White Crane from Taiwan.

Remember having breakfast with Sifu Liu Chang I, Ruan Dong, Xiong De Lu in Penang last year and that morning's conversation quickly turned to the topic of Fukien White Crane.

Sifu Liu (Taiwan Feeding Crane) said that Taiwan is home to a whole range of Crane Boxing and many of these are not really exposed to the outside world.

All of us at that table that morning are linked, one way or another, to Crane boxing and the consensus is that regardless of expressions, the fundamentals remain the same.

Using the entire body, coiled up like a spring, and then releasing energies channeled to the arms and legs in a whipping manner is identifiable in almost all lines of Crane boxing.

Albeit, some may have “harder” forms but the fundamental mechanics are alike.

To use the whole body in its entire range of motion available to generate this power aided by correct breathing – this is the core training of White Crane.

I am a beginner, so when you see my expressions, you see “big” movements.

For someone like my sihing, he is just so still and focused that many of his movements don’t even appear martial.

To put it in my late teacher’s words:-

To be hard and powerful is to be proficient.
To be soft and powerful is to be an expert.
To be not hard or soft and still powerful is to be enlightened. (Original Chinese characters say “Saint”).

I think my sihing has arrived at that level.

This state of neither hard nor soft, in Fuzhou, is known as “Pwan Ngay Noon”…….

Anyway, before I ramble on.. here’s a clip of Crane Boxing from Taiwan.

White Crane - Taiwan.