市井亦江湖

市井亦江湖

Last century, there was a global cinematic craze for Chinese Kung fu, which added a touch of mystery and individual heroism to Chinese martial arts. As a matter of fact, Kung fu masters, who often lead a lowpro fi le life, can be found in many martial arts clubs across Foshan city, on erect lion dancing posts, and even among ordinary people.

MARTIAL ARTS AWAKENING 武館人生

Today, many martial arts clubs are tucked away on the side streets of Foshan. Crossing the busy commercial street of No. 2 Guofang New Village on Chao'an Road, and walking along a damp, narrow lane, you will fi nd Yao Cai and Yao Qi's Wing Chun Club. Yao's club is on the fi rst fl oor of a 3-storey residential building. Yao Zhongqiang, the grandson of Yao Cai who was one of the three Wing Chun Grandmasters in the Republic of China period, runs the club and teaches Kung fu students.

Yao Zhongqiang, an inheritor of Yao's Wing Chun, which is an Intangible Cultural Heritage item of China, teaches his many students in the club for three nights a week. In the daytime, he works as a purchaser at a hotel. Despite the fact that Yao has many students, the income from teaching alone is too humble to support his family. Therefore, taking on a second job is a rather common lifestyle for Yao as well as for many Kung fu masters in Foshan.

Yao Cai, Yao Zhongqiang's grandfather, was a contemporary of Ip Man (Ye Wen), another master teacher of Wing Chun, and was one of the three Wing Chun Grandmasters of the Republic of China period. Yao's family wealth enabled him to focus on practising and perfecting Snake Style Wing Chun, and he was recognised as “Yao the Wizard” by Wing Chun

Yao Zhongqiang, inheritor of Yao's Wing Chun, is teaching his students in his club.佛山姚氏詠春傳人姚忠強帶弟子練拳。

Yao Hanqiang demonstrates Snake Style Hands.姚漢強演示姚氏詠春蛇形手。

practitioners of his time in Foshan. When Wing Chun was passed down to Yao Qi, Yao Cai's son and Yao Zhongqiang's father, Kunf fu's popularity was diminishing, so he only taught his own children and a few apprentices. All his three sons practised Wing Chun with him, among whom the eldest son Yao Hanqiang, a man of few words, can perform Snake Style Wing Chun superbly, and the outgoing son, Yao Zhongqiang, takes over the baton to pass on the Yao Cai branch of Wing Chun.

In Nanhai District of Foshan, Guo Fu, Ip Man's eldest student, carried his teacher's branch of Wing Chun forward. Guo's students have opened martial arts clubs and taught students in more than ten countries around the world. According to historical records, Guo was taken in by Ip Man as his student after six-month's of observation. Ip also made an exception of teaching Wing Chun skills to him for free because of Guo's virtues. When Guo was unemployed and returned to his hometown in the countryside, Ip resolutely walked 15km on foot to Guo's home everyday to continue teaching him martial arts and medical skills for the treatment of injuries. The Guo's Wing Chun Association now has more than 100 advanced students. On summer evenings, 50 to 60 students would be practising Wing Chun together against more than a dozen wooden posts in the outdoor fi eld, reliving the glory days of martial arts clubs of Foshan back in the 1930's.

Foshan was the centre of martial arts in the Republic of China period. Back in the 1930's and 1940's, the city swarmed with martial arts clubs of various schools or branches along today's Shengping Road and Lianhua Road, and martial artists made a living by teaching students. Due to Foshan's proximity to Hong Kong and Macau –China's gateways to the outside world at the time, local martial artists were able to go abroad and set up clubs overseas, spreading Chinese Kung fu all over the world. For instance, Chen Jinhui, an inheritor of Choy Li Fut (Cai Li Fo) Style Kung fu, had taught martial arts in Venezuela for 23 years. He was the martial arts instructor at the Ministry of National Defense and the Police Headquarters of the state. On his student list were notable political fi gures such as the President and the Minister of National Defense and over a million soldiers, policemen, and civilians.

