BSL Lyrics: Tom Toy

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Shaolin Kung Fu
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I remember Sal Canzonieri once sent me a list of like a dozen different lyric versions of Tom Toy. It was a really cool piece of research he was working on, but I don’t know if he ever published it. It’s sort of what I’m going for here - let’s compare some lyrics!

TOM TOY (Springing legs)

  1. Upper punch, sweep block like carrying a yoke.
  2. “Crossed” character (Chinese character “ten”), pull the drill.
  3. Swing block, double covering punch.
  4. Thrust technique, grind the stone mill.
  5. Down punch block, followed by heel kick.
  6. Lock, control, jam, and push, moving naturally.
  7. Double grab, “crossed” character kick.
  8. Stomping heel kick, spin like a wheel.
  9. Jam the lock, heavy, close the door.
  10. Plant the flower, light, snapping straight leg.

BTW, it’s worthy of note that my BSL sifu Wing Lam changed this set in the late 80’s. In line 3, we used to turn completely around to gongbu facing the other way in sort of a chin na move. Now we do a reverse gongbu without turning around in a simple block. When he made the change, he said he felt this was a more applicative move for our system. The ‘new’ way is what is on his video series. Interestingly, the lyric still works no matter which move it is…

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Verses for 10 and 12 rows

There are many versions of Tan T’ui, i.e., 10, 12,14,16, 24 and 36 that I know exist.

This is what I have:

Tan T’ui Ten (10) Row (Spring Legs)

Name of Row Number Of Movements

  1. Coherent Steps 14
  2. Cross Kick 13
  3. Slash and Squash 12
  4. Uphold Palm 12
  5. Uphold Fist and Shoot 10
  6. Crook and Sprinkle 12
  7. Flowery Bending 10
  8. Stamp and Thread 14
  9. Lock and Stick 12
  10. Flying Kick 09

Tan T’ui Twelve (12) Row (Ching Wu School)

Name of Row Number of Movements

  1. Coherent Steps 14
  2. Cross Kick 15
  3. Slash and Squash 21
  4. Uphold Fork 24
  5. Uphold and Shoot 18
  6. Double Unrolling 18
  7. Single Unrolling 18
  8. Stamp and Thread 33
  9. Lock and Stick 21
  10. Cut 30
  11. Hook and Hang 21
  12. Advance Step and Cross 18

Since Tan T’ui was a very popular style, the people developed poems to aid in remembering the set.

The poem for the Ten Row Tan T’ui

Row one is to hit the enemy as you hit with a whip

Row two is to buffet with both fist crossed

Row three is to knock the enemy’s head

Row four is to bar the road with fist

Row five is to buffet and protect yourself with the arms

Row six is to hit with a single fist

Row seven is to hit with both fist

Row eight is to swing your fist sideward or backwards

Row nine is to hold the fist together

Row ten is to kick with your foot as if it is an arrow

The poem for the Twelve Row Tan T’ui

Row one: Buffet forward with a single fist in the advance position

Row two: Hit the enemy with both fist crossed

Row three: Knock the enemy’s head with your body turning backwards

Row four: Buffet with the fist and kick the enemy with the foot

Row five: Protect your head and hit the enemy’s chest

Row six: Buffet with both fist; prostrating the leg

Row seven: Hit the enemy’s ear with one fist and kick him hard

Row eight: Protect your head and groin with the fist

Row nine: Hold the fist together and separate them

Row ten: Kick your enemy with the foot as you hit him with an arrow.

Row eleven: Buffet sidewards with hook - fist

Row twelve: Recover to the original position

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bon touche mon ami!

Very cool.

You can see some clear parallels like in the ten versions your ‘lock and stick’ is probably the same as my ‘Jam the lock, heavy, close the door.’ But then some of the others don’t map at all.

Do you play both the 10 and 12? We don’t have the 12. Have you seen Wing Lam’s 10 and if so, how does that map on to your 10?

I’ve already spent too much time on the fourm this morning and my boss is looking at me funny, so I’ll continue posting more BSL lyrics next week.

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Tan Tui

Originally Tan Tui was a

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r.shaolin,

Without looking in my dictionary about ‘Jei’ (please understand that I use an old dictionary), you state that Jei Tan T’ui was part of the 10 standard Ching Wu sets. If so, then answer is yes it is a contact set or a sparring two person set which Ching Wu developed.

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24 and 36

r.(shaolin),

I’ve seen the 24 version and read about a 36 version. In my opinion, the extra rows did not add much. The many rows were very similar which leads me to believe that these versions are a more recent development, ie., styles that incorporated Tan T’ui and added their flavor to it.

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Makes sense. The way

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tantui

–
NorthernShaolin wrote:

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The Tan Tui set I was taught is ten roads. But each road is repeated IE: go out then come back. The techniques in each road are performed with both sides of the body encouraging balance and ability to use the techniques regardless of which side you favoyur left or right.

Does this make it 20 roads? 10 out 10 back. Also, I was taught to perform Tan Tui at a slow to moderate pace to further encourage balance, form and fluidity.

I enjoy the set and find it to be meditative moreso than a combat form although the combat techniques within it are fairly obvious.
Also, I have not used poems to remember any Kung Fu sets and rather I remember them by doing them quite regularly.

I am now curious as to why a poem would be used to remember a set. Not a bad idea. plenty of people draw out the sequences of sets on paper for review between classes or for after they have learned the sequence.

