Fighting
Zhang SanFeng
Zhang SanFeng was a Taoist monk in the 13th century who
lived in the Wudan district. Zhang SanFeng is often quoted
as the founder of Taijiquan. There is no historical evidence
for this, but it is certain that he introduced 13 Shi (standing
positions) as a technique for the conduct of war against
the Mongolians.
During a certain period of the 13th century Mongolia occupied
the whole of China. Zhang SanFeng lead a Taoist monastery
the Wudan mountains, that secretly also functioned as a
training centre for soldiers. Under the motto ‘soft
can beat hard’ Zhang SanFeng and his students taught
soldiers 13 simple fighting techniques. In this way they
were actively involved in the uprising against the Mongolians.
After the victory against the Mongolians the first Ming
emperor – out of fear for his position – started
a campaign against everybody who had had some power in the
resistance movement during the war. Zhang SanFeng and his
followers fled to the east and went into hiding it the Siming
mountains (now NingBo city).
After the first emperor died Zhang SanFeng and his followers
came out of hiding and openly started calling their system
‘Taijigong’ (gong = exercise). Their techniques
were called ‘Taiji SaQi’: SaQi is the way ‘37’
is pronounced in the NingBo dialect. In the Taijiquan world
this way of teaching would later be known as SimingPai,
NanPai or the Southern school. The core of this system was
the use of 37 standing positions to produce spontaneous
movement. |