In Jieyang City, many people only know that there is Shaolin in the north and Wudang in the south, but they do not know that there is a century-old fist school around them - Nanzhi Fist. It is precisely because of this that in recent years, taking the opportunity of being rated as an intangible cultural heritage of Guangdong Province, Nanzhiquan has increased its publicity in the folk to attract more people to join the exercise and strengthen the body.
In 2019, the guangdong intangible cultural heritage "Nanzhi fist" training activity entered the campus (source: Jieyang Rongcheng District Cultural Center)
As a local boxing school, although the popularity is not high, Nanzhiquan is not a flower fist embroidered leg. According to the "Jieyang County Chronicle": Chen Nanzhi (1847-1925), the founder of Nanzhiquan, also known as Chen Jianshan, was born in Haifeng County, Guangdong Province, loved martial arts since childhood, studied family traditions assiduously, and practiced a good fist and foot in his teens.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Rongcheng learned martial arts into the wind, there are many fist schools, there are many portals, there are more than twenty famous boxers inside and outside the city, Chen Nanzhi, who has been learning martial arts since childhood, came to Rongcheng at this time. Around 1870, Chen Nanzhi moved to his wife's home in Nanshan Deng Village(now part of Jiexi County) in Jieyang County, and later taught art in Rongcheng. Since its development, there are many disciples.
In 2019, the performance scene of Nanzhiquan in the "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" intangible cultural heritage publicity and display activity in Rongcheng District, Jieyang City (Source: Jieyang Rongcheng District Cultural Center)
In the martial arts world, foreign monks are not good at chanting, and Nanzhiquan can become a genre of its own, and today, it is based on solid boxing. One year, the famous teachers of various sects agreed to exchange skills at the Midas Nunnery at the north gate of Rongcheng. At the beginning of the competition, Chen Nanzhi shot as fast as lightning, as fast as a tiger, and skillfully fell, knocking all opponents to the ground one by one, and many people were knocked down as soon as they exchanged hands. After this battle, Chen Nanzhi's prestige was greatly shaken, and there were many people who came to the door to seek teachers, and he only accepted 7 disciples.
Nanzhiquan is mainly composed of three parts: "bare hands", "long instruments" and "short instruments". "Unarmed hands" include: Posture Step, Bamboo Cutting, Cross Step, Double Noon, Dragon Car Water, Tu Lice Out of the Hole, Crow Spreading Its Wings, Piercing Needles, Bucket Knots (Killing Four Doors), Big Triangle, Beauty Dressing, Stepping on Four Piles, Cloud Shoulders, Birds And Phoenix, etc. "Long instruments" include: three-legged tiger stick, eighteen posture (stick), fork technique, three-legged tiger fork, piercing needle fork and so on. "Short instruments" include: single knife (Fuhu single knife), single sword, green dragon sword, double knife (butterfly double knife), yin and yang bagua sword, yin and yang killer skill, anti-eye double knife, spider knot web (stick technique) and so on.
In 2018, Jieyang Rongcheng District "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" intangible cultural heritage theme activity Nanzhiquan performance (Source: Jieyang Rongcheng District Cultural Center)
Chen Nanzhi's boxing skills can be offensive and defensive, flexible and changeable, and strong and practical, but he does not bully the weak with the strong, and mostly uses martial arts to meet friends, and he has not taught the art before passing on virtue. At each ceremony, he admonished his disciples: "Xi Wuzhi should be healthy, practicing and defending himself; those who practice martial arts should put morality first, respect the teacher on the inside, be in harmony with their peers, respect the old and love the young outside, help the weak and rape, and eliminate violence and peace." This spirit was integrated into the punches and kicks of Nanzhi Fist and has been passed down to this day.
Production unit: Guangdong Provincial People's Government Local History Office
Jieyang Rongcheng District Local History Office
Editor: Xu Xinzhi