baiyuen tongbeiquan

Journal of Asian Martial Arts ◊ Volume 13 Number 1 - 2004 3534 White Ape Tongbei Boxing ◊ Zhang Yun & Strider Clark

INTRODUCTION

Around three hundred years ago, many styles of traditional martial artsin China reached a high level and won great reputation. For some, however,the pinnacle of fame and popularity occurred between 1850 and 1900. Theseincluded the six most prominent Northern Chinese boxing styles referred to asthe “six big gates”: taiji, bagua, xingyi, Shaolin, Muslim Spring Leg, andTongbei (Connected Back).1 Of these, the first four are probably most familiarto Westerners and martial arts researchers.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the history, styles, and princi-ples of Tongbei boxing. Tongbei is one of the more obscure and eclectic stylesof Northern Chinese boxing, but it is well-recognized in Chinese culture as amartial art that has produced several great masters known especially for theirfighting skills. In this article, we will describe some of the unique aspects andtraining methods of the Shi Style of Baiyuan Tongbei Quan, which translatedliterally, means “white ape connected back boxing.”

White Ape Tongbei achieved fame throughout China and is more popu-lar today than ever before. However, many of its key skills are being diminishedbecause of increasing attention to the outside movements, and lowered empha-sis on the traditional mindset, inner feelings, and overall fighting spirit neededto train the real high-level skills. Those currently practicing Tongbei shouldpay special attention to this point. As modernization advances, there are fewerand fewer new students interested in seeking serious study of Tongbei as a tra-ditional art form. Traditional conservative ideas and secrecy greatly influencethe transmission of Tongbei even today, which could result in the eventual lossof many of the higher-level skills. And so the question before our present gen-eration becomes how to preserve the many superb skills and art of Tongbei.

AN EXPOSITION ON NORTHERN CHINA’S

WHITE APE TONGBEI

BOXING SYSTEMSZHANG YUN, M.A. & STRIDER CLARK

sts

PREVIOUS PAGE:LEFT SIDE: ZHANG YUN IN

CLASSIC TONGBEI POSTURES.STRIDER CLARK (WHITE)PRACTICING WITH PETER CAPELL.

Photography by Paul Kene and Chris Young.

Pin Yin RomanizationChinese Character

37Journal of Asian Martial Arts ◊ Volume 13 Number 1 - 2004

Tongbei is a traditional Northern Chinese martial art. Its precise origin,however, is shrouded in mystery, and neither the founder or exact time of itscreation are known. The earliest written reference to Tongbei is found in textsdating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The text mentions that the firstemperor, Zhao Kuangyin, fought three fights ending in the surrender ofGeneral Han Tong, who had used Tongbei (Gu, 1997; Xi, 1985). A referencefrom 1669 is found in “The Tombstone Inscription of Mr. Wang Zhengnan” byHuang Zongyi (also known as Huang Lizhou). This article states “You Jun’sTongbei skill was the best” (Huang, 1669).2

There are several Tongbei styles. Over the years, some of these stylesadapted or fused elements from other Chinese martial arts. The original andmost famous style is White Ape (Baiyuan) Tongbei. In this article, we use theterm Tongbei to refer to the White Ape style, unless indicated otherwise.There are several well-known branches within White Ape Tongbei, which allfollow similar principles.

The White Ape Tongbei history is not well-documented. The most com-mon belief is that the art was conceptualized and founded around 2,500 years

36 White Ape Tongbei Boxing ◊ Zhang Yun & Strider Clark

B R I E F H I S T O R Y & L I N E A G E O F T O N G B E I B OX I N G

Tongbei Styles

White Ape Tongbei

Branches

STATUE OF CHEN TUAN

IN HUA MOUNTAIN TEMPLE.

ago by Bai Shikou, also known as Yisan, and having the Daoist name DongLingzi. According to legend, Bai passed his skill on to Wang Dao, Li Yi, andHan Cheng. The story is based on the folktale of Yuan Gong, a famous martialartist extant about 500 B.C.E., who was described as old, with white hair andbeard, and always wearing white clothes. The story has it that he challengedanother martial arts master, but lost. As a result, he was transformed into awhite ape that took up residence in the forest, and was thereafter referred to as“white ape old man.” Folklore maintained he was an immortal ape who taughthis skills in secret, and was highly respected in Chinese martial arts society(Zhao, 80 C.E.).3 Most groups in China that practice traditional Tongbei countBai Shikou as the founder of Tongbei.

Another version of Tongbei history, traces the art through a lineage offamous masters starting with Chen Tuan (?-989). Chen was a Song DynastyDaoist master and renowned scholar and teacher. He contributed greatly toDaoist theory, including the creation of the well-known taiji diagram. Duringthe course of his Daoist practices on Hua Mountain, Chen is said to haveinvented Tongbei and a method known as Sleeping qigong (Shui gongfa).

In the Shi Style White Ape Tongbei traditional family manual lineagelist,4 after Chen Tuan, Tongbei was passed on through several famous masters,and finally separated into two styles: Qi and Shi.

QI STYLE TONGBEI

Although Tongbei boxing was probably developed more than a thousandyears ago, it was neither popular nor well-known in China until the 1800’sbecause Tongbei masters before Qi Xin did not teach in public. Most groupspracticing Tongbei did so by following the traditional idea of keeping everythingsecret, which led to some criticism of the style by outsiders as being too conser-vative. Qi Xin was one of the first masters to teach Tongbei more openly.

Qi Xin was said to have lived in Zhejiang Province, but was apparentlyactive throughout Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong Provinces. Duringthe time of Emperor Daoguang (Qing Dynasty, 1821-1850), Qi apparently gotinto some trouble with the local authorities in his hometown and fled to GuanCounty, Hebei. He hid and worked privately for a wealthy and powerful fam-ily in Liulihe Township surnamed Yin. During his stay with the Yins, Qi did notmake known his martial arts skills until the Du family, another powerful clan,fought the Yins for control of the local harbor business. Using a long staff, Qisoundly defeated many opponents in the Du family, and as a result, was hailedby many as a great master, and was asked to teach. Qi taught Tongbei andbecame very famous in doing so.

