Tongbeiquan
| Also known as | Spreading Power from the Back Boxing, Arm Boxing, White Ape |
|---|---|
| Focus | Striking, weapons training, Qigong |
| Country of origin |
 China
|
| Creator | Lu Yunqing (originator) Lao Qi Pai style: Qi Xin Shao Qi Pai style: Qi Taichang Shi Baiyuan style: Shi Hongsheng |
| Famous practitioners | Xiu Jianchi (founder of Wuxing Tongbeiquan) |
| Parenthood | Wudang Kung Fu, Wuxingquan |
| Descendant arts | Bafaquan, Piguaquan |
| Olympic sport | No |
Tongbeiquan (通背拳 tōngbèiquán; literally "Spreading Power from the Back Boxing", as tong means "through," bei means "back" and quan means "fist") is a school of martial arts popular in northern China, known for engaging opponents from maximum distance. Tongbeiquan's basic precepts are Taoist in nature and many of the training methods in Tongbeiquan are similar to those of the internal styles. In traditional Tongbeiquan training, several parts are included: basic training (stance, arm techniques, leg techniques and conditioning), combinations, forms training, two-person free sparring, weapons training, and qigong training.
According to the Boxing Chronicles by Xu Jianchi (1931), Qi Xin of Zhejiang went to teach back-through boxing at Gu'an County in Hebei Province in the middle and latter half of the Qing Dynasty. His style was then called Qi-style Boxing which was later named as "Tongbei" or Back-through Boxing. Qi's son, Qi Taichang, improved and developed the boxing techniques. People then divided Qi-style Tongbeiquan into an old style (represented by the father) and a new one (represented by the son). The old style emphasizes simplicity and power whereas the new style concentrates on exquisiteness and suppleness. Many masters emerged in this school later. Tongbei Quan now in practice is generally divided into two styles. One has been passed down from Qi Xin, the father, and the other from Qi Taichang, the son. Xiu Jianchi, a successor to the new style, combined the best elements of his predecessors and left his theoretical summaries on stances, methods and philosophy of boxing to create a new style, Wuxing Tobeiquan. Xiu's writings are vital materials for the study and research of Tongbeiquan. Another of Lu Yunqing's students was Shi Hongsheng, who also created his own Shi-style Tongbeiquan.
From 1910s, some Qi style masters started to teach Tongbeiquan to the public. Subsequently, Qi style became much more popular than the Shi style. Today the vast majority of Tongbeiquan practitioners are in Qi style or its branches. But even when they taught in public, the masters still withheld some skills. Most masters only taught high level skills to some disciples in their private classes. As Qi style became somewhat more popular, a few forms were created for teaching purposes. Compared to Qi style, Shi style group still kept the old way. So people sometimes called the Shi style Hei Quan (Black Fist), and their style is sometimes considered heterodox.
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Wikipedia