In the seventeenth century, the Manchus (Mǎnzú 滿族), considered barbarians by the Chinese, conquered the Míng 明 empire and established a new dynasty that would last almost three hundred years and lay the foundations of modern China: the Qīng 清 dynasty.
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During the Qīng 清 dynasty (1636-1912) there were groups of martial artists who believed in obtaining, through certain esoteric rituals and practices, a protection that made them invulnerable to both physical and spiritual damage. This invulnerability was referred to as dāo qiāng bù rù 刀槍不入, literally, “sabres and spears do not penetrate”.
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Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛 is a very useful Kungfu style in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat, but it is often misunderstood by both outside observers and its own practitioners. We want to share on this occasion some of the mistakes that we believe are most common in understanding this valuable system.
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Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛 is a very powerful Southern martial arts system, known for its wide movements and circular strikes. However, the concept of centreline also plays a fundamental role in this system and it is necessary to understand it to be able to apply the system correctly.
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For most of Chinese history, archery (射藝 shèyì), whether with bow or crossbow, was the main martial discipline and the most important form of warfare. Even after the appearance of the first firearms, archery maintained its primacy on the battlefield until well into the nineteenth century.
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In the last dynasties there were radical changes in the consumption and production of tea, shaping the current customs related to this drink. The Qīng 清 dynasty saw the end of the Chinese monopoly of tea and the acquisition of production methods by Western powers.
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During the Sòng 宋, tea preparation reached its highest degree of sophistication, requiring an arduous and laborious process that was only possible among the upper classes, who often had several servants dedicated to this task. To this was added the fever for dòuchá 鬥茶, “tea duels”, in which people competed to demonstrate the skill in the preparation of this drink.
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The Táng 唐 dynasty (618-907) was the time of greatest diffusion of tea consumption within China, and in it there were great changes that defined not only the way of consuming tea, but also the way of thinking about it during the rest of the history of China.
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Despite the existing legends about its origin, it seems that the first uses of tea were not as a drink but as an edible for medicinal purposes, in the form of pickles, fries or condiments. Certain ethnic groups in the Yúnnán 雲南 region still consume tea in this form today.
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The traditional Chinese martial arts salute (bàoquánlǐ 抱拳禮) is formed by closing the right fist and covering it with the left hand open, and extending both arms slightly forward in front of the chest. There are multiple theories and stories about the meaning of this greeting.
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