Fanning-Hand Adze 仙手奔

This is a Six Harmonies Mantis form. It has many names by different characters but always the same or similar enough pronunciation, and that’s because Chinese Martial Arts were passed down mainly orally in the old days and China had many dialects and accents. Somewhere down the line, people made their own interpretations about the form and decided to call it according to their ideas. The most logical one is the “Fanning-Hand Adze”, as we open the inside line like a Chinese fan with the first move, then grind down like an adze with the second and the third.

The Six Harmonies Mantis is known to be soft with hidden power. It is considered the style of the masters. Therefore, the forms are, unlike the Plum Blossom style, where power are displayed ostensibly, albeit with softness injected in the transition, almost always very soft and without any obvious display. Even when power is displayed, it is staying at the same gradual speed and always move together with the whole body without any detachment.

In reality, we don’t distinguish between the Plum Blossom and the Six Harmonies when we are engaged in combat. We do whatever feels right at the moment, and energy have to be used according to the situation. That means that our actual way of using energy is a mix between the two and in constant flux. That is why the Six Harmonies is the style of the masters because without spending a lot of time in understanding Plum Blossom’s speed and power and how to utilize softness to transition from moves to moves, it would be nigh impossible to understand how to generate soft, hidden power.

Forms are used to individual practice and it is best used to train one’s body movement and understand on momentum. We use the form for this exactly purpose and never expect to use it as is in any real scenarios.

這套六合螳螂拳的套路有很多不同名字。這些名字雖不一樣，但它們的發音基本相同，這是因爲中國有很多方言與口音，在不同地域傳授下去每人會基於自己的理解而對這套路提出不同的稱呼。這些名字有：先手奔、仙手奔、善手奔、閃手奔，扇手錛等等。其中以“扇手錛”最爲合理，因爲套路的起式是以扇手打開内綫，再像“錛”（金屬器具）一樣的鋤向臉和眼睛。

六合螳螂拳特點是柔與隱藏的發勁，我們稱爲“暗剛”，所以它又被認爲是大師的拳法。故此，它不像梅花螳螂一樣發出明顯疾速的剛勁再把柔混合其中，而是非常柔潤，鮮有非常剛硬力度的情況。發勁的時候也是不徐不疾，必須配合身體的運動，不應出現有股勁力甩出去的情況。

在實際使用的時候我們不會區分梅花還是六合。實戰的時候要根據當時的情況作出適當的運動與發勁，不能拘泥不變。所以我們勁度的使用在實際上是梅花與六合混合在一起不停的變動。這又是六合之所以為大師的拳法的一個原因，因爲如果不花足夠時間去理解梅花疾速的剛勁與它柔性的變換，要理解六合的柔潤與暗剛基本是不可能的。

套路是個人練習的一種方式。它對理解身體活動與揮發勁力有很好的作用。我們學習套路是爲了讓自己單獨練習提供方法，千萬不要在實際的情況下一成不變的用上套路。