Fanziquan (Tumbling Fist)
翻子拳A northern Chinese style already named in General Qi Jiguang'"'"'s 16th-century manual. It is built on the density of paired strikes rather than single-blow power.
Quick Facts
ChinaCharacter & Origin
Training
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.
About Fanziquan (Tumbling Fist)
Fanziquan is a northern Chinese boxing style whose older name, bashanfan (八閃翻, "eight flashing tumbles"), already appears in the Jixiao Xinshu, the military manual General Qi Jiguang compiled in the 1560s. That makes it one of the few Chinese styles whose name can be traced to an early written source rather than only to later school tradition. The story of a Master Wang Zhiyuan who learned the method from a wanderer in Shandong after being wounded in battle is legend and carries no documentary support. The first historically graspable carrier of the art is Li Gongran of Hebei under the Qing dynasty, whose reputation produced the saying that from Nanjing to Beijing all fanzi under heaven belongs to Lord Li. Technically the style is built on density of striking rather than the force of any single blow. The arms flip over the axis of the body and punches arrive in pairs, one immediately behind the other; the classical simile speaks of fists as fast as falling raindrops and as fast as a cracking whip. Trajectories are short, the torso stays upright, and defence and attack are frequently carried by the same motion. Training rests on solo forms and partner drills, with heavy emphasis on arm endurance. In northern China fanziquan is commonly taught together with chuojiao, which supplies the kicking half; the pair is known as wen-wu, "the scholar and the warrior". The most widespread branch today is the northeastern (Dongbei) one, the style shaped several modern wushu routines, and yingzhao fanziquan (eagle claw) and bapanzhou stand close to it.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.