NORTH ATLANTIC BOOKS; ISBN9 781556 434822 51895; $18.95
If anyone deserves the sobriquet “scholar boxer” it is Marnix Wells himself, who is a career sinologist based at the SOAS in London. I was first introduced to him by the late Danny Connor. Despite his scholarly nature Marnix has for many years been competing enthusiastically on the UK internal martial arts scene both in forms and pushing hands often against men half his age and is also a Chinese opera enthusiast.
His book is about “Chang Naizhou’s Theory of Internal Martial Arts and the evolution of Taijiquan”, (the Chinese title is “Chang Naizhou Wuji Quanshu” , meaning “Chang Naizhou’s martial art complete book”
For those who don’t know, Chang (1724-1783?) was a teacher of eclectic martial arts based in Henan Province between the Northern Shaolin Temple and Chenjiagou, the home of the Chen family. It was at a time when, under Emperor Qianlong, martial arts practice was proscribed and books about it were burned, hence Chang’s writings could only circulate amongst disciples. They were only published after the 1911 revolution and were then used to train local militia. However, there is some dubiety about how much interpolation and extrapolation has been done by persons other than Chang.
This is a very difficult book. Professor Douglas Wile had a go at some of this material in his book on Tai Chi’s Ancestors and did not do a great job. As far as I can make out Marnix’s translation is accurate but I find rendering Yin and Yang as ‘shady’ and ‘sunny’ is very awkward. Work this out:- “Energy takes one side. It cannot on four sides both together take.”
Marnix correctly identifies the many similarities between Chang’s art and the Quanjing (Classic of Boxing) and also Tai Chi Chuan; for example Golden Cockerel on One Leg, Seven Stars, Cross Hands, Single Whip, Ride the Tiger, Draw the Bow, Cannon Punch, Tiger Embraces Head etc. all exist in Chang’s art and in Tai Chi Chuan and in the Quanjing. Some techniques of Chang’s are also similar to some Tai Chi Chuan techniques though they have different names.
However, the differences are very striking. The major one is the posture. In a great many of Chang’s illustrations the centre line between the crown of the head and the coccyx is broken with the head tilted up or down and with raised shoulders. There are many Buddhist references in the text, which suggest influences from the nearby Shaolin Temple.
The illustrations show the boxer wearing either bangles or gloves and Marnix relates how on a visit to my teacher’s gym in Hong Kong in the early Seventies he saw boxing gloves being used in sparring. In fact we only used gloves when training for Chinese full contact competition applications were otherwise done with bare hands. Heavy metal bangles are often used in external martial arts as a type of conditioning.
I found myself underwhelmed by much of the material, “Level fist down plants: middle finger second joint leads Energy.” “In Face-on Prone dynamics, to enter Sunny Energy, the Head must be Prone and planted.” “At the Face, eyebrows must relax, nostrils must distend, lips must open, Energy must exhale, the sound must go “ha.” This last is in fact one of the onomatopaeic names of one of two mythical marshals from the Shang dynasty, the other being “Heng”. I find it absurd.
Bad editing by the publishers make it appear that Chang Kejian (c.1860) taught both Chen Chang-xing and Yang Lu-chan. I later talked with Marnix and he made it clear that he was only saying that they were contemporaries. However, there are plenty of tall tales about Chang and others connected with him that are related as fact.
This is difficult material and it raises more questions than it answers. Marnix has done a considerable service to the Tai Chi community in writing it though that is done very much from a Chen style perspective. Very definitely a must read book for the serious Tai Chi Chuan practitioner. As it says on the back cover, “Scholar Boxer” opens a unique window into the peak of the Manchu Qing Empire. It is fascinating to look through that window.