Kunlun...Pai?

by Jonty

Eric Ling (http://eric88ling.wordpress.com/) has just posted about one of the Kunlun VCD's that we are researching. He has classified it as "Kunlunpai," rather than "Kunlunquan."

For those of you just tuning in, one of the goals of this blog is to research a group of martial arts named after the Kunlun mountians. I learned a system called "Kunlun Mountain Fist," that shares several forms with a set of VCD's (available from Plum Publications here.) In the VCD's, Master Huang names the system Kunlun Quan (Fist), but that doesn't mean much, since "Fist" can just refer to a system, rather than the name of this particular system.

Eric Ling, who has a wonderful blog mostly on Fukien White Crane and Hakka styles, labels one of the VCD's, the "Bandit" Fist, as Kunlunpai. He has also claimed he has several old manuscripts about these styles. Very exciting.

Publication of the Kunlun Green Dragon Form!...

Shifu Jonty has recently finished his book on the Green Dragon Form of Kunlun Mountain Fist. He learned this in the mid-90's while studying with Shifu Jason Baaht. It equates, roughly, with the first quarter of the Kunlun Quan Four Directions Form (Si Xiang Quan). For anyone interested, the book is available here .

One Small Step...

I was contacted today, via one of the forums I visit, by one of Jonty's old students. She had lost track of him over the years, and was glad to have found us. She may even try and get a training group going in her area, which could be great news.

Some Kunlunquan History

[Note: This is a very rough and quick translation of some historical notes on Kunlunquan. I'm not sure where I copied the Chinese from; I'll add that in when I find out. -Jonty]


昆仑拳是旧时由一位走江湖的黄辉龙老师傅传授,
Kūnlúnquán is ancient times from a place Jianghu of Huáng Huīlong (Huīlóng or Huīlŏng) old master teacher transmitted,
[Note: Jianghu ("Rivers and Lakes") is a semi-fictional place where many traditional stories and legends are set. Not sure which pronunciation of Huáng Huīlong is correct.]

黄师傅原籍山东省省济南市人,
Teacher Huáng’s birthplace Shandong Province Jinan City,

年龄虽已60多岁, 但他白天奔 跑市, 镇, 乡村卖药,
even though he was over 60 years old, still he ran around the market, city, country villages selling medicine,

晚上传授技艺，
at night he transmitted and taught his skill and art,

由于当时官府有 “禁武令”，传艺只好闭门偷偷摸摸地进行,
because at that time there was an official “Martial Ban Decree”, he was forced to transmit his art closed-door secretly,

三更起练，五更收场，以免招祸，故传习的人数不多。
in the dead of night rise practice, early morning receive market, so as not to provoke calamity, is the reason (there are) not many (practitioners of this style)

[Note: The Chinese used to divide the night into two-hour segments called "更" or "changes". "三更" means "Third change", and is often used to refer to the middle of the night. "五更" Would be the very early hours of the morning.]

解放后，昆仑拳得以新生，建国以来在丰顺传授昆仑拳的有丘展华师傅。
After liberation, Kūnlúnquán became newborn, establish nationally in order to return to Fengshun [county in Shandong] transmit teach Kūnlúnquán’s have name open illustrious (possibly name Qiu Zhanhua) teacher.
[Note: I think "Kunlunquan has a name for open and illustrious teachers" is close to the meaning, but it may be something like "Kunlunquan has named Qiu Zhanhua as teacher". ]

昆仑拳流传丰顺, 揭阳, 揭西，近年来深圳, 珠海两市均有传人。
Kūnlúnquán circulate transmit Fengshun , bring out into the light, divulge to the West, recently return to Shenzheng, Zhuhai both towns equally have teachers.
 

昆仑拳的风格特点：眼巧, 心灵随变化，要求练习者，攻击时凶猛, 刁滑，讲究吞, 吐, 浮, 沉，每发招出手均要 向对手要害部位攻击，桩马较高，发招呼气收招吸气。 Kūnlúnquán’s Wind Style Special Points: Eye clever, Heart/mind follows changes, demands practicer, attack strike now fierce and abrupt, cunning and slippery, explain study carefully swallow and spit, float and sink, each issue send out hands equally demand toward facing/correct hand demand injure place attack beat (each time you send out your hands you must injure what you attack), stake horse higher, issue provoke exhale, gather provoke inhale.