According to the statistics from Foshan Martial Arts Association, today there are more than 290 registered martial arts clubs in Foshan or more than 500 if unregistered ones are counted. Despite the fact that most clubs only operate on a part-time basis, the worship of the Kung fu spirit is awakening among the local people.

上世紀在全球銀幕上掀起的﹃中國功夫熱﹄，為武術增添了神秘主義和個人英雄主義色彩。事實上在佛山，武林高手們就隱藏在街頭巷尾的大小武館中、高高的舞獅樁上，乃至尋常百姓家。

Guo Weizhan, Head of Foshan Wing Chun General Association and his students from Denmark.佛山市詠春拳總會會長郭偉湛與來自丹麥的徒弟。

大隱于市，藏于民間，是當今佛山武館的生存現狀。

沿著禪城區一條狹窄潮濕的小巷走到盡頭，就到了姚才姚祺詠春堂。每周三個晚上，武館燈火通明，弟子云集，佛山姚氏詠春拳非遺代表性傳承人姚忠強在此開班授課。日常的白天，他在佛山一家酒店從事物料采購工作。盡管徒弟眾多，但收入仍不足以支撐一家人的生活，再打一份工，是佛山眾多“武林高手”當今的生活常態。

姚忠強的祖父姚才與葉問同時代習武，二者同為民國“詠春三雄”，家境殷實使得姚才有更多的精力鉆研詠春，其蛇形手詠春功夫日益精湛，被佛山詠春拳界譽為 “神手姚才”。父親姚祺這代，武術在佛山民間式微，姚祺只在家里教自己的孩子，兼教幾個徒弟。姚家三兄弟，皆隨父習詠春，不擅言辭的大哥姚漢強將姚氏詠春蛇形手演繹得出神入化；性格外向的忠強則肩負起傳承姚氏詠春的重任。

而在佛山南海，葉問的大弟子郭富則將葉問一脈詠春發揚光大，其郭氏詠春弟子已經在世界十多個國家開館授徒。據資料記載，郭富當年因為人品好，被葉問考察半年后收為徒弟，并破例免費傳藝于他。郭富失業回鄉后，葉問還毅然每天步行30里到郭富南海鄉下的家里傳授武藝及跌打醫術。如今的郭氏詠春總會有入室弟子100多人。夏日的傍晚，室外場地的10多個木人樁旁，每天五六十名弟子齊練詠春的場景，蔚為壯觀。郭富的兒子郭偉湛是這里的總教頭，武館常有外國人慕名前來習武。

民國時期，佛山是中國武術之鄉，擁有眾多的武術流派，各派均以開館授徒來傳承基業。在上世紀三四十年代，佛山升平路、蓮花路一帶，各派武館林立，武師就以教武謀生。更因為毗鄰港澳，佛山的武術家們很早就走出國門，到海外開館授徒，將中國功夫傳遍世界。如蔡李佛拳的傳人陳錦輝在委內瑞拉授徒23年，任該國國防部、警察總部武術教官，該國總統、國防部長等政要及百萬以上軍人、警察、平民學過蔡李佛拳。

據佛山市武術協會統計，如今在佛山武術協會注冊的武館有290多家，加之沒有注冊的，全市武館數量有500多家。盡管大多武館還只在業余時間授課，但佛山民間尚武的精神正在復蘇。

THE SPIRIT OF LION DANCE

Ye Zhongming is 180cm tall with broad shoulders and strong arms, and he walks briskly. His body shape is a perfect fi t for the lion's head.

Such a stature is not uncommon in Foshan's many Lion Dance Associations. In fact, a dancer' physique is the decisive factor for determining which part he performs – the head or the tail. The head performer needs to do a lot of jumping and springing and to frequently step on the tail performer. Therefore, performers who are relatively short, but have large, bulky calves are more desirable for the head. Performers of the tail, by contrast, are often taller in height, but have shapely calves to prop up the head as they move or leap with agility.

