Emei Snake Fist

峨眉派蛇拳

 

Snake Fist is an animal style of Kung Fu. I have wanted to learn Snake Kung Fu ever since I saw Jackie Chan’s Snake in Eagle’s Shadow 蛇形刁手 (1978) as a kid. I finally got the opportunity in 2012 to study it under my elder Kung Fu brother and local legend Gao 张文高 who classified it as a “soft fist” 柔拳, a style that does not rely on hard power 硬劲 but instead acts through the proper use of angles, relaxation, and pressure points. When striking, your hands should resemble a poisonous snake spitting its venom.  And after you strike, your hands should dart back as if you were being shocked.  It is said that upward movements resemble playing with a pearl and downward movements resemble plucking a peach.  I don’t know what that means intellectually, but when I think of these different images my body seems to understand. Upper limbs are soft and lively, lower limbs are sturdy and nimble.  As a style that edges into the realm of internal martial arts, through Snake Fist you aim to bring out the hard within the soft.

 

Snake master Zhang Wen Gao 张文高 in the posture Striking Piercing Fist 击打贯拳.

 
 
 

Brandi practicing the Wudang monk spade form

 
 
 

History and transmission 历史与传承

Snake Fist comes from Emei Mountain 峨眉山 in Sichuan province. The particular style we study is the “first road” or yilu 一路 form from the three Emei forms that the Kung Fu master Liang Xi Xiang 梁蓰箱 learned from a Buddhist monk 僧人 on Emei mountain in the late Qing Dynasty. This style was transmitted through the family, eventually reaching his grandson Liang Shou Yu 梁守渝 (b. 1943), who introduced the style to the public for the first time in 1981. Master Yuan learned this style at Shaolin when he was training there in the 80’s and brought it over to Wudang where he showed it to a number of his kung fu brothers in the 90’s.

There is a traditional poem that transmits the essence of snake style:

身颤步潜, Body vibrates, footwork burrows,

蛇形绕走, Serpentine Coiling and Moving,

手内旋, Hands circle inward,

掌插肋, Palms pierce the ribs,

指喉箭, Fingers dart into the throat,

勾啄人顶巧柔软。

Hooking and pecking the top of the head with great skill and softness

 

The top of Emeishan 峨眉山, the origin place of Snake style

 
 

Curriculum 目录

Conditioning 硬功

  1. 插沙功 Piercing Sand Skill

Hand Techniques 手法

  1. 点 Pointing

  2. 穿 Penetrating

  3. 插 Piercing

  4. 啄 Pecking

  5. 劈 Splitting 

  6. 压 Pressing

  7. 挫 Press Down

  8. 拌 Tripping

  9. 缠 Wrapping

Footwork 步法

  1. 蛇行步 Snake Stepping 

  2. 蛇形镖步 Snake Style Dart Stepping

Kicks 腿法

  1. 彈腿 Bullet Kick

  2. 尖子脚 Point Kick

  3. 翻身腿 Turning Body Kick

  4. 勾踢腿 Hooking Kick

Partner Training 蛇拳散手

  1. 退步挫掌 Retreating Downward-Pressing Palm

  2. 勾踢摆掌 Hook Kick Waving Palm

  3. 上步截掌 Advancing Intercepting Palm

  4. 玄蛇盘石 Mysterious Snake Coils on the Rock