Si Xiang Quan - A Kunlunquan Form

This is the Four Directions Form, as demonstrated by Huang Shuangqing, a Kunlunquan practitioner in Shandong Province, China. Jonty learned a similar version of the form in Kunlun Mountain Fist.

Da Luoquan - An East Kunlunpai Form

Here is a clip of the "Rollback" Form from the Eastern branch of the Kunlunpai. So far, I've been unable to find out who the practitioner is, or where this was filmed. But I like it.

A Little Background on Kunlun...

The Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山) form one of the longer mountain ranges in Asia, stretching for some 3,000 km between Tibet (to the south) and the Tarim Basin, Takla Makan and Gobi Deserts (to the north). The highest point in the range is the mountain Kunlun Goddess, at 7,167 meters. They are one of the Earth’s remote places, and are only crossed by roads in two places. Kunlun is famous for its jade, and was the source of the Jade Road, an ancient set of trade routes, stretching as far as the Mediterranean, SE Asia, and China, and predating the more famous Silk Road by millennia.

There are five sacred mountains in Taoist cosmology. Pride of place, the center, goes to Kunlun. It is considered the central axis of the Taoist universe. Shrouded in clouds and mist, dangerous and mysterious, its high peaks are a symbol of the unknowable Tao, as well as a symbol of the link between Heaven and Earth, body and spirit. Kunlun is also believed to be the Taoist Paradise (Shangri-La?) and the home of Xi Wang Mu (西王母), the Queen Mother of the West, an ancient Chinese goddess who lived atop Kunlun in her palace, tending the Peaches of Immortality. It was believed, in the past, that Kunlun could move about at will, that it existed both within and without the world, that it was everywhere and nowhere.

Together with Shaolin, Wudang, Ermei, and Kongdong, Kunlun is considered one of the five major martial schools of China. Kunlun is known for its skills with the sword. There are a number of Taoist sects and martial traditions associated with the Kunlun Mountains. Of course, claiming a connection to distant Kunlun is similar to ascribing your art to a nameless Taoist hermit or monk in the mountains (or to Bodhidharma, for that matter).

The arts of Kunlunquan, Kunlunpai (divided into West and East branches), and Kunlun Mountain Fist all appear related, and claim a connection disappearing back into antiquity. These styles may display a Hakka influence (though some claim the influence went the other direction). There is a strong Cannon Fist element to the arts, and there is a resemblance, in some forms, to Chen Taiji. Jonty was lucky enough to study Kunlun Mountain Fist in the mid-90’s with Shifu Jason Baaht, before his death in 1997. Clips of Kunlunquan from a set of Chinese VCD’s by Huang Shuangqing are what generated interest in the art for me. Very rare here in the West, we are currently researching the art in an attempt to find out more.

Bapak Willem de Thouars uses Kunlunpai in the title of his Kuntao Silat organization, but ascribes a strictly symbolic reason to his choice of names. Additionally, there are Indonesian martial artists that claim a connection to the Kunlun region, dating back many centuries.

Some people claim an origin in Kunlun for Bagua, including the practitioners of Lama Dorje’s (Max Christenson) Kunlun Bliss, a system of “shaking” Qigong. No one that I am aware of has yet substantiated such claims, however. Bagua does have a Kunlun Fan Form, named in honor of Dong Haichuan, who was sometimes called the "Hero of the Kunlun Mountains".

The Muslim Chinese style of Tantui may have its origin in the Kunlun region. It is certainly a possilbility, given the Central Asian locale.

Some Taiji styles, especially Yang Michuan, have a Kunlun sword form, as does Hung Gar Kung Fu. Again, however, this is likely symbolic.

Wild Goose Qigong, or Dayan Qigong, and the related Kunlun Shan Qigong, maintain a Kunlun origin for their energetic health practices. There are Bagua-style circle walking practices found in these Qigong styles.

There are also some Youtube clips of something called Kunlun Goddess Yoga, but I don't have any information about it at this time.

One of our aims is to increase our knowledge of these arts. Additionally, we would like to increase public interest in them, as we feel they are worthy of further study.