Heaven, earth and man – the ongoing battles.

功夫要好,三战里找

“To excel in kung fu, find it in San Zhan”.

Okay, how many times have I heard this from all my teachers?

I think it’s easier to count the number of times they did not stress this.

3 rights/battles/advances permeate many Southern Fukien styles and Okinawa/Japanese karate.

The “beginning and the end” of many White Crane lines and nothing else is taught until all the qualities are accomplished according to laid down standards.

So with so many versions, which is the earliest?

Theories and speculations abound and the jury is still out…to put it mildly…

Personally I think we should be examining initial Shaolin “swallow and spit” methodology and “3 rights” which are taught in both northern and then later, southern Lohan systems.

And for Karate folks looking for connections, this next clip from “Fuzhou Whooping Crane” should prove interesting. Not usually done these days, this form is known as “Tiger Crane 3 Battles”, the fist represents the tiger and the open-hand, the crane.

So over to my Karate blog-buddy ……