The martial arts, like other traditional Chinese skills, are based on certain theory and principles. As living arts, their theory and principles were primarily transmitted orally and through actual practice. Since they were life-and-death skills, extra care was taken to protect their secrets, especially any unique tactics or techniques. For example, the Daoist (Taoist) scholar, Ge Hong (a.d. 290-370), who studied martial arts himself and served a stint as a military commander, notes in his autobiography that the martial arts all have certain closely held techniques, described in an abstruse manner, that allow one to gain the advantage against an unwary opponent.
This aura of secrecy surrounding martial arts techniques has resulted in a dearth of written material on the subject. Also, martial arts did not have a high priority in Confucian society. Literate practitioners generally kept their notes to themselves, while many practitioners were illiterate. Techniques were passed down through demonstration or gained through individual insight. Key principles and techniques were encapsulated in easy-to-memorize “secret formulas” or rhymes, which, in themselves, were not normally transparent to the uninitiated, nor always clear even to other experienced practitioners.
These secretive conditions were prevalent in the Chinese clan-oriented society. However, scholars are still fortunate enough to be able to piece together a reasonably clear understanding of martial arts theory and principles through the scattered literature that exists, especially Ming-period military writings, and Qing-period manuals and other writings.
An interesting characteristic of Chinese military writings is that a common theoretical thread runs from the strategic level down to the level of individual hand-to-hand combat. These written works contain advice on the marshalling of armies that is equally applicable to the martial arts. One author, Jie Xuan (late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries), even uses the earliest term for boxing, or hand-to-hand struggle (bo), to describe military maneuvers.
Yin-yang theory, which is an essential element of the traditional Chinese worldview, is also the foundation for military thought, including the martial arts. This theory of the interplay of opposite attributes and continual change explains martial arts tactics and techniques to cope with situations described as weak versus strong (empty versus full) and pliant versus rigid (soft versus hard). The earliest extant published exposition of this theory applied directly to the martial arts is a vignette about a young woman of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue (ca. a.d. 100). This story is found in a chapter titled “Gou Jian’s Plotting.” Gou Jian, king of the state of Yue (?-465 b.c.), is said to have sought the best military minds, armorers, and martial artists to serve him. In fact, one of the finest Chinese bronze swords yet unearthed has actually been identified as Gou Jian’s.
According to the story, the young woman was summoned to appear before the king of Yue because of her famed swordsmanship. Along the way she met an old man in the forest. He said his name was Old Yuan, that he had heard of her skill, and would like to see her in action. When she agreed, Old Yuan broke a piece of bamboo and the young woman got the short end. Old Yuan lunged at her three times, but she eluded his thrusts and jabbed him each time. Suddenly, he jumped up into a tree and was transformed into a white ape (“ape” in Chinese is pronounced the same as his name, Yuan). The young woman bade him farewell and resumed her journey.
When the king of Yue interviewed the young woman, he asked her to reveal the key to her swordsmanship. She replied that deep in the forest with no one around she had no teacher, but she loved to practice constantly, and it came to her in a flash of insight. The key was subtle but easy, and its meaning quite profound. It included frontal and flanking aspects, and yin and yang: Open the frontal, close the flank, yin subsides, and yang arises. In all hand-to-hand combat, the spirit wells up within, but the appearance is calm without; one looks like a proper woman, but fights like an aroused tiger. Pay attention to your physical disposition and move with your spirit; be distant and vague like the sun, and agile like a bounding rabbit. Pursue your opponent like a darting reflection, now bright now gone. Breathe with movement, and don’t transgress the rules. Whether straight or crossing, initiating or responding, nothing is detected by the opponent. By this means, one can confront one hundred, and one hundred can confront ten thousand. The king was so pleased that he gave the young woman the title Maiden of Yue and had her teach his commanders and top warriors so they could, in turn, teach the rest of the troops.
These few principles expounded in the story of the Maiden of Yue comprise the core of Chinese martial arts thought regardless of style. For example, the phrase “the spirit wells up within, but the appearance is calm without” is even found in Chang Naizhou’s eighteenth-century boxing manual and one of Wu Yuxiang’s nineteenth-century taijiquan (tai chi ch’uan) commentaries. This phrase describes the psychological aspect of the martial arts, which is inseparable from the physical. An unflappable,focused mind is a must in hand-to-hand combat. An unsettled mind portends defeat. On the other hand, a good martial artist seeks to confuse the opponent. As described in Tang Shunzhi’s (1507-1560) Martial Compendium, this is done by mastering the principle of emptiness (xu) versus fullness (shi) or deception by feints and diversions, emptiness representing the deception and fullness the real move.
Another key principle, to negate oneself and accommodate others, is found in the topic of History (ca. second century b.c.) and is quoted in Taijiquan Theory (ca. 1795-1854). General Yu Dayou (1503-1580) describes the martial arts interpretation and practical application of this concept in his Sword Classic: “Flow with the opponent’s circumstances, use his force. Wait until his ‘old force’ has dissipated and before his ‘new force’ has been released.” This approach is derived from a popular formula, “Hard prior to his force, pliant following his force, the opponent is busy and I quietly wait, know the timing, let him struggle.” This principle is key not only to conservation of one’s own energy, but also to the timing for use of force and the type of force to use.
Stability is a key principle regardless of school. Basic training invariably emphasizes developing firm, rooted stances. Examples are the widely practiced Horse Riding Stance and the Three-Part Stance of xingyiquan (hsing i ch’uan). Effective issuance of force is primarily dependent on the lower body, up through the waist, and so the saying goes, “The feet hit seventy percent, the hands hit thirty percent.” This does not mean kicks outnumber punches, but that the majority of force in a punch is generated from the feet through the waist, not independently through the arms and hands.
To breathe with movement as described in the story of the Maiden of Yue means to breathe naturally. Generally inhale when amassing force and exhale when releasing it. Emitting a sound when releasing force was considered a normal phenomenon even among past practitioners of taijiquan, but this practice came to be viewed as uncouth in twentieth-century society, as the martial arts came to be practiced more as exercise than as fighting art. Releasing force involves combined psychophysiological focus, and even taijiquan theory compares release of force to shooting an arrow.
Finally, with special reference to boxing, Tang Shunzhi, in his Martial Compendium, explains that there are two main categories of fighting techniques, long fist (changquan) and short hitting (duanda). The former involves changing overall form or stance and is used to close the gap between opponents. The latter involves maintaining one’s overall form or stance for close-in fighting. Tang also explains that individual forms have inherent characteristics. They change in transition when executed, but ultimately retain their essential nature.
