Dog Shaped Fist - a unique martial art

Dog Shaped Fist performance. Photo: Hoang Vu

Perhaps, among the 12 zodiac animals, the dog is the animal that was domesticated the earliest, effectively assisting humans in production activities and daily life. Loyalty, devotion and high fighting spirit are the characteristics of this animal that no other animal can compare to. That is why, in the survival with nature, our ancestors observed and imitated the movements and nuances of the dog to refine into highly practical and beautifully performed martial arts moves and techniques.

Dog martial arts, also known as Dog Shaped Fist, uses strength as the fighting style and the key to change as the kicking style. Therefore, when performed, it often brings excitement to the audience because of the somewhat unique flightiness of this martial art.

When using Dog Shaped Fist, one often rolls, jumps, and floats to fascinate the opponent, so it has many beautiful names such as "Ground Dog Technique" or "Flying on Earth". Dog Shaped Fist exercises include: Body, mechanism, love, horse, prestige, position, energy, strength. Techniques include: gong, phien, phuc, dieu, retreat, cau, suat, bon, khieu, toan. Because the dog's body is short, it often uses the techniques of "turning the ground" and "foot not leaving the ground" to exert force at a low level to control the enemy with moves such as "capturing and holding hands" and acupressure.

All movements are strictly followed, “the first move is like a steel file, the last move is like a sickle”, “the two elbows do not leave the ribs, the two hands do not leave the heart”. The punches are fully twisted, wrapped, squeezed, and rotated with the body technique, the steps are smoothly coordinated, the whole body from top to bottom is like twisting a rope without the slightest slackness. Calm and agile, the body is straight and steady, the chest is broad and the abdomen is real, the energy sinks into the dantian, firm but not stiff, soft but not weak, the force exerted is deep and sure.

Dog Shape Fist emphasizes the upper body attack method, the arms and legs come together, one punch is coming, one punch is forward. At the same time, three joints are used: the finger joint, the middle joint, and the root joint. Even one body part is fully equipped with "three joints", showing the completeness of internal and external unity.

Dog Shape Fist Strike. Photo: Hoang Vu

Under the shady banyan tree shade at the martial arts school, martial arts master Nguyen Khanh Hai of That Son Mon calmly shared: “When an opponent is hit by Cau Hinh Quyen, at least they will be severely injured, at worst they can collapse and lose their life. Because of its high lethality, Cau Hinh Quyen is not widely spread in martial arts schools, only martial artists and coaches who have reached a certain level are allowed to teach and inherit it.”

In addition, Dog Shape Fist also contains a rich system of technical and tactical theories, emphasizing the viewpoint that daring to fight will win, bravely charging forward like a dog hunting for prey. In terms of tactical thinking, it is sudden, quick, proactive, taking advantage of the opponent's weaknesses to strike cleanly and continuously like surging ocean waves. In training, it focuses on strength, clear force, unifying form and intention, using intention to lead the energy, using the energy to regulate the form, using the form to exert force.

Through that, it can be seen that Dog Shape Fist has very high requirements for the body's organs and physiological functions, moving according to the law of mutual generation and mutual inhibition of the five elements. Therefore, people who practice Dog Shape Fist often have very strong bodies, warm and resonant voices showing a high level of qigong, so in recent years it has gradually been included in medical gymnastics to treat people.

Demonstrating the destructive power of Dog Shaped Fist. Photo: Hoang Vu

Under the solemn temple, beside a cup of warm lotus tea, we chatted about a unique martial art of traditional Vietnamese martial arts. Hopefully, in the near future, Dog-Shaping Fist will have the opportunity to further promote its image and school to many friends around the world and further highlight the martial arts tradition of the Vietnamese people.