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Fanzi Quan or tumbling Chuan
also known as Bashanfan (eight-flash Chuan). It is so called because of its
8 major flashing movements, which are executed as fast as lightning and
thunderclaps. The movements in tumbling Chuan are varied and continuous.
The Fanzi Quan ballad says:
"Wu Mu has passed down the Fanzi Quan which has mystery in its
straightforward movements." Wu Mu is the other name for Yue Fei, a famous
general of the Southern Song Dynasty. |
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Fanzi Quan stresses
the combination of external and internal strengths and energies. Exercises
involving the circulation of air flows inside the body are carried through
the water conduit, blood vessels and network of sinews which Chinese
medicine believes exist in human bodies. These three networks and channels
merge under the guidance of the mind. Tumbling boxers take root in their
legs while emphasizing hand tricks and movements. The tumbling exercises are
divided into two classes of major moves and minor moves.
The major moves include jabbing, axing, elbowing, jamming, wrestling,
rubbing and holding. The minor moves are rolling, lifting, turning,
penetrating, slipping, hammering, provoking and flicking. In tumbling Chuan,
the routine is made rhythmic by slow and fast movements, continuous and
intermittent actions. Tumbling boxers prefer to fight in a straightforward
way. They change freely from hardness to softness and vice versa. When the
hand hits out, the foot follows with a quick step. The body clutches
together while moving around fast. The fist never hits out aimlessly nor
does the hand retreat without trying to attack on its way back.
The routine of tumbling Chuan is short and terse. Its movements are agile
and quick and arranged in compact patterns. While practising, the footwork
is steady, posture upright and square, and actions are versatile. One moment
the two fists hit straight and the next they are rounded for their attacks.
Various tricks and moves are like whirl-winds and the entire routine is
completed as if in one breath. The fist hits of tumbling Chuan are described
"as dense as rain drops and as fast as a burn-ing string of small
firecrackers." The tumbling Chuan stresses crisp, fast, hard and resilient
movements. |
