Tui Fa 腿法

Why the legs come second

Tui Fa (腿法, “leg methods”; with Yao Chengguang also 脚法 Jiao Fa) covers kicks, stamps and knee strikes. They are a fixed part of Sanshou but rank behind the hands (Quan Fa). The reason is a phrase that recurs in almost every source:

抬腿半边空 — “Lift a leg and one side is empty.”

Whoever kicks stands on one leg for a moment. In that moment half of the stability that all of Yiquan training works towards is missing. A skilled wrestler catches a high leg easily. Bo Jiacong therefore explicitly calls leg technique an auxiliary skill, to be used “with caution”. A few teachers go further and reject kicks altogether, citing Wang Xiangzhai. Most sources of the lineage, however, treat them as a fixed part of combat training — just kept small.

The rules for every kick

The half-empty body gives rise to rules that apply to all kicks:

• Low. Kicks go to ankle, shin and knee, not to head or chest. High, jumping or spinning kicks do not occur.
• Brief. The leg comes straight back, “as if kicking onto a red-hot iron plate”. Bo Jiacong compares the probing kick to a snake’s tongue: out and back in.
• With contact. Where possible, one hand holds the opponent. That gives support and denies him the chance to grab the leg. For knee strikes this is strict: 无搭不伸腿, no contact, no leg.
• Strike through. At the moment of impact the whole body tenses; the force should reach into the opponent’s back rather than stop at the surface.
• Form curved, force straight (形曲力直) — as with the fist. The leg never snaps fully straight.
• Posture before the hit. Whether the kick lands is secondary. What matters is that the fighting frame survives it: guard up, upper body screwed against the lower body.

The kicks

The sources name a small and fairly constant selection:

• 点脚 (Dian Jiao) — the low toe kick, barely above the ground, to ankle or instep. More a tap than a kick.
• 蹬踏 (Deng Ta) — the stamping or thrusting kick forward and down, to knee and shin.
• 横跺脚 (Heng Duo Jiao) — the sideways thrusting kick with the edge of the foot, hip turned in.
• 侧踢 (Ce Ti) — the side kick from the oblique stance, with the outer edge.
• Knee — upwards or sideways, almost only from a grip, often combined with pulling down the opponent’s head or arms.

Then there is intercepting: when the opponent attacks with his leg, one lifts the foot crosswise and stops his kick below the knee before it takes effect. A few teachers add snap kicks and low sweeping kicks, mostly as sweeps at close range.

How they are trained

Kicks are trained like every Yiquan technique — first in standing, then slowly, then fast:

• Standing on one leg. The one-leg stance Du Li Zhuang is the real school of kicking. A preliminary stage rests the free leg on a support, such as a navel-high stool. The image: standing hip-deep in water, the leg on a floating log.
• Testing slowly (Shili). One imagines springs under the foot, draws the knee up and slowly presses the springs down again. Another exercise places a small sandbag on the free foot, carried forward and back with the whole body without letting it fall. What is sought is the tension between up and down (Zheng Li).
• Releasing fast (Fa Li). First in a fixed stance, then from movement. The foundation is the rubbing step Mocabu, from which all kicks arise.
• With a partner. Pads for accuracy and timing, the bag for impact; in sparring at first without contact.

How high?

Here the sources disagree. In his films Bo Jiacong consistently teaches 腿不过膝, “the leg not above the knee” — meaning the opponent’s knee. Others set the limit at hip, waist or belt and also name ribs or thigh as targets. What they all share is the direction: the lower, the safer. The website therefore does not commit to a single figure.

Against the kick

Defence follows the same logic: a kick needs room. Whoever retreats gives it that room; whoever moves in and closes the distance takes it away. Wide sweeping kicks in particular are slow and announce themselves — against them, stepping in helps more than evading.