Writing about machine guns and discussing Southern Fist Northern Leg

  "Machine Gun" involves many martial arts scenes, introducing some Chinese and Japanese martial arts. I'm not a master of martial arts, but I've practiced Changquan for over 10 years, learned several sets of equipment, and even served as a third-level referee in provincial and municipal martial arts competitions.

  Chinese martial arts have always had the saying "Southern Fist, Northern Leg, Eastern Gun, Western Stick". Southern Fist refers to the martial arts that are popular in the Yangtze River Basin and south of the Yangtze River. People from the South are generally shorter and stouter, with a stable stance, precise fist techniques, fierce fist movements, short bridges and powerful bursts, wide and heavy horse stances, fast and compact movements, and often use vocalizations to assist in releasing power, so they don't need a lot of space to perform their fist techniques, hence the saying "Fist strikes the ground where the cow lies".

  Northern Leg refers to the martial arts prevalent in the Yellow River Basin and north, especially outside the pass. Northerners are tall and have long legs, they excel at leg techniques, with large postures, fast rhythms, opening and closing, jumping and leaping. In terms of fist methods, it emphasizes "fists hit three parts, legs hit seven", often using strong punches to stress rotation, charging, and collision, these skills all rely on the foundation of leg strength, hence the saying "legs move in all directions".

  There are many types of Nanquan, such as Fujian's Shaolin Bridge Hand, Wing Chun, Wu Zuquan, He Quan, Luohan Quan, Guangxi's Zhou Jiaquan, Tulong Quan, Xiao Ce Da, Zhejiang's Hongjia Quan, Black Tiger Quan, Jingang Quan, Hubei's Hung Mun Quan, Yu Men Quan, Kongmen Quan, Hunan's Wu Jiaquan, Hongjia Quan, Xue Jiaquan, etc. The representative of Nanquan is Guangdong Nanquan, and Guangdong Nanquan has five major schools: "Hong Quan, Liu Quan, Cai Quan, Li Quan, Mo Quan". Yuejia San Shou to some extent combines the characteristics of various Southern-style boxing systems, standing out in Nanquan.

  The Northern school of martial arts is not as diverse as the Southern school, but some well-known styles include Changquan, Chāquán, Tantui, Xingyiquan, Tongbeiquan and Praying Mantis Fist. The Twelve Road Tan Tui used by the character Sing in the movie Kung Fu Hustle is one of the Northern leg styles. "Chōu Jiǎo Fān Zǐ Quán" (戳脚翻子拳) is also known as the "Essence of Northern Leg". This traditional routine has a long history, and its characteristics include the simultaneous use of fists and feet, combining offense and defense, balancing hardness and softness, being expansive and open, flexible and changing, with each move tightly connected to the next. It is especially renowned for its leg techniques, which are highly effective in combat, often knocking an opponent to the ground with a single kick.

  The saying "Southern Fist, Northern Leg" also explains that the martial arts of the south and north have their own emphasis and distinct characteristics. There is a proverb that says "Hands are two fans, relying on feet to hit people". In folklore, some people even relate the Southern Fist, Northern Leg drama to folk customs, saying that when men and women have an ambiguous relationship, in the south it's called "having one hand", while in the north it's called "having one leg".

  The book "Heavy Machine Gun" mentions that the Yue family's scattered hand technique belongs to the Nanquan school, which is Emei martial arts from Sichuan. In those days, Emei martial arts had a saying of "five flowers and eight leaves", meaning five schools and eight gates. Zhang Biao's master belonged to the Yue Gate of Zhao Hua's eight great gates. The master taught Zhang Biao and his brothers the basics of Emei Twelve Posts, and carefully taught them the Yue family fist, golden lock hand fist, twelve consecutive fists, roaming bird fist, nine rolls eighteen falls and other fist techniques, as well as staff and sword equipment skills. Zhang Biao and his brothers all started training from a young age of five or six, and their master spent over ten years teaching them to gradually grasp the combination of martial arts and qigong, initially forming "internal and external cultivation, hard and soft harmony, later emitting first" achievements. Finally, the master also taught them the most practical combat value in the Yue Gate fist category, which is also their specialty - the rarely used "Yue family scattered hand".

  The main character of "Heavy Machine Gun", Zhan Biao, uses the "Yue Shi San Shou" with a reputation for being ruthless and efficient. It is known as one poison, two cruelty, three speed. There are thirty-two routes and one hundred and seventy-three hands in total. Normally, finger kung fu requires strict requirements, and when fighting, no mercy is shown. The main feature of each hand method has a series of follow-up hand methods, "hands rise and feet fall, feet fall and hands rise", hands hit elbows, waist bursts shoulders collide, carding squeeze, chopping binding elbows, seeing gaps inserting needles, and the hands are fierce and swift. Emphasis is placed on close-range short punches, bravery and decisiveness, using the power of five peaks and six elbows to defeat opponents, and if encountered with an opponent with low martial arts skills, they will either be crippled or injured.

