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Heaven, earth and man - the ongoing battles.
功夫要好,三战里找
“To excel in kung fu, find it in San Zhan”.
Okay, how many times have I heard this from all my teachers?
I think it’s easier to count the number of times they did not stress this.
3 rights/battles/advances permeate many Southern Fukien styles and Okinawa/Japanese karate.
The “beginning and the end” of many White Crane lines and nothing else is taught until all the qualities are accomplished according to laid down standards.
So with so many versions, which is the earliest?
Theories and speculations abound and the jury is still out…to put it mildly…
Personally I think we should be examining initial Shaolin “swallow and spit” methodology and “3 rights” which are taught in both northern and then later, southern Lohan systems.
And for Karate folks looking for connections, this next clip from “Fuzhou Whooping Crane” should prove interesting. Not usually done these days, this form is known as “Tiger Crane 3 Battles”, the fist represents the tiger and the open-hand, the crane.
So over to my Karate blog-buddy ……
Sanchin
In both Goju-Ryu, which I practice, and Uechi-Ryu (a close cousin), many of the same sayings exist about San Chin (Three Battles):
Sanchin is of primary importance
Everything is in Sanchin
Practice Sanchin every day
In these systems, Sanchin appears to be a “basic” form, containing (on the surface):
Stepping in a short, basic stance
Forward-facing posture with both hands guarding the middle
Punch or thrust
Grab and pull
Circular block and double palms
Specific breath coordination
Particular posture and muscular tension
But, looking deeper, you’ll see more:
Upper-body
Shoulders down
Back straight and chin down
Elbows close to the body
Punching / Thrusting technique (elbows down)
Block on return punch / thrust
Pulling in and down
Coordination of breathing and technique
Lower Body
Weight evenly distributed
Groin protected
Knees protected
Aggressive, circular stepping technique
Smooth movement, without bobbing up and down
Controlled stepping, keeping the entire foot flat, sliding and searching with the foot.
Each step is initiated by contracting and pulling the foot in, and expanding out to the next step. This assists in defending against foot sweeps, and helps in attacking the attacker’s root.
Unified body
Concentration of energy from ground into punching technique.
Slow technique gives the student the time to think and self-correct structural and technique problems.
Sanchin Testing (”Shime”) varying from body conditioning to assisting the performer in awareness of parts of the body not locked.
Sanchin breathing assists the user in exhaling when attacking, and reserving a small amount of air that
keeps the user from having the wind knocked out of them if struck.
Seeing the little bit I saw of the arts represented in Penang and Kuching, I have to say there is a fair amount of similarity, not necessarily in the shape, but certainly in the intent of the form.
-Russ
Sanchin - from the Chinese side.
Like I said earlier, personally, I think “Sanchins” could be traced all the way back to Shaolin Luohan training methods.
Old texts recorded the concept of “3 rights/straights” referring to keeping the head, upper body to be maintained straight and not tilted or bend in anyway. The buttocks to be tucked in and the feet positioned to keep the body upright.
Sink chi to dantien and all strikes driven by chi and controlled by breathing in the swallowing and spitting actions.
Depending on which styles, muscular tension fluctuates according to requirement. However, most all styles teach opening/closing of the dantien area in clear manners.
And just like in Karate, this is tested by punches or kicks.
Got a clip here describing the above - the explanation is in Mandarin.
From 3 to 8.
It is often said that “if you do not do Sanchin, you do not do White Crane”.
I think that statement sums it up; Sanchin is the bedrock upon which White Crane fighting is based on.
And many other Fukien styles use the same methodology.
TaiZu, Wuzu, Dog Boxing, Leopard, Dragon and the list goes on….
In Singing Crane, it is a misconception to say that there is no Sanchin and “Babulien” is the substitute.
SanChin is still the beginning form for many Singing Crane families in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
“Babulien” is the form following Sanchin and this is also the case for some Fuzhou Cranes like “Flying Crane” for example.
So we know it is not Singing Crane exclusive and in fact, not even Crane Boxing specific.
There are extant Babulien in Fukien Shaolin and Fukien Lohan …just to name 2.
Singing Crane’s Babulien take students beyond the swallowing, spitting, floating and sinking.
All 8 fundamental principles are covered in the form:
Swallowing
Spitting
Floating
Sinking
Springing
Lifting
Bursting
Rebounding
And like I said many times before, translating from Fuzhou to English is so wanting sometimes. The above, is at best, a ballpark guide.
Take another look at the last 4, my Sifu taught that those are the mechanism of “Whipping Jin” generation.
When I was in Denver last year and playing with Sigung Wayne Welch, a Pak Kua high hand, we were exploring the exact same topic.
I was taking a class through basics at that time and exaggerated on the sinking and floating physically and Wayne came up to me and said they got the same concept in Pak Kua.
Except that in their case, it’s called “spiraling”…..
A short clip here showing a segment of Babulien :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI6n0enUIj0
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