SHAOLIN KUNG FU: big Flood tactics (da hong quan)

instructor: monk De Ci
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combat strategy:

this style teaches "defense" tactics. safety first; defense is the most important factor in a fight. for defense, Shaolin kung fu uses active covering rather than passive covering by static guards:

tactic 2 - 'defensive cover':
"cover up from the sky to cross the sea (瞒天过海)" – cover your body for safety against the opponent while attacking and defending, advancing and retreating. open hands make arms cover a wider area against the opponent. also a shrunk body is easier to cover, so lower your body when moving close to the opponent.

tactic 3 - 'preemptive cover':
"mud water to catch fish (混水摸鱼)" – overwhelm the opponent with covering moves to lower his chance against your defenses and attacks.

tactic 4 - 'offensive cover':
"pilfer a goat on the way (顺手牵羊)" – seize opportunities to use covering moves as attacks whenever possible.

these involve a continuous flood of covering moves of the arms and the legs around your body. as a famous saying goes, in Kung Fu every posture contains both attack and defense. in this style, each and every move, attack or defense, advancing or retreating, is accompanied by the close cover of other limbs, teaching you how to defend and cover your body in almost any situation.
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history:

Song dynasty (960-1279):
Zhao Kuangyin (赵匡胤), the first emperor of the Song dynasty, had given Shaolin temple a series of notes on the combat styles that he practiced. Shaolin monks developed the 'big hong quan' based on one of his styles.

Jin dynasty (1115-1234):
in the last few years of the Jin dynasty, monk Jue Yuan (觉远) took permission of chief monk Hong Wen (洪温) to travel across the country and collect new information. he invited master Li Sou (李叟) and his son from Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, and master Bai Yufeng (白玉峰) from Luoyang city to Shaolin temple. Li Sou and his son were masters of a local hong quan style. they had a long hong quan form, which is still practiced at some areas around Shaolin under its original name big hong quan or as old-frame hong quan. during their stay at Shaolin, they made a smaller version of this form by combining their style with internal and external styles of Shaolin temple, and this form was called the 'small hong quan'.
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note: there are various other forms and styles named small or big 'hong quan' in Chinese kung fu, and they are historically and technically different from Shaolin hong quan. these are just different styles with similar names.
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