Three Star Cannon Punch

Sanhuang Paochui or the three-emperor cannon Chuan is also known as the Cannon Boxing.

What are the three stars? The form of boxing is said to originate with the three legendary emperors FuXi, ShenNong and GongGong all figures from prehistoric China. Each of these emperors represented Heaven, Earth and Humanity. Cannon boxing is popular in BeiJing, HeBei, ShanXi, ShanDong, LiaoNing, HeNan and JiLin. This style uses rapid and strong punches like the firing of a cannon.

It is chronicled that at the turn of the Ming Dynasty into the Qing (around 1644) a monk PuZhao wandered in the area of ErMei Mountain, SiChuan Province. He met a Taoist priest and learned a form of boxing from him. Monk PuZhao taught Qiao SanXiu and Gan GenChi somewhere around the time of the KangXi and YongZhen emperors. His student, Qiao, was taught to utilize a core of softness with hardness on the outside. Gan was taught the opposite method. Two styles were therefore developed along these lines. During the Emperor ChienLung time Qiao San Xiu taught Qiao He Ling. At the same time Gan Feng Chi's disciples have disappeared into history.

 

The Qiao branch was passed on decades later to Song Mai Lung and Yu Lian Deng. This also varied the style in that Yu kept to the original Cannon Fist while Song combined it with over 12 schools to create many new forms and his invention of "three-hand" holds.

This caused the style to be divided into Song Branch and Yu Branch boxing.

San Huang Pao Chui is based on principles of Yin and Yang, hard and sosft, substantial and insubstantial, attack and defense and attack and retreat. In other words, all the classical considerations of Kung Fu as a military art as well as a personal fighting art. Some of the distinctive movements are a cross body double punch; a thrust punch much like in the Tan Tui style, a distinct mixing of short and long moves; some unusual Long Fist strikes. Its power looks firm but there is softness hidden within it.

Cannon Fist VCDs
Chinese books on Cannon Fist