Reportage
Reportage
It is not easy to trace a historical line of what today is called the Chin ' Na art of catching and stopping. Analyzing its ideograms, you reach the technical sense of an art which focuses in the contact and control of the adversary. As the claw of an eagle catches its prey and won ' t let it escape. That was the initial concept of this art, which eventually experienced a technical evolution, an extension toward the development of joint lever techniques, pressuring on nervous centers, blockages on tendons and muscles, respiratory and blood strangulations, takedowns, including also some blows and percussion.
For many people, the Chin ' Na found its way as a technical section of Kung Fu and therefore it was interpreted as a different style. But it must be pointed out that unlike many other traditional systems of Kung Fu, there ' s not only one genealogic line that has accompanied this method for centuries. However, we can see that many teachers and martial artists of the past included in their styles the actions and feats that characterize the Chin ' Na.
Some of these characters were devoted exclusively to the Chin ' Na and consequently there were formed some currents and family lineages that we find today in some parts of the history of Kung Fu. The Shaolin monks themselves, at advanced levels, included these techniques in their training programs.
During the Yuan period( 1271-1368 AD), in the Shaolin Temple of Heenan begins with Master Ma Shi Loong a specific Chin ' Na training. Master Ma Shi Loong himself leaves a technical legacy of his art to the monk Jue Yuan, who will continue transmitting it for future generations.
In following periods, other teachers contributed to the development and refinement of these techniques, which became increasingly numerous, effective and sophisticated.
Tracing back the evolution of this method in Shaolin, we find other masters, as Feng Yi Yuan, Li Jing Yuan, My Hao Shi, until reaching the character that was considered the best expert of all times in the Shaolin Chin ' Na: master Jing Luo Han.
It must be pointed out that although everything regarding this matter was transmitted in the training programs, it always occurred on a limited basis and passed on from monk to monk, because the Chin ' Na was considered as the most refined martial expression.
Beyond the history of Shaolin, the Chin ' Na system has been recognized and attributed to other great warriors, like General Yue Fei of the Song Era, who codified techniques based on grips, joint levers and combinations of“ melee” actions.
In its development, the Chin ' na also approached the " Shuai Chiao ", or ancient Chinese fighting system, to enrich itself and complete itself technically, although this just happened in some clans, since many teachers preferred to keep both methods separate.
Over time, and by the teaching of personalities such as army generals, fighting heroes and monks, it would be inevitable the influence that the Chin ' na exerted in the origins of other martial arts which developped successively in different geographical areas of Asia, showing the techniques and principles of this Chinese method as their main trait. So we can deduce that this technical device can be found in various styles of Kung Fu, analyzing the related applications in accordance with the rules and actions of the " mele ", therefore in the short distance. Thus, in the Tai Chi, Pa Kwa, Tang Lang, Hung Gar, etc., you can find a part of Chin ' Na.
But if you want to get a deeper understanding of this system, you must consider the Chin ' Na as a true art, going deeply into its world and following the teachings of the various specia-
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