Cai Li Buddha Boxing, a major school of Lingnan martial arts, was founded in 1836 by Chen Xiang, a native of Jingmei Village, Yaxi, Xinhui, Guangdong, and enjoys the reputation of "Tai Chi in the north and Cai Li Buddha in the south".
Chen Xiang was the ancestor of Cai Li Fo martial arts and a legendary leader in the Lingnan martial arts world in the late Qing Dynasty. At the age of 12, he learned Buddhist boxing with his uncle Chen Yuan, learned Li Jiaquan from Xinhui Li Youshan for 5 years at the age of 19, and then learned Cai Jiaquan from Cai Fu, a secluded monk in Luofu Mountain, until he was 34 years old.
In the sixteenth year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty (1836), Chen Xiang set Cai, Li, Chen and other palms, leg skills, and boxing skills, and created a martial arts technique system that combines rigidity and softness, both offense and defense, and named Cai Li Buddha Boxing after the surnames of his mentors Cai Fu and Li Yousan and the relationship between the boxing skills of another mentor Chen Yuanhu and Buddhism.
Cai Li Buddha boxing is known as the "southern boxing and northern faction", the bridge hand is long and short, the body is varied, the footwork is flexible and steady, the strength is rigid and soft, pay attention to the coordination of voice and action, and require the voice to cheer, and the voice to help the momentum. The movements are stretched and generous, and the fists are magnificent. The country's current martial arts competition in the southern boxing competition routine was born from Cai Li Buddha boxing.
The training system of Cai Li Buddha Boxing is quite large, with a total of 193 routines in elementary, intermediate and high**. Among them, there are 39 sets of boxing routines, 54 sets of dismantling classes, 64 sets of equipment classes, 18 sets of pile exercises (i.e. 18 wooden piles), 9 sets of lion art routines, and internal strength practice routines. During the exercise, it is marked by the five tones of "domain, of, benefit, scare, and crane".
Cai Li Buddha boxing is based on Cai Jiama, Li Jiaquan and Buddhism Zhang, mainly drawing on Shaolin Wuxing Tongjian Arm Boxing, Taoist Taiji Bagua Footwork, combined with the Southern Hongjia Bridge Hand, Wudang Leg Method, Northern Poke Foot and other strengths, the "five-wheeled horse", "five-wheel mallet", "walking horse", "four-door bridge" and other basic **, and according to the style and training focus on: plum blossom boxing, cross boxing, Bagua boxing, pictographic boxing.
Cai Li Fo's equipment is mostly stick guns and knife skills, and there are unique "Nine Dragon Forks" and "Seven Star Knives" specially designed to facilitate water combat and hand-to-hand combat with foreign firearms.
Cai Li Buddha fist is rigid and soft, and soft and rigid is superior. The technique requires a combination of long, medium and short, left and right bows, such as rotation, the potential is connected, unpredictable;The legs are fast and hidden, and the hands and feet are closely coordinated;Inhale and store strength, exhale and make sounds, and often pronounce the three tones of "domain (painting), of, and benefit", so there is a saying that "those who listen to its three sounds can know that it is Cai Li Buddhism".
In the form of martial arts, Cai Li Buddha carries a variety of traditional Chinese cultures such as Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, etc., and pursues the style of "martial arts to strengthen the clan, medicine to help the world", and has significant Lingnan cultural characteristics. Its cultural connotation can be summed up: "Drinking water thinks about the source and solidifies the fundamentals, and perseverance casts the martial spirit".
Cai Li Buddha Boxing, not by the name of the world, but after the name of the master for the name of the boxing, and the martial arts movements are cleverly choreographed to commemorate the teacher. Chen Xiang strives to break the limit of the surname sect, advocates martial arts and martial virtues, and emphasizes "the sea gathers hundreds of rivers and meets friends with martial arts", so that Cai Li Buddha boxing "comes from the people and goes to the people". Cai Li Buddha Boxing can not only strengthen the body, but also pay more attention to the character cultivation of the inheritor.
More than 3 million people from more than 50 countries and regions around the world practice and love Cai Li Buddha Boxing, Cai Li Buddha Boxing has become the main ** of the international martial arts competition routine (Southern Boxing), and enjoys the praise of "Tai Chi in the north, Cai Li Buddha in the south".
As a national intangible cultural heritage and excellent traditional Chinese martial arts, Cai Li Buddha Boxing has always been in a low-key and down-to-earth attitude, rooted in Xinhui, inherited and developed from generation to generation, inheriting not only the martial arts itself, but also the national spirit of self-improvement.