Changquan (Traditional Long Fist)
長拳Northern Chinese family of styles with long reach and high kicks, not one style. Competitive changquan arose by 50s standardization, and the IWUF builds it on chaquan, huaquan and paoquan.
Quick Facts
ChinaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Changquan (Traditional Long Fist)
About Changquan (Traditional Long Fist)
Changquan, the long fist, is not a single style but a family of northern Chinese schools. The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) uses the term for styles that arose north of the Yangtze, with open long-range strikes, a wide range of kicks, circular movements, extended stances and jumping techniques. It names chaquan, huaquan and paoquan as sources of classical competitive changquan techniques. Hongquan, which is commonly counted in the family, is listed by the national list of intangible cultural heritage of China as a separate style.
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The name is old. In the military manual Jixiao xinshu from the sixties of the 16th century, General Qi Jiguang states that Emperor Song Taizu had a long fist of 32 stances. This attests the name, not the authorship of Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, which we take as tradition. Changquan as a whole is not on the national list of intangible cultural heritage, but its branches are: hongquan (2008, Shaanxi Province) and chaquan (2008, Guan County in Shandong). Per the list description, chaquan gave the modern long fist its movement material and style. Beside traditional schools there is competitive changquan of sport wushu. It arose in a standardization led by the Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture, and the first Chinese rules for competition routines appeared in 1959. Under the IWUF rules of 2024, the free routine for adults lasts 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 35 seconds and must contain prescribed hand shapes, stances and leg techniques. It is scored out of ten points: 5 points for movement quality, 3 points for overall performance and 2 points for difficulty, so competition is not mere acrobatics. Changquan, together with nanquan, is a basic category of the IWUF World Championships.
History
The oldest evidence of the name is in the military manual Jixiao xinshu by General Qi Jiguang, whose eighteen-volume version appeared in the years 1560 to 1561. In the chapter on boxing it states that Emperor Song Taizu had a long fist of 32 stances, alongside the six-step fist, the monkey fist and others. This attests the name of Taizu's long fist in the 16th century, while its attribution to Emperor Zhao Kuangyin himself we take as tradition.
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Changquan as a family of styles is not on the national list of intangible cultural heritage of China, as a query on ihchina.cn returns zero. Its branches are on the list: hongquan under No. 796 (VI-24, second batch 2008, Shaanxi Province) and chaquan under No. 804 (VI-32, 2008, Guan County in Shandong). Huaquan and paochui are not on the national list. According to the list description of chaquan, the style reached Guan by tradition through the Muslim commander Hua Zongqi of the Tang period, whom villagers treated after an injury. Competitive changquan arose in the standardization of wushu led from 1958 by the Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture and Sport. According to a study by Sun Jian and colleagues (Tiyu xuekan, 2009), the first Chinese rules for competition routines appeared in 1959 and were revised nine times by 2003, while the same study elsewhere gives the year 1958. The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) was founded on 3 October 1990, and the first World Championships took place in 1991 in Beijing.
How it differs
The difference worth knowing is between traditional schools and competitive changquan. According to the federation, the IWUF routine draws on the classical techniques of chaquan, huaquan and paoquan, and per the national list of intangible cultural heritage, modern long fist and competitive wushu absorbed the movement material and style of chaquan. The competitive version is scored out of ten under the IWUF rules of 2024, difficulty being only two. English-language Wikipedia contrasts the combat focus of traditional changquan, including qin na and shuai jiao, with modern wushu's emphasis on presentation and difficult elements, but we have not found a federation source or study with such a comparison.
Technique
The IWUF defines changquan as styles that arose and spread north of the Yangtze, with open long-range strikes, a wide range of kicks and circular movements, open extended stances and many jumping and acrobatic techniques. The IWUF rules of 2024 require in a free changquan routine at least three hand shapes (fist, palm, hook), three fist techniques, two palm techniques, one offensive elbow technique, five stances (gong bu, ma bu, pu bu, xu bu, xie bu), three leg techniques and one endurance balance. The traditional branches are described by the national list of intangible cultural heritage. Chaquan rests on tantui, springy kicks, and includes the routine of the ten paths of chaquan (shi lu chaquan) as well as practice with spear, staff, sabre and sword. Hongquan has thirty-six empty-hand routines, among them xiao hongquan, da hongquan, taizu hongquan and taizong hongquan, and about forty routines with weapons.
Training
In traditional chaquan, according to the description on the national list, one begins with the basic routine tantui, followed by the ten paths of chaquan and practice with spear, staff, sabre and sword. In competitive wushu the basis is the new international competition routine of changquan, which the IWUF calls the third international competition routine: it has 59 numbered movements in four sections (1 to 15, 16 to 32, 33 to 47 and 48 to 59) with an opening and a closing stance. A free routine in international adult competition must last 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 35 seconds, in the junior categories 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 25 seconds.
Today
Changquan, together with nanquan, is the main category of wushu taolu events at the IWUF World Championships, of which the federation lists fifteen. The maximum score of 10 points under the IWUF rules of 2024 is 5 points for movement quality, 3 for overall performance and 2 for difficulty (1.4 for techniques and 0.6 for connections). The national list of intangible cultural heritage protects traditional branches: the bearer of hongquan is the Shaanxi Hongquan Culture Research Association, of chaquan the Guan County cultural library, and the hongquan description says the school, like others, is declining and its protection urgent.
Did you know
Chaquan is known in Chinese wushu by the saying nan quan bei tui Shandong cha, southern fist, northern legs, Shandong chaquan, which the national list of intangible cultural heritage also cites. The name of the long fist is attested long before sport wushu: Qi Jiguang in the 16th century named it, alongside the monkey fist and the six-step fist, among the styles he knew.
Styles & Branches
Chinese fist style of the Muslim Hui people from Guanxian County in Shandong, inscribed on the national intangible heritage list. It rests on tantui practice and ten routines.
Family fist of the Cai of Jining, Shandong. Practised by Cai Longyun, vice-chairman of the Chinese Wushu Association and editor of competition rules.
Frequently asked questions
What does changquan mean?
Literally long fist. The International Wushu Federation uses it for northern Chinese styles with open long-range strikes, a wide range of kicks and extended stances.
Is changquan on the national list of intangible cultural heritage of China?
As a whole, no. Its branches hongquan (No. 796, 2008, Shaanxi) and chaquan (No. 804, 2008, Shandong) are on the list.
How long does a changquan competition routine last?
Under the IWUF rules of 2024, the adult free routine lasts 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 35 seconds, the junior one 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 25 seconds.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.