Qinggong is a training technique for jumping off vertical surfaces from the
Chinese martial art Baguazhang.
The practitioner runs up a plank supported against a wall. The gradient of the plank is increased gradually over time as the training progresses.
Etymology
Puns play a significant role in creating Chinese terminology. While the
characters used for this skill are 輕功 \ 轻功 (Trad.\ Simp.), where the meaning of the first character is ''light
n weight
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
easy; soft; gentle'', and the second means ''achievement; effort; skill; good result'', since the training involves incrementally changing the slope or incline of a plank of wood used as a platform, there's a suggested pun with substituting 傾 \ 倾 (Trad.\ Simp.) for the first character, where its meaning is ''to overturn; to collapse; to lean; to incline''. Note that both 輕 \ 轻 and 傾 \ 倾 are pronounced identically, with the same tone.
Popular culture
The use of qinggong has been exaggerated in
wuxia fiction, in which martial artists have the ability to move swiftly and lightly at superhuman speed, and perform gravity-defying moves such as gliding on water surfaces, scaling high walls and mounting trees. In some wuxia and
martial arts films containing elements of
wire fu, qinggong stunts are simulated by actors and stunt performers suspending themselves from wires.
Qinggong was taught at the
Peking Opera School in the 20th century. The school's most notable students are the
Seven Little Fortunes, including
Sammo Hung and most famously
Jackie Chan, providing a basis for their acrobatic
stunt work in
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Ko ...
. In turn, this influenced the development of
parkour
Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing a ...
in France.
References
Chinese martial arts
Wuxia
Parkour
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