Wuzu Boxing
01 · Historical Records
Since the Ming and Qing dynasties it has spread to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, becoming a branch of Quanzhou martial arts and an important component of the culture of southern Fujian.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wuzuquan (Five-Ancestors Boxing) has more than two hundred routines; its empty-hand forms and its long and short weapons each constitute complete systems. Its small routines are extremely concise, only a dozen or so steps, while its large routines are elaborate, extending to one hundred fifty or sixty techniques and hand forms. Wuzuquan is precise and values practicality; its outward form is simple and easy to learn, emphasizing plain usefulness and directness, with few flourishes. Each of the constituent boxings has its own style and distinctive merits, and because their boxing characters are similar, they can be studied and practiced together. Wuzuquan emphasizes cultivating the body and disposition with humility as the foundation. As the saying goes, “To learn boxing, one must first learn a good nature; to seek a good nature, one must take self-cultivation as the root.” This gives it a distinctive humanistic concern among traditional martial arts.
The five ancestral methods
Old manuals record five methods, Damo, Taizu, Luohan, Xingzhe and Baihe, as the backbone of the Quanzhou style.
Short and long routines
Over two hundred routines range from short sets of a dozen steps to long ones of a hundred and fifty techniques.
Humility as the root
The school insists on humility and self-cultivation, holding that good character precedes good boxing.
The burning of the temple and the ban on weapons
The art survived the burning of the Shaolin temple and a ban on weapons, kept alive by individual masters and clan halls.
Zhou Kunmin and his studies of the art
Born in Quanzhou in 1945, he has trained over a thousand pupils at home and abroad and written two books on the school.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The origins of Quanzhou martial arts can be traced back to the Eastern Jin, and among the region's various martial skills Wuzuquan is the most representative. Wuzuquan is the oldest and most widely distributed of the seven great boxing schools of Fujian. According to surviving ancient manuals, it comprises five boxing methods: first, Damo (Bodhidharma); second, Taizu; third, Luohan (Arhat); fourth, Xingzhe; and fifth, Baihe (White Crane). The teaching of Quanzhou Wuzuquan relies mainly on urban boxing halls, ancestral-hall martial schools, and village boxing societies. The hometowns of overseas Chinese in Jinjiang, Shishi, Nan'an, Hui'an, and Anxi each have their own branches, and the art was carried by Quanzhou emigrants to the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and elsewhere. According to surviving ancient manuals, Wuzuquan joins the Damo, Taizu, Luohan, Xingzhe, and Baihe boxing methods into a single school: beginners first train in stance work, the horse stance, and bridge hands, then proceed in order through small routines, large routines, and paired drills. Instruction is limited to oral and personal demonstration, fellow students of the same school cross-check one another against the manuals handed down by their masters, and each branch shares a similar boxing character while retaining its own distinctive merits.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Because instruction in Wuzuquan has been limited to oral and personal demonstration, and because the art has historically suffered the disasters of “the burning of the Shaolin Temple” and “the blanket prohibition of boxing and staff,” although martial arts organizations in China and abroad have carefully collated, studied, and promoted it, those who have mastered Wuzuquan thoroughly are mostly advanced in years and some have already passed away, so this ancient boxing is still at risk of being lost and urgently needs rescue and protection. Zhou Kunmin (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1945, a native of Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. A Wuzuquan master. In more than fifty years of martial practice, his disciples and second-generation disciples number over one thousand and are found both in China and abroad. In addition, he has written and compiled works such as Distinguishing Wuzuquan and A Study of the Wuzu School, and has hosted and organized large-scale martial arts exchange events including international Wuzuquan exchange and demonstration gatherings and Southeast Asian martial arts performances; his deeds have been included in the Biographical Dictionary of Famous Chinese Martial Artists. He is a representative inheritor of Wuzuquan, a project of the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhou Kunmin 04-1739
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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