Qi’s students brought Tongbei to the larger northern cities, includingBeijing and Tianjin. They won a great reputation teaching and fighting chal-lenges and became recognized as Qi Style Tongbei.

Qi Tongbei split into two styles: Old Qi style (Lao Qi Pai) and Young Qistyle (Shao Qi Pai). In the Old Qi style, Qi Xin’s original training methods —in which the movements are large and hard — were maintained. In the YoungQi style, developed by Qi Xin’s son, Qi Taichang, the movements are soft andthe techniques are more detailed and fluid than in the Old Style. Additional

Shi Pai Tongbei

Qi Pai Tongbei

Lao Qi Pai Tongbei

Shao Qi Pai Tongbei

Wuxing Tongbei

Taiji Tongbei

Taiji Wuxing Tongbei

Wuyuan Tongbei

Ruyi Tongbei

Baiyuan Tongbei

Pigua Tongbei

Liangyi Tongbei

Shaolin Tongbei

Huoye Tongbe

Liuhe Tongbe

Hongdong Tongbei

know Lu was a great martial arts master, so he said, “If you do not believe myforce can reach you, you can test it.” When Shi attacked, Lu used a quickdefensive skill but did not counterattack. After several more attempts, Shi real-ized that Lu was much better than he was, and so he asked Lu to teach him. Lualready thought much of Shi for his previous kindness and so he taught himTongbei. A relevant Chinese saying is: “You cannot find opportunity; opportu-nity finds you.”

Shi practiced hard and became a high-level master, but for many years hedid not teach anyone until he began keeping company with Zhang Wencheng,a relative, an officer at the Beijing garrison, and a good martial artist. Zhanglearned through their conversations that Shi practiced some form of martialart, but he could not believe that Shi, a mere store accountant, could possessany real skill, and so they agreed to a friendly match. Shi followed theaccepted traditional idea, which was to let Zhang attack him three times with-out counterattack. After Zhang missed all three times, Shi used one attackand easily threw Zhang far away. Zhang realized Shi had great skills and askedShi to teach him and was accepted as a disciple. Shi did not teach many otherstudents though, because of his conservative nature. Of Shi’s few disciples, onlyZhang Wencheng and Ma Xiaohe passed on their skills, again to a select few.


branches developed from each of thesestyles, including Wuxing (Five Elements)Tongbei and Wuyuan (Five Apes)Tongbei.

One interesting aspect about QiTongbei is that no group lists Lu Yunqingas Qi Xin’s master, and so their lineagehistory starts with Qi Xin. As a result, noone in the Qi Style lineage todayacknowledges Qi’s master. According tothe Shi Tongbei family manual, Qilearned from Lu Yunqing, however, theother practitioners doubt this claim. Inany case, based on the inherent principlesand skills, it is clear that the two stylesderived from the same source, but it is lesscertain when they split.


LINEAGE CHART of Qi Style

Tongbei Boxing

Qi Xin

Qi Taichang Li Donglu Li Zhong Chen Qing Huang Yuna

Wang Xialin

Luan Hexiu Cui Pingjing Xu Tianhe An Pingli Liu Pingzhi Wang Zhanchun Zhang Ce

Xu Jianchi Liu Yueting Xu Yongsheng Liu Peng

SHI TONGBEI

Shi Hongsheng, the first generation master of Shi Tongbei, studied underLu Yunqing during the Qing Dynasty’s Daoguang Period (1821-1850).According to the Shi Style manual, Lu was a resident of Wei County,Shandong Province, and owned a fur and leather business. He often traveled toBeijing for business and stayed in a fur and leather shop near Zengshou Templenear Guangan Gate.

Shi Hongsheng was an accountant for Lu’s shop. Once, when Lu becamesick, an “opportunity” was given for Shi to show Lu his fine caring qualities.5

Lu was very moved by Shi’s behavior, so he wanted to teach him Tongbei inreturn. Shi, an able-bodied man who had studied hard-style martial arts, waspracticing one night when Lu came in and said to Shi, “Your skill looks prettygood, but the only problem is your force cannot reach very far.” Shi did not

TOP: “QUICK HAND BLACK” LI ZHENDONG.MIDDLE: “IRON ARM” LI SHUSEN.

RIGHT: STRIDER CLARK WITH

GU YUN IN BEIJING, 1993.

Lu Yunqing

Shi Hongsheng

Zhang Wencheng Liu Ziying Hen Dongyi Xiang Zhongshan Ma Xiaohe

LINEAGE CHART of Shi Style Tongbei Boxing

Liu Baoming Ma Deshan Li Zhendong Zhang Ce Wang Guixiang Hou Xirong Zhang Shaosan

Yang Qishun Zhang Ruiqing Li Shusen Wang Qicheng

Sun Lixin Zhao Zeren Gu Yun Lu Shengli Li Gengjiang Zhang Zengyin Zhang Yun Zhang Guizeng

Strider Clark John Benavides Marc Boswell Malcom Zarnfaller Clayton Shiu

Darrell Staaleson Peter Capell Alan Bochan Chris Young

Chen Tuan

Situ Xuankong (Baiyuan Laoren)

Bai Yufeng

Ji Zhitong

Zhang Dongfeng

Lu Yunqing

Qi Xin Shi HongshengLINEAGE CHART from Chen Tuan to

Qi Xin and Shi Hongsheng

TONGBEI MASTER

ZHANG CE.

the truly higher-level skills. As with many other martial arts practices, amaster traditionally passed on the higher-level skills only to the best studentswith good moral constitution.6 The student had to be smart enough to under-stand the principles, but also diligent and disciplined enough to practice veryhard. This conservative approach had the effect of limiting the group size, andcontributed to the quality and depth of development, which, in turn, helpedthe group maintain a high reputation, especially for real fighting.

