“Light Crane”.

This is something that very few have heard of – “Qinghequan” or “Light / Weightless Crane Boxing”.

Taught primarily in Putien Fuqing, this line of Crane encompasses all the main characteristics of Fuzhou Crane boxing, which is Flying, Feeding, Hibernating and Singing.

One of my White Crane elders taught this for a while in Singapore and since then, this line of Crane has not surface again until a couple of years back when I got hold of this article from the mainland.

The delivery of this Crane is really distinctive, not hard not soft and done in a way that is really fluid.

You know, if you are not informed, you might think this is some kind of Qigong calisthenics ….

Folks, you could not be more wrong …….

Singing Crane technique.

Here’s a recurring technique that is found in many Singing Crane forms such as Hua Paik, Neik Saik Paik and even 2 men drills.

First a “lifting” elbow break followed by a penetrating kick to the ribs.

White Crane and others.

First, apologies for the lapse in updating this blog; bogged down with work in the office and working on my main blog.

You know there are many forums out discussing associations between systems; Karate and White Crane and increasingly, Wing Chun and White Crane.

Views are so diversified that many of these discussions end up in shouting matches…. And folks ask me why I shy away from forums these days …. My life is exciting enough without the added annoyance of cyber verbal sparring.

Still, there are many good educated discussions if you are able to look through all that noise.

Comparing histories like I said is getting nowhere, what with everyone having a distinctive version and the same could be said for power generation, fighting principles and chi.

How power is generated and the role of chi in this formula is something that is almost impossible to put in words. General rules do apply but still not adequate to explain how some are able to generate power effortlessly.

And then there is the rest, huffing and puffing away …..

Maybe it’s really all about “effort” or “Kung Fu” which really means effort.

Maybe there’s a hidden method, maybe …maybe ….

I love to look for signatures, not the esoteric metaphysical invisible sort but movements and techniques that are expressed when a person moves.

It could be a certain unmistakable rhythm or little nuances that experienced eyes could discern.

Take this next Wing Chun technique for instance; this is “characteristic” White Crane hand arsenal.

When you do the “Wing Hand” in White Crane, it’s not just the fingers that you want to use but also the thumb – digging into eyes and other soft spots on your opponent.

Yong Chun Quan.

Here’s a Crane form that came out of mainland China that appears to be a “cut and paste” creation.

The opening salute suggests Yong Chun White Crane and then you see a little “Shaolin” Crane and Flying Crane.

Actually, the whole form, to me ,smells of Wuzu except for the salute.

The “shaking hand” in the middle of the form is classic Wuzu and Taizu.

A key technique in numerous  Wuzu and Taizu forms and drills.

“10 shakes 9 are fakes. One shake is all it takes” – how many times have I heard this being repeated.

And the intro page also states that White Crane is sometimes also known as “Yong Chun Quan”.

Now this is where the mix-ups happen, Yong Chun Quan is read as “Wing Chun” in Cantonese and “Eng Choon” in Fukien.

Click on thumbnails for full view and to download.

From 3 to 8.

It is often said that “if you do not do Sanchin, you do not do White Crane”.

I think that statement sums it up; Sanchin is the bedrock upon which White Crane fighting is based on.

And many other Fukien styles use the same methodology.

TaiZu, Wuzu, Dog Boxing, Leopard, Dragon and the list goes on….

In Singing Crane, it is a misconception to say that there is no Sanchin and “Babulien” is the substitute.

SanChin is still the beginning form for many Singing Crane families in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

“Babulien” is the form following Sanchin and this is also the case for some Fuzhou Cranes like “Flying Crane” for example.

So we know it is not Singing Crane exclusive and in fact, not even Crane Boxing specific.

There are extant Babulien in Fukien Shaolin and Fukien Lohan …just to name 2.

Singing Crane’s Babulien take students beyond the swallowing, spitting, floating and sinking.

All 8 fundamental principles are covered in the form:

• Swallowing
• Spitting
• Floating
• Sinking
• Springing
• Lifting
• Bursting
• Rebounding

And like I said many times before, translating from Fuzhou to English is so wanting sometimes. The above, is at best, a ballpark guide.

Take another look at the last 4, my Sifu taught that those are the mechanism of “Whipping Jin” generation.

When I was in Denver last year and playing with Sigung Wayne Welch, a Pak Kua high hand, we were exploring the exact same topic.

I was taking a class through basics at that time and exaggerated on the sinking and floating physically and Wayne came up to me and said they got the same concept in Pak Kua.

Except that in their case, it’s called “spiraling”…..

A short clip here showing a segment of Babulien :-