Little intangible cultural heritage knowledge: Which traditional boxing technique in my country was created by imitating the long arms of apes?

Tongbei Quan was created to imitate the long arms of apes.

There are many types of traditional Chinese martial arts with different origins. Tongbei Quan, which is popular in Beijing and Tianjin, is said to have been created by Qi Xin, a native of Bazhou, Langfang City, Hebei Province in the late Qing Dynasty. The Qi family was originally good at pole techniques. When they met Mr. Ma from Henan Province who was good at boxing skills, they learned boxing skills in exchange for pole techniques.

Later, he met Mr. Zhao who was good at knife skills, so he exchanged the knife poles and formed Qimen's unique "Twelve Links" method, "Eight Steps and Thirteen Swords" method, and "One Hundred and Eight Single Hands" method. Jiatong Beiquan became famous in the world.

2014, Tongbei Quan is a traditional sport included in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. On 11 month 12, 2019, the Beijing Wushu Sports Association listed Tongbei Quan on the list of national-level intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units.

Key points for practicing Tongbei Quan:

The arms are required to come out from the loose shoulders and wrap the elbows to form a straight arm posture. In addition, the tips of the front hands, the tips of the front toes, and the tip of the nose must be aligned with a vertical line, which is the so-called "three pointed points". In fact, this requirement is also emphasized in other boxing techniques, but in Qijiatong Beiquan, it is the key to the formation of strength, not just a requirement for standard postures.

There are 20 words in the boxing manual for the requirements for the strength method: "cold bullets are crisp, fast and hard, deep and long, flexible and skillful, heavy and fierce, light and agile, and deficient and adhering to follow." In the hands of single operators, various skills are required, especially the strength of "shaking feathers" as the main moves such as punching and clapping.

During practice, there is a clicking sound, which is a characteristic of Qijia Tongbei Quan. The teacher can judge the correctness or wrongness of the students' strength by distinguishing the sound, so as to provide guidance. Another example is the so-called "inch strength", which is a basic skill in Qijia Tongjiquan. The scope of training must be practiced in the hands of single operators.

Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Tongbei Quan