Shi Style masters are some of the most vicious and feared fighters, usingone attack to quickly finish a fight. Supplemental training, such a “iron arm”and “iron palm,” are included as part of the training, so the master emphasizesthe requirement for high moral standards in students. In fact, the teaching was,“never fight until you definitely must fight,” and the group would severelypunish any student who engaged in unnecessary fights. By comparison withother styles, Shi Style practitioners kept to the traditional way, often dubbed“black fist” (hei quan), which has two interpretations: one involves their prac-tice in dark places so that others cannot see what they do; the other relates tothe very aggressive style adopted in a fight. Even today, outsiders andresearchers do not have a clear understanding of the style. Shi Style mastersremain ultra-conservative, refusing to divulge even the most general informa-tion about their lineage and methods to martial arts scholars.

In Shi Style practice, everything is focused on fighting. Anything else,no matter how beautiful or impressive in a demonstration, is considered unnec-essary. In the Shi Tongbei lineage under Zhang Wencheng, practitioners resistany change, modification, or reform of the system. They keep to the tradition-al way, believing the older the better. Many of the masters are strict and holdto the way they were taught and teach the same way to their students. This reg-imented transmission provides more insight into the original Tongbei trainingmethods.

Shi Tongbei basic training is similar to other styles, usually involvinglarge movements, although somewhat less pronounced than in the other styles.In fighting, however, the movements clearly become smaller and are more pow-erful than in most other styles. Shi Style students were trained to pay specialattention to combining the hard and soft, and finding the correct balancebetween the two. During fighting, one kept relaxed and soft until touching theopponent’s body – the specific teaching was to “release the force only when youtouch the opponent’s clothes.” Developing superior internal force was stronglyemphasized. Students first learned how to relax and stretch the body; then tomake internal strength (qi) move smoothly and harmoniously; then how torelease force in a quick and sudden manner, with the whole body coordinatedand integrated. The more initially relaxed the body, the more energy gener-ated, and the more force released.

Shi Style remains willfully obscure. There have been some famous mastersbut no one taught in public, and only a few taught privately. As far as we know,there is only one book published on the Shi Tongbei style. It was written by aJapanese.7 Figures on the following page show some postures from the variousShi Tongbei lineages. The few Shi Tongbei practitioners are in Beijing. Few ifany Westerners have been able to study this style.8


Because of the historical conservatism among Tongbei groups, few of thecore principles have been systematically organized and recorded.Communication among different Tongbei groups is usually rare. For thesereasons, certain aspects of Tongbei remain obscure and confusing and couldeasily be misunderstood by historians. For example, regarding designations, thefull name of Shi Tongbei should be Shi Pai Baiyuan Tongbei Quan, but it isusually referred to as just Baiyuan Tongbei Quan. Conversely, when one refersto Baiyuan Tongbei, this generally means Shi Tongbei. Usually, only theauthentic disciples practitioners refer to it as Shi Style.

The opposite is true for Qi Tongbei, which is designated as such, andoften down to the specific sub-style (e.g., Wuxing Tongbei). However, Qi Style“indoor” practitioners often refer to their style using the full name of Qi PaiBaiyuan Tongbei Quan. Since Qi Style is the more popular Tongbei style, it ismost often referred to simply as Tongbei Quan.

Although Qi and Shi Tongbei come from the same source, each evolveddifferently. The basic training in Qi Style involves 108 solo techniques, some-times referred to as “taking apart skill” (chai quan). Major training in Shi Styleinvolves the 24 postures form, also referred to as the “linking form” (lianquan). Thus, chai quan and lian quan have also been used to designate therespective Tongbei styles, but regardless of differences in fighting skills ortraining methods, both follow similar principles, as indicated in a related clas-sical poem: “Both chai quan and lian quan follow the same principle, they arenot separate and distinct from each other, even though they have their ownunique features.”

Starting in the 1910’s, some Qi Style masters began to teach Tongbei inpublic. Soon after, Qi Style became more popular than Shi Style. Today, atleast 90 percent of Tongbei practitioners study Qi Style or one of its branches.However, even though some Qi Style masters taught in public, they stillreserved teaching of some of the higher-level skills to a select few disciples inprivate classes. As Qi Tongbei became more popular, additional forms werecreated for teaching purposes. Today in northern China, Qi Style has spreadwidely and is very influential in many places, especially in Beijing, Tianjin,Hebei, and Liaoning. There are still many practitioners in Guan County whereQi Xin first began teaching Tongbei. Since Qi Style is taught in public, it is nottoo difficult to join a group. However, although one can find many peoplepracticing Tongbei, there are still relatively few people who know the completeQi system and understand its higher-level principles.

Shi Tongbei practitioners remain fairly conservative today, and so itremains very difficult for the uninitiated to join a Shi Tongbei group, let alonebecome a formal “indoor disciple.” The master traditionally and often today“closes the doors” to teach secretly, and so it is not uncommon for most disci-ples to spend long years learning and practicing the skills, and never be shown


T E A C H I N G T R A D I T I O N S &T H E P O P U L A R I Z AT I O N O F T O N G B E I B OX I N G

The full name of original Tongbei Quan is Baiyuan Tongbei Quan. “Bai”means white; “yuan” means ape; “tong” means open, clear, unobstructed, con-nected, logical, and whole; and “bei” means arms or back.

The White Ape is a mystical animal in Chinese mythology. The onlykind of ape indigenous to China commonly known as white ape or long-armedape belongs to the gibbon family, and has arms that reach well past its feetwhen standing upright.