  The book's featured character Cao Yu practices the "Northern Leg King" Chuijiao Fanzi Quan. Chuijiao Fanzi is divided into Wen Tengzi and Wu Tengzi. Wu Tengzi emphasizes Chuijiao, while Wen Tengzi emphasizes Fanzi. Wu Tengzi is a style that emphasizes both hands and feet, with a focus on leg techniques, while Wen Tengzi is a style that emphasizes both hands and feet, with a focus on hand techniques and body methods. The "Fan" in Wen Tengzi's Fanzi refers to the changes in the combination of fists and feet, including upper and lower flips, left and right flips, front and back flips, yin and yang flips, elbow flips, hand flips, foot flips, virtual flips, and hard and soft flips. It can also be performed with one hand flipping three hands or three plates flipping nine hands.

  In the north, there is a saying: "One sees the fall, and it's already kicked to the foot." There are many leg techniques that kick backwards, such as the Nine Turning Mandarin Duck Leg, also known as the Back Ding Scene. Others include the Back Outer Swing Leg, Back Kick Leg, Back Sweep Leg, Back Steal Leg, Scorpion Stance, and Squatting Leg, all of which are performed after turning around, making it impossible for opponents to defend against them.

  In addition, the book mentions that Cao Yu is skilled in Chinese-style wrestling, which belongs to the "kicking, hitting, throwing and catching" four major techniques of martial arts, and also belongs to a single event in traditional Chinese sports. Chinese-style wrestling emphasizes the use of hands and feet together, with the idea of "one force can defeat ten wills", and "four ounces can move a thousand pounds". The main hand techniques include bottom hand, upper hand, thrusting hand, lifting hand, plowing hand, hiding hand, dispersing hand, tearing hand, splitting hand, borrowing hand, softening hand, and leading hand. The main leg techniques include hooking, tripping, kicking, wrapping, twisting, kneeing, chopping, cutting, sweeping, kneeling, and hugging. There are two types of throwing techniques: standing throws and kneeling throws. Standing throws include back throws, chest throws, shoulder throws, leg throws, and tripping throws... The various moves are complex and rich. If practiced to a high level, to the point where one can quickly throw an opponent, it is what is commonly referred to in wrestling circles as "fast needlework", truly deserving of the phrase "martial arts plus wrestling, even gods can't withstand".

  Japanese martial arts and Chinese martial arts have a deep historical origin, mostly from ancient China. Modern Japanese martial arts are divided into main streams such as Iaido, Aikido, Judo, Karate, Kendo and Ninjutsu. "Heavy Object" focuses on introducing three martial art streams: Aikido, Judo and Karate.

  Karate

  The term "Karate" is derived from "Tang hand", so some Karate schools are still referred to as "Tang hand schools".

  In ancient Japan, the Ryukyu Kingdom had a long-standing policy of prohibiting weapons, so people at that time referred to Chinese boxing and created a unique bare-handed combat technique called "Tang Hand". Its original meaning is "fist method introduced from China's Tang Dynasty". The Japanese pronunciation of the character "" (Tang) is the same as "", which means "empty" or "sky", coincidentally matching with "bare fist". Adding to that, it was given a suffix similar to "Kendo" and "Sado", implying not just a technique but a way of life discipline. This eventually formed today's Karate.

  The basic attacking techniques of Karate are divided into hand techniques and foot techniques. Hand techniques include striking, punching, and thrusting, while foot techniques mainly involve kicking. Striking can be further divided into fist strikes, palm strikes, finger strikes, and bottom-of-the-palm strikes. Punching includes fist punches, palm chops, flat palm punches, and arm punches. Kicking is divided into toe kicks, heel kicks, sole kicks, side kicks, and knee strikes. Both striking and kicking can employ linear, spiral, and arcing forms of attack. Striking can also be done with one hand or two hands, while kicking includes single-leg kicks and double-leg flying kicks. Additionally, there are head butts and shoulder strikes. Weaving these complex striking, punching, and kicking movements together creates clever attacking techniques. Corresponding to the various attacking methods mentioned above, there are also different defensive methods, such as arcing defenses, rotating defenses, joined-hand defenses, palm-chopping defenses, and cross-shaped defenses.

  Qigong

  "Machine Gun" emphasizes Aikido and portrays a straight Japanese image through the character of Takeo Budo, who has high martial morals.

