The Chaquan System & History




The Chaquan system is based on the 4 essential skills (ji fang fa, 击方法):

1-kicking (Ti fa, 踢法)
2-punching (Da fa, 打法)
3-grabbing (Na fa, 拿法)
4-throwing (Shuai fa, 摔法)

As in most traditional Kung fu styles, Chaquan requires training in the following areas:

-empty hand forms
-2-person sets
-weapons
-equipments training and conditioning
-Qi gong (Chi kung)
-free fighting

At our school, we teach the Chaquan system, and also additional material from Shaolinquan and some sets that were created by Master Xu.

The Chaquan system includes:

-Jibengong (基本工); fundamental exercises including various stretching and kicking techniques
-Wu bu quan (五步拳); 5 stances training form
-Shi lu Tan tui (十路彈腿); the 10 springing legs forms
-The Chaquan hand forms
-Chaquan 2-person sets; Liu lu duan da (六路短打), Ban Da Kao (拌打拷) and Shi lu mai fu quan (十路埋伏拳)
-Cha style weapons including Staff, Spear, Broadsword, straight sword, Kwan Dao, Double hooked swords
-2-person weapon sets include Spear vs Broadsword, Spear vs Double daggers, Spear vs 3 sectional staff, Double broadsword vs bare hands, and Straight sword vs Straight sword

Additional Northern Shaolin forms:

-hand forms ; Luo Han quan (羅漢拳), Da hong quan (大洪拳), Lian bu quan (连步拳), Yuen Yang quan, Ba bu lian huan quan (八步连环拳)
-2-person sets ; Shaolin dui da (少林对打) and a Qin na set called Liu ba qin na (六把捦拿)

Master Xu's creations:

-a hand form called Er sao wu tiao shi er bu quan (二扫五跳十二步拳)
-a 2-person Qin na set called San shi liu ba qin na (三十六把捦拿)(36 chin na techniques)

We also teach Yang Taiji qigong for breathing and internal development.

Chaquan (pronounced Cha chuan) is a very popular style of northern Kung fu. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a crusade went on an expedition to east China. When the army reached the Shandong province (then named "Guanxian" county), a general named Hua Zongqi was wounded so he had to stay behind to recover. He was taken care of by the local residents. To thank them, general Hua taught them his style of kung fu which was called Jiazi quan. He ended up having many students and eventually had to invite his kung fu brother Zha Yuanyi to help him teach. Zha and Hua stayed together and became esteemed martial arts teachers.

Zha's Jiazi quan was slightly more compact than Hua's, therefore Zha's version was called Xiaojia quan (small frame fist) and Hua's version was called Dajia quan (big frame fist). After Zha Yuanyi and Hua Zongqi died, their followers named the two styles of Jiazi Quan after their tutors. The style taught by Zha Yuanyi was called Zha quan (Chaquan) and Hua Zongqi's style was named Hua quan.

Later on, the Zha-style and the Hua-style were known as one style. Those who were good at Zha-style were also good at Hua-style. Subsequently, this style of fist fight became known as the Zha-Hua quan.

The Hua-style has four routines. Three of them are long programs with varied tricks and moves, which are considered the cream of jiazi Quan.

The Cha-style has 10 routines. During the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795), the Zha-style divided into three branches in Shandong Province. The Zhang-style, represented by Zhang Qiwei from Village Zhangyin at Guanxian, is fast, agile and compact. The Yang-style, represented by Yang Hongxiu from the southern part of the town of Guanxian, is upright, comfortable and graceful. The Li style, represented by Li Enju from Jining, is powerful, and continuous.

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