There are three characters for “bei” as used in writing Tongbei. Onemeans “back,” one means “arms,” and the other means “to prepare.” The firsttwo represent the usual meaning in the art of Tongbei boxing. Which of thesetwo terms represents the original meaning is not clear, but following Tongbeiprinciples, either one could apply. Most scholars have adopted “back” as thestandard. When the third meaning is used (i.e., to prepare), it does not refer tothe traditional Tongbei style, but rather to a newer system that was created inthe 1930’s. Although some of the movements and principles were carried over,most traditional Tongbei practitioners consider the newer style quite different,and it never achieved much fame or popularity.

Expressing the characters collectively, the word Tongbei means “to linkthe two arms together.” The idea related to boxing then is to make the armsmore extended and relaxed, allowing internal forces to pass more smoothlythrough the back and into the hands. This is the most important idea inTongbei boxing: practice making your arms more relaxed and extended, and ingaining the feeling inside that they are more extended.

The term “tongbei” is used elsewhere in Chinese martial arts. Many styles

use the word to convey the concept oflengthening the arms and relaxing theshoulders, or to describe a specific prac-tice involving the back and arms (e.g.,Fan Through the Back [shan tongbei] intaijiquan). There are also other styles ofmartial arts that include Tongbei as partof their name, for example HongdongTongbei. However, such arts representdistinct lineages and are unrelated toBaiyuan Tongbei because they are basedon different principles, and place lessemphasis on the “connected back” prin-ciple than the original Tongbei lineages.There are also newer styles that mix orig-inal Tongbei ideas with other skills, suchas Pigua Tongbei; and still others that usea homonym of the name, like Tongbei,where “bei” in this context does notmean “back or arm” but rather “to pre-pare,” as noted above.

Some Chinese martial art styles arebased on direct imitation of animal movements and internal spirit, such as theeagle, monkey, and tiger. In this sense, one could say that Tongbei is an animalimitation style, however, it is very different from the rest. In Tongbei, it is the“mind” or “feeling” of the white ape that is emphasized, rather than imitationof the external physical movements. This is called “study the internal feelings,not the external movements.” Many Tongbei groups vehemently deny that thestyle is an animal imitation style. Since Tongbei’s basic philosophical idea isDaoist, and since many of its practices are similar or close to those of internalstyles, some people place it within the internal martial art category. Manybelieve, at the very least, it falls between internal and external styles.

White Ape Tongbei consists of two major parts: martial art applicationand qigong. The martial applications represent a study of the ape’s attributes,which correspond to a number of simple, useful, and efficient techniques, alldeveloped primarily with real fighting situations in mind. Although the styleincludes some qigong practices for promoting health and vitality (e.g., ShuiGongfa, Daoist Sleeping qigong method), it is the fighting methods that madeTongbei famous.


Although many of the basic principles and skills are identical betweenthe Shi Style lineages of Ma Xiaohe and Zhang Wenchang, there are some keydifferences. Ma and his students made some changes and created some newtechniques and training methods. Ma’s group employs more forms. In Zhang’slineage, traditional methods were not altered, and thus is more strict and con-servative than most other groups.

There are many books about other styles, some even have a brief intro-duction of Ma’s lineage, yet none mentions Zhang’s lineage. This does notmean a total lack of information about the art, only that no one is able to getinformation from group members, and it is extremely difficult to join the group.And even within the group, some things are only passed to a few of the disci-ples. Recently, however, some of the Ma lineage practice methods have becomeavailable on video/VCD.9

Because of its simplicity, utility, and efficiency, it is possible for a studentto gain a lot of fighting ability in a very short time, and so Tongbei had a rep-utation for being easy to master. Even for many beginners, it seems like a“study-today-and-use-tomorrow” proposition. In fact, most practitioners canachieve at least mid-level skills quicker and easier than in other styles. So itattracts many people. However, because of the conservatism, only few everachieve the truly higher-level skills that Tongbei has to offer.


Three different characters for“bei”used inTongbei.

B A S I C P R I N C I P L E S O F T O N G B E I B OX I N G

TOP: WANG PEISHENG

DEMONSTRATES RUYI

TONGBEI AS PASSED DOWN

FROM LIANG JUNBO.

MIDDLE: ZHANG GUIZENG

DEMONSTRATES WHITE APE


FROM MA XIAOHE.

BOTTOM: TAKEDA HIROSHI

DEMONSTRATES WHITE APE


FROM HE ZHENFANG.

ZHANG YUN

DEMONSTRATES

WHITE APE TONGBEI

AS PASSED DOWN

FROM LI SHUSEN.

WHITE GIBBON.

Tongbei Quan: bei means “back”

Tongbei Quan: bei means “arm/s”

Tongbei Quan: bei means “prepare”

Chinese Characters Pin Yin Romanization


Tongbei’s basic principles consist of the four kinds of power (jin)10 – xinyuan, xin yi, xin ji, and xin jin – which together mean that the heart, mind,movement, and force should be like that of the ape. It is believed that the ape’sheart or mind is never static; and in fighting, one must emulate this quality,constantly changing, and adapting. In addition, when the ape wants to dosomething, it never reveals its intention beforehand, and so in fighting, onemust not make it obvious to the opponent what will come next and when. Theape’s movements tend to be quick and sudden; and in fighting, one must dolikewise. The ape is considered a clever animal, with an agile and powerfulmind from which all actions flow; therefore, in fighting, one must initiate allactions from the heart and mind. A familiar principle here is that wherever themind goes, the physical forces arrive there naturally. However, it is importantto realize first and foremost that these principles are not about physical move-ments, but about internal feelings.

Tongbei’s basic physical training methods feature twisting the waist,relaxing the shoulders, and extending the arms. Envision the arms as whips andyour waist as the handle of the whip. The force starts from your feet and is con-trolled by your waist, turn your waist to direct your upper back, use your upperback to guide your shoulders, use your shoulders to lead your arms, and use yourarm to lead your hands, until finally qi and the force arrives smoothly unim-peded to the tips of the fingers. In this way your arms are made to feel longerand heavier, and can therefore reach further away with powerful force.

