Yuejiaquan (岳家拳, literally ''Yue Family Fist'', alternately ''Yue Ch'uan'') is a style of

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

attributed to

Yue Fei Yue Fei ( zh, t=岳飛; March 24, 1103 – January 28, 1142), courtesy name Pengju (), was a Chinese military general who lived during the Southern Song dynasty and a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song forces in the wa ...

, a noted General and patriot from the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

History and philosophy

Legend claims Yue taught the style to his soldiers who passed it down for generations after his death. It contains mostly military-oriented attacks, and is based primarily upon the principles of combining internal and external techniques, theory and application. Its various tricks stem from its principal philosophy of the positive and negative and the five elements of the heart, liver, lung, spleen and kidney in the human body. This art created by

includes

Eagle Claw Eagle Claw (; pinyin: yīng zhǎo pài; ''eagle claw school'') is a style of Chinese martial arts known for its gripping techniques, system of joint locks, takedowns, and pressure point strikes, which is representative of Chinese grappling ...

Chin Na Qinna () is the set of joint lock techniques used in the Chinese martial arts to control or lock an opponent's joints or muscles/tendons so they cannot move, thus neutralizing the opponent's fighting ability. ''Qinna Shu'' ( meaning "technique") ...

submissions and other fighting techniques that would later become the basis of the creation of

Xing Yi Quan Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...

In popular culture

The style is mentioned towards the end of Yue Fei's highly popular folklore biography '' The Story of Yue Fei'' published in 1684. Hegel, Robert E. ''Reading illustrated fiction in late imperial China.'' Stanford University Press,1998, p. 47 In the novel, Yue Lei, Yue's second son, uses the style in a brawl against the martial instructor of a group of bandits who forcefully took over residence of a local Taoist temple to

Lord Guan Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

. During the fight, "The instructor went forward one step to catch up with Yue Lei. Yue Lei turned around and used his right hand to push away his opponent's two hands whilst using his left hand to give a push on the chest. The instructor was startled and quickly dodged the blow, shouting, 'Stay your hands! This is the Yue Family's Pugilistic Fight. Where did you learn this from? I beg for your name!'" Qian, Cai. ''General Yue Fei: A Novel''. Tr. T.L. Yang. Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co. LTD., 1995, pp. 744-745 After Yue learns the instructor is Zhong Liang, the grandson of the famous Song General Zhong Ze, Zhong muses: "My family and the Yue family have been friends for three generations. Commander Yue had often discussed pugilistic skills with my father hong Fang so I could recognize your move as 'The Black Tiger's Theft of the Heart,' which comes from the Yue Family."

References

{{Kung fu schools Chinese martial arts