Fuhan Boxing
01 · Historical Records
Legend holds that Fohanquan was transmitted out of the Shaolin Temple during the Qing dynasty, and that in Dongming, Shandong, it has been passed down to the sixth generation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The main content of Fohanquan comprises three types of practice: set routines (taolu), free-hand practice (sanshou), and training methods (gongfa). The routines consist mainly of the 38 routes of Fohanquan, divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, all of them paired-practice routines. Empty-hand practice forms the main content and paired practice the main form, with emphasis on practical application; its distinctive feature is that breaking (countering) and striking are completed in a single action, and it lays stress on 'lianmian tie' (continuous iron) and 'junchen shou' (sovereign-and-minister hands). The solo forms of sanshou include 72 grappling techniques (qinna) and 36 low-stance leg techniques, 108 forms in all. One form is followed by three strikes, and each strike contains three counters. Countering and striking proceed together—neither rigidly resisting nor disengaging; one hands over and one receives; one comes and one goes; within the handover there is striking, and within the striking there is defense; the opponent is caught unawares, and the exchange continues without break. A mnemonic song goes: 'Extend the hand and strike high—someone will come to meet it; change hands and switch grips, and the lower side opens through. True and false are hard for the opponent to discern; empty and solid reveal marvelous skill.' This emphasizes both the orientation of attack and defense and the transformations of true and false, empty and full. Fohanquan takes 'gaodi miao' (high-low drills) as the foundational training that every beginner must practice. In practice, the body's center of gravity alternates between high and low, and the hand techniques correspondingly strike high and strike low, stressing 'ward off high, press down low, and cut through the middle'; the cycles are drilled in unbroken rotation, hence the name 'gaodi miao.' The main training methods include iron-claw skill, eagle-claw skill, hand-turning skill, and stance training, among others.
The thirty-eight Buddhist-Han routines
The style's core repertoires number thirty-eight paired routines in three levels, all practised unarmed and stressing practical use.
Seventy-two seizing hands and thirty-six legs
Its solo fighting drills comprise seventy-two seizing hands and thirty-six low kicks, 108 in all, each with three follow-ups and three counters.
The high-low sprout foundation
The gateway drill in which the body's centre rises and falls, the hands thrusting high and low in a ceaseless chain.
Iron claw, eagle claw, coiling hand and stake
The style's principal exercises, its iron-claw training especially famed for building the grip behind its power.
Continuous iron and sovereign-minister hands
Its hallmark is breaking and striking in one motion, summed up in the verse on false and true, empty and solid.
Li Yijun and the Buddhist-Han boxing manual
Li Yijun, trained from 1966, founded a training base, taught widely and compiled the printed manual of the style.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Fohanquan, also called 'Fohan Chui' or 'Foquan' and known as '7238,' is a boxing style within the traditional martial arts, practiced mainly in Shandong.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, very few transmitters have a full command of Fohanquan, and urgent excavation and consolidation work is needed. Li Yijun (recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): He loved martial arts from childhood. In 1966 he began practicing zhangquan (palm boxing). He later drew on the strengths of other boxing styles and integrated them into his own art. The Fohanquan he practiced was swift and vigorous, with movements linked and compact, and its structure was rigorous yet flexibly changeable. He attached importance to the transmission of the art, founded a Fohanquan training base, and trained a large number of disciples. His disciples are distributed across more than twenty counties in six provinces, including Shandong, Henan, and Zhejiang, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. He carried out comprehensive research on Fohanquan and compiled and printed the 'Fohanquan Manual' and other works. Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in June 1955 and deceased in December 2016; a native of Dongming County, Shandong Province. Representative inheritor of the Fohanquan project in the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. Chen Hongyuan (recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in April 1951, a native of Dongming County, Shandong Province. His routines are broad and expansive, fierce and powerful; his sanshou movements are fast and his issuing of force is swift and vigorous, and his iron-claw skill is renowned far and wide. His disciples are distributed across more than twenty counties in six provinces, including Shandong, Henan, and Zhejiang, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. Representative inheritor of the Fohanquan project in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has devoted himself to the popularization and promotion of Fohanquan, and has trained a large number of disciples over the decades. His disciple Zhang Shaolin won a silver medal at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Martial Arts Exchange Conference.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Yijun 04-1743
- Chen Hongyuan 05-2562
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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