lows, and urbanized settings, many
worked the waters in trade, commerce,
and fishing. In fact, a portion of the in-
habitants spent most of their lives on
the boats that sailed the coasts and in-
land waterways. The primary demands
for physical labor were placed on the
muscle groups of the upper body. As an-
other contrast, the distance from the
cultural centers of the north meant in
many cases that a southerner’s educa-
tion was gained at home, and the vast
majority of them were functional illiter-
ates who relied on professional readers
to read official decrees and personal let-
ters and to write for them when the
need arose. The factors of relatively
greater upper body strength and the de-
creased need for fine-motor skill utiliz-
ing finger dexterity led to a reliance on
punching as opposed to kicking tech-
niques.
The “short-hitting” styles of the
south were marked by constricted, in-
close movements, ones that could be
employed in tight alleyways, on the
decks of boats, and in other cramped
quarters. The southern fighting styles
also developed, for the most part, shorter forms, although a given southern
system (e.g.,Hung Gar[pinyin hongjiaquan] and Choy Lay Fut [pinyin
cailifoquan]) could contain a greater number of forms in its curriculum
than some northern systems.
One might also surmise that the restrictions placed upon people due
to the restrictions of various articles of clothing would play a role in de-
fensive techniques as well. The cold climate of the north and the clothing
adapted to such an environment would no doubt hinder the use of hand
techniques, but to a lesser extent the use of the legs. The south was more
subtropical, and the clothing appropriate for that environment allowed the
unencumbered development of the upper-body techniques suitable for the
social conditions previously described. Various weapons also saw their use
dictated by their geographic location. In the north one would have the lux-
ury of being able to use a long pole arm, such as a spear or long sword, and34 Boxing, Chinese Shaolin Styles
A 74-year-old
Buddhist monk
practices boxing ex-
ercises at a Shaolin
monastery near
Zengzhou, Henan,
China, 1981.
(Lowell Georgia/
Corbis)