Spirituality – Chinese Martial Arts – Kung Fu

Chinese Martial Arts

Training

Forms

Forms in Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

Traditional “sparring” sets, called dui da or dui lian, were an important part of Chinese martial arts for centuries. Dui lian literally means, to train by a pair of combatants opposing each other – the character lian, means to practice; to train; to perfect one’s skill; to drill. As well, often one of these terms are also included in the name of fighting sets (shuang yan), “paired practice” (zheng sheng), “to struggle with strength for victory” (di), match – the character suggests to strike an enemy; and “to break” (po).

Generally there are 21, 18, 12, 9 or 5 drills or ‘exchanges/groupings’ of attacks and counterattacks, in each dui lian set. These drills were considered only generic patterns and never meant to be considered inflexible ‘tricks’. Students practiced smaller parts/exchanges, individually with opponents switching sides in a continuous flow. Basically, dui lian were not only a sophisticated and effective methods of passing on the fighting knowledge of the older generation, they were important and effective training methods. The relationship between single sets and contact sets is complicated, in that some skills cannot be developed with single sets, and, conversely, with dui lian. Unfortunately, it appears that most traditional combat oriented dui lian and their training methodology have disappeared, especially those concerning weapons. There are a number of reasons for this. In modern Chinese martial arts most of the dui lian are recent inventions designed for light props resembling weapons, with safety and drama in mind. The role of this kind of training has degenerated to the point of being useless in a practical sense, and, at best, is just performance.

By the early Song period, sets were not so much “individual isolated technique strung together” but rather were composed of techniques and counter technique groupings. It is quite clear that “sets” and “fighting (2 person) sets” have been instrumental in TCM for many hundreds of years – even before the Song Dynasty. There are images of two person weapon training in Chinese stone painting going back at least to the Eastern Han Dynasty.

According to what has been passed on by the older generations, the approximate ratio of contact sets to single sets was approximately 1:3. In other words, about 30% of the sets practiced at Shaolin were contact sets, dui lian, and two person drill training. This is, in part, evidenced by the Qing Dynasty mural at Shaolin.

Ancient literature from the Tang and Northern Song Dynasties suggests that some sets, including those that required two or more participants, became very elaborate and mainly concerned with aesthetics. During this time, some martial arts systems devolved to the point that they became popular forms of martial art storytelling entertainment shows. This created an entire new category of martial arts known as “fancy patterns for developing military skill” (Hua Fa Wuyi). During the Northern Song period it was noted by historians that this phenomenon had a negative influence on training in the military.

For most of its history, Shaolin martial arts was largely weapon-focused: staves were used to defend the monastery, not bare hands. Even the more recent military exploits of Shaolin during the Ming and Qing Dynasties involved weapons. According to some traditions, monks first studied basics for one year and were then taught staff fighting so that they could protect the monastery. Although wrestling has been as sport in China for centuries, weapons have been the most important part of Chinese wushu since ancient times. If one wants to talk about recent or ‘modern’ developments in Chinese martial arts (including Shaolin for that matter), it is the over-emphasis on bare hand fighting. During the Northern Song Dynasty (976-997 A.D) when platform fighting known as Da Laitai (Title Fights Challenge on Platform) first appeared, these fights were with only swords and staves. Although later, when bare hand fights appeared as well, it was the weapons events that became the most famous. These open-ring competitions had regulations and were organized by government organizations; some were also organized by the public. The government competitions resulted in appointments to military posts for winners and were held in the capital as well as in the prefectures.

Luc Paquin