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Kwoon -
History &Trivia
Greeting
In almost
every style of kung fu / wushu the forms (taolu) start and end with a
greeting. Greeting is a form of respect. The way to greet somebody in
martial arts often has a long history. Often it has influences of the
military, or religion.
The
most used way of greeting in almost all of the Chinese martial arts,
is the 'palm-fist' greeting (as seen on the picture above). Originally
it were only the southern styles that used this way of greeting. The
northern styles didn't use this way of greeting.
In
the old China the scientists used to greet eachother by covering the
left fist with the right palm. This meant peace ; the hand covering
the agressive fist. After a while this had become the traditional
Chinese way of greeting. (Like for example handshaking in the west.)
A
warrior in China held his weapon in the right hand. For this reason it
was difficult to greet with the left fist. That's why the warriors
greet eachother with the left hand covering the right fist. Eventually
this became the way of greeting for a martial arts practitioner in
China.
During
the Qing dynasty, (1644 - 1911) when many Chinese fought against the
Qing government to restore the Ming dynasty, the original way of
greeting was changed. The left hand became an open hand with the
fingers outstretched, and the right fist was held against the left
hand. The left hand symbolised the Chinese character 'moon', while the
right fist symbolised the Chinese character 'sun'. Together these
characters mean 'Ming'. This way of greeting, called 'Bao Quan',
became the way of the southern Shaolin temple, and was used as a
secret way for recognising revolutionary fighters.
After a while
different ways of applying this way of greeting were formed. In for
example the 'Hung Gar' kung fu style the fighters often use the left 'tigerclaw'
and the 'dragonfist' to greet. This symbolises the meeting between the
dragon and the tiger, two of the most important animals in kung fu /
wushu styles.
The
northern styles, like for example 'Xing Yi Quan' and 'Taiji Quan'
weren't that anti Qing (Manchu), or already existed before the Qing
dynasty, and that's why there was no greeting integrated into the
forms.
Another
way of greeting that is being used is the so called 'religious' way of
greeting. For this way of greeting one holds the both hands together,
opened, and with the fingers stretched out facing upwards. This
greeting is used by the white crane style from Tibet. They say that
their style doesn't derive from the Shaolin style, and to differ
themselves they use this other way of greeting.
For
the same reason also the 'Bai Mei' style uses another way to greet.
The founder of this style was 'Taoïst' priest who had been in the
Shaolin temple before. In their way of greeting they place the left
hand, open, with four fingers streched upwards, on the right fist. The
four fingers of the left hand symbolise the four seas of the world,
and the five fingers of the fist symbolise the five big lakes of
China, referring to an old Chinese saying ; 'All people between the
four seas and the five lakes are brothers.'
Often
nowadays people aren't aware of the old meanings of greeting. One sees
this very clearly at competitions especially with the weapon-forms.
When starting a weapon-form the weapon usually rests on the left arm.
To greet one often stretches this arm, and holds the right fist next
to it. Here one forgets that originally the fist stands for agression
and attack. The right way to greet in this case would be to hold the
right hand opened next to the weapon.
Because
of films and Chinese opera the Buddhist way of greeting is very
popular, especially in styles that are originally Buddhist. In stead
of using both hands as in the original way of greeting, one only uses
one hand, opened, to greet. Traditonally this way of greeting wouldn't
be correct. This way of greeting is only correct, when holding a
weapon in the right hand, or when a student greets with both hands to
the master, and the master than responds with one hand.
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