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Five Ancestors Wikipedia

This article is about the martial art. For the folklore figures written with the same Chinese characters, see Five Elders.

Five Ancestors Fist (zh-cp |c=????????? |p=w?? z?? qu??n; Minnan: gou7 chou2 kun5) is a Southern Chinese martial arts|Chinese martial art that consists of techniques from five different styles:

• the hands of White Crane|White Crane (?????????)

• the evasiveness of Monkey Kung Fu|Monkey (??????)

• the precision of Emperor Taizu (?????????)

• the correct body posture of Luohan (?????????)

• the Iron Shirt|iron body and internal work, of D??z??n (?????????)

Five Ancestors has been attributed variously to Chua Giok Beng (pinyin: Cai Yuming) of Jinjiang near Quanzhou in Fujian in the second half of the 19th century or to Bai Yufeng, a famous 13th century Shaolin (martial arts)|Shaolin monk of the original Henan Shaolin| Shaolin temple in the North China and South China|North of China to whom Five Animals style and H??ngqu??n (??????) have also been attributed.

One of the primary characteristics of Five Ancestors is its reliance on the San Chian (pinyin: S??n Zh??n ??????; literally "three battles") stance and its corresponding hand form of the same name, which it obtained not from Fujian White Crane (since it infact draws upon the yin/yang white crane method), but from the militaristic characteristics of Taizu.
Facilitating the development of the six harmonies, the "three battles" refer primarily to the three internal combinations of Xin and yi, yi and qi, and qi and li; all of which must be mastered for a practitioner to have attained a good level.
San Chian can also be said to allow development of the eight Five Ancestor principles and so, is considered the most important form in the style.
San Chian is better known by the Japanese pronunciation of its name: Sanchin.

Although the exact method depends on the school, Five Ancestors is known for is large variety in power generational methods. Due to the distinct character of each ancestor, these methods change depending on the power required. Some schools teach tension forms that develop power, of which there are about ten, and fist forms that train technique, of which there are dozens. Others stress a relaxed body, instead seeking maximum transmission of the relevant jing.
On top of this are miscellaneous hand forms, two-man forms that may or may not include sticking hands, and forms for a comprehensive arsenal of weapons including rice bowl and chopsticks, umbrellas, even opium pipes.
Over the decades masters have added to this list introducing material they considered relevant to the time.

Five Ancestors in now taught in China, Malaysia, Philippines|the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom|the United Kingdom, Germany, United States|the United States, and Canada.

Last Modified:   2005-11-04