Ming He Quan: The Calling Crane Fist

The masters on the front wall of the dojo who observe your practice are not simply randomly chosen figures of martial arts history. They are our direct lineage of knowledge and understanding of the arts we practice, in chronological order. The first individual is Bodhidharma, patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism in China and founder of Shaolin, from 1500 years ago. He was unavailable for a photoshoot, too busy teaching the monks, so he had to be drawn instead. The second individual is Xie Xongxiang, known in Ryukyuan (Okinawan) as Ru Ru Ko; the earliest traceable link in our direct lineage of martial practice. His instruction in Ming He Quan (Calling Crane Fist) to Kanryo Higashionna has culminated in our style of goju budo (hard and soft martial ways)

Fujian Province, date unknown; a young lady named Fāng Qīniáng is going about her daily house duties, until a crane shows up and disrupts the process. In an attempt to shoo away the bird, she pokes and swings her staff; but each effort is met with a fluid deflection and evasion from the crane, beating its wings and pecking skillfully. We’ve all met with stubborn wildlife; for instance, a like situation arose when your author, some years ago in Toronto, left his tenth floor apartment balcony door open for a day to be met upon return with pigeons occupying the place. As much as he emulated Fāng Qīniáng’s shooing efforts, he did not create a style of kung fu following the experience; she did. In conjunction with her father’s martial instruction, she developed what would be known as Fujian White Crane. Crane of Southern Fujian would eventually branch off into five different sub-styles: Jumping, Calling (our lineage), Morning, Flying, and Shaking. The famed crane style is also a method of Qigong, an internal energy cultivation exercise of the Daoist Wudang school, and is a notable style of martial exercise, due to its fluidity, quickness, and beauty in performance.

In our Goju study, parrying and blocking techniques like the mawashi roundhouse, kake hooking, and ko wristblocks, kata like hakutsuru (white crane), and of course the tsuri ashi dachi crane foot stance (the skillful balancing on a single leg while still executing technique) all emulate the movements of the graceful avian. Even our Sanchin kata, which is hard and tense in our current practice, came from Fujian White Crane and Tiger Crane and utilized open hands. If makiwara practice and atemi waza (striking techniques) constitute the hard elements of Goju karate, the evasive pliancy of white crane movements are certainly the soft.

The beauty of the Chinese animal martial arts is not only in their aesthetic, but in their innovation through necessity. The martial artists of old desired a jaguar’s explosive agility, a tiger’s power, a snake’s focus, and, as achieved through Ming He Quan, a crane’s balance and grace…an essential ingredient in the formation of the Goju martial approach we study today.