The Feeding Crane represented by the Liu family in Taiwan is an old style that originated in Fuchow province. The entire White Crane system is a form of progressive training that follows these steps:
Flying Crane: basic self defense
Sleeping Crane: stances and rooting
Singing Crane: internal energy
Feeding Crane: offensive technique
The training is not only progressively informative but also progressively difficult and the Feeding Crane stage is not for everyone.
Origins:
It is said that when the Southern Shaolin Temple was burned down by the Qing soldiers one of the monks, Fang Wai Shi—a master of LuoHan Boxing— escaped and ended up hiding in Sand Lotus Temple near FuChow. Taking part in normal life again, Fang had a daughter, Qi-Niang. He taught her his art and she developed good skills. One day, when doing her wash, she spotted a White Crane on her fence. Fearing the bird would soil her clothes she threw rocks at it and tried to shove it off the fence with a pole. But the bird kept evading her attacks, moving this way and that. She realizes that the crane had a superior “kung fu” and had a revelation about her own boxing. She added a form of footwork called Kun Yan Bu.
Some Connections:
The GoJu teacher Morio Higaonna wrote a book on the origins of GoJu and traced resources back to the Liu family and Liu Chang Yi’s uncle who had returned to FuChow. He was brought there by Li Yi Duan, the chairman of the FuChow martial arts organization to re-introduce the style to the mainland.
Liu Family and White Crane:
White Crane was infused into Taiwan culture by four students of Tsai Gong Son. Liu’s grandfather, Liu Gou, met on of these, Lin TokuJun in 1927. Liu Gou paid him a great deal of money, and equipped him with a house and servants while they spent five years boxing together. The Japanese authorities picked up Lin, drugged him to extradite him to FuChow and he died on the voyage there from the overdose of the sedative.
Components:
Feeding Crane has over twenty forms, solid basics work, beginning and advanced self-defense techniques, power issuing training, hundreds of vital points and iron body training. It is a complete system that generates tremendous power and sophisticated angles and execution.
Resources:
Much of this information from an interview with Liang Chang I in the Dragon Times.
