Dog Boxing and applications, Yixiang lineage, Fuzhou

Gie Huang Kieng Huat (Yixiang Quan Fa) “Yi Xiang’s Dog Methods“. This video is from the school of Chen Jinlong. Chen began training under master Yi Xiang at the age of 9 and later went on to study another line of dog boxing under Chen Yijiu as well as learning Calling Crane Boxing from Wu Fuguan. Chen Jinlong then went on to form the Jiu Xiang school which taught the dog boxing forms and methods of both Yi Xiang and Chen Yijiu. He also did extensive historical research regarding the origins and history of dog boxing (unfortunately his articles are no longer up, but when he had them online they contained a wealth of historical research and detail unrivalled by anything I have seen elsewhere on the origins of dog boxing.) As the lineage of Chen Yijiu has become the dominant system of dog boxing in not just Fuzhou but the world in general, he has in the last few years concentrated his efforts on the Yixiang Boxing Society in hopes of preserving the pure teachings of master Yixiang. Master Yi Xiang was born in Yongtai county in Fuzhou. At a young age he began to study Dishu Quanfa (Ground Skills Dog Method) boxing from a monk of the Guang Yan temple. Later he became known in Fuzhou for his dog boxing skills and passed his art on to a number of skilled disciples including Zheng Zhenguang, Chen Fuluan, Chen Jiangyun, and Chen Jinglong. The Guang Yan temple is located atop a ledge in a naturally hollowed cliff face in the mountains in Yongtai. A few different martial art lineages claim to have been passed from monks there including dog boxing and luohan systems. The Yixiang line equally trains uppers, middle, and lower basin skills. It contains 108 core techniques, 36 fundamental drills, and various forms such as 7 stars fall to earth, 3 lions, and 18 rolls. Additionally it contains Kunbang Gunfa “Binding Staff Methods“ Dog Staff fighting methods. There are at least three styles of Dog Boxing in Fujian* Of the three schools two of them claim lineage to the Fang Guang Cliff Temple in Yongtai county. According to their oral mythology the style was brought to the temple sometime around the turn of the 19th century by a man with the family name of Fang. The style was then practiced in the temple for a couple generations with the various lines coming from the teachings of monks in the temple. There are variations in the details of the oral traditions between the two lines but the above basic outline is shared between them. Among the lines of dog boxing the Yixiang line is often considered to be the purest line of old Dog Boxing. Both the Chen Yijiu and the Zhuang family lines having absorbed techniques from various other styles. *plus one that is probably extinct now and another style which has dog boxing as a distinct subsystem within it. Many schools in Fujian and across China have ground boxing methods or dedicated ground boxing forms. “Dog Boxing“ is not synonymous with ground fighting in China. It is simply one of the ground boxing styles that are better preserved in some lines and more famous today.