The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

Liuhebafa Five Character Secrets: Chinese Classics, Translations, Commentary

A Book Review by Danny Rowell

Chinese internal arts are heavy on myth and legend. Tales of the ancient masters launching opponents across the room or mystical touches that cause a person to slip into unconsciousness or death permeate the culture. Last summer I paid a visit to a local Chinese traditional martial art (TMA) school to hear the instructor repeat such a tale to his students.

Do I believe the stories? I admit that I don’t have an open mind. I have an active mind that keeps me skeptical when I encounter such topics.

I am a huge fan of Sun Tzu and his Art of War. Add to that the I Ching, the Book of Five Rings, and the Tao Te Ching and you have quite a collection of practical Eastern thought sitting on my bookshelf. Recently, I participated in a seminar led by Paul Dillon. Naturally, as any martialist would, I decided to do as much research on the fellow as time permitted. I never like walking into an unfamiliar situation. During my research I discovered that Mr. Dillon recently published Liuhebafa Five Character Secrets (ISBN: 1886969728), which was available at the local bookstore.

I snatched the only copy off the shelf and found a comfortable spot in which to check it out. Immediately I noticed the quality of the binding process and the pleasing aesthetics of the cover. This book is well made. The YMAA Publication Center must know how martial arts books can be abused.

The first twelve pages are Roman numerated; they are full of pictures, text, and even a lineage chart touching on the history of Liuhebafa. The introduction transitions into Chapter 1: A Brief Overview of the History of Liuhebafa. Paul relates the story of how this ancient art was founded and passed down through the generations.

Chapter 2: Xingyi, Bagua, Taiji, and Liuhebafa compares three well-known Chinese internal arts with what the author refers to as "graduate-level" training in Liuhebafa. Mr. Dillon touches briefly on the high points of each art and explains how Liuhebafa incorporates the true principles of Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji. Liuhebafa is not like Jeet Kune Do. It does not take the best from others and discard the rest. Liuhebafa developed independently of the other three arts and, due to strict traditional teaching methods and loyalty to the original secrets, has remained unchanged through the generations. This chapter provides the reader with strong insight into the art.

Chapter 3: The Five Character Secrets of Li Dongfeng is the core of the work. Here is where we begin to explore each of the 134 Five Character Secrets. Paul Dillon provides a crucial tool in the first few pages of this chapter: The Five Character Secrets Translation Guide.

The Five Character Secrets are represented in their original Chinese characters. Paul breaks each character down in Pinyin Romanization, word-for-word translation, and interpretive translation before finally adding his own commentary. The less familiar the reader is with Chinese scholarship, the deeper he can go for understanding. Each set is treated in this manner. Some Secrets are more involved than others and treated in more detail.

Being a non-traditional martial artist with a leaning towards Reality Based Self Defense (RBSD), I tend to look at martial learning from a pragmatic perspective. Tradition and history have less appeal for me than do the underlying principles of a system. Reading through the Five Character Secrets is like reading a poem. Each stanza stems from the previous and leads to the next. However, each individual phrase accesses the foundational principles of Liuhebafa.

For example:

5.	Relax in order to fill everywhere.
16.	Express neither feature nor intent.
19.	It is necessary to be calm for a proper response to an attack.
24.	When you issue energy (strike), do not overextend yourself to your opponent.
26.	Protect yourself and take advantage of the opponent by striking first.
30.	You control the confrontation; you decide when to attack or defend.
46.	You are responsible for every action.
69.	If you want to learn and understand, you must have perseverance.
130.	The beginning and ending are inseparable.

In each of the interpretations, I find common ground with my own training experience. This work does not provide answers; it plants the seeds for further contemplation in a straightforward writing style. As the author told me in discussion, “Each art, at some level, is comprised of the same principles.” Reading through the detailed interpretations of the Five Character Secrets, I begin to scratch the surface of understanding what he was talking about.

Following the interpretive section, all 134 Five Character Secrets are presented in continuous prose. This offers the reader a continuous philosophical connection, from beginning to end, providing underlying foundations that have remained unchanged through generations of Liuhebafa training.

The reader will find a short glossary and a detailed index after Chapter 3.

This handsomely bound and beautiful work imparts the legend and history of Liuhebafa, comparisons to other Chinese internal arts, detailed interpretations with a how-to guide, holistic prose, and reference sources. If you are looking for a book on “how to beat people up,” this book is not for you.

If, however, you are a scholar, a sage, or a philosopher as well as a martial artist, I highly recommend Liuhebafa Five Character Secrets.