts while taking into account the left and right sides to ensure the fullness and artistry of the form. For example, in the second group of movements in the Tong Tian Pao, the footwork is light and solid while pursuing a steep twist followed by a quick walk to the left and right, forming a figure-of-eight movement path.^[2]

The first group is the Dan Pi Shou, the Tie Sao Zhou, and the Chan E Shou, collectively called “San Yuan Shou (三元手),” which are the three most essential moves among the Twelve Dashou. The movements are simple and neutral, mainly helping practitioners to solve the problem of horizontal and vertical alignment because the Dan Pi Shou is a movement around the sagittal axis, the Tie Sao Zhou is a movement around the vertical axis, and the Chan E Shou is a movement around the horizontal axis. The gradual shift in the wraparound axis of the other activities also reflects the progressive nature of the Twelve Dashou, both in terms of technical content and training patterns. Dan Pi Shou: the left and right arms are crossed and rolled in front of the body, the left arm is set up in a circle against the body, the backhand is rotated forward, and the right arm is rotated along the palm towards the bottom. Lower limbs into a left lunge: for the right Dan Pi Shou: right arm reverse wheel, left arm wheel chopping, both legs twisted into a proper lunge, for the left Dan Pi Shou." The main point of the practice of Chan E Shou is oblique evade. The Tie Sao Zhou should accentuate the strength of the horizontal sweep. The second group is the top, middle, and bottom of the three boxing methods: the Tong Tian Pao from the bottom to the top, the focus on the twist and turn, also known as the "lower plug" or tuck and pound, is the top-down method. The Dang Tou Pao is the medium striking method known as the contemporary straight punch. The third group is the three short striking methods, and the fourth is the more special three Jing methods.

Jingli Features

The technical movements of the Twelve Dashou contain "Tong Bei Jing.” The "Tong Bei Jing" refers to the law of power operation derived by the founder and inheritors of Ma's Tong Bei martial arts by integrating the rules of power operation of various martial arts into one through systematic integration and classification. Generally speaking, the "Tong Bei Jing" includes four specific Jing methods: aggregation and divergence, Swallowing and spitting, undulation and twisting, rising and falling, and the use of these four Jing methods in a highly coordinated manner is the "Tong Bei Jing,” or the realm of Tong Bei Jing requirements. Professor Ma Mingda proposed the sixteen words of "Tong Bei Jing": "Swallowing and spitting are convergence and divergence, aggregation and divergence should be flexible, twisting and should have vertical and horizontal directions, and rising and falling should be consistent up and down." These 16 words clearly explain the characteristics of each force. Separately, these four Jing methods can be divided into two groups. Aggregation and divergence, Swallowing and spitting for the first group, mainly refers to the movement of the human trunk; generally said that the trunk, according to specific requirements to do regular extension and flexion, is "aggregation and divergence"; the chest and abdomen of a concave and convex that is swallowing and spitting. Tongbei compares the human body to a bow, and the bow contains the coordination of Swallowing and spitting and stretching and contracting two kinds of Jingli (劲力) in one, and then it can be used in one shot.

This is precisely the kind of Jingli pursued by the Tongbei martial arts. In addition, the aggregation and divergence and swallowing and spitting are also extended to the whole moving process such when talking about "wide aggregation and divergence, swallowing and spitting freely,” it is not limited to the trunk but refers to the overall style, referring to the aggregation and divergence and swallowing and spitting in the range of extraordinary play. Because of this, the "wide aggregation and divergence" is often seen as the most crucial feature of Ma's Tongbei. The rising and falling are for the second group. The rising and falling mainly refer to the change of the body's height when practicing and dealing with the enemy, and Tong Bei emphasizes the drastic rise and fall. To take full advantage of space. The word " twisting" has the richest and most vivid meaning, taken from the Chuojiao. The meaning is mainly two points; one refers to the rapid change of gait and position in the movement, which is called "Xue (踅)” in Ming and Qing dynasty martial arts and is the appearance of rapid circling. The second refers to the aggregation and transmission of power with the palm of the front foot as the fulcrum, and the transmission of force in the twisted state, whose trajectory is often spiral, is also called "spiral Jing.”^[4]

These four forces are coordinated and integrated, but there are priorities in different movements. For example, the Twelve Dashou, such as the Dan Pi Shou, the Chan E Shou, and the Tie Sao Zhou, is based on the force of aggregation and divergence, supplemented by twisting and turning. The Tong Tian Pao, Shen Quan, and Quan Chui are based on twisting and turning undulations. After many practice sessions and actual combat, you can know that the so-called "Jing Dao (劲道)” is the law and characteristics of the operation of power, which belongs to the category of movement mechanics. Professor Ma Lianzhen has explained the Jing method accordingly: “The practice of martial arts Jing is nothing more than a pattern and style of body drive and linkage that needs to be developed slowly. It may not be possible to carry out a sequential learning sequence with specific techniques, but the two are a unified concept. How to obtain the Jing? You must be good at it; there is no other way.Choose your training content according to the person, time, and place, to emphasize the essential elements rather than the form.” Professor Ma Lianzhen also proposed: “Both the expression of force and the technical movements should be streamlined. Those who want to specialize in martial arts should avoid devoting too much time to martial arts routines and focus on elements that have the main characteristics of martial arts. The principle of simplification is to use the least amount of movement, the least amount of force, and the most significant amount of self-expression.”

For more, see Ma's Tongbei Twelve Dashou Part 2.