Mian Quan (Continuous Chuan)

Mian Quan or the continuous Chuan is a northern style of fist play, which is popular in central Hebei Province. There is no record of the origin of this style of Chuan. Luo Chengli, a native of Daqi Village in Boye County of Hebei, was good at six-combination spearplay and continuous Chuan and was well known for these during the 1930's. When China sent a Wushu team to demonstrate its martial arts at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the continuous Chuan was one of the important events, captivating viewers in Berlin.

It is called continuous Chuan because its fist play is continuous and prolonged by soft and supple movements and actions.

The main feature of continuous Chuan is to gain supremacy by attacking only after the opponent has attacked. It centers on the opponent and the movements change if the opponent changes. It bases its movements mainly on defence and launch attacks only after defensive moves. Suppleness turns to hardness once the boxer gains control of the combat and they fight in accordance with the development of the combat. By putting out their hands to meet the opponent they benefit from his forces, forcing the opponent to change from attack to defence and use surprise tricks to beat the opponent before the latter has time to prepare for a new bout. When combating, charging and hardness are used more in attacks whereas retreat and suppleness are used more in defence. The continuous boxers prefer to defend before attacking and they always try to gain the dominant position by using supple and soft forces. They become hard once they are dominant. This is how hardness and suppleness are combined in the continuous Chuan.

Movements in the continuous Chuan are spread but steady and the basic actions of the body, hands and feet are similar to those of the long-style Chuan. The difference lies in the fact that continuous boxers keep their heads upright; their necks straight; their shoulders lower and their chest, waist, hip, back and abdomen relaxed. Their movements are fully extended but steady, supple and continuous.

Continuous Chuan is popular among people thanks to its variety of movements and routines, its special methods of attack and defence, its extended and comfortable actions and its practicability.