  Aikido is a modern martial art that originated in Japan, derived from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu. Its characteristics include entering the opponent's dead angle, breaking their center of gravity, and using joint techniques and throwing techniques to subdue the opponent at the moment of contact. It also includes grappling and striking techniques. The "Aiki" emphasized in Aikido is similar to China's internal boxing and Taiji's inner energy, emphasizing the use of softness to overcome hardness, borrowing power to make force, using cleverness to win, never using brute force to attack the opponent, but rather guiding the opponent's strength into a harmless direction, even absorbing it and turning it into one's own strength to counterattack.

  The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, created the martial art based on traditional Japanese martial arts, incorporating elements of Jujutsu and Kendo, with the principles of "non-resistance" and "non-aggression", earning it the nickname "the loving art". Ueshiba built the Aikido headquarters in Tokyo, naming it the "Hombu Dojo", and spread Aikido throughout Japan from this center. He officially named the martial art "Aikido". After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, many of his students were drafted into the military, and Ueshiba, who had fought in the Russo-Japanese War at the age of 20, was deeply disillusioned with the brutality of war and the use of Aikido as a martial art for the Japanese military. He abandoned his position as the leader of Aikido and retired to a farm in Iwama, Ibaraki Prefecture, where he lived a life of "martial arts and farming as one". Aikido did not develop further until after the war.

  Judo

  Judo in Japanese means "the way of gentleness". It is a way of being gentle. Judo partially originated from an ancient Japanese samurai's empty-handed combat technique - jujutsu. Judo wins the match by throwing opponents to the ground, it is the only Olympic event that allows the use of choking or joint-locking techniques to subdue opponents. Judo is a highly competitive sport that emphasizes the mastery of skills rather than strength comparison.

  Judo has a long history in Japan, developed from the foundation of Chinese horn wrestling and wrestling during the Ming Dynasty. Later, the Japanese developed their own way, evolving into jujutsu during the Warring States period to the Edo period, and then gradually developing into judo, which can be said to have taken a different path. Judo has been widely promoted in Japan, earning Japan the title of "Judo Country".

  In judo competitions, scores are awarded based on the quality and effect of the techniques used by the athletes, classified into 4 types:

  1. Ippon: There are four ways to score an "ippon": When a competitor controls their opponent and uses a throwing technique with sufficient force and speed to throw the opponent so that they land largely on their back; In a "grappling" match, when one competitor controls their opponent and holds them in control for 25 seconds after the start of the "grappling" is announced; When a competitor strikes the mat or their opponent's body two or more times with their hand or foot, or says "give up"; When a competitor uses a strangulation technique or joint lock and fully demonstrates its technical effect. Additionally, when one competitor receives a fourth "shido" penalty, the other competitor scores an "ippon". When a competitor scores an "ippon", they immediately win the match.

  2. Waza-ari: There are two situations in which a "waza-ari" is awarded: when one competitor controls the other and executes a throwing technique that does not meet all three conditions for an ippon, or when one competitor holds the other in osaekomi-waza for more than 20 seconds. Additionally, if one competitor receives a third shido penalty, the other competitor is awarded a waza-ari score. If one competitor earns a second waza-ari during a match, they are declared the winner.

  3. Effective: There are two situations to get "effective": one party controls the opponent and uses a throwing technique to knock down the opponent, but the technical effect is insufficient in two of the three conditions for judging "one round"; In the "pressure technique", one party controls the opponent for more than 15 seconds. In addition, when one party receives a second "guidance" penalty, the other party gets an "effective" score.

  4. Effect: There are two situations to obtain an "effect": when one side of the match controls the opponent and uses a throwing technique with speed, power, or strength to make the opponent land on their shoulder, thigh, or buttocks; in a "pressing technique", one side of the match controls the opponent for more than 10 seconds. In addition, when one side of the match is penalized for "guidance", the other side scores an "effect".

  In a match, when an athlete scores "ippon", the match ends immediately and the athlete who scored "ippon" wins the match. In a match where no "ippon" victory occurs within the prescribed match time, the winner is determined by the number of "waza-ari", "yuko", and "koka". However, one "waza-ari" beats all "yuko" and "koka". One "yuko" beats all "koka".

  Iaido

  Iaido is a sword art that originated from what we commonly refer to as "batto-jutsu". The Japanese batto-jutsu became an independent sword art dating back to the ancient Nara or early Heian period. At that time, when warriors were engaged in battle and their spears or other weapons were broken or knocked down, they would quickly draw their swords from their waist to counterattack the enemy. Over time, this developed into a unique knife technique. However, unlike kendo, which is decided after both sides have drawn their swords and engaged in combat, iaido is a winning technique that involves suddenly drawing one's sword from a seated or standing position and cutting down the opponent before they can react. Therefore, iaido trains a type of extremely fast sword art that decides victory or defeat in an instant, like lightning.

