Nanquan (Southern Fist)
南拳Umbrella term for southern Chinese styles and a competitive wushu discipline: low firm stances, short powerful strikes with vocalization and fewer leg techniques, per the IWUF.
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.
About Nanquan (Southern Fist)
Nanquan, literally the southern fist, is not one school but an umbrella term for Chinese styles that arose south of the Yangtze River, for example in Fujian and Guangdong, and also a discipline of competitive wushu. The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) characterizes it by low firm stances with fewer leg techniques, short powerful arm strikes often accompanied by vocalization and a small share of acrobatics. It has no founder or year of origin, being a category.
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Nanquan itself is not on China's national intangible heritage list, the individual southern styles are: Choy Li Fut (No. 808, 2008, Xinhui in Guangdong, according to the description founded by Chen Heng in 1836), wuzuquan (No. 803, 2008, Quanzhou, the five fists Damo, Taizu, Luohan, Xingzhe and Baihe), wing chun (No. 1308, 2014 the Fujian branch, 2021 the Foshan one), dishuquan (No. 1141, 2011, Fujian) and mojiaquan (No. 1452, 2021, Guangdong). Hung Gar and southern mantis are not on the national list either, English Wikipedia classes them with nanquan. The list's description of Choy Li Fut gives 193 routines and vocalizations as support for movement, and for Foshan wing chun a saying about fighting in the space of a lying ox. Competitive nanquan has, according to the IWUF 2024 rules, compulsory routines alongside the free one, and is supplemented by the weapon disciplines nandao with the southern broadsword and nangun with the southern staff. The free routine of adults lasts 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 35 seconds and must contain the tiger claw, gua gai quan and pao quan strikes, the bridge technique gun qiao, six stances including the butterfly and dragon riding, qi lin bu steps and the heng ding tui kick. In the compulsory routines 0.2 points are deducted for a missing or surplus vocalization. We did not find the competitive routine's year of origin in the federation's sources.
History
Nanquan as an umbrella term is not on China's national intangible heritage list, and a query on ihchina.cn returns zero. We therefore follow the southern styles through the individual items on the list. Choy Li Fut (Caifofoquan) is listed under number 808 (VI-36) since 2008 from Xinhui in Jiangmen, Guangdong, in 2021 the Guangzhou Beisheng branch was added, and according to the list's description it was founded by Chen Heng in 1836 in the village of Jingmei. Wuzuquan is listed under number 803 (VI-31) since 2008 from Quanzhou in Fujian. Wing chun is listed under number 1308 (VI-77) since 2014 as the Fujian branch from Fuzhou and since 2021 as the Foshan branch from Guangdong, and the two traditions differ on its origin: the Fujian one names the nun Wumei of Southern Shaolin at the turn of the Ming and Qing, the Foshan one an origin in the Tongzhi era thanks to Liang Zan. Dishuquan is listed under number 1141 (2011, Fujian) and mojiaquan under number 1452 (2021, Guangdong). Hung Gar is not on the national list.
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Competitive nanquan emerged in the standardization of wushu led by the state commission from 1958, the first Chinese rules for competition routines were issued in 1959 and the International Wushu Federation was founded on 3 October 1990. We did not find the year the competitive nanquan routine originated in the federation's sources. English Wikipedia gives the sixties, the inclusion of nandao and nangun in international competition in 1999 and mandatory jumps from 2003.
How it differs
The IWUF describes the difference between nanquan and changquan: changquan are northern styles with open long-range strikes, a wide range of kicks and jumping techniques, while nanquan are southern styles with low firm stances, fewer leg techniques and short powerful strikes with vocalization. The competition attire also differs under the IWUF 2024 rules: the men's nanquan vest is sleeveless and collarless, while the changquan attire has a Chinese stand-up collar and sleeves. Within the southern styles stands mojiaquan, which according to its bearer combines southern hand work with northern footwork.
Technique
The IWUF defines nanquan as styles originating south of the Yangtze River with low stances and fewer leg techniques, an emphasis on short powerful arm strikes often accompanied by vocalization, firm stances and few acrobatic techniques. According to the IWUF 2024 rules, a free nanquan routine must contain the tiger claw hand shape (hu zhao), gua gai quan and pao quan strikes, the bridge technique gun qiao, six stances including the butterfly (die bu) and dragon riding (qi long bu), qi lin bu steps and the heng ding tui kick. The traditional styles are described by the national intangible heritage list. Choy Li Fut has 193 routines: 39 barehanded, 54 paired, 64 with weapons and 18 on the wooden dummy, and vocalizations are meant to support movement. Fujian wing chun has three barehanded routines (xiao nian tou, xun qiao, biao zhi), the knife ba zhan dao, the pole liu dian ban gun and a dummy of 108 elements, Foshan wing chun the same three routines, one with a knife and one with a pole, and zhuang fa and chi shou as special methods. According to its bearer, mojiaquan combines the deep power and variable hand techniques of southern boxing with northern footwork.
Training
In competitive wushu, the free nanquan routine lasts 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 35 seconds for adults and 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 25 seconds for juniors. In the compulsory routines of nanquan, nandao and nangun, 0.2 points are deducted for each missing or surplus vocalization or one contrary to the rules. The traditional schools teach differently: according to the national list, wuzuquan has more than two hundred routines and the teaching is passed on orally and in person, and Foshan wing chun rests on the methods zhuang fa and chi shou.
Today
The IWUF lists nanquan among the main categories of wushu taolu disciplines at world championships, and in the 2024 rules nanquan, nandao and nangun are free disciplines. The rules divide age categories into adults (18 years and over), youth (15 to 17), juniors (12 to 14) and children (11 and under). The traditional southern styles are protected by the national intangible heritage list, with bearers such as the Quanzhou Wushu Association (wuzuquan), the Foshan Wushu Association (Foshan wing chun) and the Xinhui Choy Li Fut Founder Fist Association. According to its bearer, Foshan wing chun has about 200 registered schools, more than 800 masters and is practiced in over 60 countries.
Did you know
Foshan wing chun, per the national list, knows the saying quan da wo niu zhi di, the fist in the space of a lying ox, i.e. fighting in a small space, and the list's description names Ip Man and Bruce Lee among its heirs. Choy Li Fut's description states that in the international spread of wushu the saying goes: in the north taiji, in the south Choy Li Fut. Judkins and Nielson's book The Creation of Wing Chun (SUNY Press, 2015) traces the social history of the southern Chinese martial arts in Guangdong since 1800.
Frequently asked questions
What does nanquan mean?
Literally the southern fist. The International Wushu Federation uses it for styles that arose south of the Yangtze with low stances and short powerful strikes, often accompanied by the voice.
Which southern styles are on China's national intangible heritage list?
For example Choy Li Fut (No. 808), wuzuquan (No. 803), wing chun (No. 1308), dishuquan (No. 1141) and mojiaquan (No. 1452). Nanquan itself as a term is not listed.
What elements must a competition nanquan routine contain?
According to the IWUF 2024 rules, among other things the tiger claw, gua gai quan and pao quan strikes, the bridge technique gun qiao, six stances, qi lin bu steps and the heng ding tui kick.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.