Zi Ran Men (Natural Boxing)
自然門Chinese style linked to Du Xinwu and his teacher known as Xu Aizi. Sources differ on which of them founded it.
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About Zi Ran Men (Natural Boxing)
Ziranmen, 自然門, is a Chinese kung-fu style linked to Du Xinwu (1869 to 1953) from Cili County in Hunan Province. Sources differ on who founded the style. A 2017 article in the Journal of Jishou University calls Du Xinwu the founder. Hunan Daily in 2017, by contrast, states that the style was created by his teacher Xu, called Xu Aishi, and that Du was the second generation of school leaders. According to Hunan Daily, at thirteen Du set out to look for a teacher, in 1887 he worked as an escort, and in 1905 he joined the revolutionary society Tongmenghui and became Sun Yat-sen's personal bodyguard. His student Wan Laisheng (1903 to 1992) described Xu, according to Chinese Wikipedia, as a man of unknown name and origin, nicknamed Xu Aizi for his small stature. Hunan Daily describes the training as walking in a circle on posts with weights, in which sandbags on the legs gradually grow heavier. English Wikipedia states that the style contains over eighty longer forms and hundreds of short combinations. We were unable to document the year the style came into being.
History
Hunan Daily states that Du Xinwu was born in the village of Yanbantian in Cili County and at sixteen went to Mount Emei to study under Xu Aishi, whose only student he became. English Wikipedia gives a different version, according to which Du posted a public challenge and it was accepted by a dwarf and beggar named Xu. Chinese Wikipedia points out that the story about Xu comes from Wan Laisheng and Du himself did not confirm it. According to English Wikipedia, Wan studied with Du when Du worked at the Ministry of Agriculture. According to Chinese Wikipedia, he recorded Du's biography in his book Wushu huizong.
Technique
English Wikipedia states four fundamental principles tun, tu, fu and chen, that is contraction, expansion, floating and sinking. According to it, the basic exercise is static and consists of circling the hands in sequence, and the style also uses pai da gong, striking wooden posts, sandbags and iron balls and withstanding such blows. According to Wikipedia, the footwork is light, on the balls of the feet, and allows sudden changes of direction. Hunan Daily describes kicks, treading, sweeps and stomps being added to walking in a circle.
Training
Unlike many internal styles, early ziranmen training focuses, according to English Wikipedia, on hard physical effort, and the internal side shows itself to the practitioner only later. Hunan Daily calls walking in a circle the inner-circle method. Chinese Wikipedia summarizes the doctrine of the style in sixteen characters that speak of movement and stillness without beginning, changes without end, the empty and the full, and what is natural.
Competition
In autumn 1928, according to Hunan Daily, Du was a judge at the first national guoshu examinations in Hangzhou and demonstrated walking in a circle there. The Hong Kong portal HK01 places his demonstration in November 1929 at the Zhejiang guoshu festival. We have not found competition rules specific to ziranmen.
Today
In 2021 the Yanying quan style from Xinning County in Hunan was inscribed on the national list of Chinese intangible cultural heritage and, according to the inscription, derives from the eagle-claw techniques of Du Xinwu. We did not find ziranmen itself on the national list. A 2017 article in the Journal of Jishou University deals with the kung-fu culture of Du Xinwu as a source of tourism in Cili County.
Did you know
According to Hunan Daily, Du Xinwu was nicknamed the hero of north and south. The name is written two ways, 杜心五 and 杜心武. Chinese Wikipedia notes that another lineage, founded by Xie Zi'an in the early Republic, also bears the name 自然門.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded ziranmen?
Sources differ. The Journal of Jishou University names Du Xinwu, Hunan Daily his teacher Xu Aishi.
Does ziranmen have forms?
English Wikipedia states over eighty longer forms and hundreds of short combinations.
How is ziranmen trained?
Hunan Daily describes walking in a circle on posts with weights on the legs, Wikipedia also striking posts and sandbags.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.