WHEN CRANES FLY
China’s Fujian province is famous for being the home of the Southern Shaolin Temple and many powerful styles of traditional kung fu. Because most of these systems focus on close-quarters combat, they typically emphasize sophisticated hand techniques as the solution. Among this myriad of southern styles, white crane is one of the most prominent.
While white crane is a famous fighting art — and perhaps an ancestor of traditional karate — one branch of it is not so well-known. Called fei he chuan (English translation: flying crane), it’s been passed down from the founder through five generations of the Lee family. Only recently has it started to gain a foothold in North America.
Flying crane is one of the four original branches of white-crane kung fu — along with “feeding crane,” “crying crane” and “ancestral crane.” From these, other notable systems have been created, including the famous “five ancestors” style (wu zu For this reason, it’s worth delving deeper into white crane.
