The Nam Yang Pugilistic Association
The Forms of the Tiger Crane System
The first routine a student learns is the Sam Chien. Master Tan always stresses the importance of training Sam Chien, as did Master Ang, which is continually developed throughout the life of the martial artist. Without a firm grounding in the basics, as practiced in Sam Chien, any progress in the art will be impossible.
The importance of Sam Chien training to the art is unquestionable. Only with correct tuition and training in this form can a student develop ‘geng’, or ‘springing strength’, which can then be applied in the other forms. This is not a matter of just repeating the same moves continuously over time, but rather being shown how to develop and refine the moves through the guidance of a qualified instructor, or a Master. Through continual correct training in Sam Chien, the senses are developed and the body is conditioned both internally and externally, so a practitioner develops an ‘Iron Shirt’.
Below is a translation of the names of the movements of Sam Chien:
三 站 拳 诏
式
1 – The General Carrying His
Seal
将 军 抱 印 （jiangjun bao yin）
2 – Brothers Across The Four
Seas
五 湖 四 海 （
wu hu si hai ）
3 – The Fairy Displaying Her
Flowers
仙 女 散 花
(xian nu san hua)
4 – Two Pillars Piercing The
Earth
双 肩 墜 地 (shuang jian zhui di)
5 – The Beauty Looking In The Mirror
美 人 照 鏡
(mei ren zhao jing)
6 – Double Dragons Going Out To Sea
双 龙出 海
(shuang long chu hai)
7 – Holding the tree branches
收
回 木 枝
(shou hui mu zhi)
(Steps 6 & 7 repeated 3 times forwards and 3 times back)
8 – The Lobster Throwing Out his Pincers
龙 虾 双 弹 (long xia
shuang tan)
9 – The Golden Scissors
金
剪 手 式
(jin jian shou shi)
10 – Double Scissor Hand
双 切 手
式
(shuang qie shou shi)
11 – Double Arrow Hand
双 箭 手
式
(shuang jian shou shi)
12 – The Child Carrying the Ancestral Tablet 孩 儿 抱
牌
(hai er bao pai)
13 – Two Pillars Piercing The Earth
双 肩 墜
地 (shuang jiang zhui di)
In Sip Ji Koon various punching, striking, grabbing and blocking techniques, as well as 90-degree turns, are taught. Charp Tsar Tai Por adds 180 degree turns as well as the famous crane kick. Here a student also learns to focus their ‘geng’ out to 45 degrees from the forward stance. This is further developed in Si Men Dao Dui, where students use the same stance to focus power out to various angles, including 90 degrees from their stance, changing the direction of focus, making it particularly important in the training of defence from multiple attackers. The basic squatting position is also introduced here.
Body conditioning, sidestepping and the phoenix eye technique for punching, are developed in Tien Tay Lin Chien, while more complex hand synchronisation and body movement in the generation of ‘geng’ is introduced in Hu Die Shuang Fei.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful forms is Pei Ho Tien Sit, with a focus on various open hand techniques introduced with a variety of stances. Tay Chung Koon focuses on cross-stepping, phoenix eye techniques and floor work, with kicking, sweeping and trapping movements performed on the floor using the practitioners legs. In Ti Goo Lip Chiok a student performs more complex footwork combined with turning, and more complex uses of ‘geng’ which are then developed further in Ben Hor Choot Nar, where the Tiger element in the style can be more clearly seen.
This forms what is considered the basic training in the Tiger Crane combination Style, and this provides a basic ‘vocabulary’ of techniques, only some of which are outlined above. It must be stressed again however, that Sum Chien provides the basic foundations on which a practitioner can then build.