Chuojiao

Chuojiao (Chinese: 戳腳; pinyin: Chuōjiǎo; lit. 'poking foot') is a Chinese martial art that comprises many jumps, kicks, and fast fist sequences. The fist and feet work in unison and strike continuously forward, like "falling meteorites", never giving the opponent a moment to recover. The qinggong portion of this style's training involves a practitioner jumping against a wall with heavy weights affixed to his/her calves. This style is practiced mainly in northern and northeast China, including central Hebei, Beijing, and Liaoning.

Chuojiao originated in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and became popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911). The source from Wu Binlou, a famous Chuojiao expert and founder of Beijing style, believed Chuojiao comes from the Wen Family Boxing style of the Song dynasty (960–1279).

Chuojiao is attributed to Deng Liang, who is said to have created the style on the basis of the 18 basic feet plays. He developed the basics according to calculations of the Chinese abacus to form a chain of feet plays incorporating 108 tricks. According to legend, he later taught the monk Zhou Tong the style, who later passed it on to his pupil General Yue Fei.

Some of the outlaws who appear in the famous novel The Water Margin, such as Wu Song, were experts in this style; this is why Chuojiao was alternately known as the "Water Margin Outlaw style". It is also known as Yuanyang Tui (鴛鴦腿) or "Mandarin Duck Leg." In The Water Margin's 28th chapter, "Drunken Wu Song beats Jiang Menshen innkeeper", it mentions that Wu Song uses the following moves: "step of nephrite ring, leg of mandarin duck".

Feng Keshan (冯克善), a general in the failed Taiping Rebellion of the early 19th century, was a Chuojiao Fanzi master. After the failure of the rebellion, Feng went into seclusion with two other experts Tang Youyi in Hebei Province in Raoyang, where he taught Fanzi, which emphasizes the hands, to the Wang family and Chuojiao, which emphasizes the feet, to the Duan family. During practice, the families would exchange techniques.

After Master Zhao Canyi (赵灿益), Chuojiao has evolved into many branches such as those below:

Liu Family Chuojiao:Was spread throughout Li County, so much so that a large proportion of the county can practice some aspects of Chuojiao even until today. Liu Guanlan taught third generation Guo Gexi, Liu Songlin, Liu Zhenguo, Li Gepu and Liu Zhenjiang. Liu Family Chuojiao is representative of Lixian Chuojiao or Hebei Chuojiao. Current Representatives include Zhang Shuanglong, Wang Zhiyi, Zhang Xiaowang, Liu Zhenmin, Liu Xuehui and Cui Linsheng.

Duan Family Chuojiao: The Duan brothers taught in Raoyang the following third generation: Liu Laowang, Li Timing, Jia Laokai, Zhang Laoxiao, and others. This style is typically known as Raoyang Chuojiao. Current representatives of Raoyang Chuojiao include Li Jiantao, Song Qingbo, Ma Yongchao, Li Juncai, Li Zhenguo and Li Jiankuan.