Fanzi Quan or tumbling Chuan is also known as Bashanfan (eight-flash Chuan).
It is so called because of its eight 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. Some people have taken this to
mean that Fanzi Quan was created by Yue Fei, but no historical record has verified
this.
Earlier mentions of Fanzi Quan appeared in A New Essay on Wushu Arts written
by anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty. In Volume XTV of Quan
Jing (Chuan Text), it says: "Throughout the history of fist fights, there have
been the 32-form Chang Quan of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Liubu Quan (six-step
Chuan), Hou Quan (monkey-imitating Chuan), E'quan Chuan, etc. Though their names
are different, the routines are roughly the same. As for today's 72-move Wen-family
Chuan, 36-move locking fist fight, 24-move reconnoitre Chuan, eight-flash Chuan
and 12-move short style Chuan, they are among the best styles."
exactly tumbling Chuan of today. Bashanfan was the old name used in the Ming
Dynasty. From Qi's account, it is evident that Bashanfan was already a comparatively
complete and perfect style of fist fight in the Ming Dynasty. Fanzi Quan centers
on the Bashanfan (eight-flash moves) while others are merely derivatives of this.
During the Qing Dynasty, Fanzi Quan was popular in north China, especially
in Raoyang, Lixian and Gao-yang areas in Hebei Province. During the reigns of
Qing emperors Xianfeng and Tongzhi (1851-1874), a recluse called Zhao Canyi lived
at Raoyang in Hebei. Zhao was not only proficient at Fanzi Quan but was also well
known for his master/ of Chuojiao Quan (feet-poking Chuan). He taught the Chuan
arts to Duan and Wang families respectively. The brothers of Duan Zhixu and Duan
Zhiyong learned Chuojiao while Wang Laozi and Wang Zhan'ao studied Fanzi Quan.
Later on, the two families taught each other and exchanged their knowledge. Fanzi
Quan stresses the use of hands, whereas Chuojiao emphasizes the use of feet. Modern
Fanzi Quan experts often practise feet-poking skills as well.
Fanzi Quan spread far and wide after it was introduced into Hebei, developing
many branch styles. The eagle-claw tumbling Chuan was evolved on the basis of
a combination of the eagle-claw moving Chuan, eagle-claw running Chuan and tumbling
Chuan. When hitting, the hand is in the form of clenched fist. When retrieving,
it is in the form of an eagle claw. Fist jabbing can be as fast as the swing of
a whip and as relentless as teeming rain. Another combination is Digong Quan (ground
stroke Chuan) and Fanzi Quan tumbling Chuan, called Digong Fanzi Quan (ground
stroke tumbling Chuan). It absorbs both the tumbling Chuan tricks of fastness
and variation and the ground stroke Chuan moves of falling, pouncing, wrestling
and leg locking. Because there are some feet-poking tricks in the ground stroke
tumbling Chuan, it is also called by some the feet-poking tumbling Chuan. Other
combinations include Shaolin tumbling Chuan, long-style tumbling Chuan, short-style
tumbling Chuan, Yanqing-style tumbling Chuan and soft palming tumbling Chuan.
(see picture)
Contemporary Fanzi Quan master Yu Boqian not only inherited the tumbling techniques
from his predecessors but also improved it by programming two new routines of
wave-poking tumbling Chuan and back-rolling tumbling Chuan.
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.
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