In addition to these prerequisites, to win the title of lion dancing also demands a superb physical condition and a high level of coordination between the two partners. “We have two performers who have superior jumping ability and are able to leap 2.8m between wooden poles above ground, synchronously,” Ye said proudly. “They have been partners for four years, and are eating, showering, relaxing, and doing everything together.”

The lion dance has a long tradition in China. In the Lingnan region, it is a very technical activity where some basic training in martial arts is required for performers to accomplish various dif fi cult moves on high wooden poles. Therefore, it is quite common in Foshan for martial arts clubs to have lion dance associations, and for every village to have their own lion dance troupe. As a child, Ye took a keen interest in the lion dance since toys were very rare in his village. That day, the fi rst day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, when he was 7 years old, the whole village was drowned by the cacophony of cymbals, gongs and drums as more than 100 villagers were taking turns to perform lion dances door by door. “Since then, I would become restless every time I hear the thump of drums and would run to have a look at it.” Ye said with a smile.

A few years later, at the age of only 13, Ye paid a respectful visit to Master Huang, an inheritor of the dragon & lion dance, to ask for an apprenticeship. He succeeded. From his teacher, Ye learned advanced lion dance skills and important life lessons. He was not the only one who bene fi ted from Huang's instruction. The troubled youngsters in the village, even drug addicts, were civilised and had their acts cleaned up. Six years later, Ye's dream of winning a world championship became true, and he has been making steady progress on the track ever since.

For natives in Foshan, the fl ag, the painting of the lion face and lion dance performance skills, together re fl ect the prosperity and solidarity of a village. It is out of the pride of their own village and the passion for this activity that generations of folk artists have carried forward the spirit of dragon and lion, which runs in their blood.

Ye Zhongming, Head Coach of Wong Feihong Zhonglian Cable Lion Dance Association.葉仲銘，佛山南海黃飛鴻中聯電纜武術龍獅協會總教練。

龍獅精神

葉仲銘有著典型的“獅尾身材”：身高一米八的他肩寬臂碩，行走如風。

這樣的身材在他所在的龍獅協會并不鮮見。實際上，獅頭和獅尾運動員的角色分配正是由運動員的先天身材條件決定的：獅頭需要做大量彈跳動作，很多時候需要踩在獅尾身上，因此通常會選擇身材矮小、小腿肌肉成塊的運動員；而獅尾運動員則身材高大，小腿肌肉均勻，移動速度快——如此才能托著獅頭靈活跑跳。

除了先天身材條件以外，要想在舞獅界稱霸還需要極佳的體能條件和搭檔之間的高度默契。“我們有兩個腿部彈跳力極好的運動員能夠做到‘雙人2.8米凌空跨樁飛躍’。” 葉師傅驕傲地說道，“他倆搭檔四年來形影不離，就連吃飯、洗澡、打球都在一起。”

嶺南舞獅講究技巧，通常要在高樁上完成各種高難度動作，武術功底是必備的，所以一般佛山的武館多設有獅會，每條村也都有自己的舞獅隊。葉仲銘還記得7歲那年年初一，整個村子鑼鼓喧天，一百多位村民挨家挨戶、輪流交替舞獅。“自那時候起，每每聽到鼓聲，我就坐不定，拔腿就跑去看。”葉仲銘笑著說。

幾年后，年僅13歲的葉仲銘來到了龍獅傳承人黃師傅的家門前懇切拜師，在這里他不僅學到了高超的舞獅技巧，更學到如何做人，村中的小混混，甚至吸毒的都被師傅教化歸正。六年后，葉仲銘的世界冠軍夢實現了，在屬于自己的道路越走越堅定。

對佛山人來說，獅隊的水平反映出一個村子是否興旺和團結。正是出于對家鄉的自豪感和對這項運動的熱愛，世世代代的民間藝人才能將血液里流淌著的龍獅精神不斷傳承下去。

Left: A group photo with the cast including Leung Chiu Wai.左：與梁朝偉等劇組人員合影。

Right: Learning from Chiu Chi-ling, a disciple's disciple of Wong Fei-hong.右：跟黃飛鴻徒孫趙志凌學習。

THE KUNG FU GIRL

Born into a family of martial arts, the Kung fu girl Ye Wanxin is a representative of young Kung fu practitioners in Foshan. She started to practise martial arts (Wing Chun, Hong Quan, knives, spears, clubs, etc.) at the age of four and won the Foshan Kung fu championship at the age of nine. She played a role in the Chinese blockbuster fi lm The Grandmaster when she was ten years old.

