Chapter 85 - 83: The Grandmaster’s Silhouette
Wu Li introduced the characteristics of Xingyi Fist, incorporating the Training Method of the Five Elements Fist, the power-delivery techniques, and the Stance Training Method of the Twelve Forms into the introductory course. These were the essence he compiled from various schools of Xingyi Fist, showing the significant effort he had put into it.
In addition to that, in the teaching of the Twelve Forms, Wu Li added several practical techniques to each form, which were not Killing Moves intended for real combat, but Techniques that could be used in the ring, such as Bear Form Elbow Strike, Chicken Form Stepping, Horse Form Stepping Knee, Snake Form Rib Strike, and so on.
The fighting techniques of Traditional Martial Arts didn’t consist solely of Killing Moves; some Techniques could also be used in the ring, and some Killing Moves could be slightly modified for use in the ring as well. Wu Li planned to differentiate the Killing Moves and fighting techniques of Traditional Martial Arts in the future, one for actual combat, the other for ring competition.
In fact, as early as 1979, when Sandboxing became a competitive sports event in our country, the state organized many experts of Traditional Martial Arts to do just that, summarizing and compiling the kicking, striking, and throwing Techniques from various styles of Traditional Martial Arts specifically for competition, while the Sandboxing promoted in the military and police was based on the Killing Moves of Traditional Martial Arts, focusing on capturing joint techniques and striking vital areas.
Early Sandboxing competitions emphasized spectacle, and to reduce injuries, many restrictions were applied, focusing mainly on scoring. Thus, all the Killing Moves of Traditional Martial Arts were abandoned, as were some joint techniques and capturing, especially leg techniques, since groin kicks were not allowed, making the springing kicks of Traditional Martial Arts almost entirely unusable.
Later, as commercial competitions like Boxing, wrestling, and Muay Thai demonstrated their potent money-drawing power abroad, domestic competition formats began to lean towards those overseas. It was evidently more convenient and easier to integrate the rules by directly borrowing and learning from the existing foreign Martial Arts techniques, so domestic Sandboxing began to adopt and absorb various techniques from foreign Martial Arts.
By now, domestic Sandboxing has evolved from the original Sandboxing. To better adapt to the current competition rules, it has absorbed numerous foreign Martial Arts techniques and has become a comprehensive fighting style. Consequently, many practitioners feel that what they learn has no relation to Traditional Martial Arts.
Indeed, not only they think so, but many of the older generation of Martial Artists also didn’t recognize Sandboxing as Traditional Martial Arts. They believed Sandboxing lacked Stance, forms, unique Fist characteristics, and philosophies, being solely for ring competition and unable to represent any Traditional Martial Arts style.
Take Yan Baili, whom Wu Li had encountered earlier. Although this Yong Chun master also once taught others Sandboxing, he ultimately went on to open his own Martial Arts school to refine Yong Chun Fist, striving to adapt it for the modern combat sports arena.