The shift from karate, regarded as pure Japanese fighting art (until well into the early 1980′s) to the acknowledgement of the Okinawan origins of the art, and the growth of Okinawan Karate as a result, has now, with the emergence of Old School Karate, opened up a public interest in the Chinese Roots of Karate-do.

In 1995 a first edition translation of an ancient book, instrumental in the development of Karate, called ‘The Bubishi’ and dubbed ‘the Bible of Karate’ by Chojun Miyagi (founder of Goju Ryu Karate), was published by Hanshi McCarthy (IRKRS).

It’s related research material was first published  in December 1986 (nearly ten years earlier) in an article that appeared with a monthly column [Japanese Traditions] in Karate/Kung Fu Illustrated Magazine.

Since then the interest in White Crane has exploded, partly because the history and philosophy of Yongchun based White Crane Gongfu (developed by Fang Chi Niang around the start of the 18th century) are explicitly covered in chapter 1 of the book.

It is widely considered to have been Yongchun White Crane from which other styles of Crane evolved over time i.e. Jumping, Whooping, Sleeping and Flying Crane etc.

Yongchun White Crane however, according to Hanshi McCarthy, indicates a specific link to Goju Ryu Karate, which, although founded by Miyagi, is based upon the teachings of Miyagi’s instructor, Kanryo Higaonna, who trained in Fuzhou City (Fuzhou being the capital of Fujian province, South-East China, of which Yongchun is also a part) in the latter part of the 19th century.

Today Fuzhou has developed its own Crane styles, quite distinctive from the original Shaolin-based Yongchun progenitor.

Some would say that the ‘internal principles’ found back in Fuzhou White Crane today are with sharp contrast to the ‘hard style’ dynamics of Goju Ryu that potentially fit the Yongchun version better.

Whether the softer aspects have become popular in Fuzhou White Crane after Kanryo Higaonna’s time there, or whether these principles were for some reason simply not passed on to young Kanryo, remains a point of much speculation.

Either way the China Fuzhou karate-do Association has been established in 2009, hosting the upcoming Fuzhou International Karate-Wushu Spectacular and Exchange Convention in 2011.

In the meantime Yongchun remains where it is, right at the source of Fang Chi Niang’s White Crane, transmitting the original art as it has been doing for over the last 10 to 13 generations, slowly but decisively, creating a shift  among  those who have been focussing on Fuzhou City for the roots of their Karate.

For more info on Yongchun White Crane and the Yongchun-based Weng Gong Ci Martial Gym (see pics above) please visit http://www.cnbhq.com/