1

TheSecretInstructionsoftheBubishiSchoolofMartialArts Part1

TheGeneralTianBubishiincludesanillustratedsection.Itcomprises46pages,whichare

numberederroneously1-48(illustrations12and13aremissing).Atthecenterofeachpagethereisanillustration,depictingtwogongfufightersgoingthroughvariousfightingdrills.ThereisinscribedalineofChineseonboththeleftandrightsidesofeachillustration(thus,eachillustrationisaccompaniedbytwolinesofcharacters.Seeimagebelow).Sinceeachpageincludestwocombatantsandtwolinesofcharacters,thenitisonlytobeexpectedthattheleft-handlinecorrespondstothewarriorillustratedontheleft,whiletheright-handlinecorrespondstothewarriorillustratedontheright.

Whatisitthatthoselinessay?Aretheysomekindofcommentary?Oraretheysimplythe

namesofthetechniquesdemonstrated? Obviously,theauthorshadtobeveryselectiveaboutwhattexttheyinsertedintothis

section,because,afterall,thiswastheillustratedsection.Itwasaboutimages,notwords.Andanyway,theyshouldhavesaidalltheyhadwishedtointhewrittensection.WemustconcludethenthatiftheBubishi’sauthorsaddedtexttotheirillustratedsectionitwasbecausetheyfounditnecessary.

However,theyprobablydidnotwantatextsolongthatitwouldeclipsetheillustrationitself;

ithadtocomplementtheimage,notovershadowit.Ibelievethataddingtheseshortsentenceswaslikeaddingasoundtracktoafilm.Thepurposewastomaketheimagescometolife,totransformacartoonintoliveaction.

Ifthesecharacters—whatevertheir(individual)meaningis—wereintendedtotransformtheimagesintolive-action,thentheyarenotmerelynamesoftechniques,theyhadtoformasynergy—anexpressivephrasewhichwasdesignedtoevokescenes—notimages—ofvariousactionsandmovements.

2

Illustrationno.19oftheBubishi

3

Imagineanimageoftwogunslingersfacingoneanother,andalltheadditionaltextsaysis“cross-draw”(ontheright)and“fast-draw”(ontheleft).Sure,thesenamesevokecertainscenes(andnotjust“images”,forimagesarestatic)butanyonewhohastrainedwithpistolsknowsthatonemustfamiliarizehimselfwithmanydetails—howtoweartheguns,howtotransferthegunfromonehandtotheother,howtocatchthehammerwithone’sthumb,howtomoveone’shipetc.—beforehehasanideaofhowthesetechniquesshould“looklike”.Inotherwords,“cross-draw”and“fast-draw”,ontheirown,arenotenoughtotransformanimageintoavividscene.

Thecharactershou 手 ,or“hand”,whichappearsnumeroustimesinthetextaccompanying

theillustrationsprovidesanothercluethatwearedealingherewithsomethinggreaterthanmerenamesoftechnique.Becauseshou 手 isashortforshoufa 手法 ,orhand-methods.

Thoughshoufaareusuallytranslatedas“techniques”theyaremuchmorethanthat.In

Chinesegongfu,“hand-methods”standforthephysicalmovements(“hands”)whichreflectthetheoreticalprinciples(“laws”)oftheart.Inotherwords,ahand-methodisayin-yangpair,with“hand”beingtheyang(=physical/visible)aspectsoftheart,and“laws”beingtheyin(=abstract/hidden)aspectofit.

Shoufa,asmovementsofattackanddefense,were(physical)manifestationsoftheart’s

theory-principles.Eachshoufacameintobeing,andcouldonlycomeintobeing,throughtheinteractionoftheyin/theory(i.e.theactualexposition,inoralandwrittenform,oftheart’sprinciples,tacticsetc.)withtheyang/body(i.e.thephysicalmovementsofacultivatedandtrainedbody).Shoufa-koujue,then,werelikeyin-yangcapsulesofamartialart’sprinciplesandtactics.

AsweexplaininTheGeneralTianWubeizhi,amartialartisdefinedbyitsprinciples.

Therefore,adifferentsetofprincipleswouldmanifestasadifferentart—theprinciples,notformsandmovements,arethatwhichmakesanartspecialanddistinguishesitfromotherarts.Becauseshoufaencapsulatedtheart’sprinciples,Chinesetookgreatpainstokeepthemsecret.Afterall,whowouldwanttogiveawaytheirsecretingredient?

Shoufaandkoujue Nowshoufa(asbothoralandwritten)instructions,aresimplyaspecifickindofkoujue,

mnemonicrhymesorpithyformulas.Thatis,koujueencompassawidevarietyofinstructions(instructionsonposture,attitude,mentalstate,acupoints,tacticsetc.),whileshoufa-koujueare

4

limitedtothesubjectofmovementsandtechniques.Butallkoujueconveyedvitalinformation,allkoujueweresecret,andallkoujuewereshort.

Inthenextinstalmentwewilldiscussthepurposeandfunctionofkoujue.

Illustrationno.1Ontheright:One-thousand-jin-falling-down-to-the-groundwinning-hand.Ontheleft:[thispartismissing].