The basic movements and techniques can be broken down into circles,lines, and points. Most of the movements involve circles, where it is mucheasier than in linear movements to get qi and force transmitted in a smooth,relaxed, continuous, and changeable manner. Names of typical circularmovements involve the wheel arms, spinning palms, and circling hands.“Chopping mountain” (pi shan) is an example of a typical circular movementskill (1a-d and 2-a-e).

Linear movement is also common, including many straight-line strikeswith fist and palms, which have the advantage of being quick, hard, and sud-den. The hand must go straight in and straight out, as in “center punch” (zhongquan), which is one of the most important basic skills in Tongbei (2a-d).

Ingrained within the various circular and linear techniques is the idea ofthe “point,” which involves two components: one is the actual target and theother is timing. These two must be combined to “hit the target on time.” InTongbei, this means “to release the force at the right moment.”

This is trained and ingrained further by making a sound when practicingtechniques, but not the typical overt kiai as in karate. The sound is usuallymade by slapping parts of the body against each other or by stamping the footonto the ground during stepping. The sound serves as a cue for further inte-grating the external movements and internal components at a particularmoment in time, that being the moment of impact. This training not only pre-pares one’s body for impact in general, but also assists in developing the correctinner feeling for releasing force upon reaching the target.


CENTER PUNCH

SEQUENCE (3A-E).

2a1a

1b

1c

1d

2b

2c 2d 2e

CHOPPING MOUNTAIN SEQUENCE (1A-D). CHOPPING MOUNTAIN

SEQUENCE (2A-E).

3a 3b

3c 3d 3e

the feet, shoulders stretched out, and the waist twisted and turned so that theforce is released powerfully. There are no superfluous movements, or move-ments that are aesthetic, or not useful in fighting. A very common misunder-standing is that the large movements are used in actual combat. In training, thelarge movements help to relax, stretch, move qi smoothly, and generate morepower, especially for beginners. However, in fighting, at the more detailed andrefined levels, smaller movements are preferred.

Ten Qualities of Basic FightingSkills

46 White Ape Tongbei Boxing ◊ Zhang Yun & Strider Clark 47Journal of Asian Martial Arts ◊ Volume 13 Number 1 - 2004

T R A I N I N G M E T H O D S O F S H I S T Y L E W H I T E A P E T O N G B E I B OX I N G

Pin YinRomanization

OriginalMeaning

Characters’ Meaning in Tongbei Practice

Leng “cold,” sudden, comefrom out of nowhere

movements sudden and unpredictable, and difficult to defend against

Tan spring internal force like a spring, even when force is released forward, a backward

force is already included within

Cui crisp, fragile techniques very clean, brief contact time; brief, no time for opponent to react

Kuai quick characteristic of all techniques

Ying hard specific practices, e.g., “iron arms,” to harden the body

Suo to shrink movements minimized during fight to increase efficiency

Xiao small smaller movements better than large

Mian soft and following

soft and able to follow opponent’s touch, not resisting with hard force.

Ruan relax as in soft and smooth

Tongbei has heavy attacks, but is not hard all the time; be relaxed,

soft, and smooth most of the time.

Qiao skillful, ingenious, and clever

characteristic of all techniques to be useful and efficient

Tongbei’s basic fighting skills are characterized by “ten qualities.” Theyexpress all the features of Tongbei boxing (see chart above).

The basic applications of Tongbei are quick, aggressive, accurate, change-able, and clever. To achieve this in terms of mental attributes, one’s mind, eyes,and movements must be quick. Several aphorisms from oral tradition describethese as follows: On speed: “even if you can thread the needle in the instantthat lightening brightens the night, that still may not be fast enough!” One’sheart should be hard: “if you are a softhearted person, you cannot do Tongbei.”One’s technique should be precise, accurate: “when you miss your target, youwaste your time.” One should learn how to interchange and vary the differentskills during a fight. Changing according to what happens in a real situation isone of the most important skills in Tongbei: “one technique changes into three,and three changes into nine” is emphasized. Finally, one should always use thebest and most efficient skill to achieve the objective, with no wasted move-ments, and be able to change at any moment.

In summary, when practicing Tongbei, one should make the movementsas large and continuous as possible, the transitions smooth and connected, witha lot of slapping of the arms and body against each other, very hard stamping of

Shi Tongbei practitioners believe that their skills exist only for fighting,and so except for some basic gongfu exercises, each skill is developed for efficientfighting. Some of the techniques are not very aesthetic, and movements createdfor any reason other than fighting are always ignored, even ridiculed, and disre-garded. For example, Chinese martial arts practice usually involves much prac-tice of forms. Tongbei practitioners do not think that forms are all that useful,and in some groups, form practice is almost ignored completely. For example,there are some forms in Shi Tongbei, but they are not taught very often.Emphasis is placed mainly on the development of individual skills. Once a stu-dent can perform all the single skills individually, it is possible to go on to studyform. This should not imply that forms practice is for higher-level students, justthat forms are not the most important, fundamental priority in training.

Traditional training consists of several parts: basic gongfu training, basicskills training, two-person fixed-set training, two-person free-skills training,weapons training, and qigong training. Today, although they follow similarprinciple, the various Tongbei groups have developed their own training meth-ods. Since Shi White Ape Tongbei is much closer to the original way, we useit as an example.

For basic gongfu training, many exercises are taught first for relaxing andstretching the whole body, especially the arms, back, and waist. Other methodsare taught for increasing internal force through these parts of the body and fordeveloping a solid root through the legs and feet. Further exercises are aimedtoward balancing internal components (shen, yi, qi). Additional conditioningexercises, such as iron palm, iron arm, and iron body, are especially emphasizedin Shi Style and are practiced for hardening the body and enhancing power.This requires the use of several types of special training bags and posts, and var-ious methods for striking them (3a-f). This type of training is very arduous andtedious. Masters usually assign students to this training for the first several yearsbecause they believe it forms the foundation skills for all advanced studies. Infact, bag and post hitting are considered the root of all skills in Tongbei box-ing. In addition, it gives the master a chance to observe a student’s characterand personality. If one fails to practice these skills diligently and persistently,he would not be taught any longer.

