Among Dragons

Martial Buddhist Monks existed and acted quite early. #MartialArts #ChineseHistory #ancientChina #ChineseCulture #ChineseMartialArts #TangDynasty #secretSocieties #buddhism #buddhist #buddhistMonk #warriorMonk #shaolin #MingDynasty #ShaolinMonk #Wuxia

The association of militant monks with the Shaolin monastery has become one of the modern cultural patterns. However, this is a rather late stereotype that did not arise before the Tang. Pre-Tang Buddhist monks have also been protagonists in historical rebellions and prominent actors in the martial environment. What prompted them to take up arms, violating the prohibitions of vinaya, and how did…

Civility and martiality from the Taoist point of view are only in an imaginary confrontation. Taoism denies both, since both represent a deviation from primordial naturalness. However, a close examination of scholar sources shows that despite the condemnation of war in the writings of Laozi, classical philosophy considers it justified to resort to weapons if one is guided by…

Military cults involve their own special rituals, often quite brutal. #MartialArts #ChineseHistory #ancientChina #ChineseCulture #ChineseMartialArts #military #chineseMythology #traditionalMartialArts #qingDynasty #MingDynasty #GuanYu #secretSocieties

Some communities, especially rural, and ethnic minorities, consider the martial deities as their patrons. Such patronage usually includes protection from wars and epidemics, and is remunerated with regular offerings as part of local worship (sometimes merging with the worship of ancestors). However, association with community does not always mean strict localization. Martial deities are regarded…

My friend asked to give an example of Taoist element in the form. Well… For instance, the fragment involving a series of horizontal chou (抽) (or xi, 洗 as variant) with steps to both sides and dian (點) at the end (I’m using the names from Essentials Of the Wudang Sword Art (武當劍法大要)by Huang Yuanxiu, I was taught according to the manual of Li Jinglin). Continue reading Untitled

Excellent research on the (never-existing) "Southern Shaolin":

War chariot axle (轴) of the Western Han dynasty. Bronze, inlaid with silver. It is a pity that modern chariot manufacturers, especially from luxury brands, do not see this.) Such a heart forward approach.

A few words about this scourge of internal styles, “sword fingers”, also known as “sword mudra” and “sword hex” (劍訣 or 劍指). Having found them in the manual, the human mind expects to discover a rational justification for them as well. If the sword fingers are in the form, then they are needed somehow. After all, the wise ancient Chinese could not just say nonsense … Continue reading Untitled

I’m just leaving this series of tutorials and routines by Zhang Runze (張潤澤) here, so it doesn’t get lost. For those who are interested, I recommend downloading, because old videos sometimes disappear from YouTube. Also search for duplicates on Bilibili. Qingping is without a doubt the most genius sword I have ever seen. Its interceptions are nearly perfect.) Tutorials are in Chinese, nothing can…

Qing dynasty jian, owned by Feng Zicai (馮子才), a man who began his martial career as a bandit from Guangxi and rose to the rank of general in the Imperial Army.

It is curious that he was never a scholar, but he used jian. This is not an army sword as well, the Qing military wore sabers.

Eh bien, dans la partie précédente, nous avons découvert que Siming Neijia Quan (内家拳法) était le produit de développeurs avec une riche expérience taoïste. Ses premiers concepteurs sont issus de familles (Zhang 張, Ye 葉) historiquement liées au monastère de Wudang depuis plusieurs siècles. Que sait-on des successeurs de ce développement innovant ? Hélas, plus on est proche du présent, moins c’est…

J’ai entrepris cette recherche à la suggestion de mon MA collègue Aidan O. Merci de m’avoir poussé à résumer toutes ces découvertes. Étant indolent et perspicace, je ne l’accomplirais jamais. J’exprime aussi ma gratitude à Tom D. pour son soutien amical dans mes études, le soutien que je ressentais toujours. Dès le début, j’ai cherché à arranger ces notes d’une manière ou d’une autre, mais…

Well, in the previous part, we found out that Siming Neijia Quan (内家拳法) was a product of developers with a rich Taoist background. Its first designers come from families (Zhang 張, Ye 葉) historically connected with Wudang Monastery for several centuries. What do we know about the successors of this innovative development? Alas, the closer to the present, the less relevant. Continue reading…

Old-school matchlock gun reproduction of the Ming dynasty item from Qingfan (慶藩). The original dates from the Wanli period. It is the first Ming matchlock gun in true sense.

Prototypes are on display at the Xuzhou Museum (徐州博物館).