  The original Iaijutsu only included three basic movements: drawing the sword, thrusting and diagonal cutting (which is the prototype of the later Kesa-giri). After hundreds of years of continuous refinement and innovation, the techniques of Iaijutsu have expanded to ten, commonly referred to as "Iaijutsu's Ten Forms". The essence of Iaijutsu lies in the first strike when drawing the sword, so the so-called "Ten Forms" are actually methods for using the drawing technique in ten different situations or scenarios.

  To this day, Iaido has become a unique sword art in Japan's traditional martial arts, on par with Kendo. More and more people are devoting themselves to the study of Iaido, while the spirit and connotation of "moving and stillness" of Iaido are being understood and accepted by more people.

  Way of the Sword

  Kendo, like other Japanese martial arts, originated from China. In the process of using Chinese swords, the Japanese transformed them into a shape that suited themselves, changing the double-edged Chinese sword to a single-edged one and adding an arc shape.

  In fact, swordsmanship is just a means to an end, and the confrontation between the two sides before they make their move is a heart-to-heart battle. Therefore, appreciating and watching kendo is undoubtedly seen by Westerners as a concentrated expression of Eastern temperament. Kendo can be viewed from both technical and psychological aspects. From a technical point of view, the movements are swift and elegant, with a full display of spirit and energy, showing strong and lively performances. From a psychological perspective, observing the emotional state during competition, whether calm or excited, whether able to make sharp and accurate judgments during combat, how to adopt stable countermeasures, such as "taking the initiative", "waiting for labor" or "counterattack victory" tactics, can reveal the wisdom and training of the kendo practitioner.

  After the Meiji Restoration, Japan issued the "Sword Abolition Edict", abolishing the right of samurai to wear swords, and kendo declined. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department made kendo a compulsory course for police officers, and later the "Dai Nippon Butoku Kai" was established, and kendo was also included in the Japanese middle school curriculum. After Japan's defeat and surrender, the Allied Command ordered the complete deletion of kendo, judo, kyudo, and other martial arts from school physical education materials. The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, which had been involved in martial arts research for 48 years, was disbanded, and kendo seemed to have completely disappeared again. It wasn't until the establishment of the "All Japan Kendo Federation" in the 1950s that kendo began to revive. In the 1960s, kendo began to spread from Japan to the world, developing rapidly. Now, kendo has become a globally popular martial art and combat sport. Currently, in Japan, kendo is more prosperous than before the war, whether in schools, police departments, or general society. Each police station offers courses teaching kendo to local residents, and national kendo tournaments for junior high school students are also held. Additionally, women's kendo, which was almost invisible before the war, is also thriving.

  Ninjutsu

  Ninjutsu, also known as stealth technique or concealment technique, is a secret martial art in ancient Japanese martial arts. Ninjutsu, like karate, judo and Shaolin Kung Fu, was originally introduced from Chinese martial arts to Japan and gradually developed into a unique Japanese martial art. The ninja family has been secretly passed down for generations, and outsiders have difficulty knowing its details.

  Ninja, Japanese for "secret action person", undergoes training in Japanese ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is the art of mastering secret actions. In Japan, there are many myths and legendary stories about ninja, who flourished during Japan's Warring States period, executing secret missions for feudal lords.

  Ninjutsu is a Japanese technique used for espionage. Ninjutsu includes combat, creating confusion and gathering intelligence. The training of ninjutsu includes disguise, escape, hiding, fighting, breaking, geography, medicine and explosion. Ninjutsu was influenced by Chinese martial arts and the Art of War by Sun Tzu, originating in Iga region. According to historical records, at that time there was a monk from China who traveled to this place and asked local warriors if they were willing to learn a martial art that combined body and mind, which became the origin of ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is different from the ninja method in Japanese Shintoism, and ninjutsu is generally used for military purposes.

  The content of ninja training can be seen in its basic training, which mainly includes balance, agility, strength, endurance and special skills such as diving apnea, hand-to-hand combat, disguise, and the use of hidden weapons. Different schools of ninjutsu have different requirements for their practitioners, but overall, ninjutsu martial arts require a certain level of proficiency in sword fighting, archery, horse riding, jujutsu, footwork, body balance, and shuriken throwing. The most demanding "stealth flying technique" requires long-term jumping training to make the body agile and improve running and jumping ability.

  Ninjutsu had 49 schools in Japan, with Iga and Koka being the most famous. In ancient times, each school fought for different lords in various regions, of course, their actions were always shrouded in secrecy. After experiencing many years of historical turmoil and war, most schools have been lost, leaving only a few remaining schools continuing this unique martial art. However, it is comforting to know that among the few remaining schools, some have abandoned their original sectarian views and are working tirelessly to make ninjutsu a global ninjutsu.

  The above introduction is indeed difficult to interpret the profound and intricate martial arts treasures of the Chinese nation, nor can it be detailed in literary works, and it is only an expression of the author's closeness and admiration for martial arts.