SEQUENCE OF IRON PALM TRAINING WITH LYING BAG (3A-F).

3a

3b

3c

3d

3e

3f

Interestingly, most of the postures in this qigong method are practiced lyingdown on a bed, and mimic the various sleeping postures, hence the name.


For basic skills training, the student studies single techniques, one byone, and repetitively. “Do it one thousand times” is a common refrain from themasters. The student practices solo to achieve a basic understanding of thetechnique and to develop proper coordination. The technique is then practicedon a bag and/or padded post so that the student gets the right feeling forreleasing force in full-contact striking. If the student has practiced hard and isworthy, the master explains more about timing and angles, how the skillshould be applied in combat, with all possible changes and variations. Oncethe student has progressed through these stages for one technique and is ableto do it well, they are then taught the next technique.

The two-person fixed-set training enables a detailed study of attack anddefense, which is a prerequisite for mastery of Tongbei fighting skill: “if youwant to master Tongbei, you must always fight with a partner.” There are dif-ferent routines, depending on the training goal. For hard contact training, thepartners hit each other hard to increase striking power and enhance defensiveskill. Other sets are for training reflexes, which increase speed and reduce reac-tion time. Still other sets are designed for detailed research of each skill and alltheir variations. Such fixed routines are not always standardized by masters;partners can make up their own according to their needs. Practice each routinerepeatedly from both offensive and defensive perspectives. Generally, a singletechnique is practiced first, and then combinations are introduced, usuallyinvolving two to five individual techniques in combination. These practiceroutines must be done very slowly and carefully before adding speed to mini-mize the risk for serious injury. Body protectors are often used to avoid injuryduring full-speed practice with a partner to get an accurate feeling of howthese skills would work in a real fight. Proper training in Tongbei developstremendous striking power, and injuries can sometimes occur even when abody protector is worn.

After practicing the fixed routines, the student progresses to free-stylefighting with a partner. Each partner can use any skill he likes, and is notrequired to tell the partner what he plans to do, which is very much like realfighting, and consistent in principle with the strategy of the ape describedabove. Body protectors are essential during this type of training to avoid orlimit injury. The most important point in this training is that a student notworry about whether he wins or loses. This is the time to focus on the skillsthemselves, reflecting objectively on why the encounter was won or lost, andnot getting angry when hit hard. Part of the development of Tongbei skill isunderstanding that one will get hit a lot before learning eventually how to win.

Weapons training is uncommon among Tongbei groups today. Whenthey are used, the most common weapons are the saber (dao), straight sword(jian), long staff (da ganzi), and spear (qiang). The saber and staff adhere to theprinciples developed in unarmed fighting. There are some weapons forms, butthey tend to be ignored in favor of practicing individual techniques and two-person routines for combat practice.

Tongbei qigong training is only taught in a few groups. Sleeping qigong(shui gongfa) is the most common Tongbei qigong form. Chen Tuan is said tohave invented this Daoist qigong training while practicing on Hua Mountain.


M A J O R R O U T I N E S O F S H I B A I Y U A N T O N G B E I B OX I N G

T E C H N I C A L S E C T I O N :S H I S T Y L E B A I Y U A N T O N G B E I F I G H T I N G S K I L L S

The major routines and sets practiced in Shi Style White Ape Tongbei are:

n Six Prime Skills: These include six single skills, each expressing amain idea of Tongbei and represent the foundation skill for all Tongbeitraining.

n Eight Older Fists: This is a short form including eight skills selectedfrom those Tongbei masters use to quickly win fights.

n Twelve Linking Fists: This set includes 12 short combinations, witheach consisting of two to five individual skills. Each of the 12 combina-tions should be practiced separately to develop an understanding of howcombinations or continuous skills are used in fighting.

n Twenty-Four Posture Form: This is considered the main routine ofShi Tongbei, consisting of 24 skills, which many believe form the oldestor original form of Tongbei. However, this form is not usually taught asa continuous form, with practitioners preferring to hone each skill sepa-rately and in great detail. Only when every skill is done well should theybe linked into a form. It is very common that some modern day practi-tioners have practiced each of the individual skills for many years but stilldo not know the entire form in continuous linkage.

n Thirty-Six Take Apart Fist: This is a combination form including 36skills, which also are usually studied as individual parts for teaching andpractice.

Although there are not many sets and routines in Shi White ApeTongbei, the approach to mastery and unfolding many of the secrets requiresthe guidance of a knowledgeable master, and a continuing detailed study ofhow to vary and change between the different skills. Unlimited skills can begenerated from these basic skills, so the ability to change and interchange is thekey point for developing higher-level Tongbei skills.

There are several Shi Style Tongbei fighting features:

n to be quick and continuous in a manner that “makes three skills look likeonly one”; that offensive and defensive skills are done at the same time:“blocking and attacking are one.”

n to avoid any unnecessary movements and be as efficient as possible:“hands and feet do not go in or out without a purpose.”

balance, which sets up for the use of con-tinuous skills to end the fight. With basictraining emphasis on the reach of the arms,the quick hand skills can be used at agreater distance from the opponent forboth striking the arms and bridging closerfor the next technique. For example, cross-ing-hand block (4a-f) is a quick hand skillused when the opponent punches to yourface or chest with his right hand and youuse your right hand to block/strike his rightwrist, your left hand to block/strike hisright elbow, and then your right hand againto hit his face. In addition to covering thedistance, the other key Tongbei skill here isto make these three movements look likeone movement. The quick hand skills areuseful and cause immediate problems forthe opponent. However, this skill by itselfis not usually fatal or even disabling inmost cases. Most fighters will design addi-tional combinations involving quick handskills for use at the start of a fight.