She is agile, diligent and eager to learn. That is why at such an age, she is already remarkably accomplished in Kung fu. Her father, Ye Baisong, a lion dance coach, was initially not keen on the idea of letting her daughter practise Kung fu as he thought that “girls should go to school and fi nd a stable job”. Yet a smart, active girl with boyish qualities, she quickly picked up some lion dance moves through imitation while hanging around as her father coached his team. This caused him to succumb to that idea.

The Kung fu girl was by no means overwhelmed by the hardship of practising Kung fu. She took the rooftop of her home as her arena where she spent 2 hours after school every day, or half a day on weekends, to practise Kung fu, in the heat or in the cold. This was her daily routine during six years of primary school. What seemed to be hard and boring to her peers was tremendous fun for her. Through persistent training like that, she acquired masterly skills at a young age, and often amazed her audience with her poker card performance as well as the performance of piercing balloons or glass with needles.

“Wong Kar-wai was a very serious director. He asked me to wear short sleeves and short trousers in winter. I was chilled to the bone, but I had fun.”Wanxin enjoyed talking about her experience of being part of the movie. Once she practised Wing Chun against the actor Leung Chiu Wai at the fi lm studio. “We both claim the other's Wing Chun was not authentic.” This 15-year-old girl will still have a big laugh today whenever she talks about that movie experience.

Now, Wanxin wears long hair and looks more girly. She has enrolled on a preschool education program in a vocational high school, and has started to learn to sing, dance and play instruments. But Kung fu is still her favourite as it is part of her DNA. “I may have a career in acting in the future, or become a Kung fu star. You never know. ” She has her own expectation for the future.

功夫少年

出身功夫世家，4歲習武，學詠春，練洪拳，能舞刀、槍、棍，9歲即得佛山功夫爭霸賽冠軍，10歲參與《一代宗師》拍攝，功夫妹——葉宛馨是佛山當代習武少年的代表。

她靈活，勤奮，好學，小小年紀，功夫就十分了得。當舞獅教頭的父親葉柏松，起初并沒有想讓她學功夫，“女孩子，上好學，找份安穩的工作就挺好”。但宛馨從小就機靈好動，十分調皮，像個“假小子”。在父親的舞獅隊玩耍時，喜歡跟著隊員比比劃劃，動作有模有樣。女兒的天分，讓葉柏松決定，教女兒學武。

學武術苦，但她特別能吃苦，家里樓頂的天臺，是宛馨的練功場，夏酷暑，冬嚴寒，但不影響她每天放學練功2小時，這是她小學6年的“天天功課”，周末時，往往一練就是大半天。在同齡孩子看來枯燥辛苦的功夫，在宛馨看來，樂趣無窮。小小年紀，她就練就了一身絕技，飛撲克牌、針穿氣球、飛針穿玻璃常常讓觀眾目瞪口呆。

“王家衛導演特嚴肅，冬天讓我穿著短衣短褲，凍死我了，但也開心。”說起拍戲的那段經歷，宛馨樂在其中。她還在片場和梁朝偉切磋過一段詠春拳，“我們都說對方打的拳是假的”。如今已經15歲的葉宛馨回憶起當初拍戲的場景，仍會開懷大笑。

現在的宛馨，已經留起了長發，更像個女孩子了。她考上了職業高中的幼師專業，開始學習唱歌、跳舞、樂器，但學武術仍是她的最愛，這是融入血液里的基因與愛好。“將來，我可能會走演藝這條路，說不定會成為一個功夫明星呢。”對未來，宛馨有自己的憧憬。

URBAN KUNG FU MASTERS

Text by Guo Hua & Madz Translation by Leo Photos by Zeng Jian