Is this indicative of lessons being fairly spread apart? What I mean is, if you only had one lesson a month, you would need all the help you could get to remember stuff until the next lesson. Most times i read and my personal experience tells me that if you are practicing everyday, or getting a lesson everyday then you probably wouldn’t need a poem to remember. Unless you were learning more than one hand set at a time.

So, is poetry recital a way that folks remembered when writing and drawing were the lesser skills of the public?

peace

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Why poems?

Kung Lek.

You are speaking in terms of today how we remember and at a certain level in our MA. Many years ago, martial artist were also scholars (or made honest attempts to live up to one) which extended to the five arts but later only limited to calligraphy, poem writing, painting, etc. These masters would then give these poems to their disciples, etc.

These poems became precious because for obvious reasons. If needed, it could be used to aide them or anyone to help them remember their sets. When one gets to a certain level in their MA skills, one does not have to practice everything he/she knows. One only has to maintain that level he/she is satisfied. Many masters practice this method of remembering but they are only human like us, and as a result, memory fades if he/she is not activitely teaching that particular set. Hence, these poems serves its purpose years later.

In my opinion, it would be neat idea if one writes these poems in Chinese, frame it and hang on the wall in the school or office. It would have special meaning and historical value to the individual.

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Agreed!

Gene, I think NS has supplied a viable product that could be put out. :smiley:

Poem posters!

Background graphics of the set performance, the style it is drawn from and the poem in bilingual, Chinese and another Language.

NS- My form knowledge is limited. I know less than 20 sets from the styles I have been taught and still practice each set with regularity and frequency.

Still, memory tools are a great addition to teaching anything.

peace

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10 or 12?

Gene,

I’ve learned the 12 rows only. However I have seen my sifu do both 10 and 12 rows of Tam T’ui. He elected to teach the 12 rows only.

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Kung Lek wrote:
I was taught to perform Tan Tui

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Hi.

like i said, I was taught to perform the set at a slower to moderate speed, but I can extrapolate the martiality from the set.

In the school I was at, the form is used as an introductory set to the core sets of BSL. Same as Lien Bo Chuan.

The BSL core sets I was taught, I was taught to perform at full speed and power and fluidity.

It seems that all the movements in Tan Tui and Lien Bo are found elsewhere in the core sets of the BSL system.

peace

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Tantui and Shaolin

Hi Gene

This weekend I read your

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Shaolin Tantui

At Shaolin, I’ve only seen one version of tantui by one of the students of Zhu Tianxi (a layman disciple and folk master in nearby Zhengzhou.) It was a 24 line. Of course, all the monks recognize tantui (tis pretty recognizable) but i’ve never seen one do it. I should ask. Of maybe one of the various members here who is currently under a monk should ask. Mostly I’ve seen the monks do jibengong line drills in place of tantui. BTW, I’ve never seen a complet listing of the Songshan Shaolin curriculam, nor do I think on exists.

Actually, where I’ve seen the most tantui practice in China is in the modern Wushu circles.

And KL, poem posters wouldn’t work because we all have different poems. Especially for tantui.

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Try doing it faster

Kung Lic,

You stated:
"like i said, I was taught to perform the set at a slower to moderate speed, but I can extrapolate the martiality from the set.

In the school I was at, the form is used as an introductory set to the core sets of BSL. Same as Lien Bo Chuan.

The BSL core sets I was taught, I was taught to perform at full speed and power and fluidity."

Normally I do not like to suggest to people how they should practice but with Tam T’ui, it was at one time a stand alone style and many people used it for combat. For example Huo Yu Chia, the founder of Ching Wu, used Tam T’ui techniques when he fought, even though his main style was Mi Tsung.

We all know the merits of Tam T’ui and unfortunately because it has been absorbed into many style’s and school’s curriculums, it is taught as a basic platform before learning other sets and thus instructions are often given to perform it slowly or at a moderate speed.

In the beginning stages of one’s lessons in MA, yes do it slow because it is a method of learning the different chagnes in the horse stances but later, one must perform it just as fast as the other sets such as NSL sets. Only when performing Tam T’ui at a fast pace will one get the true flavor of Tam T’ui instead of a mechanical feeling one get when it is done at a slow or moderate speed.

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NorthernShaolin wrote:
"Tam T’ui, it was at one time a

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tantui speed

I remember watching monk Shi Xinghao teach a class once. He was instructing a student in some basic kicking line drills, shaolin jibengong, not unlike tantui. The student asked “Should I do it fast?” Xinghao snapped back “OF COURSE!”

With the exception of Taiji and a few other odd internals, kungfu has to be done fast. When learning it, you might practice it slowly to get the mechanics, but what enemy is going to stand around and wait to be hit? Hit fast! Hit at full power! Getting faster and stronger what it’s all about. You got to keep in mind that we are often taught tantui as beginners, so we are taught to do it slowly because we are beginners. But once we get into an intermediate stage, we go fast. Similarly at Lam Kwoon, we teach all the kicks to be straight leg kicks so beginners get the stretch and improve their flexability. But once the legs open up, the students learn to add more snap (or flick) to make them faster and more powerful. In essence, we teach everyone to their own level. The lessens change depending at what stage you are on.

Tantui is an awesome form, packed with great applications. It’s a little boring, since line drills tend to be so, but line drills lay the critical foundation. I got a lot of sparring milage out of the handwork in line 5 and 7, that’s such a fine combo.

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ok, i’ve tried it fast and I will admit I like it! :smiley:

hmmmmm…he said.

4 and 6 are intersting at full speed, down low and up real fast.

feels like coming out of the first tornado into the double punch in moi fah except with a twist in the hips.

peace