The hard and heavy skills can causeserious injury to the opponent. Applica-tion of these skills usually requires properdistancing relative to the opponent so thatthe force is released in the most efficientmanner. The first concern has to do with the target (e.g., head, stomach, ribs,groin, joints, acupuncture points), and the second is a mental aspect where themind envisions the total and absolute destruction of the target. The hard andheavy skills represent lethal finishing moves in many cases.

Throughout the early history of Tongbei, masters were known to use cer-tain techniques to kill opponents. For example, the “planting punch” (5a-e) isa downward punch to the stomach or ribs that is used only when very close inwith the opponent. The idea here is the generation of whole body force, start-ing from the foot, through the legs, back, shoulder, arm, and downward intoyour fist, all as you imagine punching a deep hole into the ground (i.e. theopponent’s body), and planting a tree (i.e., your arm). The main problem withthis type of martial skill is that the movement is big and committed, leavinglittle chance to change if needed. Also, no opponent will just stand there andlet you close in and strike him. So, the key for this technique is to first unbal-ance your opponent before closing in and striking. For example, as shown inthe photo sequence, before you deliver “planting punch” with your right fist,you should use your left hand to pull your opponent slightly to your left, thuscausing his body to lose balance and to lean left and back. This idea of unbal-ancing comes from disruption and displacement principle.


n synthesis of soft and hard, insubstantial and substantial, static anddynamic: “there is hard in soft, and soft in hard; there is insubstantial insubstantial, and substantial in insubstantial.”

n no fixed patterns of change and transition from one skill to the next:“suddenly move in and just as suddenly move back, suddenly move toleft and suddenly move to right, suddenly go up and suddenly go down”;there is no predicting which direction the next movement will go.

n force should be explosive: “release power only when your hand touchesthe opponent’s clothes.”

The punch is the most important offensive skill. The most commonpunches are the center, straight, “pouring ear,” wrapping, backing over, plant-ing, chopping, and smashing. Targets include the face, center of the chest, ribcage, groin, and certain acupuncture points. Palm strikes are used in severaldifferent ways, including hard attack, luring, and harassing, with the mostcommon including chopping, slapping down, stamping forward, flipping,brushing, and slicing.

The very few kicks in Tongbei involve movements that are low, small,sudden, and quick, and are not usually performed in isolation. They are

extremely powerful and most devas-tating when performed as part of acombination technique in coordina-tion with the hands, hence they areoften referred to as “hidden kicks.”

In Shi Tongbei, the basic fight-ing skills are categorized into fourgroups: quick hand skills, hard andheavy skills, disruption and displace-ment skills, and controlling andthrowing skills. All of these skills fol-low the four basic principles of beingrelaxed and extended, sudden andquick, nimble and changeable,aggressive and hard.

The quick hand skills are per-formed suddenly, but not very hard,to severely harass or stun the oppo-nent. When using these skills, keepvery relaxed, and let the movementscome out like a spring. In trainingthis skill, one does not use a lot offorce, just go in for the quick “touch.”In cases where practitioners havedeveloped their iron palm skills, evensuch light touches have been knowto cause the opponent painful welts,loss of concentration, and loss of


CROSSING HAND BLOCK

SEQUENCE (4A-F).

4a 4b

4c 4d

4e 4f

5a 5b

5c 5d

5ePLANTING PUNCH

SEQUENCE (5A-E).

(7a-d), where your right hand hits and pushes the opponent’s chin for-ward and to your the left with a downward turn, and at the same timeyour left hand pulls the back of the opponent’s head toward you. Theforce of both hands is released from your whole body by turning to theleft, and adding another force to turn the neck with downward.

All Tongbei skills are useful in real fighting. Common Tongbeifighting tactics involve use of quick hand skills to harass your opponentfirst, and then seek or create a chance to either use some hard andheavy skills to finish the encounter, or to use some further disruptionand displacement skills to unbalance, followed by hard and heavy skillsto strike, or a controlling or throwing skill to throw him out or down.

• • •

White Ape Tongbei boxing has achieved fame throughout China and ismore popular today than ever before. However, many of its key skills are beingdiminished because of increasing attention only to the outside movements andlowered emphasis on the traditional mindset, inner feelings, and overall fight-ing spirit needed to train the real high-level skills. Those currently practicingTongbei should pay special attention to this point. As modernization advances,there are fewer and fewer new students interested in seeking the serious studyof Tongbei as a traditional art form. Traditional conservative ideas and secrecygreatly influence the transmission of Tongbei even today, which eventuallycould result in the loss of many of the higher-level skills. And so the questionbefore our present generation becomes how to inherit and preserve the manysuperb skills and art of Tongbei Quan.


Disruption and displacement skills destroy an opponent’sroot and balance. Most fights involve movement and so it is notalways possible to hit the target directly with full power. Whenusing disruption and/or displacement skills to first unbalancethe opponent, their natural reaction will be to first regain theirbalance, during which time their movements will be slow orcome to a complete stop. Learning to induce and recognize thisin the opponent is another secret of developing higher-levelskills in Tongbei. Part of this learning is also maintaining one’sown balance and position to best take advantage of the oppo-nent’s loss of balance and position.

There are many exercises in this category, some simple,some more complex. Simple skills include: gripping (zhua), dig-ging (pao), pulling (luo), and leading (dai). These involve dif-ferent hand skills designed to break the opponent’s root anddestroy his balance. A sudden and powerful strike to a weakpoint also can disrupt the opponent’s center of balance. Anexample of disruption and displacement in combination withheavy skills added includes the famous skill, “cat springs on amouse” (6a-d), where one first blocks the opponent’s hand tothe side, hard and quick enough to make his body lean sideways,at which time you can jump in and push with both of hands,hitting the ribs. Most of the higher-level Tongbei skills involvecombinations of this type.