Note1:“onethousandjin”means“veryheavy”.The“winner”herewasremindedtomoveasifhewasaheavyobject(suddenlyanddirectly)fallingtotheground. Note2:“winning-hand”ismostprobablyamistake.Itshouldhavebeen“Xhand[method]wins”(or“thehand-methodofonethousandjinfallingtothegroundwins),forthisistheformattheauthorsuseinalltheotherillustrations. Illustrationno.2 Right:Blacktiger-leaves-the-cagehand[method]wins. Left:Whitemonkey-steals-fruitshand[method]loses. Note1:“blacktigerleavesthecage”canalsobetranslatedas“blacktigersneaksoutofthefence.” Note2:Blackandwhite,tigerandmonkey,areyin-yangpairs.ThetigerandthemonkeyarebothcreaturesoftheChinesezodiac. Illustrationno.3 (Right):Stirring-water-looking-for-fishhand[method]loses. (Left):Falling-to-the-ground-intersecting-scissors[legmethod?]wins.

5

Illustrationno.4 (Right):Armygeneral-embracing-his-stamphand[method]wins. (Left):Childembracing-the-lotushand[method]loses. Note:Thegeneral’sstampisimpliedtobeexceptionallybig.Itwassobigthatonehadtousebothhandstoliftit.Whichmeansthatwith“usingbothhandstoembracethestamp,”theauthorsevokeanupward-going,whole-bodymovement,usingbothhandssimultaneously. Illustrationno.5(Right):[Grabbingand]cutting-the-onionhand[method]wins. (Left):Climbing-the-mountain-and-making-the-tiger-surrender[hands?Legs?]loses.

Note:springonionstendtogrowinbunches.Therightlineofinstructionsevokessomeonegrabbingabunch(orabundleof)onioninonehandandcuttingitoffwiththeother. Illustrationno.6 (Right):Short-hilted-broadsword-chopping-the-bamboohand[method]loses. (Left):Fire-of-two-combined-furnaces[handmethod]wins. Illustrationno.7(Right):Little-goblin-ba-chuanghand[method]wins. (Left):Arhat-opening-the-gate[handmethod]loses. Note:ba-chuangmeans“drawingone’sswordintheserviceofjustice”,“fearlessly,defendingthesmallandweak”,or“one’ssenseofdutyandhonorobligeshimtodefendtheweakandseekjustice.” Ithinkthatba-chuangcarriesalltheabovemeanings.Itshowsthechivalrous-romanticsideoftheBubishi’sauthors.

6

Illustrationno.8(Right):A-pair-of-dragons-playing-in-the-waterhand[method]loses. (Left): A-single-resisting-golden-lionhand[method]wins.

Note:thefirstcharacterontherightismissing.however,itseemstobethecharactershuang 雙 ,whichtheauthorusesinanothercase,whenatechniqueusingtwohandssimultaneouslyisbeingexecuted. Theworddufeng 獨夆(“single-resisting”)isprobablymeanttobecontrastedwith“pair”,whichmeansthattheauthorspit2dragonsagainst1lion.Also,dufeng 獨夆 isprobablyaplayonwords,because 獨夆 isnotareadilymeaningfulcombination,whiledufeng 獨峰(thistimewrittenwithanotherfeng 峰)means“one-hump[camel]”. Illustrationno.9(Right):Pair-[of]-cymbalshand[method]loses. (Left):Dropping-to-the-ground-scissor-legs-using-false-cymbalshand[method]wins. Note:thecharacterming 名 (“toname”or“tocall”)isnotpartofthetechnique’s name.Theillustratorhadprobablywritteninadvanceallofthetechniquenamesonsomesheetofpaper,soastohavethewholethingneatlyarranged.Andonthatsheetofpapertherewaswrittensomethinglike“techniqueno.9iscalled[=ming 名]Pair-[of]-cymbals-hand[method]loses”etc.

Butatthemomentoftruth,whenhewaswritingit“live”ontopoftheactualillustration,hewasdistractedandmistakenlyincludedthecharacterming 名 (“iscalled”)intheinstructionsthemselves.Ofcourse,theminutehescribedming 名 downithadtostay(ah,ifonlytheyhaddigitaltechnology!).

“Using-false-cymbals”canalsomean“pretendingtousethecymbalstechnique”,or“fakingthecymbalmoveandthen(droppingtotheground).” Illustrationno.10 (Right):Pair-of-dragons-playing-with-a-pearlhand[method]wins. (Left):WhiteMonkey-breaking-bamboohand[method]loses. Note:herewesee,oncemore,2vs.1,apairofdragonsfightingasinglemonkey.Itseems,then,thatthis2vs.1wasveryimportantfortheBubishi’sauthors.However,herebothmenattackwithboththeirhandssimultaneously.So“pair”doesnotdenoteonlytwo-hands-at-oncetechniques,butisprobablymeanttoconveysomethingmore.Itishardtotellwhatthatthingwas,though.

7

Apair,thatis“two”,isayinnumber.Yinalsomeans“dark”and“hidden”etc. Somaybeby“pair”theauthorsreferredtoahidden(ordeceptive)attack.Inaddition,“white”(of“whitemonkey”)alsomeans“bright”,“apparent”,“clear”etc.whichmakesittheoppositeofyin-dark-hiddenandthussupportstheinterpretationofhiddenvs.apparent(“telegraphicattack”?).ButIcannottellforsure. Twomorethings:thedragonandthemonkeyarebothcreaturesoftheChinesezodiac(asisthetiger,whichwehadinillustrations2and5).Justsomethingtopayattentionto. “Breakingbamboo”canalsobetranslatedas“peelingbamboo.”Bambooshootshavetobefirstdugoutandthenpeeled.Itishardtotellwhichmotion,breakingorpeeling,theauthorswantedtoevoke.Interestedreadersshouldexperimentwithboth,Iguess.