FANG CHI LIANG

The originator of the White Crane Fist style or Pai Hao Ch'uan (Hakutsuru Ken in Japanese) was a woman by the name of Fang Chi Liang (Ho Shichi Jo in Japanese). She resided in the town of Yong Chun (Hoku Kong Gai in Japanese) in Fukien Province China. When she was a child her first birth name was overlooked because she was very rough and known as a tomboy. It all began when her father Fang Shih Yu (Ho Shu Ku in Japanese) was seriously injured when he was betrayed by the townspeople in a battle over control of their village. When Fang Chi Liang heard of this and understood what had happened to her father she became angry and vowed to take revenge. She realized being a woman with no particular martial skill (Although her father was trained in Shaolin Monk Fist boxing and had taught her she was very young and had not developed any real prowess in the martial arts) she did not have the means to avenge her father. It made her angry that she could not make any attempt at this. Every day she prayed to god for guidance to give her the strength and courage to avenge this wrong doing.

Then one day as she was lying in her room thinking of her poor father and what had happened to him, there suddenly came a loud screeching noise from outside in the yard. Fang Chi Liang sprang to her feet and rushed to the window just in time to observe two large cranes fighting furiously in the tall grass. She paid close attention and observed their every move. They fought very courageously, jumping up and down and spreading and flapping their wings. They pecked and poked at each other with their long pointed beaks. Finally, running outside, Fang Chi Liang took down one of the long bamboo poles used for drying clothes. She swung the pole at them and tried to drive them away.

Each time she swung the pole at them they merely dodged her movements by retreating backwards. Then the cranes immediately jumped forward at her flapping their wings furiously. Fang Chi Liang then tried to poke or thrust at them using the pole as a spear. The cranes merely jumped to the side each time and pecked at the pole. Eventually, Fang Chi Liang became tired and gave up. The cranes simply flew away.

As she sat resting in the yard she began to think to herself for some time about what had taken place. She came to realize that if a human being could do the same as the cranes, especially herself, then she would have no problem avenging the wrong doing that had been done to her father. For the next three years she practiced daily and thought only of what she had observed the cranes doing in battle. She realized the value of yielding to the force of strength. She recognized the natural law of constant change in battle; of the strong changing to yielding and yielding changing to strong (Yin and Yang, opposing negative and positive forces in nature). Fang Chi Liang came to understand the combative value and efficiency of continuous movement in blocking and countering. After many long hours of constant practice she gained this knowledge and developed the techniques and courage to avenge her father. She became the heroine of the village and the teacher of the White Cranes Fist Style and marital artist came from miles around to learn this unique and powerful fist style.