Controlling and throwing skills lock and control theopponent or throw him outward or to the ground. This skill isnot commonly used in Tongbei because the basic principle ofTongbei calls for striking the opponent hard and fast, notbecoming entwined in long periods of mutual grappling.Controlling and throwing skills require large movements, andso they tend to be slower and more difficult to apply directly,but can be used following disruption and displacement skills.

In northern China, wrestling (shuaiqiao) is very popularand its techniques have been incorporated into many othermartial arts. Accordingly, some wrestling techniques appear inTongbei, with some adaptations. For example, there is a throwwhere the opponent is first pulled forward, and their subsequentpull-back force is followed by placing your right leg behind hislegs and using your right arm to cut across his neck with wholebody force. In this technique, your arm and leg act like a pair ofscissors cutting cloth or paper.

Some of the more lethal techniques common to all mar-tial arts involve similar principles. The most dangerous varia-tion of this skill in Tongbei is referred to as “cut off the head”


CAT SPRINGS ON A MOUSE

SEQUENCE (6A-D).

CUT OFF THE HEAD WITH TURNING FORCE SEQUENCE (7A-D).

6a

6b

6c

6d

7a 7b 7c

7d

6 Moral character is the most important concept in traditional Chinese mar-tial arts training. Martial arts are very dangerous skills and can be used forgood or bad, depending on the individual. In the past, each martial arts groupwas like a family, and if any member did something bad, it would destroy thefamily’s reputation. So each group “watched its door” very carefully. Eachgroup usually has its own rules of conduct for its members. The general con-tent of martial arts morals demands that one respect and obey the older gen-erations, help others in need, understand right and wrong and true and false,be trustworthy, take responsibility, and exhibit self-control.

7 The first book about Tongbei available in China was written by TakedaHiroshi (Wu Tianxi) and was published in 1936 by Shang Wu Yin Shu Gua(Business Press Company). Takeda was a Japanese student at PekingUniversity since 1924 who studied Tongbei with He Zhenfeng for severalyears. Interestingly, although the content in certain portions of the book isvery clear, other parts are very puzzling and strange. Many believe the reasonis that He Zhenfeng did not really want to teach Takeda, and so he changedthe teaching on purpose. There is speculation that this happened because ofthe political situation between China and Japan at that time.

8 In 1993, Strider Clark went to Beijing and became an in-door disciple of ShiTongbei. He is the first Westerner to have joined this group in the tradi-tional sense.

9 Most Shi Style Tongbei masters remain very conservative even today. Thusfar, the only published material on Shi Style Tongbei boxing consists of a col-lection of VCD’s developed by Zhang Guizeng of Ma Xiaohe’s Muslim lin-eage.

10 The usual meaning of the character for jin means “force” or “big force,” but itcan also express a pattern of behavior, such as emotions, internal feelings, orone’s disposition. The latter is a very common usage for jin in northernChina and is the meaning used here.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTA special thanks for the photography work by Paul Keane and Chris Young,and to Peter Capell who helped Strider Clark in the technical sections.


BIBLIOGRAPHYGU, S. (1997). Zhongguo tiyu shi [Chinese sport history]. Beijing: Beijing Physical

Education University Press.HATSUDA, R., LU, Y. & YAN, H. (Trans.) (1984). Brief history of Chinese martial

arts. Chengdu: Sichuan Science and Technology Press.HUANG, Z. (1669). “The tombstone inscription of Mr. Wang Zhengnan.” Nan

Lei Ji.LIAONING MARTIAL ARTS RESEARCH AND SORT OUT GROUP and SHENYANG

PHYSICAL EDUCATION COLLAGE MARTIAL ARTS RESEARCH AND SORT

OUT GROUP. (1990). Tongbei quan. Beijing: Ren Ming Ti Yu Chu Panshe.REN, G. (1996). Secret linking skills of Tongbei quan. Beijing: Beijing Physical

Education University Press.TAKEDA, H. (1984). Tongbei quan skills. China Bookstore Press. Originally pub-

lished in 1936 by Shang Wu Yin Shu Gua (Business Press Company).XI, Y. (1985). Zhongguo wushu shi. [Chinese martial arts history]. Beijing: Ren

Ming Ti Yu Chu Panshe.ZHAO, Y. (80 C.E.). Wu Yue chuan qiu [Spring and Autumn of Wu and Yue

Kingdoms], volume 9.ZHOU, S. (1997) Edition and textual research of ‘Spring and Autumn of Wu and

Yue Kingdoms.’ Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Rare Book Press.

NOTES1 Traditionally, each family had its own building with one main entry gate or

door (men). All family members gain access through the same gate.Reference to the same gate means that people belong to the same family. InChinese martial arts, each group is like a family, so each style or group can bereferred to as a gate or door. For example, when a taiji practitioner is askedwhich gate they belong to, they can answer that they are in the taiji gate (taijimen).

2 Huang was a famous scholar and his son, Huang Baijia, was a student ofWang Zhengnan. So this reference source is highly reliable. Wang was afamous internal boxing (neijia quan) master. In the article, several differentmartial arts styles are mentioned, including Tongbei. From the article we donot know anything else about who You Jun was.

3 The Spring and Autumn of Wu and Yue Kingdoms is an ancient book thatrecorded the history of the Wu and Yue Kingdoms about 2,500 years ago. Wedo not know who or when the original book was written.

4 The group record or family book (pu) recorded the principles, skills, history,and lineage for each martial arts family. There is usually only one hand-writ-ten copy in each group and it is kept by the group leader. It is the most impor-tant source for each group, and most groups keep their family book a closelyguarded secret. In the authors’ lineage of Shi Style White Ape Tongbei, thefamily book was passed down through Zhang Wencheng’s son, but no one inthe group is sure who wrote it or when.

5 It was common in the past for many shops to offer food and room to theircustomers. For many small businesses, the accountant also managed thebusiness.


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