Five Ancestors
Five Ancestors Fist (Chinese: 五祖拳; pinyin: wǔ zǔ quán; Hokkien: ngo cho kun) is a Southern Chinese martial art that consists of techniques from five different styles:
- the hands of White Crane (白鶴拳)
- the evasiveness of Monkey (猴拳)
- the legs of Emperor Taizu (太祖拳)
- the footwork of Luohan (羅漢拳)
- the iron body of Dázūn (達尊拳)
Five Ancestors has been attributed variously to Chua Giok Beng of Jinjiang near Quanzhou in Fujian in the second half of the 19th century or to Bai Yufeng, a famous 13th century Shaolin monk of the original Henan Shaolin temple in the North of China to whom Five Animals style and Hóngquán (洪拳) have also been attributed.
One of the primary characteristics of Five Ancestors is its reliance on the Sam Chien (三戰; pinyin: Sānzhàn; literally "three battles") stance and its corresponding hand form of the same name, which originate from White Crane. Facilitating the development of the six harmonies, the "three battles" refer primarily to the three internal combinations of Xin and yi,yi and qi and qi and li; all of which must be mastered for a practitioner to have attained a good level. Sam Chien can also be said to allow development of the eight Five Ancestor principles and so, is considered the most important form in the style. Various styles of Karate have adopted Sam Chien (Japanese: Sanchin), which is particularly emphasized in Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu.
Although the exact method depends on the school, Five Ancestors is known for is large variety in power generational methods. Due to the distinct character of each ancestor, these methods change depending on the power required. Some schools teach tension forms that develop power, of which there are about ten, and fist forms that train technique, of which there are dozens. Others stress a relaxed body, instead seeking maximum transmission of the relevant jing. On top of this are miscellaneous hand forms, two-man forms, and forms for a comprehensive arsenal of weapons including rice bowl and chopsticks, umbrellas, even opium pipes. Over the decades masters have added to this list introducing material they considered relevant to the time.
Five Ancestors in now taught in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Canada.