Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Here are some pictures to go along with the videos of the Yixiang Quan Fa "Yi Xiang's Dog Methods" school that I posted today.
Yi Xiang studied Dog Boxing with a monk within this temple. The Fangguang Cliff Luohan system also originated from this temple and is one of the major styles of Fuzhou Luohan boxing.
Pictures of Fangguang Cliff Temple taken by John Smith circa 1865 Yongtai county Fuzhou
Fangguang Yan Si "Fangguang Cliff Temple" is built inside of a huge cave located part way up a 180 meter cliff face.
The temple it's self is Buddhist however the site is also important in local Taoist lore. The earliest Buddhist temple built within the cave is said to have been constructed in the late 10th century. The current building underwent restoration work in the 1830's
Fangguang Cliff Temple is the home of Fangguang Luohan boxing and is also said to be the point of dissemination of dog boxing into Fuzhou in the oral traditions of 2 of the 3 main lineages of Fujian dog boxing.
At the time this picture was taken there would still have been monks practicing martial arts within Fangguang Yan temple.
These pictures from John Smiths 1865 photographic expedition to China show the temple from the trail at the bottom of the cliff and a photo from above taken from a ledge near the ceiling of the cave. In addition he took several photographs of some of the monks residing within the temple.
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picture of Fangguang Cliff Temple circa 1870 Yongtai county Fuzhou
Fangguang is cliff temple in a cave. The temple is built inside of a huge cave located part way up a 180 meter cliff face.
The temple it's self is Buddhist however the site is also important in local Taoist lore. The earliest Buddhist temple built within the cave is said to have been constructed in the late 10th century. The current building underwent restoration work in the 1830's
Fangguang Cliff Temple is the home of Fangguang Luohan boxing and is also said to be the point of dissemination of dog boxing into Fuzhou in the oral traditions of 2 of the 3 main lineages of Fujian dog boxing.
At the time this picture was taken there would still have been monks practicing martial arts within Fangguang Yan temple.
I have 3 videos of Minnan styles that have been sitting on my channel or my computer for a few years that I never got around to posting publicly. I'll be putting those up today plus some Zhangzhou Kaiyuan temple related arts.
After that I'll be done with Fujian and southern China for probably a good while and be focusing on stuff that I'm currently more interested in.
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Fengyang Po translates as "Fengyang Grannies". Fengyang Po figure prominently in local folklore and in the oral mythology of a number of martial arts styles. For example there are "Fengyang Quan" styles from across Fujian, Taiwan, and Eastern Guangdong.
Today many people misinterpret this as meaning that these arts were taught by an old lady from Fengyang county in Anhui. The term does refer to Fengyang county, however Fengyang Po are not necessarily from Fengyang or even Anhui.
During certain periods Fengyang saw major famines causing many to leave and take up a life of wandering. Many of the women who left would perform the local Fengyang specialty of playing the "flower drum" while singing and dancing.
These women wandered across China taking on students and living transient lifestyles. Many of them also ended up taking up the art of dentistry and herbal medicine.
They would wander from village to village. Upon the arrival of a Fengyang Po local people would come out to the square to have their teeth fixed or pulled. Where there were few clients needing dental work they would sing and perform the Fengyang Flower Drum dance.
So while the art of playing the Fengyang Flower Drum was spread by women from Fengyang fleeing from famine, over the generations it spread and was taught to various students they took in various places. The name Fengyang Po stuck but it should really be thought of as meaning transient women performers who play the Fengyang Flower Drum among other arts such as singing, dancing, juggling, acrobatics, dentistry, selling charms, folk magic spells, curses, cures, performing magic acts, and selling skills in black magic.
In some areas such as Min speaking parts of eastern Guangdong, travelling performers in general were often simply referred to as "Fengyang".
Fengyang Po were both feared and respected among the society of the "Rivers and Lakes" (this term denoted the society of transient workers and performers who, living outside of settled village society, wandered the countryside offering entertainment and various services. During the mid 20th century Wuxia writers began to use the term to describe the characters inhabiting their fictional society of wandering martial arts heroes and villains.)
In parts of Southern China children would be told that if they did not behave they would be abducted by the Fengyang Po.
While most travelling performers were required to meet with and present a "gift" to the local "Dock Head" (ie head boss of the local underworld) in many regions the Fengyang Po were given free reign to set up and work and perform without needing permission or needing to negotiate. This is partially because of respect and fear of their alleged skills in sorcery and partially because it was seen as being both bullying and beneath their level for the local gang bosses to meet to negotiate with women.
These women lived on the road and were said to be skilled in both sorcery and martial arts.
Fengyang Po were especially associated in folklore with curses, counter curses, love potions, black magic and skill in Dian Xue point striking arts.
Today there are still a number of folk sects which pass down spells attributed to Fengyang Po.
A number of martial arts across central and southern China call themselves Fengyang Quan or attribute their origins to the teachings of Fengyang Po. Most of these styles claim to have secret point striking methods passed down from the Fengyang Po.
Local folklore in many areas still retain stories of Fengyang Po and "Fengyang Po Performing with a Monkey" is still a classic image in Chinese carving and painting arts.
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A few new Chang Jia Quan videos coming up soon including a couple with master Gao Siji (you can find an old clip of him performing the Chang Family Qinglong Chu Hai Quan set already up on the Channel)
For now here's a picture from the Chang Family Ape Monkey Staff Manual .
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I started this channel to showcase some of the schools of Chinese martial arts that are little or unknown in the west. There are many rare styles that I am interested in that can not be found on youtube, or the English language part of the internet. As many of these styles are unheard of outside of China I thought that this would be a good way to introduce them to people.
I'm also trying to educate people by showing them the beauty, history, and culture of these arts, and the spiritual, medical and martial knowledge hidden in them.
To do this I try to include some information on the history, unique features and area of origin of the styles featured here.